A Fish Story

A FISH STORY

PERHAPS you think that fishes were always fishes, and never lived

anywhere except in the water, but if you went to Australia and talked to

the black people in the sandy desert in the centre of the country you

would learn something quite different. They would tell you that long,

long ago you would have met fishes on the land, wandering from place to

place, and hunting all sorts of animals, and if you consider how fishes

are made, you will understand how difficult this must have been and how

clever they were to do it. Indeed, so clever were they that they might

have been hunting still if a terrible thing had not happened.

One day the whole fish tribe came back very tired from a hunting

expedition, and looked about for a nice cool spot in which to pitch

their camp. It was very hot, and they thought that they could not find a

more comfortable place than under the branches of a large tree which

grew by the bank of a river. So they made their fire to cook some food,

right on the edge of a steep bank, which had a deep pool of water lying

beneath it at the bottom. While the food was cooking they all stretched

themselves lazily out under the tree, and were just dropping off to

sleep when a big black cloud which they had never noticed spread over

the sun, and heavy drops of rain began to fall, so that the fire was

almost put out, and that, you know, is a very serious thing in savage

countries where they have no matches, for it is very hard to light it

again. To make matters worse, an icy wind began to blow, and the poor

fishes were chilled right through their bodies.

'This will never do,' said Thuggai, the oldest of all the fish tribe.

'We shall die of cold unless we can light the fire again,' and he bade

his sons rub two sticks together in the hope of kindling a flame, but

though they rubbed till they were tired, not a spark could they produce.

'Let me try,' cried Biernuga, the bony fish, but he had no better

luck, and no more had Kumbal, the bream, nor any of the rest.

[Illustration: How The Fish got into the Water]

'It is no use,' exclaimed Thuggai, at last. 'The wood is too wet. We

must just sit and wait till the sun comes out again and dries it.' Then

a very little fish indeed, not more than four inches long and the

youngest of the tribe, bowed himself before Thuggai, saying, 'Ask my

father, Guddhu the cod, to light the fire. He is skilled in magic more

than most fishes.' So Thuggai asked him, and Guddhu stripped some pieces

of bark off a tree, and placed them on top of the smouldering ashes.

Then he knelt by the side of the fire and blew at it for a long while,

till slowly the feeble red glow became a little stronger and the edges

of the bark showed signs of curling up. When the rest of the tribe saw

this they pressed close, keeping their backs towards the piercing wind,

but Guddhu told them they must go to the other side, as he wanted the

wind to fan his fire. By and bye the spark grew into a flame, and a

merry crackling was heard.

'More wood,' cried Guddhu, and they all ran and gathered wood and heaped

it on the flames, which leaped and roared and sputtered.

'We shall soon be warm now,' said the people one to another. 'Truly

Guddhu is great'; and they crowded round again, closer and closer.

Suddenly, with a shriek, a blast of wind swept down from the hills and

blew the fire out towards them. They sprang back hurriedly, quite

forgetting where they stood, and all fell down the bank, each tumbling

over the other, till they rolled into the pool that lay below. Oh, how

cold it was in that dark water on which the sun never shone! Then in an

instant they felt warm again, for the fire, driven by the strong wind,

had followed them right down to the bottom of the pool, where it burned

as brightly as ever. And the fishes gathered round it as they had done

on the top of the cliff, and found the flames as hot as before, and that

fire never went out, like those upon land, but kept burning for ever. So

now you know why, if you dive deep down below the cold surface of the

water on a frosty day, you will find it comfortable and pleasant

underneath, and be quite sorry that you cannot stay there.

Australian 'Folk' Tale.