Once there was a fish who lived in the great ocean， and because the water was transparent and he could always move freely， he didnt know he was in the ocean. Well， one day the fish did a very dangerous thing. He began to think， “Surely I am a most remarkable being， since I can move around like this in the middle of empty space.” Then the fish became confused because of thinking about moving and swimming， and he suddenly had an anxiety convulsion and thought he had forgotten how to swim.

At that moment he looked down and saw the yawning chasm of the ocean depths， and he was terrified that he would drop. Then he thought， “If I could catch hold of my tail in my mouth， I could hold myself up.” And so he curled himself up and snapped at his tail. Unfortunately， his spine wasnt quite supple enough， so he missed. As he went on trying to catch hold of his tail， the black abyss below became even more terrible， and he was brought to the edge of a total nervous breakdown.

The fish was about to give up， when the ocean， who had been watching with mixed feelings of pity and amusement， said， “What are you doing？” “Oh，” said the fish， “Im terrified of falling into the deep dark abyss， and Im trying to catch hold of my tail in my mouth to hold myself up.” So the ocean said， “Well， youve been trying that for a long time now， and you still havent fallen down. How come？” “Oh， of course， I havent fallen down yet，” said the fish， “because， because—Im swimming！”

“Well，” came the reply， “I am the Great Ocean， in which you live and move and are able to be a fish， and I have given all of myself to you in which to swim， and I support you all the time you swim. Instead of exploring the length， breadth， depth， and height of my expanse， you are wasting your time pursuing your own end.”

From then on， the fish put his own end behind him （where it belonged） and set out to explore the ocean.

從前，大海里有一条鱼。由于海水是透明的，而且他总能自由地游来游去，所以他不知道自己在海洋里。有一天，他做了一件非常危险的事。他想：“我一定是一个了不起的生物，因为我可以在这样空旷的空间里随意移动。”接着他就一直思考着游泳的事儿，越想越困惑。突然，他由于焦虑发生了痉挛，以为自己忘记了怎么游泳。

那一刻，他看着自己下方的深渊，如同张着血盆大口，他好害怕自己会掉下去。他想：“如果我可以用嘴抓住尾巴，那我就不会往下掉了。”于是，他把身子蜷缩成一团，去咬自己的尾巴。不幸的是，因为他的脊椎不够柔软，所以他并没有咬住尾巴。他继续尝试着，下方黑色的深渊显得更可怕了，他觉得自己快要崩溃了。

就在鱼快要放弃的时候，大海发话了，他一直观察着鱼的一举一动，他很同情这条鱼，同时又感到好笑。大海说：“你在做什么？”“哦。”鱼回答，“我怕自己掉进黑漆漆的深渊里，所以我试着用嘴抓住尾巴，这样就不会掉下去了。”然后大海说：“那么，你已经尝试了这么久，却还没有掉下去，这是为什么呢？”“哦，我当然还没有掉下去。”鱼说，“那是因为，因为我在游泳啊！”

“哦。”大海回答，“我是宽阔的海洋，你在我里面生活，在我里面游动，因为我你才能身为一条鱼而存在。我已经把我的全部都给了你，供你自由自在地游动，在你游泳的时候时刻支持着你。你不尽情地去探索我的浩瀚和深邃，却在这里庸人自扰地追自己的尾巴！”

从那一刻起，鱼把他的尾巴放到它应放的位置——身后，然后启程去探索整个海洋。

Word Study

transparent /tr?ns'p?r?nt/ adj. 透明的

snap /sn?p/ v. （动物）突然出声咬

A dog was snapping at his heels.

pursue /p?'sju?/ v. 追逐

She pursued the man who had stolen a womans bag.