The trout who dreamed of being a salmon
by Jack MacRoary
Genre: Children
Swearwords: None.
Description: Sometimes it's better to bide in home waters.
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Once upon a time (though this isn’t a fairy story) in a small river in Scotland there was a trout. There were lots of trout in the river actually but this trout was special. This trout dreamed of being a salmon. Most of the other trout were quite happy being trout. Happy just swimming around in the river and finding good pools to rest up in when the weather was too hot or cold to make swimming around after something to eat any fun.
Our little trout wasn’t happy though. He’d heard stories. He’d heard about trout who went out to sea. Who had adventures. He thought an adventure sounded like a good thing to have. And as he swam around his family pool he watched the salmon fight their way back up the river and wished he was a salmon too. Yes, he could see that they were brash and boisterous, but he also thought they were brave and beautiful and he so wanted to be a salmon. The trout he lived with were calm and quiet and just lived their lives being trout ‘the way trout were meant to be’. They had no more ambition in life than having enough flies and insects to eat and avoiding being eaten by an otter or caught by a fisherman. The other trout knew their place in the food chain. They knew that otters and fishermen like salmon more than trout, so as long as they were trout they could probably have a long and happy life in the pools and swimming around in the river without all the ‘adventure’ that the boisterous salmon preferred. But in spite of the sense and reason of his trout family, to our little trout the salmon still looked brave and bright and he so wished he could be a salmon just like them.
The little trout knew that while he could swim around in the river snacking to his heart’s content, the salmon, when they came rushing back up river, didn’t eat at all, not all the way to the spawning grounds or all the way back to the sea, and he thought it wouldn’t be fun to be that hungry all the time. But it was a sacrifice he was willing to make because something in him yearned so strongly to be a salmon.
So when the salmon went down the river to the sea, he went with them. He had heard that there were other trout who had tried this before. Not that the trout at home liked to talk about them. They called them ‘sea’ trout. It was a term of abuse. But our little trout ignored all the warnings. He took off down the river towards the sea with the salmon. He had many adventures and was buffeted around a lot in the sea and he was quite frightened a lot of the time. Actually most of the time he was at sea he wished he was back in the calm pool with his friends and family, feeding on flies. But he stuck with it. After all, he was going to be a salmon now. King of fish.
And when it came time for the salmon to come back up the river again, our little trout came with them. Of course he was a bit stronger, a bit more river savvy than he’d been on his way downstream. He fought his way up with the best of them. But when he came to his family pool, he decided to stop for a while and catch up with his friends. He was hungry and he just wanted to stop and have a snack with his friends in his favourite pool. And he wanted them to see that he’d become a salmon and to be impressed by his tales of adventures on the high seas. So he stopped. But instead of being impressed by his tales, they just jeered at him and called him ‘sea trout.’
‘I’m not a sea trout,’ he said, ‘I’m a salmon. I’ve swum down the river and been to sea with the salmon and I’ve come back up the river, so now I’m a salmon, like all the rest.’
And the young trout laughed and the older trout smiled and the oldest trout who had the greatest wisdom, and who had evaded both otter and fisherman for many, many years, said,
‘Once a trout always a trout. I’ve got nothing against salmon, young trout, but going to sea does not make you a salmon. Now you’ve been to sea you are a sea trout. You’ve had the salt water in your gills and the river will never be a place of comfort to you again. You’ve given up the peace of the pool for the rush of the ocean. But you are not a salmon. You will never be a salmon. A trout you were born and a trout you will die. And that’s all there is to it.’
And the trout looked at himself and realised that he’d been very stupid. There was nothing wrong with his life in the river or the pool. But he’d lost it because he’d wanted to be something he never could be and in the process he’d become something he didn’t want to be. And there was no going back.
That’s the end of my story except to tell you the moral. And the moral of the story is that you should be happy to be what you are and not try to be what you’re not.
Swearwords: None.
Description: Sometimes it's better to bide in home waters.
_____________________________________________________________________
Once upon a time (though this isn’t a fairy story) in a small river in Scotland there was a trout. There were lots of trout in the river actually but this trout was special. This trout dreamed of being a salmon. Most of the other trout were quite happy being trout. Happy just swimming around in the river and finding good pools to rest up in when the weather was too hot or cold to make swimming around after something to eat any fun.
Our little trout wasn’t happy though. He’d heard stories. He’d heard about trout who went out to sea. Who had adventures. He thought an adventure sounded like a good thing to have. And as he swam around his family pool he watched the salmon fight their way back up the river and wished he was a salmon too. Yes, he could see that they were brash and boisterous, but he also thought they were brave and beautiful and he so wanted to be a salmon. The trout he lived with were calm and quiet and just lived their lives being trout ‘the way trout were meant to be’. They had no more ambition in life than having enough flies and insects to eat and avoiding being eaten by an otter or caught by a fisherman. The other trout knew their place in the food chain. They knew that otters and fishermen like salmon more than trout, so as long as they were trout they could probably have a long and happy life in the pools and swimming around in the river without all the ‘adventure’ that the boisterous salmon preferred. But in spite of the sense and reason of his trout family, to our little trout the salmon still looked brave and bright and he so wished he could be a salmon just like them.
The little trout knew that while he could swim around in the river snacking to his heart’s content, the salmon, when they came rushing back up river, didn’t eat at all, not all the way to the spawning grounds or all the way back to the sea, and he thought it wouldn’t be fun to be that hungry all the time. But it was a sacrifice he was willing to make because something in him yearned so strongly to be a salmon.
So when the salmon went down the river to the sea, he went with them. He had heard that there were other trout who had tried this before. Not that the trout at home liked to talk about them. They called them ‘sea’ trout. It was a term of abuse. But our little trout ignored all the warnings. He took off down the river towards the sea with the salmon. He had many adventures and was buffeted around a lot in the sea and he was quite frightened a lot of the time. Actually most of the time he was at sea he wished he was back in the calm pool with his friends and family, feeding on flies. But he stuck with it. After all, he was going to be a salmon now. King of fish.
And when it came time for the salmon to come back up the river again, our little trout came with them. Of course he was a bit stronger, a bit more river savvy than he’d been on his way downstream. He fought his way up with the best of them. But when he came to his family pool, he decided to stop for a while and catch up with his friends. He was hungry and he just wanted to stop and have a snack with his friends in his favourite pool. And he wanted them to see that he’d become a salmon and to be impressed by his tales of adventures on the high seas. So he stopped. But instead of being impressed by his tales, they just jeered at him and called him ‘sea trout.’
‘I’m not a sea trout,’ he said, ‘I’m a salmon. I’ve swum down the river and been to sea with the salmon and I’ve come back up the river, so now I’m a salmon, like all the rest.’
And the young trout laughed and the older trout smiled and the oldest trout who had the greatest wisdom, and who had evaded both otter and fisherman for many, many years, said,
‘Once a trout always a trout. I’ve got nothing against salmon, young trout, but going to sea does not make you a salmon. Now you’ve been to sea you are a sea trout. You’ve had the salt water in your gills and the river will never be a place of comfort to you again. You’ve given up the peace of the pool for the rush of the ocean. But you are not a salmon. You will never be a salmon. A trout you were born and a trout you will die. And that’s all there is to it.’
And the trout looked at himself and realised that he’d been very stupid. There was nothing wrong with his life in the river or the pool. But he’d lost it because he’d wanted to be something he never could be and in the process he’d become something he didn’t want to be. And there was no going back.
That’s the end of my story except to tell you the moral. And the moral of the story is that you should be happy to be what you are and not try to be what you’re not.
About the Author
Jack MacRoary, also known locally as the Bard of DrumTumshie, comes from the small farming community of Tattybogle, which he has singlehandedly put ‘on the map’ through his fame. After bursting onto the literary cultural scene in August 2012 when he appeared at the inaugural Edinburgh eBook Festival, Jack now attends DrumTumshie Academy. His current ebooks are Tales from Tattybogle (available from Amazon here and Kobo here) and More Tales from Tattybogle (available from Amazon here and Kobo here). He is also the first McStorytellers McSerial writer.
Jack lives on a farm with his dad, mum, older brother John and a range of animals and pets, including Dug (the cat), Bisum (the dog) and Micro (the pig). His ebooks give an insight into rural life, as well as providing an insightful commentary on Scots culture.
Follow Jack on Facebook here.
Jack lives on a farm with his dad, mum, older brother John and a range of animals and pets, including Dug (the cat), Bisum (the dog) and Micro (the pig). His ebooks give an insight into rural life, as well as providing an insightful commentary on Scots culture.
Follow Jack on Facebook here.