ngratulations to the bride and bridegroom and to wish them a
long and prosperous life. Never had there been such an assemblage or
such gay festivities in the Fish-World before. The train of bearers
who carried the bride's possessions to her new home seemed to reach
across the waves from one end of the sea to the other. Each fish
carried a phosphorescent lantern and was dressed in ceremonial robes,
gleaming blue and pink and silver; and the waves as they rose and fell
and broke that night seemed to be rolling masses of white and green
fire, for the phosphorus shone with double brilliancy in honor of the
event.

Now for a time the Dragon King and his bride lived very happily. They
loved each other dearly, and the bridegroom day after day took delight
in showing his bride all the wonders and treasures of his coral
palace, and she was never tired of wandering with him through its vast
halls and gardens. Life seemed to them both like a long summer's day.

Two months passed in this happy way, and then the Dragon Queen fell
ill and was obliged to stay in bed. The King was sorely troubled when
he saw his precious bride so ill, and at once sent for the fish doctor
to come and give her some medicine. He gave special orders to the
servants to nurse her carefully and to wait upon her with diligence,
but in spite of all the nurses' assiduous care and the medicine that
the doctor prescribed, the young Queen showed no signs of recovery,
but grew daily worse.

Then the Dragon King interviewed the doctor and blamed him for
not curing the Queen. The doctor was alarmed at Rin Jin's evident
displeasure, and excused his want of skill by saying that although he
knew the right kind of medicine to give the invalid, it was impossible
to find it in the sea.

"Do you mean to tell me that you can't get the medicine here?" asked
the Dragon King.

"It is just as you say!" said the doctor.

"Tell me what it is you want for the Queen?" demanded Rin Jin.

"I want the liver of a live monkey!" answered the doctor.

"The liver of a live monkey! Of course that will be most difficult to
get," said the King.

"If we could only get that for the Queen, her Majesty would soon
recover," said the doctor.

"Very well, that decides it; we _must_ get it somehow or other. But
where are we most likely to find a monkey?" asked the King.

Then the doctor told the Dragon King that some distance to the south
there was a Monkey Island where a great many monke