Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, there lived in the river three fishes, named Over thoughtful, Thoughtful, and Thoughtless. And they came down stream from the wild country to where men lived. Now, Thoughtful said to the other two, “This is a dangerous place, where fishermen catch fish with nets and basket traps. Let us go to the wild country again.”

The other two fishes, lazy and so greedy, that they kept putting off their going from day to day, until they had let three months slip by. Now fishermen cast their nets into the river; and Over thoughtful and Thoughtless were swimming in quest of food. In their folly they blindly rushed into the net. Thoughtful, who was behind, observed the net, and saw the fate of the other two.

“I must save these lazy fools from death,” thought he. So first he dodged round the net, and splashed in the water in front of it like a fish that has broken through and gone up stream; and then doubling back, he splashed about behind it, like a fish that has broken through and gone down stream.

Seeing this, the fishermen thought the fish had broken the net and all got away; so they pulled it in by one corner and the two fishes escaped from the net into the open water again. In this way they owed their lives to Thoughtful.