you, thank you,' said the shark, showing all his great ugly teeth
as he grinned with delight; 'you can't guess how happy you have made
me,' and he swam away into the shadow, hoping to sleep away the time
till the monkey came again.

* * * * *

For weeks the monkey and the shark breakfasted together, and it was a
wonder that the tree had any fruit left for them. They became fast
friends, and told each other about their homes and their children, and
how to teach them all they ought to know. By and bye the monkey became
rather discontented with his green house in a grove of palms beyond the
town, and longed to see the strange things under the sea which he had
heard of from the shark. The shark perceived this very clearly, and
described greater marvels, and the monkey as he listened grew more and
more gloomy.

Matters were in this state when one day the shark said: 'I really hardly
know how to thank you for all your kindness to me during these weeks.
Here I have nothing of my own to offer you, but if you would only
consent to come home with me, how gladly would I give you anything that
might happen to take your fancy.'

'I should like nothing better,' cried the monkey, his teeth chattering,
as they always did when he was pleased. 'But how could I get there? Not
by water. Ugh! It makes me ill to think of it!'

'Oh! don't let that trouble you,' replied the shark, 'you have only to
sit on my back and I will undertake that not a drop of water shall touch
you.'

So it was arranged, and directly after breakfast next morning the shark
swam close up under the tree and the monkey dropped neatly on his back,
without even a splash. After a few minutes--for at first he felt a
little frightened at his strange position--the monkey began to enjoy
himself vastly, and asked the shark a thousand questions about the fish
and the sea-weeds and the oddly-shaped things that floated past them,
and as the shark always gave him some sort of answer, the monkey never
guessed that many of the objects they saw were as new to his guide as to
himself.

The sun had risen and set six times when the shark suddenly said, 'My
friend, we have now performed half our journey, and it is time that I
should tell you something.'

'What is it?' asked the monkey. 'Nothing unpleasant, I hope, for you
sound rather grave?'

'Oh, no! Nothing at all. It is only that shortly before we left I heard
that the sultan of my country is