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saving fish from drowning

A little tale from Amy Tan's latest novel of the same title. It was delightful read, which embodied a skilled literary development of characters and a prismatically colourful narrative style. The curious title (which no doubt helped move many volumes off the shelves) came from this intriguing folk apologue at the beginning of her book:

"A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fish. I place the fish on the bank, where they flop and twirl. "Don't be scared," I tell those fish. "I am saving you from drowning." Soon enough, the fish grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fish expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fish to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fish."