The Sea Fairies

by L. Frank Baum

  _Chap. 9._

  THE BASHFUL OCTOPUS]

  It was a lovely day, and the sea was like azure under the rays of thesun.

  Over the flower beds and through the gardens they swam, emerging intothe open sea in a direction opposite that taken by the visitors theday before. The party consisted of but four: Queen Aquareine, PrincessClia, Trot and Cap'n Bill.

  "People who live upon the land know only those sea creatures whichthey are able to catch in nets, or upon hooks, or those which becomedisabled and are washed ashore," remarked the Queen, as they swamswiftly through the clear water. "And those who sail in ships see onlythe creatures who chance to come to the surface. But, in the deep oceancaverns are queer beings, that no mortal has ever heard of or beheld,and some of these we are to visit. We shall also see some sea shrubsand flowering weeds, which are sure to delight you with their beauty."

  The sights really began before they had gone very far from the palace,and a school of butterfly fish, having gorgeous colors spattered overtheir broad wings, was first to delight the strangers. They swam justas butterflies fly, with a darting, jerky motion, and called a merry"Good morning!" to the mermaids as they passed.

  "These butterfly fish are remarkably active," said the Princess, "andtheir quick motions protect them from their enemies. We like to meetthem; they are always so gay and good-natured."

  "Why, so am I!" cried a sharp voice just beside them, and they allpaused to discover what creature had spoken to them.

  "Take care," said Clia, in a low voice. "It's an octopus."

  Trot looked eagerly around. A long, brown arm stretched across theirway in front, and another just behind them; but that did not worry her.The octopus, himself, came slowly sliding up to them, and proved to bewell worth looking at.

  He wore a red coat with brass buttons, and a silk hat was tipped overone ear. His eyes were somewhat dull and watery and he had a moustacheof long, hair-like "feelers" that curled stiffly at the ends. When hetried to smile at them he showed two rows of sharp, white teeth. Inspite of his red coat and yellow embroidered vest, his standing collarand carefully tied cravat, the legs of the octopus were bare, and Trotnoticed he used some of his legs for arms, as in one of them was held aslender cane, and in another, a handkerchief.

  "Well, well!" said the Octopus. "Are you all dumb? Or don't you knowenough to be civil when you meet a neighbor?"

  "We know how to be civil to our friends," replied Trot, who did notlike the way he spoke.

  "Well, aren't we friends, then?" asked the Octopus, in an airy tone ofvoice.

  "I think not," said the little girl. "Octopuses are horrid creatures."

  "Octo_pi_, if you please; octo_pi_" said the monster, with a laugh.

  "I don't see any pie that pleases me," replied Trot, beginning to getangry.

  "Octo_pus_ means one of us; two, or more are called octo_pi_," remarkedthe creature, as if correcting her speech.

  "I suppose a lot of you would be a whole bakery!" she said, scornfully.

  "Our name is latin. It was given us by learned scientists years ago,"said the Octopus.

  "That's true enough," agreed Cap'n Bill. "The learned scientists namedev'ry blamed thing they come acrost, an' gener'ly they picked outnames as nobody could understand, or pernounce."

  "That isn't our fault, sir," said the Octopus. "Indeed, it's prettyhard for us to go through life with such terrible names. Think of thepoor little sea horse. He used to be a merry and cheerful fellow, butsince they named him 'hippocampus' he hasn't smiled once."

  "Let's go," said Trot; "I don't like to 'sociate with octopuses."

  "Octo_pi_," said the creature, again correcting her.

  "You're jus' as horrid, whether you're puses or pies," she declared.

  "Horrid!" cried the monster, in a shocked tone of voice.

  "Not only horrid, but horrible!" persisted the girl.

  "May I ask in what way?" he inquired, and it was easy to see he wasoffended.

  "Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an' deceitful,"she said. "Up on the earth, where I live, they call the Stannerd OilCompany an octopus, an' the Coal Trust an octopus, an'----"

  "Stop, stop!" cried the monster, in a pleading voice. "Do you mean totell me that the earth people, whom I have always respected, compare meto the Stannerd Oil Company?"

  "Yes," said Trot, positively.

  "That's what they do," added Cap'n Bill, nodding his grizzled head.

  "Oh, what a disgrace! What a deep, direful, dreadful disgrace!" moanedthe Octopus, drooping his head in shame; and Trot could see great tearsrolling down his cheeks.

  "This comes of having a bad name," said the Queen, gently, for she wasmoved by the monster's grief.

  "It is unjust! It is cruel and unjust!" sobbed the creature,mournfully. "Just because we have several long arms, and take whateverwe can reach, they accuse us of being like--like--oh, I cannot say it!It is too shameful--too humiliating!"

  "Come; let's go," said Trot, again; so they left the poor octopusweeping and wiping his watery eyes with his handkerchief, and swam ontheir way.

  "I'm not a bit sorry for him," remarked the child; "for his legs remindme of serpents."

  "So they do me," agreed Cap'n Bill.

  "But the octopi are not very bad," said the Princess, "and we get alongwith them much better than we do with their cousins the sea devils."

  "Oh. Are the sea devils their cousins?" asked Trot.

  "Yes; and they are the only creatures of the ocean which we greatlyfear," replied Aquareine. "I hope we shall meet none to-day, for we aregoing near to the dismal caverns where they live."

  "What are the sea devils like, ma'am?" inquired Cap'n Bill, a littleuneasily.

  "Something like the octopus you just saw, only much larger and of abright scarlet color, striped with black," answered the Queen. "Theyare very fierce and terrible creatures, and nearly as much dreaded bythe inhabitants of the ocean as is Zog, and nearly as powerful as KingAnko himself."

  "Zog! Who is Zog?" questioned the girl. "I haven't heard of him, beforenow."

  "We do not like to mention Zog's name," responded the Queen, in a lowvoice. "He is the wicked genius of the sea, and a magician of greatpower."

  "What's he like?" asked Cap'n Bill.

  "He is a dreadful creature, part fish, part man, part beast and partserpent. Centuries ago they cast him off the earth into the sea, wherehe has caused much trouble. Once he waged a terrible war against KingAnko, but the sea serpent finally conquered Zog, and drove the magicianinto his castle, where he now stays shut up. For if ever Anko catchesthe monster outside of his enchanted castle he will kill him, and Zogknows that very well."

  "Seems like you have your troubles down here, just as we do on top theground," remarked Cap'n Bill.

  "But, I'm glad old Zog is shut up in his castle," added Trot. "Is it asea castle, like your own palaces?"

  "I cannot say, my dear, for the enchantment makes it invisible to alleyes but those of its inhabitants," replied Aquareine. "No one sees Zognow, and we scarcely ever hear of him; but all the sea people know heis here, some place, and fear his power. Even in the old days, beforeAnko conquered him, Zog was the enemy of the mermaids, as he was of allthe good and respectable seafolk. But do not worry about the magician,I beg of you, for he has not dared to do an evil deed in many, manyyears."

  "Oh, I'm not afraid," asserted Trot.

  "I'm glad of that," said the Queen. "Keep together, friends, and becareful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes."

  Even as Aquareine spoke they saw a swirl and commotion in the waterahead of them, while a sound like a muffled roar fell upon their ears.Then swiftly there dashed upon them a group of great fishes, with longsaws sticking out in front of their noses, armed with sharp hookedteeth, all set in a row. They were larger than the swordfishes andseemed more fierce and bold. But the mermaids and Trot, and Cap'n Billquietly awaited their attack, and instead of tearing them with theirsaws, as they expected to do, the fi
shes were unable to touch them atall. They tried every possible way to get at their proposed victims,but the Magic Circle was all-powerful and turned aside the ugly saws;so our friends were not disturbed at all. Seeing this, the sawfishessoon abandoned the attempt and with growls and roars of disappointmentswam away and were quickly out of sight.

  Trot had been a wee bit frightened during the attack, but now shelaughed gleefully and told the queen that it seemed very nice to beprotected by fairy powers.

  The water grew a darker blue as they descended into its depths,farther and farther away from the rays of the sun. Trot was surprisedto find she could see so plainly through the high wall of water aboveher; but the sun was able to shoot its beams straight down through thetransparent sea, and they seemed to penetrate to every nook and creviceof the rocky bottom.

  In this deeper part of the ocean some of the fishes had aphosphorescent light of their own, and these could be seen far ahead,as if they were lanterns. The explorers met a school of argonauts goingup to the surface for a sail, and the child watched these strangecreatures with much curiosity. The argonauts live in shells, in whichthey are able to hide in case of danger from prowling wolf fishes; butotherwise they crawl out and carry their shells like humps upon theirbacks. Then they spread their skinny sails above them and sail awayunder water till they come to the surface, where they float and let thecurrents of air carry them along the same as the currents of water haddone before. Trot thought the argonauts comical little creatures, withtheir big eyes and sharp noses, and to her they looked like a fleet oftiny ships.

  It is said that men got their first idea of boats, and of how to sailthem, from watching these little argonauts.