An odd-job man called Tim was in the habit of wandering the land with a fish in a bowl of salt water. The fish was a large flatfish. Tim was willing to do all kinds of work. One day an astronomer asked him to fix his radio telescope. Tim tried hard but had to admit defeat. The next day he went back to try again, but discovered that the radio telescope had already been fixed by another odd-job man who was also called Tim and who also had a fish in a bowl of salt water. “Don't be too upset,” said the second Tim to the first. “Just because we have the same name and the same kind of fish doesn't mean we have equal abilities.”
¶ There is a Tim and a plaice for everything.