Fish Tales and the Chiefs Call to Initiation

                                             by MKC Jo Ledbetter

    In 1993 I took a vacation to Sri Lanka.  Although most of the population speaks English, I selected a tour guide to help me make the most of my “Island experience”.  The guide asked a few questions about my hobbies and interests.  I answered all of his questions appropriately.  Then he suggested that I purchase a seat on a charter boat and do some fishing.  This sounded like a great idea to me.  So off we went.

    While underway, my sponsor helped me select lures from a huge inventory in the boat’s tackle box.  He told me I would have to pay an additional fee for any lures that get snagged and lost.  I consider myself a pretty good fish slayer, so I wasn’t too worried about it.  He patiently taught me some casting methods used in the local area.  

    While my tour guide was showing me the available tools and cultural techniques for successfully catching fish in this part of the world, he made it perfectly clear that making my own decisions was always the best option.  I chose to stick with my tried and true fishing habits.  I lost seven lures and three baited hooks during the voyage.  I was extremely humbled and frustrated by my silly errors considering that we were only underway for about four hours.  Losing that tackle cost me more in pride than it did in cold cash.  I realized that the guide had been very successful at catching fish before, so I mimicked his technique for the last hour of the trip.

    On our way back to port, I caught a very large, strange looking, fish.  My sponsor told me that this particular fish is called a yo-yo, due to its continual ascending and descending as it swims through the water.  The fish truly behaved like a child’s yo-yo, as if it could not make up its mind of what depth to swim at.

    After mooring up, the guide and I walked ashore from the charter boat.  We strolled east down the beach about 300 yards.  We could still see the fishing village as the sun began to set behind it.  It was a beautiful sight to behold, and a wonderful backdrop for an evening on the beach.  I prepared the fish with the help of my sponsor by cleaning all of the “stuff” out of the middle.  I chose to remove the scales and the skin.  Then we marinated the fillets in a recipe that the tour guide helped me create.  My sponsor told me that the marinade is similar to soup or stew.  Each time you prepare it, it has a different flavor.  Most of the time it’s delightful, but sometimes it turns out much tastier than other times.  Depending on the spices you add or leave out, it can have a bitter taste.  Careful attention must be paid to content and proportion.  The marinade consisted of exotic spices and herbs that I have never heard of.  It smelled wonderful, but I was still very skeptical.

    We prepared a fire over which I cooked the fish.  I continually basted our dinner with the delicious smelling marinate that we had prepared.  All the while my sponsor told stories about the rich history of Sri Lanka.  He spoke about famous leaders and history of the island, funny stories about his culture, the Buddhist religion, even tales of people, like me, that had hired him as a tour guide in the past.

    The guide collected some fruit and vegetables from the surrounding area.  He prepared them to eat with the fish.  Then he announced that dinner was almost ready.  This was wonderful news, because I was tired of cooking, famished and exhausted from the day of sun and fishing.  Quite frankly, I was worn out.  We removed the fish from the fire and moments later we both began to eat.  

        The vegetable tasted somewhat bland, similar to a potato or yam.  The fruit was sweet and juicy, the identical flavor of very ripe plums.  I took a tentative bite of the fish fillet.  The yo-yo fish tasted incredible.  It was surprisingly delicious!  I have never tasted anything like it before in my life.  It was spicy and sweet at the same time.  The unique flavor was delectable.  The texture was purely delightful.  

    I attempted to describe the flavorful experience to my sponsor as tasting somewhat like a cross between a sea bass and a flounder, but not quite.  He said that bass and flounder do not swim in Sri Lanka.  I went on to describe these two fish at length.  He didn’t understand at all.  I drew pictures depicting the two species of aquatic animals in the sand.  He looked confused and replied with a phrase in his language that I didn’t understand.  I asked him if that was some kind of Buddhist prayer or chant.  He replied that it was an old aphorism, which translates to, “I hear…I forget.  I see…I remember.  I do…and I understand”.  I understood.

    I have described this wonderful meal experience the best I can.  You now comprehend how the meal tasted, how beautiful the setting, how interesting the cultural interactions were.  You can understand, especially, how delicious a yo-yo fish tasted.  Can’t you?  

    No, no you can’t!  You couldn’t possibly!  You certainly have a good idea of how the yo-yo fish tasted FOR ME.  But until you actually take a bite, and your taste buds experience the flavor, you will never know how it will taste FOR YOU.  I could continue my sermon concerning the delectability of the yo-yo fish, supporting the voraciousness of my statements in order to convince you.  But until you actually taste the fish for yourself, you will always possess a modicum of doubt.  The Chiefs Call To Initiation is not very different from catching and cooking a yo-yo fish.  

    I went through the CCTI with five other Chiefs.  All six of us accomplished the same tasks.  We all contributed community service at the same time, day and place.  The six of us each had a competent sponsor.  When we reminisce about it now, years later, we all realize that the CCTI had a different flavor for each of us.  We each had a very unique experience.  Even though we were all tasked with the same assignments, we (figuratively speaking) caught the same type of fish.  We prepared and cooked our fish using the same recipe.  Even so, the fish tasted different to each of us.  One thing is certain however; while participating in the CCTI, we all took a bite of the fish!  We all experienced the Chiefs Call to Initiation for ourselves.

    If you have the opportunity - Take a big chomp of that fish!  Only then will you understand the adventure for yourself.  It’s perfectly fine with me if you never even take a nibble.  Perhaps you already know that you don’t care for the taste of fish.  But, if you don’t actually take a bite for yourself, you will never convince me that you know what it tastes like.  You couldn’t possibly.  You are not qualified, because you have never had conscious contact with the experience.  

    Just as my wise tour guide in Sri Lanka conveyed that he couldn’t possibly understand what a sea bass or flounder tastes like.  “Those fish do not swim in Sri Lanka”.  He never enjoyed the experience for himself.  Why not take a bite?