Short story: The Adventures of Mr. Perch

Mr. Ca Ro has lived in the pond for a long time. The crabs and fish here, no one knows how old he is. Even he probably forgot his birthday. His whole life has been attached to this small pond, he knows every blade of moss, every pebble by heart. Now, he wants to try to step out into the big world outside.
Everyone tried to stop him because this adventure was too dangerous, but when they saw that Mr. Ca Ro had made up his mind, they all agreed to help because besides him, no one in this pond had enough courage.
The Catfish remembered that in the corner of the pond there was a broken glass fish tank that someone had thrown in, which could be used to hold water. The three Catfish brothers spent half a day pulling the tank out, which was half buried in mud. Moss covered the glass walls, making the Fish Cleaners work hard to clean it all. Mr. Ca Ro swam around the tank, looking very satisfied.
Yellow Dog, who often went to the pond to drink water, was very familiar with the people here and enthusiastically volunteered to be the guide. He also found an old human baby walker somewhere, put the fish tank on it and could pull it everywhere. To be safe, the people of Ao Dam area also asked the Sparrow to follow and escort them.
The weather on the day of departure was beautiful, the air was cool, the sky was blue, and a gentle wind blew the reeds along the shore. Yellow Dog rolled the fish tank onto the cart, and the frogs collected water on the taro leaves and filled it up. Finally, White Stork used her long beak to pick up Mr. Perch and put him in the tank, not forgetting to add some dogtail seaweed.
Mr. Perch swam around the pond, checked the food he had prepared, then waved his fin to say goodbye to everyone. The baby Yellow Dog shouted, “We’re leaving!”

***

From Ao Dam to Canh Dong is a long way. The sunlight makes the water in the pond evaporate and dry up. Mr. Ca Ro looks quite tired but does not complain. He said that when he gets to the pond, he can add more water and it will be fine. However, Cho Vang is still very worried, if this continues, Mr. Ca Ro will be in danger.
Mr. Ca Ro told the Sparrow to fly ahead to scout the way, to see if there was water and then come back to report. Meanwhile, the Yellow Dog pushed himself into the shade to avoid dehydration. He looked at the cloudless sky and sighed. It would probably be a long time before it rained, so he would have to rely on the Sparrow.
The sparrow walked for a while before returning to announce: “There is a pond nearby. I will lead the way. Follow me!”
Golden Dog hurriedly pulled the cart behind Sparrow. The Lotus Pond had only a few flowers left in bloom at the end of the season. When Sparrow told them about Mr. Perch, everyone in the Lotus Pond gasped in amazement. Snail stretched out his long whiskers as if to see Mr. Perch more clearly: “You are really brave!”
While everyone was asking questions, a group of mice helped pour water into the tank. When they finished, it was already dark, so the Yellow Dogs stayed at the Lotus Pond for the night. That evening, the Lotus Pond people treated them to a sumptuous meal under the sparkling light of fireflies and the chorus of insects.
Saying goodbye to Ao Sen, Mr. Ca Ro’s caravan set off again. The three “people” crossed green hills and white sandy beaches. Before, the beautiful scenery and peaceful atmosphere, Se sighed: “I heard that humans have something called a camera that can record these images. If only we had one, we would have brought it back for everyone in Ao Dam to see.”
“I have recorded this moment and will tell them about it,” said Mr. Ca Ro. “Imagination is far superior to any machine in the world.”
That afternoon, the group went to a vast rice field; the golden rice fields stretched out as far as the eye could see. Golden Dog couldn't help but exclaim happily: "This year's harvest is good, the people are well fed. Hey, where are you going, Sparrow?"
The sparrow chirped in the afternoon to understand.
Rice is the Sparrows' favorite food. There were countless grains scattered in front of them. Sparrow suddenly felt hungry and flapped his wings to collect them. Mr. Perch smiled kindly, wagging his tail, "What a child". Yellow Dog looked at Sparrow's eager appetite and also laughed "bear bear".
The evening light shining on the fish tank suddenly dimmed as if it was blocked by something. A dark gray shadow swooped down from the sky, crashing straight into the fish tank. Before Yellow Dog and Mr. Perch could understand what was happening, Mr. Perch was pulled up into the sky. Only then did Yellow Dog realize that it was a Cormorant. It must have observed from afar, seeing that this prey had no way to escape, so it calmly attacked like that. Yellow Dog barked frantically, but the Cormorant had already flown high into the sky. On the ground, Yellow Dog might be a fierce warrior, but against an opponent who could fly in the sky, he was defeated, only able to "bear, bear" below without being able to touch a single hair of the enemy. He was so panicked that he cried out loudly, calling for Sparrow to come.
Mr. Perch was also very frightened when he was suddenly pulled out of the water, but he quickly calmed down. “It’s not often that a perch gets to fly up into the sky like this.” He thought to himself: “I must take advantage of this opportunity to admire the scenery from above. I’m old anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I get eaten now. I just regret not having the chance to tell stories to the children at home.”
The Stork flew across the field, and Mr. Ca Ro also glided on the wind. He looked down at the beautiful, prosperous homeland, at the farmers working hard, at the clear sky and the white clouds. A gentle happiness crept into his heart; he felt his life was complete.
“Swoosh!” The sparrow flapped its wings, intending to stab the Coc to force it to release the Catfish, but the Coc was too fast, easily avoiding the sparrow’s desperate attack. The sparrow flapped its small wings in front of the Coc, taunting: “You look so big, but you don’t dare to block one of my attacks?”
Coc has always been arrogant, not bothering with a small bird like Se. He wanted to fly in another direction, but Se blocked him and provoked him: "You coward, if you're so good, then play with your bare hands. You must be scared because you're so mute, right?"
Hearing this, Coc could not hold it in any longer and roared: "You're done for, brat."
As soon as it opened its beak, Mr. Perch fell straight into the water channel in the rice field below. The sparrow saw him hit the water and stopped bothering with Coc and flew into the rice fields. The little sparrow was no match for Coc, running away was the best strategy. Coc realized he had been tricked but it was too late. He searched around for a while and then left.
The sparrow led Mr. Perch back to the shore where Yellow Dog was anxiously waiting. After getting Mr. Perch into the tank, Yellow Dog carefully picked up some rice flowers to cover the tank mouth, to avoid being attacked by a Cormorant again.

***

“So this trip we got to travel by land and by air.” Mr. Ca Ro laughed heartily, blowing out big bubbles, telling about the adventure. His children and grandchildren listened with round and flat eyes, as if they were absorbing every word, all admiring his courage. From then on, in the Ao Dam area, Mr. Ca Ro was given the nickname “Mr. Tendon Fish”, which was passed down to later generations.

Dinh Phuong Ly