sad face attracted
the notice of some of the other fishes, and they pressed round her,
begging her to tell them her story.

'I am not a fish at all,' said the new-comer, swallowing a great deal
of salt water as she spoke; for you cannot learn how to be a proper fish
all in a moment. 'I am not a fish at all, but a girl; at least I was a
girl a few minutes ago, only--' And she ducked her head under the waves
so that they should not see her crying.

'Only you did not believe that the fish you caught had power to carry
out its threat,' said an old tunny. 'Well, never mind, that has happened
to all of us, and it really is not a bad life. Cheer up and come with
us and see our queen, who lives in a palace that is much more beautiful
than any your queens can boast of.'

The new fish felt a little afraid of taking such a journey; but as she
was still more afraid of being left alone, she waved her tail in token
of consent, and off they all set, hundreds of them together. The people
on the rocks and in the ships that saw them pass said to each other:

'Look what a splendid shoal!' and had no idea that they were hastening
to the queen's palace; but, then, dwellers on land have so little notion
of what goes on in the bottom of the sea! Certainly the little new fish
had none. She had watched jelly-fish and nautilus swimming a little way
below the surface, and beautiful coloured sea-weeds floating about; but
that was all. Now, when she plunged deeper her eyes fell upon strange
things.

Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, inestimable stones,
unvalued jewels--all scattered in the bottom of the sea! Dead men's
bones were there also, and long white creatures who had never seen the
light, for they mostly dwelt in the clefts of rocks where the sun's rays
could not come. At first our little fish felt as if she were blind also,
but by-and-by she began to make out one object after another in the
green dimness, and by the time she had swum for a few hours all became
clear.

'Here we are at last,' cried a big fish, going down into a deep valley,
for the sea has its mountains and valleys just as much as the land.
'That is the palace of the queen of the fishes, and I think you must
confess that the emperor himself has nothing so fine.'

'It is beautiful indeed,' gasped the little fish, who was very tired
with trying to swim as fast as the rest, and beautiful beyond words the
palace was. The walls were made of pale pink coral, w