Week 2 Story: The Trustworthy Crane

(photo of Crazy Legs Crane Cartoon, can be sourced here)

The most current version of this story can be obtained on my Portfolio page which can be seen here.

Once upon a time existed a zoological aquatic habitat consisting of fish, lobsters, jellyfish, sea turtles, and more that varied in colors, shapes, and sizes. While happy for being well-fed and well taken care of, many of these creatures still yearned to see beyond the the realms of their zoo captivity. It so happened that a month prior, the aquatic habitat was moved to the other side of the facility to make room for new primate installation. It should also be noted that animals were used to eating prepared meals so they did not eat each other. Such a concept was considered cannibalism and absurd. The new placement helped the aquatic creatures to have more interaction with 'freed' animals.  One day, a crane somehow found its way to the edge of the pool.

The crane asked, "My, my, what a set up. But this is nothing in comparison to a lake I pass by"

One of the baby fish asked, "What is the lake like?"

The crane responded, "It's just across the bay.  There, they have abundant food and no restrictions on how much or when to eat. You can swim wherever you like. The water is more pure and not polluted with cleaning chemicals. You have privacy, and especially no humans tapping the glass while you sleep. It is hard to articulate.. but I could show you if you would like?"

The baby fish responded "Yes sir! I want to go please! But Mr. Crane, why do you not live there?"

"I would live there but I have nowhere to stay as most of my family is here at the zoo which is why I am here. I do stop by time to time but it is extremely hot in the day-time." The crane answered.

Immediately after this conversation, an older, wise fish of the group emerged from his sand cave. He was a respected elder not simply for his age, but was a rescue fish so he had actually seen the depths of the wild before being in the zoo. The bird units were on the other side of the facility so there was no way to confirm the crane's credibility.

"What is this I hear of the wild? " he asked in a distrusting grumble.

"I was just hoping to show everyone how great the outside world can be", said the crane.

“What are your intentions, really? I am no fool, I have seen how you wild animals gobble up us fish” the fish retorted back.

The crane quickly uttered “Sir, I can only imagine what it is like to be cooped up in here. Many of these fish have no idea what they are missing.”

"In that case, I will be the first to go" said the old fish.

The crane agreed to this, and opened his beak. He scooped some of the water for the old fish to be able to breath and they were off. The crane took the old fish to a nearby lake. The crane was right, there was abundant algae (food of choice of the fish), and so many more species of animals in the lake. The lake fish informed the older fish that they had an agreement with nearby potential predators to not eat them. As the crane said, there were no trees or vegetation near so he could see how it can be hot during the day. All the lake fish were extremely friendly and lived in communities. The older fish saw how this might be of better benefit and better quality of life for his community back at the pool.

The two returned back to the zoo pool and the old fish told all the other fish of his adventure. The fish told the others to go, but be careful. He recommended he would go with the first batch of fish, and then be the only one to return to let the others know they made it safely. With each batch going to the lake, one fish from the batch would remain in the beak to return to the zoo pool to ensure no fish were eaten. This way, if they did not return, the others would know not to trust the crane. All the fish ended up making it to the lake safely.

All the fish were happy with the lake. The crane offered to take them between the zoo and the lake, but the fish enjoyed the much more lively nature of the lake better.  As a thanks, they convinced the nearby crabs and lobsters to build a small hut out of sticks for him to sleep and lay. When they showed the crane this, he cried tears of happiness. He had a new home and family he had missed.  

Authors Note:

I wanted to keep this story somewhat similar to the original, because I wanted to show that fish can look out for themselves. It is hard creating an optimistic vision of the competitive world of prey/predators and cutting out the crab, but letting the fish redeem themselves was an important aspect for me. This is why I kept the fish, the crane, and the overall message of the golden rule. I also wanted to show that harm does not have to happen for a lesson of the golden rule. The crane was honest and in return he received a family and home which he yearned for. It was also hard to find a good and interesting picture of a crane; while on the search I found this image from a cartoon which I thought was cute.

Bibliography:

"The Cunning Crane and the Crab" from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. Web Source