Vy Prodaete Rybov? (“Are You Selling Fishies?”)

What the photo shows

The shot was taken on a wet tiled embankment or square; the asphalt glistens with water. In the foreground on the left only the torso of a person in a dark jacket and brown boots is visible; their face is not in the frame. In front of them, on a red base and blue cloth, stand plastic trays and a large clear bowl of small fish. A little further on is another figure with a pink bag in hand.

Around the stall sit about seven or eight cats: a red-and-white one and a striped one on the right, gray and striped ones behind, and a black one by a post. All of them face the fish. It is this attention — patient and unanimous — that makes the image readable without a caption.

Three lines and a joke

The meme is built as a short three-line scene. The cats ask: “Are you selling fishies?” (in the Russian original the joke relies on the deliberately wrong plural “rybov” instead of “ryb”). The seller answers: “No, just showing.” The cats respond: “Pretty.” The last line turns the situation from a hurtful one into a cozy one: the animals are not disappointed but pleased by the spectacle itself.

This humor is called absurd and post-ironic: there is no logic in the dialogue, and no deep meaning should be sought. The very form “rybov” is childlike and cartoonish; it sets the tone of harmless invention right away.

History and discrepancies

The picture came from VKontakte; sources link it to the community “Memy pro Kotov (po rzhat)” (“Memes About Cats, for Laughs”), where other cat templates later appeared as well. According to one version, the first post dates to August 3, 2021; another source says the meme had already taken hold on Twitter in July 2021. The exact date of the first post and the author of the caption are unclear, and the authorship of the photo itself is not credited anywhere. Where and when it was taken is also unknown: it cannot be determined from the frame.

It is known that the meme spread quickly on Twitter, where it was seen as very wholesome, and became the basis for reversed versions: for example, the roles swap and the seller becomes a cat.

Examples in other circumstances

Invented variants in which the “fish” is replaced with something else.

“Are you giving out a bonus? — No, just showing a presentation with a growth chart.” The substitution is clear: what is shown instead of the thing turns out to be a swapped thing.

“Are you releasing the new season? — No, just showing a trailer.” Fans wait, and they are handed beautiful anticipation.

“Are you paying back the debt? — No, just reminding you we have money.” A bitter version, softened by the final “Pretty.”

“Are you giving me this cat? — No, just showing.” A meta version where the cats end up on the other side of the counter.

How best to use it

Keep the three lines and their order: question, refusal with a justification, reaction. Change only the “fishies” item and, if you like, the seller's role. Leave the childlike word “fishies” as it is, since that is what sets the meme apart from an ordinary joke about a stall.

The picture suits topics where something is displayed openly but is not available: salary ranges, announcements, sales, “up to 70% off.” It is not suited to serious debates: the tone is gentle. A wordless version also works well, where the picture alone is sent in reply to an announcement that turned out to be just a display. Then the viewer has to finish the dialogue themselves, which is usually funnier than a ready-made caption. Do not replace “fishies” with plain “fish”: it is the error that makes the tone childlike and kind.