Goodbye Little Fish

The fish only sensed that everywhere was wet and dark. There was no way out. The sound of crying could be heard. When the fish's eyes had become accustomed to the dark, it saw a tiny fish crouched in a corner, crying. He wanted his mother. The black fish approached and said:
"Little one! . . .Get up! Think about what we should do. What are you crying for? Why do you want your mother?"
"You there . . .Who are you?" responded the tiny fish. "Can't you see? . . .I'm . . .dy...ing. O, me . . . oh, my . . .oh, oh . . . mama . . . I . . . I can't come with you to pull the fisherman's net to the bottom of the sea any more . . . oh, oh . . . oh, oh!"
"Enough, there!" said the little fish. "You'll disgrace all fish."

After the tiny fish had controlled his crying, the little fish continued, "I want to kill the heron and find peace of mind to all fish. But first, I must send you outside so that you don't ruin everything."

"You're dying yourself," replied the tiny fish. "How can you kill the heron?"
The little fish showed the dagger. "From right inside here, I'm going to rip open her stomach. Now listen to what I say. I'm going to start tossing back and forth in order to tickle the heron. As soon as she opens her mouth and begins to laugh, you jump out."
"Then what about you?" asked the tiny fish.
"Don't worry about me. I'm not coming out until I've killed this good-for-nothing."

The black fish stopped talking and began tossing back and forth and tickling the heron's stomach. The tiny fish was standing ready at the entrance of the heron's stomach. As soon as the heron opened her mouth and began to laugh, the tiny fish jumped out and fell into the water. But no matter how long he waited, there wasn't any sign of the black fish. Suddenly, he saw the heron twist and turn and cry out. Then she began to beat her wings and fell down. She splashed into the water. She beat her wings again, then all movement stopped. But there was no sign of Little Black Fish, and since that time, nothing has been heard.

The old fish finished her tale and said to her 12,000 children and grandchildren, "Now it's time to sleep, children. Go to bed."
"Grandmother!" exclaimed the children and grand-children, "You didn't say what happened to that tiny fish."
"We'll leave that for tomorrow night," said the old fish. "Now, it's time for bed. Goodnight."
Eleven thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine little fish said goodnight and went to sleep. The grandmother fell asleep too. But try as she might, a little red fish couldn't get to sleep. All night long she thought about the sea .....