58 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 
I ’ve been king of the heaving sea. 
None dare dispute it; far and near 
The fishes all look up to me ; 
I shall reign for ever here. 
The devil-fish , 10 his prime minister, then ap¬ 
proached, and humbly begged he ’d step down 
into their little private den ; he did so, but still, 
with a fearful frown, he told the wolf-fish, his 
cook, a beginner, not to spoil the soup he was 
cooking for dinner. Let us look in at the ser¬ 
pent’s den : — Grinning skulls of doubting men 
were ranged on one side, and on the other was 
sitting in state his imperial brother ; he had just 
ground a new-caught doubter to powder, and 
had made from his skull a ladle for chowder. 
Friendly their greeting, — a snap and a .howl, a 
social hiss and a kindly growl ; both of them 
laughed, and the devil-fish he u grinned a ghastly 
smile,” from sympathy. This den was just be¬ 
neath the rock, where the huge waves break with 
a ceaseless shock. 
