The story is about a fish with shiny, multi-colored scales named the Rainbow Fish. He has blue, green, and purple scales; and among them, he has shiny silver scales he is always fond of, until one day, a small fish asks him if he could have one, but the Rainbow Fish refuses in a very rude manner. The other fish are very upset about his behavior and don't want to play with him anymore. Feeling upset, his only remaining friend, the starfish, tells him to go visit the wise octopus for advice. The Rainbow Fish finds the octopus and asks what he should do. When he goes to the cave, he sees the octopus. And when he meets the octopus, she says that she has been waiting for him. She explains that the waves have told her his story. Then, she tells Rainbow Fish that he must share the beauty of his scales with his friends (which means "to give one glittering scale to each of the other fish"). She tells him to share his scales with each of the other fish. And she continues to him that he may no longer be the most beautiful fish in the ocean, but he will discover how to be happy. When he encounters the small fish a second time, the Rainbow Fish gives him one of his precious scales and, seeing the joy of this little fish, immediately feels much better. Very soon the Rainbow Fish is surrounded by other fish requesting scales and he gives to each of them one of his shiny scales. Finally, in the end, despite having one shiny scale left (as he has given them all away to the other fish), he becomes very happy.
