Pleasant Days at Home 15 



hers, graciously, as became a monarch towards his 

 adoring consort, with whom he was well pleased. 



For many days we remained in this mid-ocean 

 solitude, chosen by our wise ruler as being where none 

 of the hateful monsters of man's making ever came, 

 a place not too far from rich plateaux not too deep, 

 whose intricacies swarmed with our proper food, where 

 the sea-streams ran warmly and the sun rose and set 

 continually with never a cloud, a place where we alone 

 of all the sea-folk had no foes to fear. This proud 

 pre-eminence above all our fellows had not long been 

 ours. In our hasteless chronology it seemed but a 

 short time past since in every part of the sea we were 

 liable to pursuit, harassing wounds, and death at the 

 hands of men. Alone among the tribes of earth and air 

 and sea we feared them, for we knew by bitter experi- 

 ence that our utmost rage, strength, and courage 

 availed nothing against these feeble ones, who neverthe- 

 less were so wise that they were bound to overcome 

 us. True, we did them terrible damage on occasions, 

 and some of our warriors, notably the head of my family, 

 had invariably come out of conflicts with the earth- 

 people without deadly injury, although bearing all 

 over their vast body-surfaces wide white scars where 

 the cruel wounds dealt them by men had healed. And 

 each of them had a long roll of victories to his credit. 

 Yet this did not make them tyrannous or over-bearing, 

 it but added to their wisdom and ability to command 

 the younger generations. 



Now I am not so arrogant as to suggest that all 

 this knowledge was mine as soon as I was born, I do 

 but tell you these things as a sort of introduction to 

 my family, of which I am mightily proud, yet not more 

 so I think than they deserve. No, like all young 

 creatures, for the early days of my life I was content 



