An Allegory Overheard in the Woods

Two fish forget for a moment that they are fish. One of them thinks that it is a bird, so tries to fly from the water. The other, thinking that it is a rodent, tries to scurry across the beach. The fish that tries to fly flops briefly out of the water but tumbles almost immediately back in. The fish that tries to scurry across the sand, however, is never able to return to the water. It flops about on the beach for a while, until finally it grows tired and falls asleep. It never wakes back up. Since other fish witnessed the surviving fish try to fly, they tease it relentlessly to this day. Since no fish saw the other fish try to scurry across the beach, however, it has been entirely forgotten.