There once was a great king who loved to fish for giant and rare fish. He traveled all over the world and many seas to fish and catch his beloved trophies. No man in his kingdom could catch a fish better than he. Not that any would dare claim it if they did.
On one fishing trip, the king brought with him a few of his closest confidants to enjoy the trip with him. The king usually did not invite people with him on his trips, except a few select servants to answer his every need. If they were lucky enough to be invited it was just to keep the king company. Never did they actually cast a reel.
On this trip, however, the king was feeling extremely generous this trip and let his confidants enjoy the actual fishing with him. They set out early one morning in the pursuit of rare and exotic fish. The hours dwindled by without so much as a nibble on a line. The king grew impatient quickly, as you can imagine, and was nearing the point of quitting when there came quite a commotion from the other side of the boat they resided in.
A confidant of the king's had caught the most beautiful and large fish that anyone had ever seen or even dreamed of. The king couldn't believe it. Here he sat all day and not one nibble on his line. It was all for nothing as someone below him on the power scale had caught the fish. Who did he think he was? With that, the king had an idea.
As everyone was cheering on the other side of the boat, the king quickly ran and picked up his reel and started pulling with all his might. Or so it seemed.
"Look at the size of this one! And the colors too!" exclaimed the emperor as he fell back on his seat.
He rose up his hands above his head acting as if he held the largest fish that had ever been caught. He wore the biggest smile as he marveled at the size and appearance of his "fish". His companions sat staring at him with looks of confusion on their faces.
"Can you not see it? If not, you must be unfit to see a creature of this size and beauty," reasoned the king.
With that, one by one, the king's confidants started to cheer and exclaim how great his catch was and how much better it was then the other fisher's catch. Later on that day, back at the kingdom, the "fish" was paraded through the streets for all to see. It was eventually hung in the king's chambers, above his throne, where he would proudly tell the story of his mighty catch to all that would listen.
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| A sunfish caught in 1910 weighing almost 3,500 lbs (Wikipedia). |
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Author's Note: This story's inspiration came from
The Emperor's New Suit found in
Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen and translated by H.P. Paul (1872). In the original story, an emperor is obsessed with expensive and fancy clothes. Two con artists come to his city and claimed to make the most marvelous clothes that money can buy. They told the emperor that the cloth they spun would be invisible to anyone unfit for the emperor's office. Of course, the emperor paid them both large sums of gold and no one could see the cloth because there was none. Everyone, including the emperor, faked being able to see it because they did not want to be seen as unfit for his office. I wanted to follow something very similar which is how I came up with the fake fish caught story. I removed the swindlers and just made it where the king himself knowingly was faking it to make everyone still think high and mighty of him.
