The Sea Fairies. Baum Lyman Frank

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СКАЧАТЬ mouth very wide indeed, but his eyes were blue and gentle in expression. The white, stubby hairs that surrounded his face were not thick, like a beard, but scattered and scraggly. From the head, the long brown body of the sea serpent extended to the hole in the coral wall, which was just big enough to admit it, and how much more of the body remained outside the child could not tell. On the back of the body were several fins, which made the creature look more like an eel than a serpent.

      "The girl is young and the man is old," said King Anko, in a soft voice. "But I'm quite sure Cap'n Bill isn't as old as I am."

      "How old are you?" asked the sailor.

      "I can't say, exactly. I can remember several thousands of years back, but beyond that my memory fails me. How's your memory, Cap'n Bill?"

      "You've got me beat," was the reply. "I'll give in that you're older than I am."

      This seemed to please the sea serpent.

      "Are you well?" he asked.

      "Pretty fair," said Cap'n Bill. "How's yourself?"

      "Oh, I'm very well, thank you," answered Anko. "I never remember to have had a pain but three times in my life. The last time was when Julius Sneezer was on earth."

      "You mean Julius Cæsar," said Trot, correcting him.

      "No; I mean Julius Sneezer," insisted the Sea Serpent. "That was his real name – Sneezer. They called him Cæsar sometimes, just because he took everything he could lay hands on. I ought to know, because I saw him when he was alive. Did you see him when he was alive, Cap'n Bill?"

      "I reckon not," admitted the sailor.

      "That time I had a toothache," continued Anko; "but I got a lobster to pull the tooth with his claw, so the pain was soon over."

      "Did it hurt to pull it?" asked Trot.

      "Hurt!" exclaimed the Sea Serpent, groaning at the recollection. "My dear, those creatures have been called lobsters ever since! The second pain I had way back in the time of Nevercouldnever."

      "Oh, I s'pose you mean Nebuchadnezzar," said Trot.

      "Do you call him that, now?" asked the Sea Serpent, as if surprised. "He used to be called Nevercouldnever when he was alive, but this new way of spelling seems to get everything mixed up. Nebuchadnezzar doesn't mean anything at all, it seems to me."

      "It means he ate grass," said the child.

      "Oh, no; he didn't," declared the Sea Serpent. "He was the first to discover that lettuce was good to eat, and he became very fond of it. The people may have called it grass, but they were wrong. I ought to know, because I was alive when Nevercouldnever lived. Were you alive, then?"

      "No," said Trot.

      "The pain I had then," remarked Anko, "was caused by a kink in my tail, about three hundred feet from the end. There was an old octopus who did not like me, and so he tied a knot in my tail when I wasn't looking."

      "What did you do?" asked Cap'n Bill.

      "Well, first I transformed the octopus into a jelly fish, and then I waited for the tide to turn. When my tail was untied the pain stopped."

      "I – I don't understand that," said Trot, somewhat bewildered.

      "Thank you, my dear," replied the Sea Serpent, in a grateful voice. "People who are always understood are very common. You are sure to respect those you can't understand, for you feel that perhaps they know more than you do."

      "About how long do you happen to be?" inquired Cap'n Bill.

      "When last measured, I was seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet, five inches and a quarter. I'm not sure about the quarter, but the rest is probably correct. Adam measured me when Cain was a baby."

      "Where's the rest of you, then?" asked Trot.

      "Safe at home, I hope, and coiled up in my parlor," answered the Sea Serpent. "When I go out I usually take along only what is needed. It saves a lot of bother and I can always find my way back in the darkest night, by just coiling up the part that has been away."

      "Do you like to be a sea serpent?" inquired the child.

      "Yes, for I'm King of my Ocean, and there is no other sea serpent to imagine he is just as good as I am. I have two brothers who live in other oceans, but one is seven inches shorter than I am, and the other several feet shorter. It's curious to talk about feet when we haven't any feet, isn't it?"

      "Seems so," acknowledged Trot.

      "I feel I have much to be proud of," continued Anko, in a dreamy tone; "my great age, my undisputed sway, and my exceptional length."

      "I don't b'lieve I'd care to live so long," remarked Cap'n Bill, thoughtfully.

      "So long as seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two feet, five inches and a quarter?" asked the Sea Serpent.

      "No; I mean so many years," replied the sailor.

      "But what can one do, if one happens to be a sea serpent?" Anko inquired. "There is nothing in the sea that can hurt me, and I cannot commit suicide because we have no carbolic acid, or firearms, or gas to turn on. So it isn't a matter of choice, and I'd about as soon be alive as dead. It does not seem quite so monotonous, you know. But I guess I've stayed about long enough; so I'll go home to dinner. Come and see me, when you have time."

      "Thank you," said Trot; and Merla added:

      "I'll take you over to his majesty's palace when we go out, and let you see how he lives."

      "Yes, do," said Anko; and then he slowly slid out of the hole, which immediately closed behind him, leaving the coral wall as solid as before.

      "Oh!" exclaimed Trot; "King Anko forgot to tell us what the third pain was about."

      "So he did," said Cap'n Bill. "We must ask him about that, when we see him. But I guess the ol' boy's mem'ry is failin', an' he can't be depended on for pertic'lars."

      Exploring the Ocean

      The queen now requested her guests to recline upon couches, that they might rest themselves from their long swim and talk more at their ease. So the girl and the sailor allowed themselves to float downward until they rested their bodies on two of the couches nearest the throne, which were willingly vacated for them by the mermaids who had occupied them until then.

      The visitors soon found themselves answering a great many questions about their life on the earth, for, although the queen had said she kept track of what was going on on the land, there were many details of human life in which all the mermaids seemed greatly interested.

      During the conversation several sea-maids came swimming into the room, bearing trays of sea apples and other fruit, which they first offered to the queen and then passed the refreshments around to the company assembled. Trot and Cap'n Bill each took some, and the little girl found the fruits delicious to eat, as they had a richer flavor than any that grew upon land. Queen Aquareine was much pleased when the old sailor asked for more, but Merla warned him dinner would soon be served and he must take care not to spoil his appetite for that meal.

      "Our dinner is at noon, for we have to cook in the middle of the day, when the sun is shining," she said.

      "Cook!" СКАЧАТЬ