The Fisherman and the Koi Fish Woman - by Daniel Grant Newton

Helloooo friend of mine, and friend of creativity and FUN!

Today I'd like to share with you a new drawing I have completed, and the story that inspired it.  

Warning! I have not had any time to edit or refine the story, but I wanted to share it with you anyway, so it might be a little "raw".

First the Story I had leaping from my head...

Once there was a Koi Fish who wanted more than anything to know and explore the world beyond the ripples.  In her youth she had been the pet of a little emperor, living in the palace pond, and the faces that looked down upon her fascinated her.

After a wild storm she had been swept out to sea far from the palace walls, but this fascination with the world of the land dwellers had only grown.

One day this fish swam to a distant coral reef where wishes were said to be granted to those worthy.

There she met a giant jellyfish that shone like a star, so much so that the little fish could not look directly at it.  

The jellyfish saw the dream in the Koi Fish's heart, and said:

"Answer me this question and I will grant you your great desire: which is the greater adventure, the known or the unknown?"

The Koi Fish somersaulted with excitement, and answered, "the unknown of course."

"Koi Fish," said the Jellyfish, "I will give you one cycle of the moon to explore the world above the ripples, and then you will return."

The Koi Fish fell into a restful slumber unlike any fish usually experiences, and woke up to the water lapping against her, lying on the beach.  She was surprised to find she was no longer a fish but in the form of a human woman. 

However, this caused her trouble.  Having never had arms or legs before, she could not move, and even breathing was a strange feeling.

Luckily a fisherman came upon her and brought her to his grandmother's home.  Each day he would visit the beautiful woman that was once a fish, feeding and caring for her, teaching her to walk and move, and even to talk and read.

Together they would explore the land and he would do his best to answer her many questions.  

The fisherman thought the young lady must've fallen overboard and hit her head, because whenever he asked about her past, she told him she could not remember any of it.  And in the end she really did forget her past, and even pondered the validity of the story the fisherman made up to explain her memory loss.

The two grew to love one another, and many cycles of the moon later, the fisherman and the lady confessed this love for each other, and decided to wed.  However, leading up to their wedding, the woman's memory slowly returned until she remembered every last detail of her life before she was human.

The jellyfish's words echoed in her mind all day, and each full moon her skin became more and more scaly.  It was as if with her fish memories her fish body was coming back too.  That is until the sun rose and she could return to her human appearance.  For at this time, the fishy effects were still temporary.

To hide her scales from her fiancé, she would venture out into the woods each new moon.  And each time she did, she would become more and more like a fish woman.

Soon there were sightings of a scaly monster from the deep blue haunting the fisherman's village, and stories were invented to describe how horrid this monster was.  Of course none of these stories were true.  People are afraid of the unknown and fearful people make up terrible stories that become embellished with each retelling.

One example of such a story came from a local trader who said the monster had set a village over the mountains alight, and dragged the bodies into its underwater lair to devour.  That was why, he declared, the wares he had were more valuable, because it was that village that was the main supplier of the items he traded.  This story came from his fear that he would not be able to make ends meet and fulfil his potential as a tradesman.

This fabricated story grew and grew thanks to fearful people until many were saying that there was an army of these fish-like monsters marching across the land and devouring every man, woman and child in sight.  And furthermore, so the stories went, these creatures now had the ability to manipulate the elements: fire, water, earth and air.

Another tall story came from a farmer's wife swore that she heard the monster scratching at their door and moaning it wanted to be let in.  Some skeptical villagers pointed out however that this was likely the farmer who had gone out drinking that very night.

This story however mutated into a story about how the creature had been able to walk through the door as if it were not there, before eating the woman and her children.  And people who never heard the original story were now saying that under this home the creature had made a nest full of one hundred eggs.

The fisherman was not sure what was true and what was not, but he grew afraid for his fiancé's safety, who was known by all to take night walks by the water.  After one night where he could not sleep because the fear had possessed him, he decided to kill the monster.  At the breakfast table the next morning he revealed his plan to his partner.

His fiancé, fearful he may find her in her monstrous form or that she may turn into a fish once and for all, decided in that moment that the next new moon she would attempt to swim to the magical coral reef to see the jellyfish and ask to be made human permanently.

The night finally arrived and she crept through the village and into the water.  Her scales began tightening around her body as they had done before, but as if her body sensed the water, she grew gills and could no longer breath the thick air.

Gasping for breath, she turned to find her fiancé standing behind her, sword poised to strike.  In front of him he saw the scaly monster, but looking into her eyes he saw something he recognised.  He saw his love's eyes, more scared of what he might think than the sword he held.

He lowered his sword and turned his back, confused but coming to realisation.

And with that moment of recognition, she transformed back into a Koi Fish and dove down into the deep ocean, not wanting to look back as she was ashamed of the secret she had kept from him.

To know the ending to this fairytale I conjured in the theatre of my mind, continue to read on, but first...

How that little story landed onto the page...

First I sketched the scene depicting the ultimate dramatic moment of realisation and decision.  The moment the fisherman finds the monster, and realises it is his wife-to-be.

- Then I coloured it in with pencils to highlight what I wanted the eyes to be drawn to and to convey additional meaning through the colour;
- As well as coffee stained the paper to give it an aged look and add to the murky concoction of emotions being stirred in both our protagonists;
- And added in (with photoshop) Japanese characters to give it a storybook/ancient scroll feel.

See below for the before and after shots.

BEFORE
Pre-Coffee and Colour Image of Fisherman and
Koi Fish Woman by Daniel Grant Newton.

AFTER
Post-Coffee and Colour Image of Fisherman and
Koi Fish Woman by Daniel Grant Newton.

So what happened?

Caption: This is a little bit of photoshop I did after for fun.
It gives a very different feel and darker feel to it.
Something that perhaps reflects where this story is
leading us through.

The fisherman returned to the water's edge every night for five years, hoping to find the fish that got away, but each morning he would return disappointed.  

He then travelled the land for two years, searching far and wide for mystics who could tell him something about his fiancée's whereabouts, or bring her back. 

But these efforts were fruitless.

This left him distraught, and he slowly became the village crazy man, no longer eating or washing himself.  Just sitting on the rocks by the water all day looking out at the ocean.

This made him now the source of rumours and tall tales... tales almost as tall as the fish monster woman and this very one you are reading right now.

Meanwhile, the instant his woman turned back into a koi fish, her memories drifted away in the current.  

Although she was typically happy in the following years, on the times when she yearned to explore the unknown as she had once yearned for before, she would feel empty.  It was as if the fish's heart still kept the memory of her lover and other life while her brain did not.

One day the fisherman looked into the water as it and he sat still.  Instead of searching the deep blue for a little koi fish, this time he saw the water reflecting back at him what he had become: a matted beard that tumbled down a hollow chest.

This picture haunted him, and so he staggered down the rocks and to his little boat - a boat that had not seen use for some time.  He launched the boat off the shore and jumped in.

Some days later the boat ran aground into a coral reef, and due to exhaustion, dehydration and starvation, the fisherman fell into the water and sunk to the bottom.

When he woke up he thought he was dead.  It was very dark on the ocean floor, but above him he could see a bright light approaching him.

The light spoke: "Answer me this question and I will grant you your great desire: which is the greater adventure, the known or the unknown?"

The man could not speak.  And in fact, without air to breath, he should have been dead.  But he wasn't, and his mind could only think of one thing: "My love, the known."

Lights like little fireflies descended upon him, seemingly coming from the light above him.  He shut his eyes, finally feeling a peace that he had not felt since his fiancée had swum away.

When he awoke he was a koi fish, and those eyes he had last seen on that fateful day gazed back.  He was home. 

***If you would like to read more stories like this, or see more art like this, put your email in the subscription bar at the top of this blog, and enjoy!  Hope to see you next article :-)