Bluegrass.
Now let us go on with our romance. [To Catharine.] Bring on your fish!
Catharine.
There are as queer fish inside as outside the basket, I’ll warrant you. [She presents the basket to Whetstone; he selects a codfish.] That is a fish in weight and look of much import,—the codfish. He is an aristocrat among the shoals and schools, and he has done much to build up our own aristocracy. [She presents the basket to Scythe, and he selects a Holothurian.]
Scythe.
Why, madam, this is a rare fish, a Holothurian, vulgarly called a sea-cucumber, from its resemblance to that common garden vegetable. I’ll mount its skeleton at once. It is the fish of science, and has the power of analysis; for ’tis written that when attacked, for self-protection it will divide itself into many pieces, or turn itself inside out.
She presents the basket to Bluegrass, and he selects a flying-fish.
Bluegrass.
How beautiful!
Catharine.