90 



THE ORIGIN OF THE FISH. 



A BIRD-FISH STORY. 



Once upon a time, and that was in 

 the long ago, there Hved a Koko-bird 

 along the forest shores of the Boozoo 

 river. I am not quite certain in what 

 country this river is but I believe it is 

 somewhere in Gazazuland. It does not 

 matter much where it is or was, but of 

 one thing I am absolutely certain, and 

 that is that the river did exist, else how 

 could the bird have lived along its 

 shores? Now this bird was quite beauti- 

 ful, could sing quite well, and could fly 

 quite gracefully ; accomplishments which 

 all of the other birds of the community 

 willingly admitted, but the Koko-bird 

 was very boastful. In a loud, arrogant 

 voice he would proclaim himself the 

 handsomest, the most musical and the 

 most graceful of all the feathered tribe. 

 At first his neighbors tried to ignore 

 these boasts, hoping that the Koko-bird 

 would in time learn better manners, but 

 he did not; on the contrary, he became 

 more boastful every day, in fact every 

 minute, so that his presence became al- 

 most unbearable, causing great mental 

 irritation and a feeling of nausea in those 

 who were obliged to listen to him. A 

 bird committee was therefore appointed 

 to obtain an audience with the Golden 

 Eagle, who was then the ruler of all the 

 birds, and petition his majesty to con- 

 vene the bird council in order that suit- 

 able punishment might be meted out to 

 the boastful Koko. The very next day 

 the meeting was called by special and 

 very swift bird messengers. The Koko- 

 bird was brought a prisoner before the 

 king of the birds, the bird council and a 

 vast concourse of birds from far and near, 

 who had come to witness the trial. In 

 a measured and stentorian voice the king 

 asked the following questions of the cul- 

 prit: 



"Are you the handsomest of birds?" 

 "^I am," replied the Koko-bird. 

 "Are you the best singer amonjr 

 birds?" "^ ^ 



"I am," again replied the boastful bird. 



"Are you the most graceful and the 

 highest flyer among birds?" 



"I am," replied the braggart for the 

 third time. 



The king of birds then flapped his 

 right wing and there came forth the gor- 

 geous bird of paradise, with the beautiful 

 and wonderful tail feathers and crown, 

 at the sight of which the members of the 

 bird council individually and collectively 

 flapped their wings in admiration. The 

 eagle once more turned to the Koko-bird 

 and in a terrible voice demanded : 



"Are you still the handsomest among 

 birds? Heed well your answer." 



The Koko-bird gave one sidelong 

 squint at the beautiful bird and said: 



"I am," in a very indifferent tone of 

 voice ; whereat the assembled birds were 

 astonished. 



The king of birds then flapped his left 

 wing and there came forth a nightingale 

 which began to sing so sweetly that some 

 of the listeners fell from their perches 

 out of sheer ecstasy and they would have 

 been hurt by the fall had they not caught 

 themselves in the air by means of their 

 wings. Even the king of birds was 

 greatly moved, for he was seen to brush 

 a tear from his right eye before he turned 

 to the Koko-bird and spoke in a thunder- 

 ous voice : 



"You have heard this marvelous 

 singer. Are you still the best vocalist 

 among birds? Heed well your answer." 



The Koko-bird merely yawned and 

 said, "I am," and again the birds were 

 greatly astonished. 



The king of birds now nodded his 

 head and there arose out of the multitude 

 of birds a blue crane, whose home was 

 near the Gingago river in farthest India. 

 Its wings moved in even, silent, graceful 

 undulations. It gradually rose higher 

 and higher. All of the birds, with the 

 exception of the Koko-bird, watched it 

 spellbound until it appeared a mere speck 

 in the distance. The Koko-bird gave 

 one glance at the high flyer, then curled 



