My colors are fine, dark, almost black on my back, gray at the sides, white and shiny as satin underneath.

There are strange things about a Dolphin.  One is that when one is about to die, the colors are very beautiful.  In growing faint-tinted where once dark, new and brilliant shades flash forth that change and glow in showy tints.  In our beak are thirty or forty sharp teeth on each side of the jaw.  Our voices are peculiar.  We are said to make a kind of moan, which you know is not a very cheerful sound.  This is strange, as we are really very lively creatures, and bright and happy in disposition, not at all moany or sad.

Then we have a kind of small tank or reservoir inside the chest and near the spine which is filled with pure blood.  This, you must know, is separate from the veins, and if we stay very long under water we can draw from this reserve supply, causing it to circulate through the body.

There is a great deal of wisdom in all this that a poor fish cannot understand, but Folks must know how these strange things come about, and who makes and guides all creatures everywhere.  But a Dolphin cannot take it in at all.

We are a merry, friendly tribe.  There probably are no fish that swim the sea that are fonder of Folks than we Dolphins.  And we cannot help feeling quite proud because of what Folks have appeared to think of us.  And I must explain why I do so grand a thing as to call myself “Lord Dolphin.”

To begin with:  In long years past, in “ancient times,” as they are called, Folks had an idea that we were able to do them good in some ways, and so were of special value to them.  And certain old coins or pieces of money had the figure of a Dolphin stamped on them.  It also was on medals, which, you know, are of gold, silver, and copper, and are given to Folks as a reward for having done a good or a brave deed.

The figure of a Dolphin was also sometimes embroidered on ribbon to be used as a badge, showing that the wearer belonged to a particular society or order using the Dolphin as an emblem.  Or it might be, again, that the figure showed one to be a member of an ancient or noble family.

Then there are strange and attractive stories of “myths,” imaginary forms or persons, like fairies, gods, and goddesses.  When you are older you will study about these ancient, make-believe beings, and the study will be called myth-ology, telling curious, interesting stories about the myths.

Apollo, one of the so-called deities, was a myth, and said to be the god of music, medicine, and the fine arts, a great friend of mankind; and a great favorite I was said to be of Apollo’s.

Orion, another myth, and a most exquisite player of the lute, so charmed the Dolphins with his playing, that once being in great trouble and throwing himself into the sea, a Dolphin bore him on his back to the shore.

Some Folks have called us whales.  But we are not whales at all, and are of an entirely different family.  Yet I am a big fellow all of eight feet long, while some of us are still much longer than that.