i6 FISHES OF FANCY. 



will be surprised to find how large a space the fishes fill in 

 this mythological maze. Indra, who had to hide in the 

 waters ; Adrika, the fish-nymph, who became the mother 

 of Matsyas, the king of the fishes ; the Puranic fishes, 

 symbolical and natural ; the fishes of the Eddas, with the 

 scaly transformations of Andvarri and Loki ; the porpoises 

 that draw the golden chariot ; the Russian whale that 

 swallows the fleet, or the Hindoo one that swallows the 

 monkey-god ; the brown pike that is really the devil and 

 hopes to eat the hero ; the shark that devours the 

 princess ; the phallical pike with the golden fins ; the fish 

 that helps the lazy baker's son ; the eels with all their dis- 

 reputable significances ; the fishes that laugh ; the dolphins 

 that find Ivan's ring ; the turbulent perch, and the golden 

 carp into which Vishnu turns himself; all combine with 

 donkeys and blackbirds, bull-moons and fish-moons, rain- 

 clouds, twilights, and thunderbolts, bamboos and hares, 

 luminous and " diabolical," into a mythical cycle of fishes, 

 or, as the master calls it, " their epic exploit," that ought, 

 if anything can, to give the reader a broader sense of the 

 possibilities of fish than he probably ever expected to 

 entertain. 



Two of the myths I have referred to will bear more 

 than a passing notice, for the story of the turbulent perch 

 shows a singular affinity in its scheme to " Reynard the 

 Fox," while the fish transformations of Vishnu form an 

 important item of piscine mythology. The jorsh, or little 

 perch, makes itself such a public enemy, that it is called 

 before the royal tribunal, and the bream, and the herring, 

 and the sturgeon all give evidence of the evil conduct of the 

 perch. Judgment of death is accordingly passed upon it, 

 and the crayfish seals the warrant with its claw. But 

 the jorsh rails violently against what it calls the conspiracy 



