Week 12 Story: The Benevolent Whale

A whale spewing water out of its blowhole.

(Source: Photo by Lucy Molleson via Whale and Dolphin Conservation)

There once was a poor farmer that lived on the bank of the Arti River. The farmer's great-grandfather had settled along the river ages ago, where he had first created the farm that his great-grandson tends to this day. Over the past decades, the weather had been getting more and more dry and because it rained less, the strength of the Arti was getting weaker and weaker. The Arti's currents were no match for the inflow of water from the rising levels of seawater at the mouth of the Arti River where the river met the Patel Gulf and emptied into the ocean, and this meant that the water in the Arti was getting exponentially saltier. The farmer, his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather all depended on the water from the Arti to water their crops that were planted along the river, but this was no longer an option for the farmer. Consequentially, the farmer had to downsize his farm, only being able to grow enough crops to feed himself and his wife and son.

Every day for the past two years, the farmer and his son had to walk six tiring miles to get enough water from the town square to water their crops and then they would drink the little that they had left. One day, after returning home from fetching water, the farmer started to water his crops and realized that he poured all of it onto his crops, leaving none to drink for his family. The farmer sat down on the river bank and thought about what he just did and then burst into tears. "Why did you have to become salty? Why did the source of my livelihood have to be tainted?", the farmer cried as he looked at the Arti River. Out of nowhere, a whale that had heard the farmer's cried emerged out of the water and said, "Why are you crying?". The farmer could not believe that a whale was in the river, let alone fathom the fact that it was speaking to him! "I have no freshwater to support my family. If I had water, I could have a bountiful farm. I could grow enough crops so I could sell the surplus and actually make money. I could ensure that my wife and my son were never thirsty. I could have it all like my forefathers, if only this river was not salty."

"Go get the biggest bowl or container that you have", the whale said. "What?", the farmer said with confusion. "Please just trust me!", the whale said. The farmer went and got the biggest vessel that he had and set it next to the river. The whale took a deep breath in and then spewed water out of his blowhole, directing it straight into the vessel. "Drink it", the whale said. The farmer scooped some water into his mouth and could not believe that the water didn't taste salty at all! "Everyday, I travel upstream to a secret cave where there is freshwater. If you can wait, I can come by every other day and bring water for you and your family." The farmer was skeptical of the whale's wish, but with full appreciation, he told the whale that he would wait for him to come by.

The whale held his promise to the farmer and every other day, he would come by and water the farmer's crops and left his family with plenty of water to drink until he returned. Over the next two weeks, the farmer started to plant more seeds and expand his farm because he knew the whale would come, but he wasn't so sure how well they would grow if they didn't receive water every single day. The farmer's wife had a sense of unease because she was nervous that the farmer was investing into his farm when there was no certainty that the whale would continue to come everyday. Because of this, she convinced the farmer into thinking of ways to ensure a constant source of water. They concocted a plan to use all of their savings to fix up their old motor boat and follow the whale so they could move next to the cave and live off the freshwater that it contains.

The family spent their last penny to get their boat fixed and the next time the whale came and brought freshwater to the family, they thanked him and as soon as he swam away, the farmer and his son jumped into the boat and sped after the whale. While they tried to follow the whale as he bobbed in and out of the water, at one point, they lost him. "Where did he go?!", the farmer exclaimed. "I don't know! Speed up and drive that way!", the farmer's son said pointing towards some movement that he saw in the water. The farmer turned his speed all of the way up and out of nowhere, he and his son heard a loud bang and boat jumped up in the air, almost turning over. They looked back and saw the water turning red, watching the body of the dying whale float up as he took his last breath.

Author's Note: This is my version of the story of the Golden Goose, in which there was a poor woman who was having a hard time making ends meet for her two daughters, catching the sight of a goose with golden feathers. The goose told the mother that he would give the mother his golden feathers, one by one, so that she could sell them and provide for her family. The mother and her daughters didn't trust that the goose would continue to return and they were afraid of being poor once again, so they devised a plan to capture the goose and pull out all of his feathers the next time he came by their home. They followed through with their plan, only to see that if the goose's feathers were pulled out against his wish, they turned white and had no value and the goose escaped and never returned again to bring them his golden feathers. I based my story off of the need of a resource that is more valuable than gold: freshwater. I took inspiration from a problem that the Mississippi River is actually facing, in which water from the Gulf of Mexico is creeping into the river, making it more salty. You can read about the saltwater invasion of the Mississippi here!

Source: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt: The Golden Goose (1912)