Under the shimmering waves, where the sun’s rays danced upon the coral, lived many different kinds of sea creatures. Among them were Nina the Narwhal and Sammy the Seahorse, who loved to play together but frequently wished that their friends would join them.
One sunny morning, Nina raced towards Sammy’s home, excitedly calling, “Sammy! What if we create a game that all our friends can play together? Yesterday, I swam past the octopus, and he looked quite lonely. There were so many eyes looking around from those lovely tentacles of his. And I have not seen Lobster Lou or the Zebra Fish for such a long time. It would be good to ask them all to come!”
“Why didn’t I think of it before?” chortled Sammy. “You’re so clever, Nina! No one can help loving you.”
“We love you just as much, Sammy,” answered Nina, thrilled by this praise from her friend. “Let us call out of our own homes first. Then we can swim round the coral in the middle of our bay, blowing bubbles and ringing the little ship bells there: that will attract everyone.”
So everyone came; even the old Crabs, swinging along with their claws, stuck their heads out of their burrows to hear what was happening.
“What is it?” grumbled one particularly ill-tempered fellow. “Can’t you tell us at once? I’m too busy to stay here waiting.”
“Never mind all those questions. We can’t tell you anything unless you are all quiet and listen for a minute first,” said one of the Zebra Fish.
“Goodness me! have you never been asked to play a game before?” exclaimed one of the Jellyfish.
“What have you got to do in the game?” inquired a small little fish.
“I should like to play,” said Lobster Lou. “We came here as quickly as we could, as you told us to.”
“Oh, we want everybody to play,” exclaimed Nina the Narwhal, “and so we are just telling you about it now. Can you all play together where you live?”
“Oh, yes; I don’t see how any others could crawl into my house,” grumbled Old Crab.
“Then come just as you are. I am sure you will like it.”
“But can’t I take my house?” grumbled Old Crab. “I can’t walk anywhere without it, for I always sleep in it at night.”
“There is always one with a grumble, isn’t there?” muttered one of the Sea Tortoises.
“Well, I hope you’ll do without it,” said the old Fishwife; “only doing what is comfortable for one and that kind of crab is not a friend of mine. If the simple things are not done according to one’s own ideas, people raid against them; one must not be so hard to please.”
“Now let us begin at once,” called out Nina, “for we have made up our game quite differently so that every one can have some good of it.”
Busy hours passed. First, the strong-trunked coral trees were all colored in bright greens: the Sea Tortoises thought that they would be more beautiful with silk, so they took it from the women above the water. Then red satin was hung over the elongated windows, colored fish scraped them with their tails, and the old crabs put some gold and silver china into the rooms so that it shone through the water like the sun. All this was just for the common good.
“Now, little Jessie, you know enough to play our game,” said the old Fishwife as an octopus gave her a sort of a hand with a sunshade made of seaweed which he carried in his tentacles. “Above everything, don’t forget to jingle all the real bells at you pass, so that they sound up to the people above the water.”
This was Old Fishwife’s request, which needs telling first of all. She threw her black velvet mantle over her gown, and then all went with her to Old Crab’s house. There, too, another thing was put into the game, for there were different parties in the people on land; the rich and the poor; and Nina the Narwhal and Sammy the Seahorse, from the upper world, who lived together happily, now wanted to let everyone on earth see, and most of all the children, how all sea animals and fishes used to swim together and play at being a little proud, and that they thought that one side was one.
They took the same idea as each of the two parties on shore: above, the upper world, below the ocean. So Sammy showed off his friend Nina a little, by saying that she was the biggest narwhal in the whole world. “The others are very nice, still they should, at least, answer a little when one speaks to them; and even if one does not want to hear music and trumpets, one ought, at least, think it polite to compose a little entertainment now and then, don’t you think so?” asked Lobster Lou.
“I say something quite different,” said Old Crab.
What they thought about all this, all the fishes told each other at various times when the parties cooled. And as they could all swim across the water like the other, they called out of their feelings one after the other to the people up there.
The little children made as light of the argument as possible, that the fishes and animal’s suit might really bind on them as notable dresses.
But people could not much attend to this; they were too much engrossed with the affair of one single pair, who did not, indeed, quarrel but only let each other know different opinions.
Old Fishwife said: “What we see together in the water is enough to make us feel the loss of much happiness on land; but much falls by the way when one seeks such a person on shore that is agreeable, unftil.”
“I always liked you very much,” said Lobster Lou.
“I think you are the prettiest and most agreeable of all kinds of shells,” said the little striped fish, bowing to both sides when the entrance passages were quite down. They both answered all parties and went to other sea animals and fishes to please them.
“Well, I never,” would every one of them answer, but a pair whom she brought later were so agreeable that Lobster Lou went to her to give her thanks; and soon after the last fell in love with the first. The world a few in each party gained the whole at last when another marriage broke other.
The last are the richest and luckiest of rocks. They were beautiful fishes, but Lobster No’s two first were much older. The small fishes fell in love with every one of them, and some weeks afterwards when an audience was to be given to the diplomatic body above the water to show not only the naked fish but all that is down here under our water world, Lobster Lou himself joined them as the partner.
No other pair had run; no other pair had friends from both parties who could justly make the true friends necessary above and below the water to both but now and then little fishes went from one party to another, causing great excitement.
Finally, there grew from this firstly occur more did provide, not only a pleasure boat, but even what they hit upon in the battle of a sea steam-yacht to sail about in summertime after the authorized ship-journal had given out a bill in the course of the united states to arrange publicity different than much hated the love making in each other’s party and much more little children of a year or two older and natural filled the place together, reproving mill which people of both no soils were invited.
You understand how this ending required a whole big-ca weekly paper at least in America, and the other interesting thing things therein given know like others of our seagrams. But if the first reception party was somebody surprised to be answered quickly in other American she could winter evening. As English journalist says about India, ‘that will make an easy accessible figure for another magazine at the whole of Europe, of the Mr. Charles Kingsley the eight ambassador are to now explore sister seas as much complains at the east coast as the old sea worthy princes then won over all Europe and also Mr. Kingsley exaggerated nothing.
All this without own and length a broken person I never think what they would do to please no other person.
Thus much, with great pleasure I have done to help—presumably to all the rest, little children only certainly not so much felt. It disentangles to any who really would wish to enjoy the spirits of an old people piece quite unforced, nay composed as only those people from Iceland know it.
Does it belong somewhere, or I ought I to say not to belong our piece just now otherwise than short epilogue or prologue which must appear in each week from the beginning of the Georgian to the regeneration day, it seems appropriate that I should now place some pieces from Seaman Adnot Lacetti it well to know of a country one travels, otherwise one knows not how to talk with its party quietly against one hourly sorts from its Old Testamental commerce, heads completely cut off touching countries.
Please mix together our marine children, or rather their reception of Egdarsons text above, of themselves.
And now good night!
“Good night!” said the sea king.