The Four Fisherman

You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more? -Hemmingway

-"Fisherman" by Στέλιος Δ on Flickr-

There was once a time back in Australia where there were four different men sailing out on the Coral Sea. These men came from very different backgrounds: a young skipper trying to make a living, a father trying to feed his kids, an experienced fishing man, and an old wise man. Everyone was out there to fish, but the wise man at this point in his life had earned a living and was fishing simply out of enjoyment and a little extra food at this point. The young skipper was the captain of the boat and sent out each of the men out on their own personal fishing boats. The young skipper strived to provide for his family but he always knew never to risk his life because his family would be ruined if he was dead. All these men had the same love of the ocean, and the same fear of death.

The ocean was vast and dark, and you could feel the drops of water in the air seeming like an imminent storm was coming. The clouds became gloomy and the young skipper feared a storm. The fishermen are often tough and unfazed but it is different for the skipper due to his family back home. He was sitting out on the end of his boat and he started to think to himself he might be too far out if a storm came. Well, the fishing was slow this day and the young skipper began to doze off. The boat caught a wave and hit a bump and a bucket splashed on this man and he woke up screaming that a storm is coming and started running and slipped on the water and fell into the ocean. Now, the experienced fisherman saw this and sailed over to him, and the young skipper kept yelling at him," A storm is coming we are all going to go under unless we go back soon, head back to the port."

The experienced fisherman said ,"Don't worry, young man. Let me get us home."

The experienced fisher called in to port and port called back out to the other boats that they must go home. The father being worried about his kids packed up shop and headed back in. The sky was gloomy and the wind was picking up and everyone felt like they had made the right decision on going back to the port.

Now the wise man at this point had seen enough storms. He doesn’t rush to conclusions and sailed back close enough so that if a storm comes, he could go back in. The skies are gloomy still, but the old man began to doubt the storm as he hasn't even felt a drop of rain yet. The wise man knew if he just waited close enough to the port he would not be risking his life and he would also be able to make it back out. He also thought to himself, "If everyone else is gone, there will be more fish for me." Well, the storm didn't come, and the wise man sailed back out.

Back at the port, the other fishermen began to ask the skipper why he thought a storm was coming. He said he felt a big splash of rain and started freaking out, and the others joined in. At this point, they looked back out to the ocean with binoculars and saw the old man pulling the biggest fish out of the ocean that they have ever seen. The three fisherman at the port looked at each other with disbelief that the old man had stayed out there on his own. The experienced fisherman was upset with the skipper that he hadn't even noticed that the old wise fisherman was gone the whole time.

The young man learned a lesson today. Now he knows the value of patience. The other men are upset, but they realized they are equally to blame as they didn't evaluate the likelihood of a storm before they headed back into the port.

Author's Note

This story I did a rendition of a Jataka story about a rabbit. This is a story about a rabbit who is asleep under a tree and a coconut drops next to him while he was having a dream about the world ending.The rabbit runs throughout the jungle telling all the other animals about this and they all follow him freaking out.This story goes along the same theme, that one person leads the rest of the people to freak out.

I changed it up from the original but it follows the same storyline just with different characters in a different situation. However, in my story I had the old wise man who can be compared the lion in the original story. In my story, though, the wise man stays out in the ocean against the "rabbit's" words. In the original story the rabbit runs all the way to the lion with the rest of the animals following him and the lion goes to check on the situation. I like my story because it provides a character who shows what the benefits of wisdom are, compared to someone who does not have it. This story has a very deep meaning and I suggest checking out the original one as well.

Bibliography-

The Foolish Timid Rabbit. Jatakas. Ellen C. Babbit.