Grimm's Household Tales

The fishes had been discontented for a long time because no order prevailed in their kingdom. None of them turned aside for the others; all swam to the right or the left as they pleased, or darted between those who wanted to stay together, or got in their way; and a strong one gave a weak one a blow with its tail that drove it away, or else swallowed it up without further ado. “How delightful it would be,” they said, “if we had a king who enforced law and justice among us!” And they met together to choose as their ruler the one who could cleave through the water most quickly and give help to the weak ones.

They placed themselves in rank and file by the shore, and the pike gave the signal with his tail, at which they all started. Like an arrow, the pike darted away, and with him the herring, the gudgeon, the perch, the carp, and all the rest of them. Even the sole swam with them and hoped to reach the winning place. All at once the cry was heard, “The herring is first!” “Who is first?” the flat, envious sole, who had been left far behind, screamed angrily. “Who is first?” “The herring! The herring,” was the answer. “The naked herring?” cried the jealous creature. “The naked herring?” Since that time the sole’s mouth has been on one side as a punishment.