The Defeat of the Famous General by Cowardly Fish
A Poem To Lie
In a land of constant wars
A perfectly undefeated military general
The defeat of the general by a fish was recorded in the country
A poet who is an ordinary traveler
He entered the tavern at dusk and had just finished drinking hisbeer
He had been working on a poetry for quite some time
After hearing a funny anecdote, he decided to begin writingagain
Each time he sat down to write
He wondered how the general could have lost to a fish
Poet could enter the country’s library and look at the records
The poet knows that people believe in lies rather than truth
He bribed the librarian and had all the general’s records burned
Just before the records are burned
The poet had learned the facts of the general
The poet missed a crucial detail in this tale
Poet-heard humorous tale from the common folk
The moment he comes across a different interpretation ofsomething he wrote years ago
Made the decision to depart the nation
Comments (2)
This story is really interesting. It makes you think about how easily people can be misled by false stories. I wonder why the poet was so determined to burn the records. Maybe he thought the truth would cause more problems than the lie. Also, it's curious that he changed his mind after hearing a different interpretation. Do you think there's more to his decision to leave the nation than just that one detail?
A tale where truth drowns in laughter and history bends to rumor the poet’s exile feels like the only honest line left.