Fisherman And His Two Sons
One day many years ago, a fisherman's wife blessed her
husband with twin sons. They loved the children very much,
but couldn't think of what to name their children. Finally,
after several days, the fisherman said, "Let's not decide on
names right now. If we wait a little while, the names will
simply occur to us."
After several weeks had passed, the fisherman and his wife
noticed a peculiar fact. When left alone, one of the boys
would also turn towards the sea, while the other boy would
face inland. It didn't matter which way the parents posi-
tioned the children, the same child always faced the same
direction. "Let's call the boys Towards and Away," sug-
gested the fisherman. His wife agreed, and from that point
on, the boys were simply known as TOWARDS and AWAY.
The years passed and the lads grew tall and strong. The day
came when the aging fisherman said to his sons, "Boys, it is
time that learned how to make a living from the sea." They
provisioned their ship, said their goodbyes, and set sail for
a three month voyage.
The three months passed quickly for the fisherman's wife, yet
the ship had not returned. Another three months passed, and
still no ship.
Three whole years passed before the grieving woman saw a
lone man walking towards her house. She recognized him as
her husband. "My goodness! What has happened to my
darling boys?" she cried.
The ragged fisherman began to tell his story: "We were just
barely one whole day out to see when Towards hooked into a
great fish. Towards fought long and hard, but the fish was
more than his equal. For a whole week they wrestled upon
the waves without either of them letting up. Yet eventually
the great fish started to win the battle, and Towards was
pulled over the side of our ship. He was swallowed whole,
and we never saw either of them again."
"Oh dear, that must have been terrible! What a huge fish
that must of been! What a horrible fish. What a horrible
fish."
"Yes, it was, but you should have seen the one that got Away...."