CHAPTER 5


How the Whale Got His Throat

Once upon a time, in the sea, there was a Whale. He ate fish and other creatures of every size. He ate starfish and garfish. He ate crab and dab, mackerel and pickerel, and the truly twirly-whirly eel.

All the underwater creatures were worried that the Whale would eat every little fish in the sea! They came up with a plan. They sent the littlest fish, the “Stute” Fish, who could swim beside the Whale’s ear, to speak with him. If he could convince the Whale to eat people, perhaps he would leave the fish in the sea alone.

“Noble and generous Sir Whale. Have you ever tasted Man? He’s quite delicious,” said the “Stute” Fish.

“Where would I find this Man?” the Whale asked, since he was starting to feel hungry again.

“Follow me,” said the littlest “Stute” Fish.

They swam as fast and as far as they could until they came to a raft in the middle of the sea. There they found a shipwrecked Sailor. He had nothing but a pair of blue jeans, suspenders, and a jackknife.

When the Whale spotted the Sailor, he opened his mouth wide. He swallowed him whole, including his raft, blue jeans, suspenders, and jackknife. Then the Whale smacked his lips and made three circles with his tail.

As soon as the Sailor was inside the Whale’s warm, dark insides, he thumped and bumped. He pranced and danced. He banged and clanged. He hit and bit, he leaped and creeped, he prowled and howled, he hopped and dropped. Then he cried and sighed, crawled and bawled, and played music to make himself feel better. The Whale was most unhappy about all the noise!

He called down his throat to the Sailor. “Come out and behave yourself. You’re giving me the hiccups,” he said.

“I will not come out! Take me home to my family and I will think about it,” answered the clever Sailor. Then he began to dance.

The Whale swam as fast as he could, in spite of his hiccups. While the Whale swam, the Sailor thought to himself, “If the Whale can eat me, he can eat other people, too. I have to stop him.”

While the Whale swam, the Sailor got to work. He cut up his raft with his jackknife. He tied the pieces together with his suspenders to make a crisscross grate. Then the Sailor stuck the crisscross grate behind him and into the back of the Whale’s huge throat.

When at last the Whale brought the Sailor home, he stepped out of the great big mouth happily onto the shore. He thanked the Whale for his ride home. Then he turned and left.

From that day on, the Whale had a crisscross grate in his throat. It was fixed so tight that he could not swallow it up or cough it out. To eat, the Whale could now only swallow the tiniest fish in the sea, and would never again eat a man, woman, or child.

This is how the Whale got his throat. (And the little “Stute” Fish now hides in the mud so that the Whale can never find him!)