Hello, my name is Bubbles and I am a little fish who lives in the ocean. This is my story, and I hope you enjoy it.
Now, I am a small bright fish with sparkling scales and always love to smile and meet new things under the sea. One day, whilst I was swimming through the beautiful ocean—I cannot look upon anything so more beautiful than the ocean—I felt rather lonely, so I looked about to see if I could find anyone to speak to. I said to myself, “If I see anything moving I will follow it till I catch it.”
At last, far down in the ocean I saw a few bubbles and the fin of something indicating that something was coming to the surface. So I swam after it, and very soon I found it was a lovely crab, whose soft shell glistened with the sparkling water-trees round it, and all its little arms and hands were waving to and fro. It looked so pretty that I asked it if it would let me read its history. “Oh yes,” answered the crab. “Well, then, you must sit upon my back.” So I jumped upon his back, and away we went, dipping in and out of the lovely water-trees way down below till we stopped at a pretty hole in the rock and went inside.
Now it was quite dark, but I felt that a good many little arms and legs were turned over my understanding. Directions were written all over them, and I found every word of them was a frontispiece in history. What a lot of history that soft creature contained! From that I learnt that the crab was called King Crusty, and much I should have liked to go down and read all his history.
When I came out to the surface I was a long time going round and getting my little fins in order. And while I was doing this I found that all the other fish in the ocean came and looked at me, and among them was one of my own species. “Ah, mistress,” said she to me, “when I came into White Sea, oh dear! what a fatigue it was!” But by this time all the fishes and other inhabitants of the ocean were longing for supper, so we parted.
One day, when I was quite sure of the locality, we came and read King Crusty’s history, and he asked us if we would like to go and live in his hole. We thanked him very much and said we should. So away we all went.
Next day after Father Crab’s legs, Fin-fish came and sat on the rock underneath, where Mrs. Fish and I were going on with our work. She looked, oh! such a wonderful quantity of gems lifted up by every motion. There were so many fish, crabs, and shrimps came to the supper given by the old crab. There was one fish that was very comic. When any one questioned him he always answered yes, but whatever was mentioned as an excellent article, he replied, “It’s very good if it was only in the habit of being so.” So I said to him one day that it was a very fine evening. “Yes,” he replied; “and if cows only knew it, they’d give better milk.”
Well, as soon as it was dark the little twinkling stars began to shine, and there was a little whispering and a conversation going on among the fish to see who could guess what ship it was above which had sent out such a large light. At last I found: it was a Flota from Port Pallas. I should like very much to have seen a ship, and I told Krab that I would go up the next evening that I might be there to wish the moon good morrow when she came up.
I was sitting on my favourite rock and looking at the great light, when up it came, all radiant and glorious. I spread out my lovely scales, and they shone and glittered like pearls dipped in gold. The deck of the vessel soon became crowded with people and crabs only waiting on them. Suddenly I heard them calling out, “Launch the small boat; it is, nevertheless, mad carelessness to drown yourself in the ocean, even in the Flota de Pallas. Man cannot live in water; that is certain. I must go back again and tell King Crusty.” So off we went back, very sorry for it, to tell King Crusty. If ever I do go to live in the Queen of Pallas’ Flota, shall I have many fishy acquaintances there? Man is but a poor little creature, that he can seldom, if ever, utter a kind word to a little fish like me, and yet he really loves and takes care of us immortals.