CHAPTER VII. 



THE MERMAID. 







"A mermaid on a dolphin's back 

 Uttering such dulcet and har- 

 monious breath 



That the rude sea grew civil at her 

 song. " SHAKESPEARE. 



LIVING mermaid at the 

 Zoo! Impossible! 

 You will tell us 

 next that there is 

 a unicorn in the 

 Lion-House, and 

 that on Mondays 

 at four o'clock 

 there is a fight 

 for the crown : 

 that a cruel har- 



pie may be seen among the eagles : that a two-headed 

 snake has been placed in the Reptile House : that a 

 young sphinx has recently been added to the collection : 

 and that a buzzing chimsera peacefully consumes second 

 intentions in a vacuum near the southern gate. Every 

 one knows that the mermaid is a myth-maid, and lives 

 only in the pages of Hans Andersen's charming story." 



