Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 14 The Fish Story
You might think that fish are fish all the time and can't thrive anywhere but in water, but if you go to Australia and talk to black people in the desert in the middle of that country, you'll hear something quite different s things.They will tell you that a long, long time ago, you will meet fish crawling around on land, hunting all kinds of animals.

It's unbelievable when you think about how a fish's body is constructed.How smart fish are to be able to do this.Indeed, fish are so clever that they would still be hunting other animals today, were it not for a terrible incident.

One day, a whole tribe of fish returned from a hunting expedition.They were very tired, and looked about for a cool and nice place to pitch.It was very hot, and they thought they couldn't find a more comfortable place than under the big trees on the bank of the river.So they lighted a fire and cooked on the bank of a steep river.There is a deep pool at the base of the river bank below.After the fire was built and the rice was cooked, they all stretched out and lay down lazily under the tree.Just as they were about to fall asleep, a large black cloud, which they hadn't noticed before, spread out and hid the sun.The rain began to fall in big drops, and the fire was almost extinguished.You know, in those very primitive countries, it's a very serious thing.They have no matches, and it is very difficult to rekindle the fire.To make matters worse, a icy wind blew up, and the poor fish were frozen cold.

"This is not going to work," said Saki, the eldest of the tribe, "unless we can light the fire again, we will freeze to death." He told his two sons to put two sticks together Rubbing, hoping to light a flame.Although they were all exhausted, not a single spark was wiped out.

"Let me try it," cried Tarpon Biernuja.But its luck wasn't much better.Bream quin paul is the same as all other fish.

"It's no use," cried Saki at last, "the wood is too wet. I guess we'll just have to sit and wait for the sun to come out again and dry it out." At this moment a very small fish—very small indeed, The fish, not more than four inches long, and the youngest fish in the tribe, bowed before Saki, and said, "Call my father Gadhu, the cod, to light the fire. He is better at magic than most fish." So Saki Kee let it light the fire.Gadhu peeled off a few pieces of bark from a tree, put them on the ashes that were not completely extinguished, and knelt by the fire for a long time, until at last the faint red light became a little stronger , showing signs of curling at the bark edges.Seeing this scene, other fish in the tribe gathered around.Their backs shielded them from the biting wind, but Gadhu told them to stand on the other side, because he wanted the wind to blow the fire.Soon after, the spark turned into a flame, and there was a cheerful crackle.

"I need more firewood," Gadhu cried.So they all ran to gather firewood and piled it on the fire.The flames jumped, roared, and crackled.

"Now we'll be warm again soon," the fish said to each other, "Gadhu is great." They closed around again, and they got closer and closer together.Suddenly, a gust of wind roared across the hillside and blew the fire on them.They jumped back in a hurry, completely forgetting where they were standing, and all fell over the bank.They rolled in a heap until at last they rolled into the pool below the bank.Oh, how cold it is in the black water where the sun never shines through!After a while they felt warm again, for the fire which had been carried away by the strong wind fell with them to the bottom of the pool, where it burned as vigorously as before.The fish gathered around the fire just as they had on the top of the cliff, and they found that the flames were as hot as before, and that the fire, like the fire on land, would never go out.So now you will understand why, on a bitterly cold day, if you dive deep under the icy surface, you will find it warm and comfortable down there, and regret not being able to stay there.

(End of this chapter)