Far out in the sea lived a fish. No ordinary fish, however. He was the wealthiest fish in the entire ocean. His piles of money shimmered with all the glitter of gold.

The other fish admired his stacks of money and called him Trillionaire Fish.

"Come on, play with us, Trillionaire Fish!" But Trillionaire Fish knew the other fish were in a lower class and probably smelled, too. He swam past.

But soon, a little poor fish swam along behind him. "Trillionaire Fish, wait for me! Please give me one of your coins. You have got so many!"

"Give you a handout? What are you thinking of?" cried the Trillionaire Fish. "Get away from me!"

Shocked, the little poor fish swam away.

Still excited, the little fish told all her poor friends about it. From then on nobody wanted any more to do with the Trillionaire Fish.

They turned away when he swam past them and whispered things about "class solidarity" and "when the revolution comes..."

What use were Trillionaire Fish's vast fortunes if they couldn't buy friendship? Now he was the loneliest fish in the entire ocean! One day he poured out his sorrow to the starfish. "I'm so rich. Why doesn't anyone like me?"

"In a cave behind the coral reef lives the Marxist Octopus. Perhaps he can help you," the starfish advised him.

Trillionaire Fish found the cave. It was very dark there. He could hardly see anything.

Then suddenly he saw two glowing eyes.

"I have been expecting you," said the octopus in a deep voice. "The waves have told me your story. Listen to my advice: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. Give every fish one stack of your shiny coins. Then you may not be the richest fish in the ocean, but you will be happy again."

"But..." Trillionaire Fish began to say, but the octopus had already disappeared in a dark cloud of ink.

"Give away my fortunes? But I worked so hard to inherit my wealth, cheat my employees, and scam my customers!" thought Trillionaire Fish, horrified. "Never! No. How could I be happy without my money?"

Suddenly he smelled the stench of the little poor fish. She was back!

"Trillionaire Fish, please don't be angry. Please give me just a few coins, a small sum."

Trillionaire Fish hesitated.

"A very, very small sum," he thought. "Why not, I will hardly miss it."

Trillionaire Fish carefully took a couple small coins out of his wallet. "Here, I'll give you these! But now leave me in peace!"

"Thank you, thank you very much!" burbled the little poor fish. "I'll be able to afford my insulin now. You are kind, Trillionaire Fish." Trillionaire Fish felt quite strange.

He watched the little poor fish for a long time as he swam away happily through the water, juggling the coins.

Soon Trillionaire Fish was surrounded by other fish. All of them wanted to have some glittering coins. Trillionaire Fish shared out his wealth and felt happier and happier as he did so. Finally he only had a couple gold bars left. He had given away all the rest! And he was happy, happier than he had ever been!

"Come on, Trillionaire Fish, come and play with us!" called the others. "I'm coming!" said Trillionaire Fish. He went happily with the other fish.

But soon, the ocean economy was in shambles. The great redistribution of wealth had destroyed the invisible hand of the market. All the jobs the Trillionaire Fish had created vanished overnight. No one had any incentive to work anymore. Production grinded to a halt. Millions of fish starved to death.

But in the dark cave, the Marxist Octopus laughed. His devious plan had worked. Soon he would install himself as Ocean Dictator for Life.

"Hahaha!" he said. "Hahahaha! Hahahahah!"

***