|
It was the dry season. The sky was cloudless and blue
week after week The padi field was drying up. Soon, only
little puddles of water were left. Fish that once swam
freely now crowded into these puddles; hoping to live
through the dry period. Ducks flocked to the padi field
to eat the fish. Often they had so much to eat that they forgot to go
home. One evening they did not return, so Eddie had to
go and chase them home. He rounded them up and shooed
them in the direction of his house. In single file, the
ducks waddled homeward by themselves. The sun was behind
the dark distant hills. Eddie turned to go home too.
Then, he caught a glimpse of something glistening in a
nearby puddle. He went to it and saw a big silver carp.
Its scales were silvery and its fins had a touch of red
at the edges.
Eddie caught it in a second and ran home with the
beautiful carp clasped between his hands. He put it in a
bucket and filled the bucket with water. It lay still at
first. Then, it began to swim. Day after day Eddie fed
it and changed the water regularly. The carp grew
stronger and fatter.
One day his father said to him, "The carp will make a
nice dish for all of us". His mother agreed readily and
suggested fish curry. Eddie's heart sank but he said,
"Let's steam it tomorrow".
"No, let's fatten it for another week," his father said.
Early one morning, Eddie took all the money out of his
piggy bank and cycled to the market. He bought a carp.
He cycled home quickly. Secretly, he buried the
carp he bought in ice and sawdust. When his parents had
gone to bed that night, Eddie took the bucket with his
carp in it and sneaked out of the house.
Finally, he arrived at the canal. He rested a while to
catch his breath. Then, the took a last kook at his
lovely carp, dragged the bucket to the water edge and
tipped it. The carp slid into the canal with the water.
It surfaced, blew a bubble and then sank out of sight.
Eddie shed a tear. |
