Fish That Nearly Drowned

[Music] [Music] Hello. You must be surprised to hear me speak, but the thing that happened in our aquarium the other day would make anybody talk. A fish almost drowned. It doesn't sound possible, does it? Because everyone knows that fish live in water. Then how in the world could a fish drown? Let me answer this question in the story of the fish that nearly drowned. [Music] Now let me introduce myself. I am Sylveris the [Music] sheepfish and this is David our great friend who takes care of us. He's very kind. I have never seen him eating even one little worm. The worms, as you know, are so [Music] delicious. In our aquarium, there are all kinds of fish. This is Guppy, a real beauty, isn't she? And this is Enrique, an angel fish from South [Music] America. These are neon fish. And this one is black molly, who is also from Latin America. We all live as one happy family. Well, most of the time. [Music] And this is the hero of our story. His real name is Fighting Fish, but we call him Cochril. He comes from Asia and is a remarkable [Music] fish. Look, he breathes air. Not many fish can do that. See how he swims to the surface for each breath he [Music] takes. Back home, he lives in rivers and flooded rice fields. Because he can breathe air, Cochril is able to live when these waters dry up, as they often do. And even when there is plenty of water, he still needs air. He simply can't get along without it. Being able to breathe air can come in quite handy. It happened that Cochril was soon to become a father. Watch how he is going to use air to prepare a home for his new family. First, David put Cochril and his mate in a separate aquarium. And then they started to build a house made from air bubbles. You must have heard the expression castles in the air. They say it's very easy to build them, but not so easy to build a real house from air bubbles. for their expected children. Father Cochril and his mate spared neither time nor energy. He didn't even stop to eat. And if the expectant mother relaxed a little, Cochril soon got after [Music] her. Finally, a magnificent nest of air bubbles was built. Then father and mother put each little egg between [Music] bubbles. And for 36 hours, Cochril watched and took care of [Music] them. At last, the eggs hatched into newborn fish. They were so tiny they couldn't swim yet. One might think these tiny fighting fish would drown because they need air, just like cockro, but with such a father, they have nothing to fear. See how he takes them in his mouth and puts them back between the bubbles so they can get air. [Music] Fortunately, the childhood of a fish is very short. And soon the youngsters were on their own. [Music] The father's job was now finished and Cochril came back to our aquarium. Everybody was looking for his return. But while he was away, a rival of his appeared in the aquarium. This is also a fighting fish, only a dark blue one. [Music] It wasn't long before they got into a fight. [Music] Now you know why they call them fighting [Music] fish. I don't know how it would all have ended if David hadn't partitioned our aquarium in order to separate the two fighters. [Applause] Now we finally come to the event I started to tell you about. It happened on Sunday. David went outside for a game of ice hockey. In our aquarium, the day began as usual. I would even say rather well. Everything would have been all right if David had fastened the glass [Music] [Applause] better. Look, our cockril is trapped under the glass. He can't come up for air, and he has to have air. Something must be done in a hurry. Where's David? Oh, where on earth is that [Music] David? Cochro is gasping for [Music] air. Where is David? The other fighting fish can get all the air he wants on his side of the partition. But poor [Music] [Applause] cockro. David. David. Cochril is starting to drown. Help. Help. A fish is drowning. David, hurry. [Music] Hurry. Not only cockro, but we all drew a sigh of relief. So, this dreadful incident ended happily after all. As you see, our cockro feels fine, none the worse for his ordeal. Now, I must say goodbye, my friends. I hope you've