the man who ate a fish

The Man Who Ate a Fish

Once there was a fisherman.

Every day he would go to the lake and
catch a fish to eat.

Until one day he caught a talking fish,
who begged the man to let him live.

… but the man ate him anyway.

Because of that, the man found he
could understand the languages of all
the animals around him

His dog told him a long story about the
fleas on his back.

The hooting of owl at night, became
hunting songs which disturbed his sleep.

His chickens kept asking him what he
had done with his eggs.

A cat very rudely told him to ‘Shush!’

While the mouse it was hunting asked him

…if it was safe to come out.

Because of that the man tried to get
rid of this curse, asking every animal he
met for help.

He travelled far and wide, consulting
even the shells that lay along the sea
floor

Until finally, a wise snail told him to eat
a special fern that grew by the river’s
edge.

As the man chewed, one by one the
languages left his tongue and ear. All
but the language of the fish.

And ever since that day, the man swims in
the river. But he does not eat fish any
more.

frog.sand.glass