Every time I take the bicycle to the kindergarten to drop off or pick up my son, we stop by the biggish pond on our way. There are a lot of lotus growing there, and hiding among them are carp fish. We park the bike by the fence, and each time there are carps coming to great us (or more probably coming anticipating food, but it is more fun to think they are coming to say hi to us). All the fish are greyish brown, except for one red beautiful fish that we have seen only once. My son and I have made up a story around this pond and this fish, and here it goes:
One early morning a big bird came flying over the pond. It was one of those beautiful white herons that you often can see walking in the rice fields looking for food. This particular heron was holding a big watermelon in its beak. It is told that the heron had gone to Itoshima and come across a big field of water melons. In the field there was one particularly beautiful watermelon. Although normally not too fond of melons, the heron could not resist this one and so snatched in it passing, to the great distress of the watermelon farmer who had put all of his efforts into making this watermelon the most special one he had ever grown. The heron thought it would bring the melon home and feed its family as a special Friday treat in the evening. Passing over the pond however, the heron was too hungry and thought that just a little bite in passing would not be such a terrible thing, and so the heron tried to take a little nibble of the watermelon. Alas, the watermelon broke in two and half of the watermelon fell down into the pond (the other half the heron swallowed).
A little later a dad and his son came cycling, stopping by the pond on their way to the kindergarten. Every time they passed the pond they stopped to say hello to the carps. This day however, to their surprise, what they saw was half a watermelon lying in the pond [this is the true part of the story]. They were wondering how in the world a watermelon could have ended up there and of course what would happen to it. They had no idea that a greedy heron had dropped it, nor that when they had continued their ride towards the kindergarten, one of the big carp fishes came and ate all of the watermelon.
Later that day, when dad and son were on their way home from kindergarten and stopped by the pond, they were curious to see if the watermelon was still there. But what they saw instead surprised them: among all the brownish grey fish was swimming one beautifully shining red carp. Dad and son could not stop watching, never before had they seen such a gorgeous majestic fish. When the red fish finally disappeared among the withering lotus plants, dad and son promised each other that come Monday they would take the bike to kindergarten again, and make plenty of time to look at the red carp.
Days passed however, weeks passed, even months went by, and the red fish did not appear again. Dad and son almost gave up, but then suddenly, on the day marking the one year anniversary of the unlucky heron’s watermelon flight, the red fish became visible again. And ever since, every year on that particular day, the carp that ate the watermelon sheds its normal color and turns bright red to the joy of dads and little boys cycling by.
But what about the heron? you say. What happened to the heron? Well, the heron pooped a lot of watermelon seeds onto a rice filed close to home, and ever since that area has been famous for its tasty red watermelons. And for its bright red herons.
End of story.
Share this story: