Water-Babies — Moral
MORAL.
_And now_, _my dear little man_, _what should we learn from this parable_?
_We should learn thirty-seven or thirty-nine things_, _I am not exactly sure which_: _but one thing_, _at least_, _we may learn_, _and that is this—when we see efts in the pond_, _never to throw stones at them_, _or catch them with crooked pins_, _or put them into vivariums with sticklebacks_, _that the sticklebacks may prick them in their poor little stomachs_, _and make them jump out of the glass into somebody’s work-box_, _and so come to a bad end_.
_For these efts are nothing else but the water-babies who are stupid and dirty_, _and will not learn their lessons and keep themselves clean_; _and_, _therefore_ (_as comparative anatomists will tell you fifty years hence_, _though they are not learned enough to tell you now_), _their skulls grow flat_, _their jaws grow out_, _and their brains grow small_, _and their tails grow long_, _and they lose all their ribs_ (_which I am sure you would not like to do_), _and their skins grow dirty and spotted_, _and they never get into the clear rivers_, _much less into the great wide sea_, _but hang about in dirty ponds_, _and live in the mud_, _and eat worms_, _as they deserve to do_.
_But that is no reason why you should ill-use them_: _but only why you should pity them_, _and be kind to them_, _and hope that some day they will wake up_, _and be ashamed of their nasty_, _dirty_, _lazy_, _stupid life_, _and try to amend_, _and become something better once more_.
_For_, _perhaps_, _if they do so_, _then after_ 379,423 _years_, _nine months_, _thirteen days_, _two hours_, _and twenty-one minutes_ (_for aught that appears to the contrary_), _if they work very hard and wash very hard all that time_, _their brains may grow bigger_, _and their jaws grow smaller_, _and their ribs come back_, _and their tails wither off_, _and they will turn into water-babies again_, _and perhaps after that into land-babies_; _and after that perhaps into grown men_.
_You know they won’t_?
_Very well_, _I daresay you know best_.
_But you see_, _some folks have a great liking for those poor little efts_.
_They never did anybody any harm_, _or could if they tried_; _and their only fault is_, _that they do no good—any more than some thousands of their betters_.
_But what with ducks_, _and what with pike_, _and what with sticklebacks_, _and what with water-beetles_, _and what with naughty boys_, _they are_ “_sae sair hadden doun_,” _as the Scotsmen say_, _that it is a wonder how they live_; _and some folks can’t help hoping_, _with good Bishop Butler_, _that they may have another chance_, _to make things fair and even_, _somewhere_, _somewhen_, _somehow_.
_Meanwhile_, _do you learn your lessons_, _and thank God that you have plenty of cold water to wash in_; _and wash in it too_, _like a true Englishman_.
_And then_, _if my story is not true_, _something better is_; _and if I am not quite right_, _still you will be_, _as long as you stick to hard work and cold water_.
_But remember always_, _as I told you at first_, _that this is all a fairy tale_, _and only fun and pretence_: _and_, _therefore_, _you are not to believe a word of it_, _even if it is true_.
[Picture: Water baby riding fish] *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WATER-BABIES ***
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