she said , turning towards them , ` if one of you were killed to-day , the rest would fly ; but this man put his trust in me , and had his head cut off three times . Because he has done this , I will marry him rather than one of you , who have come hither to wed me , for many kings here sought to free me from the spells , but none could do it save Ian the fisher 's son . ' From ` Popular Tales of the West Highlands . ' A Fish Story Perhaps you think that fishes were always fishes , and never lived anywhere except in the water , but if you went to Australia and talked to the black people in the sandy desert in the centre of the country , you would learn something quite different . They would tell you that long , long ago you would have met fishes on the land , wandering from place to place , and hunting all sorts of animals , and if you consider how fishes are made , you will understand how difficult this must have been and how clever they were to do it . Indeed , so clever were they that they might have been hunting still if a terrible thing had not happened . One day the whole fish tribe came back very tired from a hunting expedition , and looked about for a nice , cool spot in which to pitch their camp . It was very hot , and they thought that they could not find a more comfortable place than under the branches of a large tree which grew by the bank of a river . So they made their fire to cook some food , right on the edge of a steep bank , which had a deep pool of water lying beneath it at the bottom . While the food was cooking they all stretched themselves lazily out under the tree , and were just dropping off to sleep when a big black cloud which they had never noticed spread over the sun , and heavy drops of rain began to fall , so that the fire was almost put out , and that , you know , is a very serious thing in savage countries where they have no matches , for it is very hard to light it again . To make matters worse , an icy wind began to blow , and the poor fishes were chilled right through their bodies . ` This will never do , ' said Thuggai , the oldest of the fish tribe . ` We shall die of cold unless we can light the fire again , ' and he bade his sons rub two sticks together in the hope of kindling a flame , but though they rubbed till they were tired , not a spark could they produce . ` Let me try , ' cried Biernuga , the bony fish , but he had no better luck , and no more had Kumbal , the bream , nor any of the rest . ` It is no use , ' exclaimed Thuggai , at last . ` The wood is too wet . We must just sit and wait till the sun comes out again and dries it . ' Then a very little fish indeed , not more than four inches long and the youngest of the tribe , bowed himself before Thuggai , saying , ` Ask my father , Guddhu the cod , to light the fire . He is skilled in magic more than most fishes . ' So Thuggai asked him , and Guddhu stripped some pieces of bark off a tree , and placed them on top of the smouldering ashes .
Then he knelt by the side of the fire and blew XXXXX it for a long while , till slowly the feeble red glow became a little stronger and the edges of the bark showed signs of curling up .
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