XIII. The Piranha and The Shark:
A Fishy Fable
Aesop, who lived almost 3,000 years ago, is the unchallenged master of the Fable even to this day.... fables are those very short ventures into imagination that pack a punch.
A school of Piranha was nicely settled in a protected cove of the large river. Their small, sleek bodies, only six to nine inches long, darted about in clusters of 20 or more (they always hunted in groups) finding their daily sustenance: fishes and insects and occasionally a treat.... a beaver or snake or a deer or two, which ventured into the river, trying to escape the hunters.
Many animals, sometimes even a human, came to swim across the river for safety or curiosity. The Piranha, tiny though they were, had no fear of the size of their prey. Their mouths had beautifully large and sharp teeth unlike other fishes their size, and this made the hunt easy.
One day wind and waves and rapids arose upon the river. The Piranha kept together and rode the flood, not at all fearful of the heavy storm.
The tempest whipped through the area from the sea, and other wildlife were caught in it. One, in the coastal ocean waters, was a female Shark, a large one, over nine feet long and almost 700 pounds, but she, too, adapted to the waves which were battering the shore.
The Shark knew her way, and effortlessly rode the undertow towards land. Able to live in either salt or fresh water, and even able to breath air for short periods, the Shark allowed the high waves to thrust her into the river delta. She was a survivor of more dreadful things than a mere windstorm.
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A group of the angry little fish managed to break away and went for the Shark’s eyes, but she didn't care for that. She opened her very large jaws... sucked in deeply... and more than half the school disappeared into her depths, swirling down the massive throat even faster than they had swirled down the river.
They were drawn right into the Shark’s tummy, the acids of which, of course, instantly made them unable to move, turned them into jelly pulp, and digested them. Only their little jaws of teeth were left unabsorbed, and were expelled in the usual way.
They attacked the Shark, swarming over their prey, digging their teeth
into her skin, expecting to tear the flesh from her body, as was usual for them.
Ah, but they found a surprise!
This skin was verrry tough. And thick. So thick skinned was she, in fact, that some of the Piranha broke their teeth in it. Others couldn’t pull their teeth out again, and they.. umm... struck and stuck... Bad luck!
Moral:
Never try to bite off more than you can chew.
© Kathryn Ilsley-Shannon, 2008
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(yes! there is a Moral!)
And the Moral of the Story is.....
Are you ready for this????
It's around here somewhere...
hmmmm scroll down...
Ahhh.. here it is!!!!
There were a few Piranha left, with most of them minus the teeth that were their means of biting and consuming their food. They backed away hurriedly. The Shark ignored them and simply turned to swim out to sea where she enjoyed life with others of her kind.
Unfortunately, without their teeth, the Piranha remaining behind soon became food for the animals they would normally have devoured themselves.
I(f you prefer your fables without music.. you can turn off the player.
Image courtesy of
Shark Safaris
Meanwhile, the Piranha traveled downstream. By the time they reached the delta their long journey had gradually slowed, the winds dropped, and they made themselves comfortable in their new environment.
Then, one of their scouts spotted the Shark who now, rather tired, was drifting lazily among the delta’s warm waters. The Piranha licked their ... er... chops. Here was a meal!
Animals are the heroes of Aesop’s tales. At the end, he always included an often humorous but always pointed “moral to the story.”
Clarinetist, Acker Bilk, "La Mer"
The fable below is written in Aesop's style for the modern reader.
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