“But how could the poor Star-fish, with its soft body, attack an oyster, protected as it is by two strong shells?”
“It was said to wait till the oyster gaped, and then to thrust one of its rays in between the valves to suck out the oyster.”
“Oh, mamma!” cried Agnes, laughing; “how very stupid the oyster must have been not to shut its shell and crush the ray, instead of letting itself be sucked out!”
“The story is as old as Aristotle; and, like many other stories told by the ancients, it has been handed down to our times, without any one, till lately, taking the trouble to examine whether it was true or false. I believe the fact is, that when oysters or any other molluscous animals become sickly, they are attacked by Star-fish and other similar creatures, just as a dying snail is attacked and devoured by slugs; but I think with you, that if a Star-fish were bold enough to attack a healthy oyster, it would soon have reason to repent it.”
“I have often thought, mamma,” said Agnes; “what miserable lives oysters and other similar creatures must lead in the sea; fixed as they are to rocks, and incapable of hearing or seeing anything around them.”
“You forget,” replied her mother, “how often I have told you that our Beneficent Creator has provided not only for the nourishment, but for the enjoyments of all his creatures. I think it is Paley who remarks, that when we recollect the happiness we feel when in perfect health and high spirits, without any particular cause, we may easily comprehend the enjoyments of the inferior animals.”
“I can understand that, mamma; and so I suppose that these poor oysters enjoy the warmth of the sun and the flowing of the tide, as much as I do the fresh breeze when it blows against me as I run.”
“Exactly so. Every creature has a capability of happiness adapted to the situation in which it is placed; and when we do not perceive how this is effected, we may rest assured that the fault is in ourselves, and not in the system of Nature.”
While they were conversing in this manner, they had strolled to a considerable distance along the beach, and were beginning to think of turning back, as they were going from the Chine, which they intended to visit before they returned to the inn, when Agnes’s attention was attracted by a splendid mass of tangle, that had been thrown on the beach by the sea; and catching hold of it, she picked up at the same time a little crab not bigger than the end of her finger. The little crab was of a pale yellow, and as soon as it was caught, it began to run sideways as fast as possible. Agnes had often heard of crabs running sideways, but she had never seen one do so before; and the motions of this little creature struck her as so very odd that she burst into a violent fit of laughter. Mrs. Merton came up to know what was the matter; and when she saw the little crab running sideways as fast as possible with only half of its legs, and then back with the other half, she could not forbear smiling also. The next moment, however, she checked herself.
“We ought not to laugh at this little creature,” said she, “since there is nothing really ridiculous that is natural; but it only strikes us as absurd because we are not used to it.”