A Gentle Underwater Stroll

This is a calm sea.
In the middle of an endlessly spreading ocean.

When I look up, the sunlight from the sky
shines through faintly, and the reflected light
glitters and looks dazzling.

Inside the sea,
various fish swim as they please.

Migratory fish that swim at incredible speeds
without ever stopping.

Fish that swim leisurely with their large bodies.

Fish that swim gracefully with colorful bodies.

Fish that hide quietly in the shadows of rocks.

Fish that swim in schools.

Fish that spend their time comfortably
among the coral reefs.

They have various appearances and ways of spending their time.

Tuna and bonito
are always moving busily.
Why are you so busy?
When I asked that,
"We can't live if we don't keep moving,"
they answered.
It seems they can't breathe if they don't keep swimming.

It must be tough not being able to relax.
Even if they are dignified and cool,
it looks painful to keep swimming forever.

Just as I was thinking that,
a moray eel poked its head out.
As I was a little surprised by its stern face,
"Ah, sorry for surprising you.
I didn't mean to scare you."
it called out to me.

It seems it wanted to talk.

"Because of how I look,
I end up scaring everyone.
Actually, I'm timid and very cautious,
so when someone comes close suddenly, I get scared
and end up threatening them."

So the moray eel was timid and shy.
When I replied with that,

"That's right.
I'm just living quietly in the rock shadows,
but when someone approaches suddenly, I feel danger
and bite.
Sometimes I bite out of a defensive instinct,
but being called a 'gangster of the sea' because of that
is a bit unfair, you know.
I wish people wouldn't judge me by my looks."

The moray eel looked stern,
but it had a gentle personality.
Well, if you feel danger,
you might brace yourself and bite.
You can't judge by looks alone.
Even beautiful fish can have deadly poison, after all.

When I said that, the moray eel
nodded with a satisfied look
and returned to the shadows of the rocks.

There are still so many things
I don't know.
Pretending to know everything
and making assumptions might be a loss.

Thinking about such things,
I continue to swim as I please again today.