“Why don’t you come down here?” suggested the fish. “It stands to reason that it must be much more amusing in the water.”
“I should be drowned; I can’t swim like you.”
“How dreadfully ignorant,” remarked the fish.
The little boy was rather hurt at this, and made no reply.
“Well,” continued the hoarse voice from below, “if you like to come with me, I can show you some of the most wonderful things in the world; you can hold by my tail and I’ll pull you along. You can’t drown so long as you don’t let go.”
The little boy was much tempted.
“But are you sure you won’t leave me?” he asked anxiously.
“Goodness, no,” replied the fish, “I’ll see that no harm comes to you. You are evidently a shockingly ignorant child, and it would be real charity to show you something of the world. Come along and don’t be silly.”
The little boy looked round to see that there was no one near, then he slipped over the side and, in another minute, was in the sea and holding firmly to the tail of his new acquaintance.
Away they shot through the clear water; it was not nearly so cold as it had looked, and the rapid motion was very exciting.