Fish №31 (2021) Sculpture by Hakaro

Fish No. 31. "Vomer Magnificent". Material: wood, metals, plastic. Size: 50x35x3.
Fish No. 31 was born in 1960 in the Bay of Cardenas on the island of Cuba. He was called" Magnificent " thanks to one funny incident that happened to him at the end of October in 1964 and forever changed his taste preferences. Fish No. 31 was very fond of chewing tobacco leaves, which were floating around in abundance. Delicious Cuban tobacco leaves will not leave any vomer indifferent and Fish No. 31 also adored tobacco leaves, especially those that were "soaked" in salty ocean water for at least two weeks. And one day in October, the well-known Comandante Che Guevara and the equally famous Fidel went fishing on the still cheerful yacht "Granma" near Santa Cruz del Norte. The Olympic Games in Tokyo have just ended, where the island of victorious socialism managed to win a silver medal in the 100-meter race, and Che and Fidel were hotly discussing this great event. According to custom, Che did not take the cigar out of his mouth and when no more than 5 cm remained from the cigar, he slyly narrowed his right eye and said to Fidel: I bet Fidel that I will catch a fish with this cigarette butt now? Either from the heat, or the comandante was seasick, but Che unhooked the lure, began to stick a cigar butt on the hook without even putting it out. Fidel laughed loudly and fixed his Lamiglas on board the old Granma, shouted to Che Guevara: Try! If you catch a fish on a cigar butt before noon– I'll shave off my beard, and if it's not on the deck of the yacht, then you'll eat this box of cigars! Che glanced at the almost whole box of "Montecristo" lying next to him on the folding table and nodded approvingly to Fidel with a predatory smile. Fidel's guards also smiled, anticipating further events. Che threw the spinning rod and leaned back in his chair, thoughtfully rubbing the bridge of his nose. All the actors sat down along the side of the yacht and froze in anticipation. It was an hour and a half before noon…
... And meanwhile, Fish No. 31, chewing on a tobacco leaf, slowly sailed past the"Granma" going on the smallest. "Oh, now I would like something else delicious..." he did not have time to think, as a cigar butt, exuding the aroma of delicious tobacco, floated past him at a depth of two meters. "This is happiness!"- flashed through the reckless fish head, and he rushed to the cigarette butt...Spinning Che bent a little, then even stronger. Che smiled, Fidel got up from his chair and scratched his beard, the guards looked sad…The comandante began to work with a spinning reel. More, a little more and now Che has confidence that the fish has caught thoroughly. Poor vomer realized his mistake too late, but he did not lose hope. He continued to struggle with the insidious hook that caught him on the upper lip on the right. Left, right, down, but the hook did not let go and the bright sunlight was getting closer and closer through the water...And finally Che Guevara jerked the spinning first to the right, then up, and everyone who was on the deck saw a flat transparent blue fish of 5 kilograms desperately dangling at the end of the fishing line. Fidel squeezed his beard with such force that he even screamed in pain…The guards ran around and waved their hands. Che was laughing contentedly and admiring his prey and suddenly at this apotheotic moment the vomer with the last effort twisted out and with a twitch of his tail jumped off the hook of the Cuban revolutionary and plopped into the water…
…While Fish No. 31, which miraculously escaped from Che Guevara, was rushing away from the scene of events, a dispute had been going on on the deck of the Granma for two hours about whether the comandante should have cigars or shave Fidel's beard…Finally, the revolutionaries, hoarse and tired of arguing, decided to leave everything as it is…Since the fish was caught, but did not end up on the deck, Che Guevara will not eat cigars, and Fidel will not shave his beard, which has already suffered so much from the experiences…Well, happy Fish No. 31 after this incident received the name "Magnificent" from his relatives and never again closer than 101 km. I did not swim to the island of Freedom. I also had to stop with tobacco leaves. They are too expensive…