Romeo helping the fish out of the reeds may have been true, but the Grimm Brothers’ story neglects numerous details. For instance, Romeo did release the fish, but only after they “agreed” to make a deal with him. They either owe him a favor in the near future or perish. Now, because fish are somewhat stupid, they persistently said no as the slowly faded to the next life. So since the “negotiations” didn’t work, Romeo decided to resort to fear. Sleeping nearby in some shrubbery was a friend of his, a bear named Bonjo who later became head of his royal guard. There were five fish in total, and one by one, each one was untangled and fed to the bear until only one was left. The last one finally pledged her allegiance and was released back into the pond. But Romeo made one final statement. If the fish did not fulfil her part of the bargain, he would go and kill the rest of her family and eggs.
So time passed and eventually Romeo summons the fish to help him retrieve the ring from the sea for him. The fish almost died doing it, but Romeo didn’t care. He got what he wanted out of her. After the crowd left, the fish came back to the surface to make sure Romeo would not touch her babies. He responded with, “A promise is a promise.” So she went back home thinking that her family was safe. Wrong! Two days after I visited her for her testimony, two freshwater sharks, hired by Bonjo, came in and ate her as well as her new born babies. She had no chance.
