asked Freddy , very much astonished and a little frightened . `` Of course I can , for this is a part of my jaw-bone . I should talk better if my whole mouth was here ; but I 'm afraid my voice would then be so loud you would n't be able to hear it . I do n't think any one but you would understand me , any way . It is n't every one that can , you know ; but you are a thoughtful little chap , with a lively fancy as well as a kind heart , so you shall hear my story . '' `` Thank you , I should like it very much , if you would please to speak a little lower , and not sigh ; for your voice almost stuns me , and your breath nearly blows me away , '' said Freddy . `` I 'll try : but it 's hard to suit my tone to such a mite , or to help groaning when I think of my sad fate ; though I deserve it , perhaps , '' said the bone , more gently . `` Were you a naughty whale ? '' asked Freddy . `` I was proud , very proud , and foolish ; and so I suffered for it . I dare say you know a good deal about us . I see you reading often , and you seem a sensible child . '' `` No : I have n't read about you yet , and I only know that you are the biggest fish there is , '' replied Freddy . The bone creaked and shook , as if it was laughing , and said in a tone that showed it had n't got over its pride yet : `` You 're wrong there , my dear ; we are not fishes at all , though stupid mortals have called us so for a long time . We ca n't live without air ; we have warm , red blood ; and we do n't lay eggs , -- so we are not fishes . We certainly are the biggest creatures in the sea and out of it . Why , bless you ! some of us are nearly a hundred feet long ; our tails alone are fifteen or twenty feet wide ; the biggest of us weigh five hundred thousand pounds , and have in them the fat , bone , and muscle of a thousand cattle . The lower jaw of one of my family made an arch large enough for a man on horseback to ride under easily , and my cousins of the sperm-family usually yield eighty barrels of oil . '' `` Gracious me , what monsters you are ! ''
cried XXXXX , taking a long breath , while his eyes got bigger and bigger as he listened .
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