The Fisherman And The Little Fish

{
  "kind": "story",
  "canonical_url": "https://ririro.com/fables/the-fisherman-and-the-little-fish/",
  "slug": "the-fisherman-and-the-little-fish",
  "story_dirname": "fables--the-fisherman-and-the-little-fish",
  "section_slug": "fables",
  "title": "The Fisherman And The Little Fish",
  "author": null,
  "publisher_label": "Ririro",
  "source_version": "unknown",
  "content_type": "story",
  "language": "en",
  "summary": "\"The Fisherman And The Little Fish\" is a short Aesop fable about a struggling fisherman who, after a fruitless day, catches only a tiny fish. The little fish pleads for its life, promising a far greater meal once it has grown. The fisherman faces a simple but sharp choice: release what he has for the promise of something better, or hold on to what is certain. The story builds its tension around a very human temptation — and the fisherman's blunt reply cuts straight to the point.",
  "body": [
    "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.”",
    "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."
  ],
  "body_text": "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:\n\n“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.”\n\nBut the Fisherman quickly put the fish into his basket.\n\n“How foolish I should be,” he said, “to throw you back. However small you may be, you are better than nothing at all.”\n\nAesop 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.",
  "theme_slugs": [],
  "listing_memberships": [
    {
      "type": "author",
      "slug": "aesop",
      "title": "Aesop",
      "url": "https://ririro.com/author/aesop/"
    },
    {
      "type": "category",
      "slug": "aesop",
      "title": "Aesop",
      "url": "https://ririro.com/category/aesop/"
    }
  ],
  "reading_meta": {
    "reading_level": null,
    "age_band": null,
    "read_time": null
  },
  "media": {
    "has_audio": false,
    "has_pdf": true,
    "has_images": true
  },
  "asset_refs": {
    "pdf_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Fisherman-And-The-Little-Fish_CompressPdf_1_2_CompressPdf.pdf"
    ],
    "audio_urls": [],
    "image_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/de-visser-en-de-kleine-vis.jpeg"
    ]
  },
  "breadcrumbs": [
    "The Fisherman And The Little Fish"
  ],
  "scraped_at": "2026-05-07T12:41:47+00:00"
}