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“Oh yes, please,” replied Girlie.

“O-o-o-b, o-o-o-b, o-o-o-b, stop a biddit,” said the Fish, putting away his fishing-rod and wobbling awkwardly towards them. “Led be hear id, too.”

“Oh, you’ve heard it before,” said the Calf; “get on with your fishing.”

“O-o-o-b, o-o-o-b, o-o-o-b, I’ve odely heard id dide tibes,” said the Fish pleadingly.

“Very well, then, come and sit down,” said the Calf, pointing to where Girlie had settled herself on a little mound beside the road.

The Fish sat down, and, opening his mouth very widely, stared vacantly at the Calf, who repeated the following lines:—

“THE NODDING MANDARIN.

“Oh! it’s sad when you cannot say ‘no’

And your head on a pivot is fixed,

If you have to consent

When a negative’s meant,

Your affairs will get hopelessly mixed.

“And that was the Mandarin’s case,

Of that there can not be a doubt,

She asked him to wed,

And he nodded his head,

And that’s how it all came about.

“It happened one day in the spring;

As he sat ’neath his red parasol

She must have had cheek,