“Oh, I don’t know,” said the alligator. “It doesn’t strike me that it’s much more foolish than the fancies some other people have.”
“Perhaps not,” replied Zixi, more gently, and walked away in deep thought.
While she followed the river-bank, to find a ferry across, the dusk fell, and presently a gray owl came out of a hollow in a tall tree and sat upon a limb, wailing dismally.
Zixi stopped and looked at the bird.
“Why do you wail so loudly?” she asked.
“‘BECAUSE I CANNOT CLIMB A TREE,’ ANSWERED THE ALLIGATOR.”
“Because I cannot swim in the river like a fish,” answered the owl, and it screeched so sadly that it made the queen shiver.
“Why do you wish to swim?” she inquired.
“Because I can’t,” said the owl, and buried its head under its wing with a groan.