There was a large lake where many fish lived. There was a fish who was extremely arrogant and didn’t listen to anyone. In the same lake, there lived a crocodile with a good heart. The crocodile advised the fish and said to her: There is never a need for vanity and arrogance, for vanity could be the cause of your death. The fish complained, saying: Here is the crocodile advising us again.
One afternoon, the crocodile was resting beside a large rock near the lake. He spotted two fishermen standing and drinking from the lake’s water. The fishermen noticed that the lake had many fish. One of them said: Look at this lake. It is full of fish. The other fisherman said: Why don’t we come again tomorrow with nets so we can catch these fish? The first said: I’m amazed we didn’t see this lake before.
The crocodile heard the dialogue between the fishermen. When the fishermen left, the crocodile slowly crept toward the lake and went directly to speak to the fish. The crocodile said to them: It is better that you leave the lake as quickly as possible. You must leave the lake before tomorrow’s dawn.
Early tomorrow morning, the fishermen will come to the lake with nets. You must be cautious. But the fish did nothing but laugh and said to the crocodile: Many fishermen have come before and tried to catch us, but we always manage to escape. These fishermen too will leave without being able to catch us. Don’t worry, Mr. Crocodile. We’ll be fine. They started looking at the crocodile and laughing mockingly.
The next morning, the fishermen came and threw the nets into the lake. The nets were strong and large, and quickly the nets managed to catch all the fish.
The fish were screaming and crying, saying: If we had listened to Mr. Crocodile, this wouldn’t have happened. Mr. Crocodile was only trying to help us, but because of our vanity and arrogance, we paid the price with our lives. The fishermen took the foolish fish to the market and sold them all at a good price.
The Lesson from the Story: Sometimes vanity blinds us from seeing the truth, and this truth could be the only way to protect our lives.
The story is translated from the story: The Foolish Fish