This story is about a long time ago when fish in the sea had no rules. They swam around randomly, with the big ones bullying the small ones, and no one cared about anyone else. Eventually, the fish realized this wasn’t working, so they decided to elect a king to govern and bring order to the ocean.
What was life like for the fish?
In the ocean, there were too many fish, and no one was in charge. You could swim left if you wanted to, or forward if you preferred, but they often collided with each other. The larger fish were especially domineering, using their tails to slap the smaller fish, sending them flying far away. Even worse, some larger fish would simply eat the smaller ones without any reason. The smaller fish were very afraid, but there was nothing they could do.
They began to think, “If only we had a king. He could set rules and protect us from the big fish bullying us.” This idea quickly spread, and all the fish agreed: we must choose a king.
How to choose a king?
They came up with a plan: whoever could swim the fastest in the waves and was willing to help the weaker fish would become king.
So, all the fish gathered at the seaside and lined up. The dogfish was in charge of starting the race. It flicked its tail, and the race began.
“Slap!” The dogfish darted forward like an arrow. The bluefish followed closely behind, then the whitefish, the perch, and the carp all swam forward with all their might. Even the usually slow flounder joined in, wanting to be king, and swam with extra effort.
Who won the race?
Soon, some fish shouted, “The bluefish is first! The bluefish is first!”
Everyone heard this and shouted, “The bluefish won!”
But at that moment, the flounder was still swimming slowly behind and hadn’t caught up at all. When it heard everyone shouting that the bluefish had won, it suddenly felt unhappy. It wasn’t happy for the others; it was angry and very dissatisfied.
It shouted loudly, “Who was first? Who was first?”
The other fish said, “The blue fish! The blue fish was the first to arrive.”
The flatfish heard this and became even angrier, shouting, “That slippery blue fish? That slippery blue fish? Who would look at it? What’s so great about it?”
As it swam, it kept repeating these words, its mouth growing wider and wider, and its speech becoming more and more distorted.
What happened next?
From that day on, the flounder’s mouth could never return to normal, and it remained crooked to one side. To this day, the flounder we see has a crooked face and eyes squeezed to one side, all because it was jealous of others, spoke ill of them, and was punished as a result.
The truth behind the story
On the surface, this story is about fish choosing a king, but it’s really about people.
It says: When a group of people wants to change the status quo, there will always be those who want to participate, but not everyone is truly acting in the best interest of the collective.
The flounder didn’t really want to be a good king; it just wanted to win for itself.
When others won, it didn’t say “congratulations”; instead, it spoke harshly and looked down on others.
This mindset is jealousy.
What lesson does it teach us?
This story teaches us:
Don’t feel uncomfortable when others succeed, and don’t speak ill of others in public.
When others do well, it is the result of their efforts.
If you don’t win, you can try harder next time, but you can’t belittle others to elevate yourself.
Additionally, for a society to have order, it needs fairness and respect.
The strong shouldn’t bully the weak, and the weak should learn to support what’s right.
If everyone only thinks about themselves, even the best rules won’t work.
