the brute with your beak? I should be
exceedingly grateful to you. I am in such pain that I would rather die
than go on living like this."

At that moment, it was as though the world were coming to an end.

The reed-bank heaved and swayed, the reeds snapped. The reed-warblers
screamed, all the seven of them; the water spurted up; the mussel rolled
over; the spider's parlour was smashed.

"At last!... At last!..."

It was the pike's voice.

"Spare my life! Spare my life!" yelled the carp.

What happened next no one was ever able properly to describe.

The carp cracked and crunched between the pike's teeth, and all who were
near thought their last day had come. But, a little after, it grew still
and, when the reed-warblers had recovered themselves, the pike was gone,
and the carp's tail-fin lay and floated on the water.

[Illustration: ]

The reed-warblers' nest had dropped down on one side and they had to
work for some time before they got it right. However, all the children
were safe and sound and gradually they recovered from their alarm. The
water grew clear again and the mussel sat down below and yawned.

"That was a noble character, that friend of yours who has been taken
from us," said the reed-warbler.

"Yes," said the mussel. "For that matter, I have had experiences of my
own...."

"We shall look forward to hearing your story to-morrow," said the
reed-warbler. "We are too much upset to talk any more to-day."

Just then, the carp's tail sank to the bottom.

Goody Cray-Fish caught it and dragged it to her hole.

"Poor people must be content with crumbs from the rich man's table,"
said she.

CHAPTER VIII

The Mussel

[Illustration]

The next evening, the reed-warbler peeped down into the water.

The fresh-water mussel was sitting there and yawning as usual. There was
nothing out of the way about him.

"Good-evening," said the reed-warbler. "How are you, after your friend's
unhappy end?"

"Thank you," replied the mussel. "It has not disturbed my composure in
the least. Generally speaking, nothing disturbs my composure. Only, if
any one sticks something between my shells, I become furious and I
pinch."

"I should do the same in your place," said the reed-warbler. "And your
equanimity is really quite enviable. But still I think that the
misfortune of one's neighbour ... of your intimate friend."

"I have no neighbour," said the mussel. "And the carp was not my
intimate friend.