Once there was an Indian boy who had a pet fish named Tommy,
which he kept in a barrel.
The fish got pretty big and the Indian had to change the
water quiet often to keep him alive. He was too lazy to do that, so he thought
he would teach the fish to live out of water.
He began by taking Tommy out of the barrel for a few minutes
at a time, pretty often, and then he took him out more often and kept him out
longer. After sometime Tommy could stay out a good while if he was in some wet
grass.
Then the Indian boy found he could leave him in the wet
grass all night, and pretty soon that the fish could live in the shade whether
the grass was wet or not. By that time he got pretty tame, too. He used to
follow the boy anywhere. When the boy dig went out to dig worms to eat, Tommy
went along too and got some for himself. The boy taught the fish everything,
until Tommy didn’t need any water at all. He could go anywhere down a dusty
road and stay all day out in the hot sun.
So, people wanted to buy Tommy, but the boy said he wouldn’t
sell a fish like that for any amount of money. He walked to town with Tommy
following along the road behind, just like a dog, only of course he traveled a
good deal like a snake.
Well, it was really sad the way that the boy lost his fish
and it was unusual, too. He went to town one day with Tommy coming along
behind, as usual. There was a bridge in the road and the boy came to it. He was
there was a hole in it, but he went over it without thinking. A little later he
looked around for Tommy but he couldn’t find him. He went back away and called,
but he couldn’t see any sign of his pet.
Finally he came to the bridge and saw the hole, and he
thought that maybe his fish had fallen in there. So he went to the hole and looked
down, and sure enough, there was Tommy, floating on the water, bottom-side up.
He’d fallen through that hole into the river and drowned.
