No more he had . He had grown as dry and hard and empty as a quill , as such silly shallow-hearted fellows deserve to grow . But , instead of being ashamed of his emptiness , he was quite proud of it , as a good many fine gentlemen are , and began flirting and flipping up and down , and singing - `` My wife shall dance , and I shall sing , So merrily pass the day ; For I hold it for quite the wisest thing , To drive dull care away . '' And he danced up and down for three days and three nights , till he grew so tired , that he tumbled into the water , and floated down . But what became of him Tom never knew , and he himself never minded ; for Tom heard him singing to the last , as he floated down - `` To drive dull care away-ay-ay ! '' And if he did not care , why nobody else cared either . But one day Tom had a new adventure . He was sitting on a water - lily leaf , he and his friend the dragon-fly , watching the gnats dance . The dragon-fly had eaten as many as he wanted , and was sitting quite still and sleepy , for it was very hot and bright . The gnats -LRB- who did not care the least for their poor brothers ' death -RRB- 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 dragon-fly never stirred , and kept on chatting to Tom about the times when he lived under the water . Suddenly , Tom heard the strangest noise up 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 of soft brown fur , and the next of shining 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 dragon-fly 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 do n't believe me , you may go to the Zoological Gardens -LRB- for I am afraid that you wo n't see it nearer , unless , perhaps , you get up at five in the morning , and go down to Cordery 's Moor , and watch by the great withy pollard which hangs over the backwater , where the otters breed sometimes -RRB- , and then say , if otters at play in the water are not the merriest , lithest , gracefullest creatures you 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 made faces at her . `` Come out , '' said the wicked old otter , `` or it will be worse for you . '' But Tom looked at her from between 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 XXXXX disgust , `` it is not worth eating , after all .
So as from in of on over though unless within