Here's my spin. . .

The fish doctor is actually a dolphin. Unaware that dolphins are not fish and are actually mammals the king entrusts the fish doctor over the care of his beloved wife. The dolphin, realizing the entertainment value of the situation at hand, orchestrates the entire events of the story. Outwitting the Dragon King the dolphin demands the liver of a monkey, the only mammal that falls slightly short of his own intelligence. The events that follow amuse the fish doctor's twisted mind as he initially tricks the monkey, is pleasured by Rin Jin's sorrow from the death of his wife, and takes part in the extracting of the bones and beating of the kurage.