How the Whale got his Throat

In the sea, once upon a time there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate all the fishes which he could find in all the sea-so! Till at last there was only one small Fish in all the sea, and he was a very small Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale’s right ear, so as to be out of danger. Then the Whale stood up on his tail and said, “I’m hungry.” And the small Fish said in a small voice, “Noble and generous Whale, have you ever tasted Man?”
     

“If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is Magic), you will find one shipwrecked Mariner. He is sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue trousers, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders!) and a knife. But I must tell you he is a very clever and a very brave man.”

So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West, as far as he could swim, and he found the shipwrecked Mariner on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue trousers, a pair of suspenders (you must remember the suspenders) and a knife.

Then the Whale opened his mouth, and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and his raft, and his blue trousers, and the suspenders (which you must not forget), and the knife. They all rolled down into his warm dark belly and then he shut his mouth — so, and turned round three times on his tail.

But soon as the Mariner, who was a very clever and a very brave man, found himself inside the Whale’s warm, dark belly, he jumped and he thumbed, and he pranced and he danced, and he hit and he bit, and he leaped and he creeped, and he hopped and he dropped, and he cried and he sighed, and the Whale felt most unhappy indeed. (Have you forgotten the suspenders?)

So he said to the small Fish, “This man is very tickly. What shall I do?
“Tell him to come out,” said the small Fish.

So the Whale said to the shipwrecked Mariner, “Come out and don’t tickle me.”
“No!” said the Mariner. “I don’t want to come out. Take me to my native shore, to the country which is called Albion, and I’ll think about it.” And he began to dance more than ever.

“You had better take him home,” said the small Fish to the Whale. “I have told you that he is a very clever and a very brave man.”

So the Whale swam and swam and swam as fast as he could, and at last, he saw the Mariner’s native shore and the country which is called Albion, and he came up to the shore and opened his mouth wide and wide and wide, and the Mariner walked out of his mouth. Now I must tell you that while the Whale swam across the sea, the Mariner, who was indeed a very clever and a very brave person, took his knife and cut up his raft and made a little grating, and he tied it with his suspenders (now you know why you had to remember the suspenders!), and he put that grating into the Whale’s throat, and there it stuck! Then he sang the following song which I will now sing to you:

By means of a grating
I have stopped your ating.

And he walked out on the shore and went home to his Mother; and he married and lived happily for many years. So did the Whale. But from that day on, the grating stuck in his throat, and he could not get rid of it.

And so he could eat only very, very small fish; and that’s why whales nowadays never eat men or boys or little girls.

The small Fish went and hid himself deep under the Equator. He was afraid that the Whale was angry with him.

The Mariner took the knife home. He had his blue trousers on when he walked out on the shore. But he had no suspenders because, as you remember, he had to tie the grating with them; and that is the end of that tale.

When the cabin port-holes are dark and green
      Because of the seas outside;
When the ship goes wop (with a wiggle between)
And the steward falls into the soup-tureen,
      And the trunks begin to slide;
When Nursey lies on the floor in a heap,
And Mummy tells you to let her sleep,
And you aren’t waked or washed or dressed,
Why, then you will know (if you haven’t guessed)
You're “Fifty North and Forty West!”