Fable

Long ago there was a young man traveling through a small fishing village in the east. Although he was a stranger, he was welcomed with open arms. They gave him a place to sleep and food to eat and only asked him to do a little work in exchange, which he was happy to do.

The next morning they took him out as part of the fishing expedition. Although he did not know how to fish, he learned quickly and was soon catching more fish than any other man in the party.They begged him to stay a night longer and help them fish again. He agreed.

A night became a week and soon a month. The village was able to trade and eat better than they ever had before. The chief took the young man under his wing and into his family. The chief's daughter and the young man grew very close.

Soon it was announced they would marry. The ceremony was simple but festive and the whole village cheered. That night, the newlyweds shared a bed for the first time. It soon became apparent that the chief's daughter was carrying his child. He was very pleased and dreamed of teaching his future son all about the ways of the world and fishing.

Alas, it was not to be. When it was clear to the chief the pregnancy was going well and his daughter appeared to be in good health, he called the young man to his home and told him he had to leave immediately.

The village believed the river they fished belonged to a mighty water god. They had no right to anything they took from the water, which is why they so freely gave away anything they took. It was a means of making amends. The young man had to leave to atone for catching so many fish and for fathering a child who would surely inherit his fishing prowess. He would be killed on sight if he ever returned.

Having no choice, the young man packed his few possessions and made his way out of the village for the final time, weeping for the child he never knew. The chief's daughter knew nothing of any of this. Her father was the chief and therefore not a fisherman and so had lived in the village for many many years and had never told his daughter the ways of the village.

When she was finally told what had happened, she was so distraught she threw herself into the river and drowned. Her spirit was trapped forever underneath. The tragedy tainted the whole village and no fisherman would go near that water again. The town soon fell into chaos and disbanded.

When news of the tragedy reached the young man, he raced back to the village and found it a ghost town. He went to the river and started to fish, trying to catch the spirits of his dead love and child, without luck. He stayed by the river and fished everyday for the rest of his life until he was old and infirm. When the day finally came he could no longer fish, he simply vanished and was never seen again.

Some say, when the moon is full and the stars are at their brightest, you can still see the vague outline of a man with a fishing pole, trying to bring his wife and child into the sky.