head, and slams itself shut with a loud noise.



On account of the hardness and thickness of his shell, the sazaye is the

envy of the soft-bodied fishes that covet his security. But on the other

hand the sazaye, though a slow moving creature, is apt to be too proud of

his defence and trust too much to his fancied security.



* * * * *



One day a Tai (red fish) and a Herring were looking at the strong shell

of the sazaye, and becoming quite envious, the Tai said:



"What a mighty strong castle you do live in, Mr. Sazaye. When you once

shut up your shell no one need even try to touch you. You are to be

envied sir."



The Sazaye was tickled at the flattery, but pretending to be very humble,

shook his head and said:



"It is very kind in you, my lords, to say so, but my little hut is

nothing but a shell; yet I must say that when I lock my door I do not

feel any anxiety, and I really pity you poor fellows who have no shell at

all."



He had hardly got the last word out of his grisly throat, when suddenly

there was a great splash, and away darted the tai and herring, never

resting their fins or tails a moment till safe out of danger.



The Sazaye drew in his flap in the twinkling of an eye, and keeping as

quiet as possible, wondered what the noise was. Was it a stone, or a net,

or a fish-hook? He wondered if the tai and herring were caught.



"Surely they must be," thought he. "However I'm safe, thanks to my castle

shell," he muttered.



So drawing his trap tighter he took a long nap. When he woke up, quite

refreshed, he cautiously loosened his trap and peeped out.



"How strange every thing looks, am I dreaming?" said he as he saw piles

of fish, clams, prawns and lobsters lying on a board all around him.



"Ugh, what is that?" clapping himself shut as a great black-nosed and

long-whiskered dog poked his muzzle near him.



Poor shell-fish! There he lay in a fishmonger's shop, with a slip of

paper marked "ten cash," (1-10 of a cent,) on his back. A few hours

later, purchased by a laborer's wife for his dinner, he was stewing along

with several of his relative's in his own juice. The castle, of which he

was so proud, serving first as a dinner-pot, then as a saucer, after

which it was thrown away in a heap and burned into lime.