How Big is the World?

Our fish tank is maybe 4 feet wide, and holds about 20 fish. Of those 20 there are 3 couples, one male and his harem, and 4 clown fish.  The couples stick together and have their little territories within the tank.

One of the couples is of the species Neolamprologus brevis. They have a shell for a house. The female, Samantha, is often in the shell, and the male, Jean-Claude, floats above it to keep guard, but at night they both sleep in the shell together. In another corner there is a couple of Altolamprologus compressiceps, who are tall and flat, gray and brown, and have big under-bites with little teeth sticking out. We named the male “Igor” because he’s so handsome, and we call his girlfriend “Igor’s Wife” (or rather, La Femme d’Igor in French). Igor’s wife never leaves their little domain, which is an area of maybe 7 inches square and a little cave. At feeding time, Samantha will travel maybe 8 inches away from her shell to eat, but usually stays within a few inches of it.

I thought to myself, that must be sad, staying in such a small space all the time. I wondered if they would live in a bigger small space if they hadn’t been abducted from Lake Tanganyika and put in a fish tank. But then I realized that I, as a writer/artist, spend the majority of my time in a 10 by 12 foot room, or more precisely, sitting at a 3 by 5 foot desk focusing all my energy on the, wait let me get a ruler, 8.25 by 13 inch square of light and numbers that is my laptop screen. I have the whole world beyond my desk, but I spend an awful lot of time looking at it through a 8.25 by 13 inch square and not getting out of the house.

I suppose the difference is I’m thinking about the world out there, and I have access to just about anything I want to see through my square of light and numbers. I don’t know if Samantha or Igor’s Wife are thinking about much beyond protecting their future offspring, but if so, I hope their little corners in the tank keep them well enough amused.