Story telling: The brothers, the fish, and the lost fish-hook

I've dwelt in these waters for as long as I can remember. My father, my father's father and even his father's father all lived around the same coral reef. Fishermen would frequent the lake quite frequently, always trying to catch one of us, but we were too smart and avoided their boats. There was one fisherman that was always at the lake and there was something about the hook he used that just entranced you if you got too close. My mom and dad always warned me to stay away from the golden hook if I saw it glistening in the water.

One day, the fisherman's brother followed him to the lake. I had heard some of the birds who gathered near the lake saying that the fisherman's brother was a fearsome hunter.  That day was just like every other one, until I saw the brothers talking intently on the shore of the lake. I was curious what they were talking about that was so serious so I swam closer to the shore so that I was hidden but could see what they were doing. Suddenly, the hunter gave the fisherman his bow and arrows and he instead took the pole and the magical hook and jumped into the boat. I was confused that they decided to switch places and swam back to the reef to tell all my friends what I had just witnessed.

I told all my friends what I saw happen but they told me I was too consumed in the everyday lives of these humans. I agreed they were probably right, that it was nothing too strange, and we started to play hide-and-seek in the reef. While I was hiding behind the reef, I saw something bright come floating towards me quickly! As it got closer, I soon realized that it was the golden, magical fish hook. None of my friends were around to see it and I was sure they would not believe my story. It flew past me and continued to float down towards the palace of Watatsumi. As I watched the magical hook disappear from my view, I realized that it was likely gone forever. The hunter would likely assumed that the hook was too deep in the water to recover. I wondered if the hunter knew the fish hook was magical and how his brother would take the news of it being gone.

Later that day, I saw the fisherman return to the lake to see his brother and return the bow and arrow. I saw no dead animals with him so I assumed his time hunting in the forest had not been successful. It looked like their conversation was escalating and suddenly the fisherman was screaming at the hunter, waving his hands and pointing in his brother's face. He stormed off leaving the sad hunter alone on the shore of the lake. I assumed the fisherman was extremely disappointed in his brother for losing the magical fishhook. I have no siblings, but I could imagine what it would feel like to lose a friend and I can imagine disappointing a brother would be worse by tenfold.

While the hunter sat on the shore weeping, I saw the old man walking across the shore towards him. I had never seen this man before and I was immediately curious what he was doing. I swam a little bit closer to get a better vantage point of their conversation. The old man put his hand on the hunter's shoulder and spoke kindly to him. Eventually, he gestured for the hunter to look out towards the far end of the lake and I suddenly realized what he was telling the hunter to do. I didn't think the hunter would be brave enough for a task like this even if it did mean his brother's forgiveness and acceptance. But without even a thought, the hunter dove into the water and began swimming deeper and deeper. He was headed for Watatsumi's palace.

Wata-tsumi

Author's Note:

I was inspired by the story The Fortune Fish-Hook to re write this story from a different perspective. The one brother is a hunter and the other one is a fisher. Both brothers are extremely talented in their fields. One day, they decide to switch roles and see how they fair at the others specialty. The hunter comes back empty-handed and so does the fisherman except the fisherman lost his brothers magical hook. The fisherman rejects the hunter brother and the hunter goes on a quest to get the hook back. I chose to use a fish living in the lake as the storyteller here. It proved to be a fun take as an outsider watching the brothers switch roles for the day only for both of them to fail at the other's task. I have done this in the past where I retell the story from an animals perspective, sorta like a fly on the wall and it always proves interesting to have an outside perspective on what the characters are doing.

Bibliography
Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).