AESOP’S FABLES

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The Fisherman and the Little Fish

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Fable:

A poor fisherman, who lived on the fish he caught, had bad luck one day and caught nothing but a very small fish. 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 worthwhile 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.”

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Moral

A small gain is worth more than a large promise.

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Alternative version:

It happened that a fisherman, after fishing all day, caught only a little fish. “Pray, let me go, master,” said the fish. “I am much too small for your eating just now. If you put me back into the river I shall soon grow, then you can make a fine meal off me.”

“Nay, nay, my little fish,” said the fisherman, “I have you now. I may not catch you hereafter.”

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The popularity of the fable in England was eventually overtaken by the similar story "The Hawk and the Nightingale" –

A Nightingale once fell into the clutches of a hungry Hawk who had been all day on the look-out for food. “Pray let me go,” said the Nightingale, “I am such a mite for a stomach like yours. I sing so nicely too. Do let me go, it will do you good to hear me.” “Much good it will do to an empty belly,” replied the Hawk, “and besides, a little bird that I have is more to me than a great one that has yet to be caught.”

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Alternative version:

The nightingale offers to reward the hawk for its clemency by singing to it. But the hawk answers pragmatically that 'I prefer that you soothe my stomach, for I can live without your songs, but I cannot live without food.'

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By the Middle Ages that sentiment had been encapsulated in the proverb 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the woods', modern day version ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush means it’s better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.

A practical illustration: 'A hair on the head is worth two on the brush.'

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Of unknown origin:

Here’s to America, the land of the push,

Where a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Here’s to Australia, my own native land,

Where a push in the bush is worth two in the hand.