A poor Fisherman, who lived on the fish he caught, had bad luck one day and caught nothing but a very small fry. The Fisherman was about to put it in his basket when the little Fish said:
“Please spare me, Mr. Fisherman! I am so small it is not worth while to carry me home. When I am bigger, I shall make you a much better meal.”
But the Fisherman quickly put the fish into his basket.
“How foolish I should be,” he said, “to throw you back. However small you may be, you are better than nothing at all.”
Credits
Aesop was an ancient Greek storyteller, believed to have lived around 620–564 BCE, whose fables have been retold across cultures for over two millennia. His tales typically feature animals in brief, punchy scenarios that close with a moral observation about human nature. "The Fisherman And The Little Fish" is one of his more economically told fables, delivering its lesson — a small certainty is worth more than a large promise — in just a handful of lines.
