Now who ever heard of a fish's setting up and telling his own story...I am not a bit proud but just a good natured chap that has decided to spin a sea yard for the amusement, and I hope the instruction, it may be of young Folks, being perfectly willing that older Folks should hear it too, if they like.
By : Harriet Anna Cheever
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Now who ever heard of a fish's sitting up and telling his own story!
Oh, you needn't laugh, you young Folks, perhaps you will find that I can make out very well, considering.
Of course I have been among "Folks," else I could never use your language or know anything about you and your ways.
A message is not received direct from the depths of the sea very often, and especially from one of the natural natives. And then, there are very few fishes that ever have an experience like mine, and travel from one continent to another, going both by sea and by land.
You surely will open your eyes pretty widely at that, and wonder how a fish could go anywhere by land. Have patience and you shall hear all about it by and by.
I was born deep down in the Mediterranean Sea. That long name is no stranger. You have seen it many a time in your geographies. But could you tell the meaning of it, I wonder? I can! It means "Midland Sea," and is so named from being so near the middle of the earth.
If the Mediterranean Sea should be pulled up and away, together with the space it occupies, my! what a hole there would be in the big round earth!
Nowadays, even the little Folks hear a great deal about Europe. Some of the family have very likely been there. Perhaps even small John or Elizabeth have themselves crossed the great ocean, sailing on a fine steamer to the coast of England or Ireland.
Oho! if you had fins and could spread them like sails, and cut through the water like a flash, you would have a very different idea of the word "distance" from what you have now.
I know "Folks" do not think it very nice to talk much about one's self, but if there is no one else to introduce you, and it is necessary that those with whom you are talking should know the truth about you, it can be plainly seen that the only thing to do is to tell the personal story as modestly and as truthfully as possible.
When first I saw the light, deep down in the sea, I was quite a little fellow, and had a mother that took splendid care of me. She never had but one child at a time, and that one she watched over and tended with much affection until it was fully able to take care of itself.
My name is Dolphin, and the Dolphin family is a large one. One branch is of a very peculiar shape, and has a long and pointed nose or beak from which it is called the "Sea Goose," or the "Goose of the Sea." I belong to that branch, but as to being a goose, allow me to say I never was one and never shall be, not really and truly.
My head is round, and so large that it forms almost a third of my whole body. Many Folks travelling by water have seen Dolphins, as once in awhile we are obliged to toss our heads up out of the water in order to breathe, as we have lungs. Yet it is not necessary for us to breathe as Folks do, and we can blow out water in an upward stream from little holes that are over our eyes.
My colors are fine, dark, almost black on my back, gray at the sides, white and shiny as satin underneath.
There are strange things about a Dolphin. One is that when one is about to die, the colors are very beautiful. In growing faint-tinted where once dark, new and brilliant shades flash forth that change and glow in showy tints. In our beak are thirty or forty sharp teeth on each side of the jaw. Our voices are peculiar. We are said to make a kind of moan, which you know is not a very cheerful sound. This is strange, as we are really very lively creatures, and bright and happy in disposition, not at all moany or sad.
Then we have a kind of small tank or reservoir inside the chest and near the spine which is filled with pure blood. This, you must know, is separate from the veins, and if we stay very long under water we can draw from this reserve supply, causing it to circulate through the body.
There is a great deal of wisdom in all this that a poor fish cannot understand, but Folks must know how these strange things come about, and who makes and guides all creatures everywhere. But a Dolphin cannot take it in at all.
We are a merry, friendly tribe. There probably are no fish that swim the sea that are fonder of Folks than we Dolphins. And we cannot help feeling quite proud because of what Folks have appeared to think of us. And I must explain why I do so grand a thing as to call myself "Lord Dolphin."
To begin with: In long years past, in "ancient times," as they are called, Folks had an idea that we were able to do them good in some ways, and so were of special value to them. And certain old coins or pieces of money had the figure of a Dolphin stamped on them. It also was on medals, which, you know, are of gold, silver, and copper, and are given to Folks as a reward for having done a good or a brave deed.
The figure of a Dolphin was also sometimes embroidered on ribbon to be used as a badge, showing that the wearer belonged to a particular society or order using the Dolphin as an emblem. Or it might be, again, that the figure showed one to be a member of an ancient or noble family.
Then there are strange and attractive stories of "myths," imaginary forms or persons, like fairies, gods, and goddesses. When you are older you will study about these ancient, make-believe beings, and the study will be called myth-ology, telling curious, interesting stories about the myths.
Apollo, one of the so-called deities, was a myth, and said to be the god of music, medicine, and the fine arts, a great friend of mankind; and a great favorite I was said to be of Apollo's.
Orion, another myth, and a most exquisite player of the lute, so charmed the Dolphins with his playing, that once being in great trouble and throwing himself into the sea, a Dolphin bore him on his back to the shore.
Some Folks have called us whales. But we are not whales at all, and are of an entirely different family. Yet I am a big fellow all of eight feet long, while some of us are still much longer than that.
But the chief cause of pride with the Dolphins is the notice that has been taken of us, and the honor shown us by the royal family of France. Why, we formed at one time the chief figure on the coat of arms of the princes of France.
A coat of arms, perhaps you know, is a family crest or medal, having on it a figure or device which a high-born family adopts as its particular sign or emblem of nobility.
Then the French people once named a province of France for us, calling it Dauphené, and pronounced Dor-fa-na.
But greatest of all the honors shown us, is the fact that the little men-babies born of the French kings, and heirs to the throne of France, were called "the Dauphin," taken from our name.
Are we not distinguished? And do you wonder that we have a somewhat exalted idea of ourselves after such honors as these have been heaped upon us? And do you think, in view of these facts, that I am taking on too grand a title in announcing myself as "Lord Dolphin"?
Dear me, I do hope not! It would be such a pity to make a mistake right at the outset in telling a story. For truth to tell, I am not a bit proud, but just a good-natured chap that has decided to spin a sea-yarn for the amusement, and I hope the instruction, it may be, of young Folks, being perfectly willing the older Folks should hear it, too, if they like. And I don't believe the smaller Folks will object to the title, even if they don't have "lords" in this country. It must be they are all lords here, all the nice men-Folks.
Do you wonder what I live on? Fishes, of course, for we do not have a very great chance at getting other kinds of food under water. I like herrings best of all, and feed on them oftener than on any other kind of fish.
There is just one fellow that I cannot endure. That is the flying-fish. I fight, make war on him, and drive him away every time he comes around. Oh, but he is the trying creature! Forever flying in your face, getting in your way, prying into your affairs, a kind of gossip-fish, that I despise. Why I feel so great a dislike for him I cannot say, it must be there is something in my nature that sets me against him, but a flying-fish and a Dolphin cannot live along the same wave.
There is another page in my history that must be mentioned.
Several hundred years ago our flesh used to be eaten, and what is more, it was thought to be fine, so that only those who had a great deal of money could afford to have it on their tables. But nowadays we are never used for food, but are thought to be coarse, and not nearly as nice as most other kinds of fish.
All right! We are very glad not to be in danger of being devoured. We go sailing along under the bright surface of the sea, in groups of just ourselves, and such leaps as we can take! By and by, you will hear of leaps I have taken which have been the means of my learning a great deal.
Away we scud, passing ships that think they are going pretty fast, but, O Neptune! our fins and tails take us along at a spanking rate, which makes the ships seem slow.
In one thing we are much like Folks. Don't laugh, please, but we are very, very fond of music. Sometimes we catch the sound of voices singing on a vessel, and up we go, leaping fairly into the air to get as near the sound as possible.
And should there be a violin, a guitar, flute, or a cornet—oh, yes, I know them all!—on a passing vessel, we float alongside just far enough under water to keep our bodies out of sight, while we take in the strains in our own peculiar way. For although our ears might be hard to find, we yet absorb or draw in sound very readily.
And now that you know quite a little about the Dolphin family, I will tell you some things that may interest you about my watery home. For home, you know, is wherever one lives, whether it be in the air, on the earth, in the earth, or in the waters under the earth.
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