Explanation
by Sarah Kinebanian
– Mum, what’s fish?
– Fish? Well, fish were creatures that lived in the sea,
living creatures, you know, like rats or cockroaches.
Oh the lovely colours they had!
Orange, rosepink, sandcolour,
all sorts of silvery grey and white,
all sorts of other colours, bright green even.
Some of them were stripey or spotted,
some were all shiny like a rainbow.
Some of them were very big,
much bigger than rats,
and there were little ones too
no bigger than your fingers.
They lived in the sea under the water.
– But how could they live there Mum, under the water?
How could they breathe?
– Perhaps they couldn’t, under the water.
Perhaps that’s why they died ….
Leg het maar uit
door Sarah Kinebanian
– Mam, wat is vis?
– Vis? Ja, vissen woonden in de zee.
Het waren levende wezens, weet je wel
zoals ratten of kakkerlakken.
O wat hadden ze prachtige kleuren!
Alle soorten zilvergrijs en zilverwit,
rozerood, zandkleur, felgroen,
allerlei andere kleuren.
Sommige waren gestreept of gevlekt,
sommige glinsterden als de regenboog.
Sommige waren heel groot,
veel groter dan ratten,
en er waren ook kleintjes
zo klein als jouw vingers.
Ze woonden in zee, onder water.
– Hoe konden ze daar wonen Mam, daar onder water?
Hoe konden ze ademhalen?
– Misschien kon dat niet, ademhalen onder water.
Misschien daarom waren ze doodgegaan . . .