Over the flower beds and through the gardens they swam, emerging into the open sea in a direction opposite that taken by the visitors the day before. The party consisted of but four: Queen Aquareine, Princess Clia, Trot2 and Cap'n Bill.
"People who live upon the land know only those sea creatures which they are able to catch in nets or upon hooks or those which become disabled and are washed ashore," remarked the Queen as they swam swiftly through the clear water. "And those who sail in ships see only the creatures who chance to come to the surface. But in the deep ocean caverns3 are queer beings that no mortal has ever heard of or beheld4, and some of these we are to visit. We shall also see some sea shrubs5 and flowering weeds which are sure to delight you with their beauty."
The sights really began before they had gone very far from the palace, and a school of butterfly fish, having gorgeous colors spattered over their broad wings, was first to delight the strangers. They swam just as butterflies fly, with a darting6, jerky motion, and called a merry "Good morning!" to the mermaids7 as they passed.
"These butterfly fish are remarkably8 active," said the Princess, "and their quick motions protect them from their enemies. We like to meet them; they are always so gay and good-natured."
"Why, so am I!" cried a sharp voice just beside them, and they all paused to discover what creature had spoken to them.
Trot looked eagerly around. A long, brown arm stretched across their way in front and another just behind them, but that did not worry her. The octopus himself came slowly sliding up to them and proved to be well worth looking at. He wore a red coat with brass11 buttons, and a silk hat was tipped over one ear. His eyes were somewhat dull and watery12, and he had a moustache of long, hair-like "feelers" that curled stiffly at the ends. When he tried to smile at them, he showed two rows of sharp, white teeth. In spite of his red coat and yellow-embroidered vest, his standing13 collar and carefully tied cravat14, the legs of the octopus were bare, and Trot noticed he used some of his legs for arms, as in one of them was held a slender cane15 and in another a handkerchief.
"Well, well!" said the Octopus. "Are you all dumb? Or don't you know enough to be civil when you meet a neighbor?"
"Well, are we not friends, then?" asked the Octopus in an airy tone of voice.
"OctoPI, if you please; octoPI," said the monster with a laugh.
"I don't see any pie that pleases me," replied Trot, beginning to get angry.
"OctoPUS means one of us; two or more are called octoPI," remarked the creature, as if correcting her speech.
"I suppose a lot of you would be a whole bakery!" she said scornfully.
"Our name is Latin. It was given to us by learned scientists years ago," said the Octopus.
"That's true enough," agreed Cap'n Bill. "The learned scientists named ev'ry blamed thing they come across, an' gener'ly they picked out names as nobody could understand or pernounce."
"That isn't our fault, sir," said the Octopus. "Indeed, it's pretty hard for us to go through life with such terrible names. Think of the poor little seahorse. He used to be a merry and cheerful fellow, but since they named him 'hippocampus' he hasn't smiled once."
"Let's go," said Trot. "I don't like to 'sociate with octopuses."
"OctoPI," said the creature, again correcting her.
"You're jus' as horrid whether you're puses or pies," she declared.
"Horrid!" cried the monster in a shocked tone of voice.
"Not only horrid, but horrible!" persisted the girl.
"May I ask in what way?" he inquired, and it was easy to see he was offended.
"Why, ev'rybody knows that octopuses are jus' wicked an' deceitful," she said. "Up on the earth, where I live, we call the Stannerd Oil Company an octopus, an' the Coal Trust an octopus, an'—"
"Stop, stop!" cried the monster in a pleading voice. "Do you mean to tell me that the earth people whom I have always respected compare me to the Stannerd Oil Company?"
"Yes," said Trot positively18.
"Oh, what a disgrace! What a cruel, direful, dreadful disgrace!" moaned the Octopus, drooping19 his head in shame, and Trot could see great tears falling down his cheeks.
"This comes of having a bad name," said the Queen gently, for she was moved by the monster's grief.
"It is unjust! It is cruel and unjust!" sobbed20 the creature mournfully. "Just because we have several long arms and take whatever we can reach, they accuse us of being like—like—oh, I cannot say it! It is too shameful21, too humiliating."
"Come, let's go," said Trot again. So they left the poor octopus weeping and wiping his watery eyes with his handkerchief and swam on their way. "I'm not a bit sorry for him," remarked the child, "for his legs remind me of serpents."
"So they do me," agreed Cap'n Bill.
"But the octopi are not very bad," said the Princess, "and we get along with them much better than we do with their cousins, the sea devils."
"Oh. Are the sea devils their cousins?" asked Trot.
"Yes, and they are the only creatures of the ocean which we greatly fear," replied Aquareine. "I hope we shall meet none today, for we are going near to the dismal22 caverns where they live."
"What are the sea devils like, ma'am?" inquired Cap'n Bill a little uneasily.
"Something like the octopus you just saw, only much larger and of a bright scarlet23 color, striped with black," answered the Queen. "They are very fierce and terrible creatures and nearly as much dreaded24 by the inhabitants of the ocean as is Zog, and nearly as powerful as King Anko himself."
"Zog! Who is Zog?" questioned the girl. "I haven't heard of him before now."
"We do not like to mention Zog's name," responded the Queen in a low voice. "He is the wicked genius of the sea, and a magician of great power."
"What's he like?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"He is a dreadful creature, part fish, part man, part beast and part serpent. Centuries ago they cast him off the earth into the sea, where he has caused much trouble. Once he waged a terrible war against King Anko, but the sea serpent finally conquered Zog and drove the magician into his castle, where he now stays shut up. For if ever Anko catches the monster outside of his enchanted25 castle, he will kill him, and Zog knows that very well."
"Seems like you have your troubles down here just as we do on top the ground," remarked Cap'n Bill.
"But I'm glad old Zog is shut up in his castle," added Trot. "Is it a sea castle like your own palace?"
"I cannot say, my dear, for the enchantment26 makes it invisible to all eyes but those of its inhabitants," replied Aquareine. "No one sees Zog now, and we scarcely ever hear of him, but all the sea people know he is here someplace and fear his power. Even in the old days, before Anko conquered him, Zog was the enemy of the mermaids, as he was of all the good and respectable seafolk. But do not worry about the magician, I beg of you, for he has not dared to do an evil deed in many, many years."
"Oh, I'm not afraid," asserted Trot.
"I'm glad of that," said the Queen. "Keep together, friends, and be careful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes."
Even as Aquareine spoke, they saw a swirl27 and commotion28 in the water ahead of them, while a sound like a muffled29 roar fell upon their ears. Then swiftly there dashed upon them a group of great fishes with long saws sticking out in front of their noses, armed with sharp, hooked teeth, all set in a row. They were larger than the swordfishes and seemed more fierce and bold. But the mermaids and Trot and Cap'n Bill quietly awaited their attack, and instead of tearing them with their saws as they expected to do, the fishes were unable to touch them at all. They tried every possible way to get at their proposed victims, but the Magic Circle was all powerful and turned aside the ugly saws; so our friends were not disturbed at all. Seeing this, the sawfishes soon abandoned the attempt and with growls30 and roars of disappointment swam away and were quickly out of sight.
Trot had been a wee bit frightened during the attack, but now she laughed gleefully and told the queen that it seemed very nice to be protected by fairy powers. The water grew a darker blue as they descended31 into its depths, farther and farther away from the rays of the sun. Trot was surprised to find she could see so plainly through the high wall of water above her, but the sun was able to shoot its beams straight down through the transparent32 sea, and they seemed to penetrate33 to every nook and crevice34 of the rocky bottom.
In this deeper part of the ocean some of the fishes had a phosphorescent light of their own, and these could be seen far ahead as if they were lanterns. The explorers met a school of argonauts going up to the surface for a sail, and the child watched these strange creatures with much curiosity. The argonauts live in shells in which they are able to hide in case of danger from prowling wolf fishes, but otherwise they crawl out and carry their shells like humps upon their backs. Then they spread their skinny sails above them and sail away under water till they come to the surface, where they float and let the currents of air carry them along the same as the currents of water had done before. Trot thought the argonauts comical little creatures, with their big eyes and sharp noses, and to her they looked like a fleet of tiny ships.
It is said that men got their first idea of boats and of how to sail them from watching these little argonauts.
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1
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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2
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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3
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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4
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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5
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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6
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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7
mermaids
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| n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 ) | |
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8
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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9
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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10
octopus
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| n.章鱼 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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12
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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13
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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14
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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octopuses
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| 章鱼( octopus的名词复数 ) | |
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17
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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24
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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25
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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26
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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27
swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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28
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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29
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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30
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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31
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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32
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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33
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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