For she was older and wise, and could tell by certain signs when the upper currents were seething and boiling.  So when I darted upwards with a strong swirl that cut the waters apart for my passage, she thrust herself farther ahead, trying to drive me back, and said plainly by her actions: 

“Don’t go aloft, my son, you will rush into danger; heed the warnings of your mother and stay where the waters are untroubled and safe.”

No, I was getting to be a smart man-fish, and must be allowed to go where I would.

Very well, I went.  Upward and upward I dove, until, oh, distress!  I was caught by the turmoil and confusion of a great storm.  I had gone too far because of knowing far less than I thought I did.

Do you ask why I did not immediately dive downwards again?  Alas, I couldn’t!  I had raised myself into the storm circle, and big creature that I was, I had need to learn that there were mighty forces of the sea that made all my strength as a mere wisp of straw when placed against them.

Do not Folks, I wonder, sometimes find it much easier to get into a hard place than to get out of it?  That was what I found then, being driven about first this way, then that.  I was slammed against a great, roaring billow that sent me off presently in another direction, merely to be met by another wave that dashed me against a third one.

My instincts, that serve me for mind and brains, taught me that if I wanted to get down to quiet, restful depths, I must dive head foremost directly toward the bottom of the sea.

Oh, what folly to try!  No sooner would I get my great head and long nose pointed for a swift downward plunge, than a thundering billow would actually toss me into the air, just as I have seen a spurt of spray toss a cockle-shell.

Oh, but I saw strange sights and heard strange sounds that night!  Once when two waves came together I was not only tossed high in air, but for several moments I actually rode atop of the rolling foam.

It was then that I had my first view of “Folks.”  What wonderful beings!  My first thought was, could it be some new, amazing kind of fish that could stand upright?  You see, I had up to that time only known creatures that lay flat, that flapped fins in order to get along, or in order to try what is called by the long word, lo-co-mo-tion.

But here were fine, tall objects that were in every way so different!  I indeed knew at once that they were far above and superior to the little creatures that flew, to anything that crawled, and to any kind of fish that swam the seas.

A great vessel was straining and tugging, and I could see lights here and there that showed the water black as night.  Sailors’ voices rose high above the surging of water and the tempest’s loud cry.  There were queer little holes in the sides of the vessel that I know now are called “port-holes,” and big guns were pointed out through them.