Chinese Fables and Folk Stories/The Fish and the Flowers

THE FISH AND THE FLOWERS

魚花異味

Once there was a Chinese merchant who sold flowers and fish. In the winter time the flowers and fish each had a separate house to live in, but one very cold winter the merchant said to his servants, "I think we must put the lily bulbs in the house with the fish. It is warmer there."

And a thousand and a thousand narcissus bulbs which were growing for the great feast of the New Year were moved into the house with the fish.

This made the fish angry and that night they scolded the narcissus.

"Friends," said the fishes, "this is not your place and we will not have you here.

"We do not like your odor. You will spoil our people. When men pass by our door they will see only you.

"They will never see our family. You can not help or do any good here; so you must go.

"Every day a hundred and a hundred merchants and students come to visit us. If you stand by our door they will surely think the fish are all gone and there is nothing but flowers left.

"We do not want our place to smell so strongly of flowers. We do not like it. It is very bad and makes us sick."

The narcissus answered, "Strange, but we were thinking of that same thing. "Some people say that fishes have a bad odor, but I never heard it said of our flowers. I think I will say no more about it. Let others decide."

Then another flower spoke and said to the one who had been talking, "Hush, sister, this is not our house. We will go to-morrow. Let the fishes say what they will about us, and do not quarrel with them. All people know we are not bad and that our fragrance is sweet."

When the morning sunshine came, the doors were opened, and a thousand and a thousand flowers had blossomed in the night, and the people said, "Oh, how sweet! Even a fish house can be made pleasant. We wish it could be like this all the time."

And one visitor said, "How sweet this place is! Do fishes or flowers five here?" And when he saw, he said, "It is too bad to put delicate flowers in evil smelling places."

Then three students came to buy flowers. The servants brought three pots from the fish house, and the students said, "We do not want pots from the fish house. Give us others. These have a disagreeable smell, like the fishes."

The fishes heard all and were even more angry at the flowers. But the flowers heard and were happy, and they said, "How foolish to quarrel and try to put evil on others."

Ee-Sze (Meaning): The good need no defense. Their best defense lies within themselves.