The Fable of the Whale

In an icy, northern sea lived once a youthful Whale. No creature of the deep could match her strength or size, and no ship of man could master her. If ever an animal was truly free and good, it was the Whale.

Early each day, the Whale dove deep in search of food, and then rose above the waves to take her morning breath. During one day’s dive, she noticed a school of fish swimming beneath her, and a thought troubled the Whale:

“Is it not curious how I, the greatest of all sea-life, must surface every hour to breathe, while these dumb fry might swim all day without worry?”

The Whale watched as the small fish played, never heeding anything above the water. Jealous and proud, the Whale made a resolution:

“No longer will I depend on the dry air! If the fish can live happily without it, then certainly so can I!”

An hour passed, and soon another. The Whale stayed true to her rejection of the waterless world. But soon, pain and exhaustion swept through her great body. Desperate, she breathed in the surrounding water, only to find that it worsened her state.

Still the Whale refused to surface. And before the sun’s rays quit the water, the Whale was dead.

Later, a family of fish swam near the Whale’s sinking body. The youngest of the fish asked:

“What could have caused such a great fish to perish? It looks still young. And I see no wounds.”

An older fish replied:

“I have witnessed a death like this before. Some fish simply cannot survive the sea. Nothing could have been done for this creature.”

And so the family swam on into the deep, forgetting the tragedy of the Whale.