"Selfish"

A friend, Ninniku (Nini for short) asked me today:

"Why is selfish called selfish.. i wonder? Fishes are not solitary creatures leh, they swim in schooools."

My answer (a very innovative one) is as below:

"Maybe there is some old wife's tale abt how an old maid was helping a fish monger to sell fish for the summer and when the villagers know abt it, they asked her to help them sell other stuff too, like crabs, prawns & etc. And though the old maid had lots of time, she did not have the desire to be helpful to the others coz they did not pay her a single penny to help them out, so she turned them down.

One day, the old maid was selling fish as usual and the other villagers were selling their own stuff but there was some commotion in another part of the village and they went to look-see, all but the old maid.

Then came the Ma-tah (policemen) on their patrol and at the sight of them, the old maid packed up her fishes and ran off, leaving the other villagers' goods to be conviscated by the policemen.

So thereafter, the villagers all called the old maid the "SELFISH" one."