Bedtime Tale: The Water Babies Ch 3/Part 2

Enjoy this bedtime tale to help you drift off into a peaceful slumber. Tonight we read Chapter 3/Part 2 of the classic, The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley. This reading describes Tom's experience as he ventures out to the sea. This audio is perfect for children or adults who want to relax, discover magic, or find adventure before a great night's sleep.

Transcript

The Water Babies A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby by Charles Kingsley Chapter 3 Part 2 But one day Tom had a new adventure He was sitting on a water lily leaf He and his friend the dragonfly watching the gnats dance The dragonfly had eaten as many as he wanted and was sitting quite still and sleepy For it was very hot and bright The gnats who did not care the least for their poor brother's death danced a foot over his head quite happily and a large black fly settled within an inch of his nose and Began washing his own face and combing his hair with his paws But the dragonfly never stirred and kept on chatting to Tom about the times when he lived under the water Suddenly Tom heard the strangest noise up in the stream cooing and grunting and whining and Squeaking as if you had put into a bag two stock doves nine mice three guinea pigs and a blind puppy and Left them there to settle themselves and make music He looked up the water and there he saw a sight as strange as the noise a great ball rolling over and over down the stream Seeming one moment a soft brown fur and the next of shiny glass And yet it was not a ball for sometimes it broke up and streamed away in pieces and Then it joined again and all the while the noise came out of it louder and louder Tom asked the dragonfly what it could be But of course with his short sight he could not even see it though.

It was not ten yards away so he took the neatest little header into the water and started off to see for himself and When he came near the ball turned out to be four or five beautiful creatures many times larger than Tom who were swimming about and Rolling and diving and twisting and wrestling and cuddling and kissing and biting and scratching in the most charming fashion that ever was seen and If you don't believe me you may go to the zoological gardens for I'm afraid that you won't see it near unless perhaps you get up at 5 in the morning and go down to Corridories more and watch by the great withy pollard which hangs over the back water where the otters breed sometimes and Then say if otters that play in the water are not the merriest lithest graceful as creatures you've ever saw But when the biggest of them saw Tom she darted out from the rest and cried in the water language sharply enough Quick children.

Here is something to eat indeed And came at poor Tom Showing such a wicked pair of eyes and such a set of sharp teeth in a grinning mouth That Tom who had thought her very handsome said to himself handsome is that handsome does and Slipped in between the water lily roots as fast as he could and then turned round and round and made faces at her Come out said the wicked old otter or it will be worse for you But Tom looked at her from beneath two thick roots and shook them with all his might making horrible faces all the while Just as he used to grin through the railings at the old women when he lived before It was not quite well-bred.

No doubt,

But you know Tom had not finished his education yet Come away children said the otter and discussed it is not worth eating It is only a nasty eft Which nothing eats not even those vulgar pike in the pond.

I Am NOT an F said Tom F's have tails You are an F'd said the otter very positively.

I see your two hands quite plain and I know you have a tail I Tell you I have not said Tom look here and he turned his pretty little self quite round and Sure enough.

He had no more tail than you The otter might have got out of it by saying that Tom was a frog But like a great many other people when she had once said a thing she stood to it right or wrong so she answered I Say you're an F and therefore you are and not fit food for gentle folk like me and my children You may stay there till the salmon eat you She knew the salmon would not but she wanted to frighten poor Tom Ha ha they will eat you and we will eat them and the otter laughs such a wicked cruel laugh as You may hear them do sometimes and the first time that you hear it.

You'll probably think it's bogeys What are salmon asked Tom?

Fish you F'd Great fish nice fish to eat They are the lords of the fish and we are the lords of the salmon and she laughed again We hunt them up and down the pools and drive them up into a corner the silly things they are so proud and bully the little trout and the minnows till they see us coming and Then they are so meek all at once and we catch them,

But we disdain to eat them all We just bite out their soft throats and suck their sweet juice.

Oh so good and She licked her wicked lips and then we throw them away again and go and catch another They are coming soon children coming soon I can smell the rain coming up off the sea and then hurrah for a fresh salmon and plenty of eating all day long and The otter grew so proud that she turned head over heels twice and then stood upright half out of the water grinning like a Cheshire cat and Where do they come from asked Tom who kept himself very close for he was considerably frightened Out of the sea F'd the great wide sea where they might stay safe if they like But out of the sea the silly things come into the great river down below and we come up to watch for them And when they go down again,

We go down and follow them and there we fish for the bass and the pollock and have jolly days along the shore and Toss and roll in the breakers and sleep snug in the warm dry crags.

Ah That is a merry life to children if it were not for those horrid men What are men asked Tom?

But somehow he seemed to know before he asked Two-legged things and now I come to look at you They are actually something like you if you had not a tail She was determined that Tom should have a tail only a great deal bigger Worst luck for us and they catch the fish with hooks and lines Which get into our feet sometimes and set pots along the rocks to catch lobsters They speared my poor dear husband as we went out to find something for me to eat I Was laid up among the crags then and we were very low in the world For the sea was so rough that no fish would come in shore But they speared him poor fellow and I saw them carry him away upon a pole He lost his life for your sakes my children poor dear obedient creature that he was And the otter grew so sentimental for otters can be sentimental when they choose like a good many people who are both cruel and greedy and No good to anybody at all that she sailed solemnly away down the burn and Tom saw her no more for that time and Lucky it was for her that she did go for no sooner was she gone Then down the bank came seven little rough terrier dogs Snuffing and yapping and grubbing and splashing in full cry after the otter Tom hid among the water lilies till they were gone For he could not guess that they were the water fairies come to help him but he could not help thinking of what the otter had said about the great river and the broad sea and As he thought he longed to go and see them He could not tell why but the more he thought the more he grew discontented with the narrow little stream in which he lived and all his companions there and wanted to get out into the wide wide world and enjoy all the wonderful sights of which he was sure it was full and Once he set off to go down the stream But the stream was very low and then he came to the shallows.

He could not keep underwater For there was no water left to keep under So the sun burned his back and made him sick and he went back again and lay quiet in the pool for a whole week more And then on the evening of a very hot day he saw a sight He had been very stupid all day and so had the trout For they would not move an inch to take a fly Though they were thousands in the water But lay dozing at the bottom of the shade of the stones And tom lay dozing too And was glad to cuddle their smooth cool sides for the water was quite warm and unpleasant But toward evening it grew suddenly dark And tom looked up and saw a blanket of black clouds lying right across the valley above his head Resting on the crags right and left He felt not quite frightened but very still For everything was still There was not a whisper of wind Nor a chirp of a bird to be heard And next a few great drops of rain fell plop into the water and one hit tom on the nose And made him pop his head down quickly enough And then the thunder roared and the lightning flashed and leaped across vendale and back again From cloud to cloud and cliff to cliff to the very rocks in the stream seemed to shake And tom looked up through the water and thought it was the finest thing he'd ever saw in his life But out of the water he dared not put his head For the rain came down by buckets full And the hail hammered like shot of stream And churned it into foam And soon the stream rose and rushed down higher and higher and fowler and fowler full of beetles and sticks and straws and worms and addle eggs and wood lice and leeches and odds and ends And this that and the other enough to fill nine museums Tom could hardly stand against the stream and hid behind a rock But the trout did not For out they rushed from among the stones and began gobbling the beetles and leeches in most greedy and quarrelsome way And swimming about with great worms hanging out of their mouths Tugging and kicking to get them away from each other and now by the flashes of the lightning Tom saw a new sight At the bottom of the stream alive with great eels Turning and twisting along all downstream and away They had been hiding for weeks In the crags of the rock and in burrows in the mud And Tom had hardly ever seen them except now and then at night But when they were all out and went hurrying past him so fiercely and wildly that he was quite frightened And as they hurried past he could hear them say to each other We must run we must run What a jolly thunderstorm down to the sea down to the sea And then the otter came by with all her brood twining and sweeping along as fast as the eels themselves And then she spied Tom and came and said Now is your time to F if you want to see the world Come along children Never mind those nasty eels we shall breakfast on salmon tomorrow down to the sea down to the sea Then came a flash brighter than all the rest And by the light of it In the thousandth part of a second they were gone again But he had seen them he was certain of it three beautiful white little girls With their arms twined around each other's necks Floating down the torrent as they sang down to the sea down to the sea Oh stay wait for me cried Tom But they were gone Yet he could hear their voices clear and sweet through the roar of the thunder and water and wind Singing as they died away down to the sea Down to the sea said Tom Everything is going to the sea and I will go too Goodbye trout But the trout were so busy gobbling worms that they never turned to answer him So that Tom was spared the pain of bidding them farewell and now down the rushing stream guided by the bright flashes of the storm past tall birch fringe rocks Which shone out one moment as clear as day And the next were dark as night past dark hovers under swirling banks From which great trout rushed out on Tom Thinking him to be good to eat and turned back sulkily For the fairy sent them home again with a tremendous scolding for daring to meddle with the water baby on through narrow strides and roaring cataracts Where Tom was deafened and blinded for a moment by the rushing waters along deep reaches Where the water lilies tossed and flapped beneath the wind and hail past sleeping villages Under dark bridge arches and away and away to the sea And Tom could not stop And did not care to stop He would see the great world below and the salmon and the breakers and the wide wide sea And when the daylight came Tom found himself out in the salmon river And what sort of a river was it?

Was it like an irish stream?

Winding through the brown bogs Where the wild ducks squatter up from among the white water lilies And the curlews flit to and fro crying Tootlyweep mind your sheep and Dennis tells you strange stories And the great bogey snake which lies in the black peat pools Among the old pine stems and puts his head out at night to snap up the cattle as they come down to drink But you must not believe all that Dennis tells you for if you ask him Is there a salmon here?

Do you think Dennis?

Is it salmon thin your honor mains?

Salmon?

Cart loads it is of thin Shouldering ache out of the water,

But you'd be lucky to see them Then you fish the pool all over and never get a rinse But there can't be salmon here Dennis And if you think that if one had come up last time you'd be gone into the higher pools by now Sure thing and your honor's thy true fisherman and understands it all like a book Why you speak as if you'd known water a thousand years As I said,

How could there be a fish here at all just now?

But you said just now that they were shouldering each other out of the water And then Dennis will look up at you with this handsome sly soft sleepy good-natured Untrustable irish gray eye and answer you with the prettiest smile Sure,

And didn't I think your honor would like a pleasant answer?

So you must not trust Dennis because he is in the habit of giving pleasant answers But instead of being angry with him,

You must remember that he is a poor patty and knows no better So you must just burst out laughing and then he will burst out laughing too And slave for you and trot about after you and show you good sport if he can For he is an affectionate fellow and as fond of sport as you are And if he can't tell you fibs instead a hundred an hour and wonder all the while While poor old ireland does not prosper like england and scotland and some other places Where folks have taken up a ridiculous fancy that honesty is the best policy Or was it like a welsh salmon river,

Which is remarkably chiefly At least till this last year For containing no salmon as they all have been poached out by the enlightened peasantry Or was it such a salmon stream as I trust you will see among the hampshire water meadows before your hairs are gray under the wise new fishing laws When winchester apprentices shall covenant as they did 300 years ago Not to be made to eat salmon more than three times a week And fresh run fish shall be plentiful Under salisbury spire as they are in holy oak at christ church in the good time coming When folks shall see that Of all heaven's gifts of food the one to be protected most carefully Is that worthy gentleman salmon who is generous enough to go down to the sea weighing five ounces And to come back next year weighing five pounds without having cost the soil or the state one farthing Or was it like a scotch stream such as arthur clough drew in his body Ah my little man When you are a big man and fish such a stream as that You will hardly care I think whether she be roaring down in full spate Like coffee covered with scald cream While the fish are swirling at your fly as an oar blade swirls in a boat race or flashing up the cataract like silver arrows out of the fiercest of the foam Or whether the fall be dwindled to a single thread And the shingle below as white and dusty as a turnpike road While the salmon huddle together in one dark cloud in the clear amber pool Sleeping away their time till the rain creeps back again off the sea You will not care much if you have eyes and a brain For you will lay down your rod contentedly and drink in at your eyes of beauty of that glorious place And listen to the water oozle piping on the stones And watch the yellow rose come down to drink and look up at you with their great soft trustful eyes as much as to say You could not have the heart to shoot at us And then if you have any sense you will turn and talk to the great giant of a ghillie who lies basking on the stone besides you He will tell you no fibs my little man for he is a scotchman and fears god and not the priest And as you will talk with him,

You'll be surprised more and more at his knowledge his sense his humor his courtesy And you will find out Unless you have found it out before That a man may learn from his bible to be a more thorough gentleman Than if he'd been brought up in all the drawing rooms in london No It was none of these the salmon stream at hearth over It was such a stream as you'd ever see in dear old bewick Bewick who was born and bred upon them A full hundred yards broad it was Sliding on from broad pool to broad shallow and broad shallow to broad pool over great fields of shingle under oak and ash coverts past low cliffs of sandstone past green meadows and fair parks and a great house of gray stone and brown moors above And here and there against the sky the smoking chimney of a colliery You must look at bewick to see just what it is like For he has drawn it a hundred times with the care and the love of a true north country man And even if you do not care about the salmon river you ought like all good boys To know your bewick but tom thought nothing about what the river was like All his fancy was to get down to the wide wide sea And after a while he came to a place where the river spread out into a broad still shallow reaches So wide that little tom as he put his head out of the water could hardly see across And there he stopped He got a little frightened This must be the sea he thought What a wide place it is If I go on into it,

I shall surely lose my way or some strange thing will bite me I will stop here and look out for the otter or the eels or someone to tell me where I shall go So he went back a little way And crept into the crack of the rock Just where the river opened out into the wide shallows and watched for someone to tell him his way But the otter and the eels were gone on miles and miles down the stream There he waited and slept too For he was quite tired with his night's journey And when he woke the stream was clearing to a beautiful amber hue Though it was still very high And after a while,

He saw a sight which made him jump up For he knew in a moment.

It was one of the things which he had come to look for Such a fish Ten times as big as the biggest trout and a hundred times as big as Tom Scalling up the stream past him as easily as Tom had scullied down Such a fish Shining silver from head to tail And here and there a crimson dot With a grand hooked nose and grand curling lip And a grand bright eye Looking round him as proudly as a king And serving the water right and left as if all belonged to him Surely he must be the salmon the king of all the fish Tom was so frightened that he longed to creep into a hole But he need not have been For salmon are all true gentlemen And like true gentlemen They look noble and proud enough And yet like true gentlemen They never harm or quarrel with anyone But go on about their own business and leave rude fellows to themselves The salmon looked at him full in the face and then went on without minding him With a swish or two of his tail Which made the stream boil again And in a few minutes came another And then four or five and so on And they all passed Tom Rushing and plunging up the cataract with such strong strokes of their silver tails Now and then leaping clean out of the water and up over a rock Shining gloriously for a moment in the bright sun While Tom was so delighted that he could have watched them all day long And at last One came up bigger than all the rest But he came slowly And stopped and looked back And seemed very anxious and busy And Tom saw that he was helping another salmon An especially handsome one Who had not a single spot upon it But was clothed in pure silver from nose to tail My dear said the great fish to his companion You really look dreadfully tired and you must not overexert yourself at first Do rest yourself behind the rock And he shoved her gently with his nose to the rock where Tom sat You must know that this was the salmon's wife For salmon like other true gentlemen Always choose their lady and love her and are true to her And take care of her and work for her and fight for her As every true gentleman ought And are not like vulgar chub and roach and pike who have no high feelings and take no care of their wives Then he saw Tom and looked at him very fiercely one moment as if he was going to bite him What do you want here?

He said very fiercely Oh,

Don't hurt me cry Tom.

I only want to look at you.

You are so handsome Ah Said the salmon very stately,

But very civilly I really beg your pardon I see what you are my little dear I have met one or two creatures like you before and found them very agreeable and well behaved Indeed,

One of them showed me a great kindness lately,

Which I hope to be able to repay I hope we shall not be in your way As soon as the ladies rested we shall proceed on with our journey What a well-bred old salmon he was So you have seen things like me before as Tom Several times my dear Indeed,

It was only last night that one of the river's mouths came and warned me and my wife of some new steak nets Which had gotten to the stream I cannot tell how since last winter and showed us the way around them in the most charmingly obliging way So there are babies in the sea cried Tom and clapped his little hands Then I shall have some to play with there.

How delightful Were there no babies up this stream asked the lady salmon No And I grew so lonely I thought I saw three last night,

But they were gone in an instant down to the sea So I went too For I had nothing to play with but caddices and dragonflies and trout Oh Cried the lady what low company?

My dear if he's been in low company,

He has certainly not learned their low manners said the salmon No,

Indeed poor little deer,

But how sad for him to live among such peoples as caddices Who have actually six legs the nasty things and dragonflies,

Too Why they're not even good to eat for I tried them once and they are all hard and empty And as for trout Everyone knows what they are Whereon she curled up her lip and looked dreadfully scornful while her husband curled up his too Why do you dislike the trout so asked Tom My dear we don't even mention them if we can help it For i'm sorry to say They are relations of ours who do us.

No credit A great many years ago.

They were just like us But they were so lazy and cowardly and greedy That instead of going down to the sea every year to see the world and grow strong and fat They chose to stay and poke about in the little streams and eat worms and grubs And they're very properly punished for it for they have grown up ugly and brown and spotted and small And are actually so degraded in their tastes That they will eat our children And then they pretend to scrape acquaintance with us again said the lady Why I have actually known one of them proposed to a lady salmon the little impudent little creature I should hope said the gentleman That there are very few ladies of our race who would degrade themselves by listening to such a creature for an instant If I saw such a thing happen I should consider it my duty to put them both to death upon the spot So the old salmon said like an old blue-butted hidalgo of spain And what is more?

He would have done it too For you must know No enemies are so bitter against each other as those who are of the same race And a salmon looks on a trout As some great folks look on to some little folks As something just too much like himself to be tolerated And that is the end of our story this evening Until next time Sweet dreams

Reviews

Loved it !! Your voice is so comforting, thank you 🙏🏻

It is a but confusing hiw he became a tiny amphibian, but ut keeps me interested in the two minutes befire I fall asleep! 😆

Fell asleep, will have to listen again. Enjoyed what I heard, as always. Thanks Hilary! 🙏🪬

Lovely story, and your soothing voice was what I needed last night. Thank you m, Hilary! 🤗💕