The Fish Who Was Rainbow

The Fish Who Was Rainbow

Once there was a fish

with beautiful rainbow scales,

who was considered

the most beautiful fish

in the sea.

But deep down,

he felt unloved.

Ever since he was young,

the Rainbow Fish had been told

by all of the other fish:

"You are too beautiful.”

“You are too colourful.”

“You are too shiny.”

And this made the Rainbow Fish sad.

And so, one day,

the Rainbow Fish

had a bright idea.

“Maybe,

if I shine a little bit less,

then I will be loved,”

he thought to himself.

And so, the Rainbow Fish

removed one scale.

The next day,

the Rainbow Fish still shone

and sparkled bright,

but now slightly less.

And then he

encountered

another fish close by,

who told him

with a sigh,

“It makes me feel unhappy

and bad about myself

to see you shining

so brightly

with so many scales

and attracting

so much attention.

Do you think

you could remove one?”

And so,

the Rainbow Fish

took it off.

And the other fish

smiled in gratitude.

“Now we look slightly more the same.”

And this made the Rainbow Fish

feel slightly uncomfortable

deep down.

But he thought to himself,

“The other fish

was happy,

so surely

removing the scale

was right.”

The next day,

the Rainbow Fish met another fish.

“I feel so dull

and plain

when I am next to you.”

the fish confided in him.

“I feel that there

is nothing special about me

in comparison.”

And so the Rainbow Fish

offered

to remove

a third scale,

so that he now shone

much less than before.

And this continued each day,

until one day,

the Rainbow Fish had removed every beautiful scale

he had,

and now he blended in

much better

with every other fish in the sea.

But something still didn’t feel right

to him,

deep down inside.

Yes, the other fish

seemed slightly nicer

and friendlier

to him than before,

and felt

less uncomfortable

in his presence.

But the Rainbow Fish thought sadly,

“All the other fish

are so beautiful

in their own unique way.

I wish that they

could see their own beauty.

And I wish that they could see

that my beauty

takes nothing away

from their own.”

And so, slowly and bravely,

the Rainbow Fish gathered

back each scale

he had ever removed

from his life,

until he was

his beautiful, bright,

shiny and colourful self

once again,

and was shining

just as brightly

as before.

At first,

the other fish

were shocked.

"Who are you

to look so beautiful?"

they asked.

“Who are you

to look so colourful?

And who are you

to shine so brightly?”

But the Rainbow Fish

simply smiled gently

and continued swimming along

his merry way.

But there

was one

small change

that he made.

Whenever

the Rainbow Fish

had the chance,

he would find

something to appreciate or admire

in the other fish:

Perhaps the shape of their fins,

or the texture of their scales—

but many times,

there was something to appreciate

that had nothing to do

with how they appeared:

how gracefully

they glided through the ocean,

or how peaceful their presence was.

And slowly, over time,

many of the other fish began to recognise

that all the beauty

they ever saw

in the Rainbow Fish

was really a reflection of their own.

And by shining brightly,

he was giving them

permission to do the same.

And this made the Rainbow Fish happy.

But not all of the fish did.

Some fish

still felt unhappy

when they saw him.

Some fish

still made mean remarks

when they saw him shining.

“You are too beautiful.”

“You are too colourful.”

“You are too shiny.”

And this slightly troubled

the Rainbow Fish.

But deep down,

he knew

that this was not his fault.

And that he was not

responsible

for making the other fish feel more comfortable

or beautiful

by shining less.

And perhaps one day,

they would discover this too.

And this gave the Rainbow Fish comfort.

And then,

one day,

the Rainbow Fish

met another small fish

who he had never seen before

who was

just as colourful

as him.

The small fish said,

“I have never worn

my rainbow scales before.

Ever since I was a little fish,

I have been afraid

of fully shining

and showing

my true colours.

But now that I have met

a beautiful

Rainbow Fish like you,

who is not afraid

of shining

and being seen,

and looking different,

I too have learned

to embrace my beauty.

Thank you for teaching me

that there

is no such thing

as being

'too beautiful,'

'too colourful,'

or 'too shiny.'

None of those things exist.

And thank you for teaching me

to help the other fish

see their beauty

by seeing my own.”

And this made the Rainbow Fish happy.

Words by Tahlia Hunter

Adapted from and inspired by "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister.

Artwork by Catrin Welz-Stein