Three fishes lived together in a lake. Although the three were together, they were each very unique. They had contrasting characters and argued over small things all the time.
But they were happy. And soon they had grown up into a bigger fishes.
The first fish always dwelt in the past and was very lazy. This fish didn’t believe in preparing for the future. If there’s something quite opposite to the phrase, “Prevention is better than cure,” the first fish was it!
The second fish lived for the present. This one was a little bit wise and tended to make some good decisions in the last minute.
The third fish was an intelligent one. It usually did a lot of thinking, made wise decisions and always carried smart and interesting ideas, suggestions and plans to live happily and safely.
One day, as the three were playing in the lake, the third fish heard two men talking about fishing. The third fish called the other two fishes to hear the fishermen’s talk.
The first man said, “This is a big lake. For sure it has big fishes. Why don’t we try fishing here and enjoy our time?”
The second man replied, “Yes, that’s a good idea. I love to cook and eat the fresh fish. Let’s make it tomorrow noon then!”
And they left.
“See? They are planning to catch us,” the third fish told the other two fishes. “We should go to some other place to live safely. I already found a route that will take us to the nearby canal and we may then reach a new lake.”
The second fish said, “Yeah, I too heard those men’s plan. But they may not actually return or may end up going fishing at another place. Let’s plan things out tomorrow when they actually come here – if they ever come back at all.”
“Nah, let’s just ignore it,” the first fish said. “Let us have some rest now, instead.”
The third fish, the intelligent one, was determined to pursue his plan. Alone, he started moving to the other lake through the secret way he had earlier discovered. The other two fishes stayed behind.
The next day the two fishermen came. The second fish saw them fishing, and the fish began planning to escape. But before it could move farther, the fish got caught in the fishing net that the men had cast in the water.
The fish panicked and couldn’t think what to do. Then, as its only recourse, it acted dead. The men picked it up, checked it a bit, and then threw it back into the lake. The fish quickly escaped – but it was so close.
The first fish, the lazy one, had no idea about the return of the men. It was just sleeping around all the while. Soon enough it got caught in the fishing net. It was too late to think of a way to escape. The men picked up the fish from the net and threw it into the basket. It was the end of the poor lazy fish.