nd his head, and shrieked into his ears, asking him dozens
and dozens of questions, until it was all he could do not to shout at
them to leave him alone.

"Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you want? Where are
you going? What are you doing here? Why don't you answer? How did
you get here? Whom did you meet on the way? Did they tell you
anything interesting? What is your name? How old are you? Who is
your father? What is your mother like? Does she give parties? Does
she invite many people? Do you know the King? Have you been to court?
Does the Queen dress well? Do you like jam or cake best? What is your
favourite sweet? Don't you think we are very amusing?" etc., etc., etc.

These were only a few of the questions they asked Martin, but they
quite cured him of any wish to speak; and, instead of telling them
anything about himself, he just put his hands over his ears and ran as
fast as he could until he dropped down, very much out of breath, some
way further along the stream. As he sat there, delighted at having
escaped from all those impertinent voices, a curious little fish with a
bent back popped his head above the water and nodded to him.

"Good morning," said the fish. His tone was so friendly that Martin
forgot all about the warning of the pine dwarfs, and entered into
conversation with him.

"This is a strange country," said Martin.

"It's a very busy country," answered the fish. "None of us get left
alone for long; and as for me, I never get any peace at all. If I
could only get my tail into my mouth, things would be very different."

"You look as though you had been trying a good deal," observed Martin.
"I suppose that is why your back is so bent."

"Bent?" cried the fish, angrily. "Nothing of the sort! On the
contrary, it has a most elegant curve. It's not the shape I complain
about, it's the difference in the work. You see, if I could only get
my tail into my mouth I should be a Full-stop; and Full-stops have so
little to do nowadays that I should be able to retire at once. Being a
Comma is quite another matter; it's work, work, work, from year's end
to year's end. Hullo! What is it now?"

His last remark was addressed to another fish, who seemed to have
succeeded in getting his tail into his mouth, and who spoke very
huskily in consequence.

"Come along," he said to the Comma-fish; "you 've got to help me to
make a Semi-colon."

"Oh, dear, oh, dear!" replied