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<h4 class = "headline"><SPAN name="fish" id = "fish">
A FISH STORY.</SPAN></h4>
<p class = "stanza in3">
<span class = "dropcap">S</span><span class = "firstword">ir</span>
Arthur, the sinner,</p>
<p class = "in5">Ate twelve fish for dinner,</p>
<p>And you may believe it’s just as I say!</p>
<p class = "in3">For if you but knew it,</p>
<p class = "in3">’Twas I saw him do it,</p>
<p>And just as it happened, sir, this was the way:</p>
<p class = "in3">One day this tall fish</p>
<p class = "in3">Swallowed this small fish</p>
<p>(<i>He</i> had just eaten a smaller one still);</p>
<p class = "in3">Up came this queer one</p>
<p class = "in3">And gobbled that ’ere one—</p>
<p>Didn’t he show the most magical skill?</p>
<p class = "in3">Then came this other</p>
<p class = "in3">And chewed up his brother,</p>
<p>Made but one gulp, and behold he was through!</p>
<p class = "in3">He was a gold fish</p>
<p class = "in3">Oh! he was a bold fish—</p>
<p>But before he could wink he was eaten up too!</p>
<p class = "in3">Up came a flounder,</p>
<p class = "in3">He was a ten-pounder,</p>
<p>Opened his mouth, swallowed <i>him</i> and was gone;</p>
<p class = "in3">Before you could blink, sir,</p>
<p class = "in3">Before he could shrink, sir,</p>
<p>This fish came by and the flounder was gone!</p>
<p class = "stanza in3">
(Alas for my story,</p>
<p class = "in3">’Tis getting quite gory!</p>
<p>So many swallows a summer might make.)</p>
<p class = "in3"><i>This</i> one came smiling,</p>
<p class = "in3">And, sweetly beguiling,</p>
<p>Gobbled the last like a piece of hot cake;</p>
<p class = "in3">A cod followed after;</p>
<p class = "in3">’Twould move you to laughter</p>
<p>To see in his turn how this hake came up,</p>
<p class = "in3">Swallowed that cod, sir,</p>
<p class = "in3">As if he were scrod, sir,</p>
<p>And then went by in a kind of a huff!</p>
<p class = "in3">Last, but not least,</p>
<p class = "in3">Came this fellow, the beast—</p>
<p>Down went the hake like a small pinch of snuff!</p>
<p class = "stanza in3">Then Cap’en Jim caught him,</p>
<p class = "in3">And then mamma bought him,</p>
<p>And then Annie cooked him, served up in a dish;</p>
<p class = "in3">And so this small sinner</p>
<p class = "in3">Who had him for dinner—</p>
<p>’Twas just as I say, sir—had eaten twelve fish!</p>
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