Lord Dolphin

by Harriet A. Cheever

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.