Rudyard Kipling doc Just So Stories: Original Text

IN the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. Heate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, andthe skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirlywhirly eel. All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so! Till at lastthere was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ‘Stute Fish, and he swama little behind the Whale’s right ear, so as to be out of harm’s way. Then the Whale stood upon his tail and said, ‘I’m hungry.’ And the small ‘Stute Fish said in a small ‘stute voice, ‘Nobleand generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?’‘No,’ said the Whale. ‘What is it like?’‘Nice,’ said the small ‘Stute Fish. ‘Nice but nubbly.’‘Then fetch me some,’ said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail.‘One at a time is enough,’ said the ‘Stute Fish. ‘If you swim to latitude Fifty North,longitude Forty West (that is magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea,with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must notforget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, one ship-wrecked Mariner, who, it isonly fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.’So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West, as fast as hecould swim, and on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing to wear except a pair ofblue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must particularly remember thesuspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, he found one single, solitary shipwreckedMariner, trailing his toes in the water. (He had his mummy’s leave to paddle, or else hewould never have done it, because he was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.)Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearly touched his tail,and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and the raft he was sitting on, and his bluecanvas breeches, and the suspenders (which you must not forget), and the jack-knife—Heswallowed them all down into his warm, dark, inside cup-boards, and then he smacked hislips—so, and turned round three times on his tail.