And all this from what he learnt when he was a water-baby , underneath the sea . `` And of course Tom married Ellie ? '' My dear child , what a silly notion ! Do n't you know that no one ever marries in a fairy tale , under the rank of a prince or a princess ? `` And Tom 's dog ? '' Oh , you may see him any clear night in July ; for the old dog-star was so worn out by the last three hot summers that there have been no dog-days since ; so that they had to take him down and put Tom 's dog up in his place . Therefore , as new brooms sweep clean , we may hope for some warm weather this year . And that is the end of my story . MORAL . And now , my dear little man , what should we learn from this parable ? We should learn thirty-seven or thirty-nine things , I am not exactly sure which : but one thing , at least , we may learn , and that is this -- when we see efts in the pond , never to throw stones at them , or catch them with crooked pins , or put them into vivariums with sticklebacks , that the sticklebacks may prick them in their poor little stomachs , and make them jump out of the glass into somebody 's work-box , and so come to a bad end . For these efts are nothing else but the water-babies who are stupid and dirty , and will not learn their lessons and keep themselves clean ; and , therefore -LRB- as comparative anatomists will tell you fifty years hence , though they are not learned enough to tell you now -RRB- , their skulls grow flat , their jaws grow out , and their brains grow small , and their tails grow long , and they lose all their ribs -LRB- which I am sure you would not like to do -RRB- , and their skins grow dirty and spotted , and they never get into the clear rivers , much less into the great wide sea , but hang about in dirty ponds , and live in the mud , and eat worms , as they deserve to do . But that is no reason why you should ill-use them : but only why you should pity them , and be kind to them , and hope that some day they will wake up , and be ashamed of their nasty , dirty , lazy , stupid life , and try to amend , and become something better once more . For , perhaps , if they do so , then after 379,423 years , nine months , thirteen days , two hours , and twenty-one minutes -LRB- for aught that appears to the contrary -RRB- , if they work very hard and wash very hard all that time , their brains may grow bigger , and their jaws grow smaller , and their ribs come back , and their tails wither off , and they will turn into water-babies again , and perhaps after that into land-babies ; and after that perhaps into grown men . You know they wo n't ? Very well , I daresay you know best . But you see , some folks have a great liking for those poor little efts . They never did anybody any harm , or could if they tried ; and their only fault is , that they do no good -- any more than some thousands of their betters . But what with ducks , and what with pike , and what with sticklebacks , and what with water-beetles , and what with naughty boys , they are `` sae sair hadden doun , '' as the Scotsmen say , that it is a wonder how they live ; and some folks ca n't help hoping , with good Bishop Butler , that they may have another chance , to make things fair and even , somewhere , somewhen , somehow . Meanwhile , do you learn your lessons , and thank God that you have plenty of cold water to wash in ; and wash in it too , like a true Englishman .
And then , if my story is not true , something better is ; and if I am not quite right , still you will be , as long as you stick XXXXX hard work and cold water .
For after at if into of than though to with