THE CRAYFISH MOTHER
Three Stickleback Mothers and several Clams were visiting under thelily-pads in the early morning. Mother Eel was also there. "Yes," shesaid "I am glad to come back and be among my old friends, and thechildren are happier here. As I often tell Mr. Eel, there is no placelike one's home. We had a hard journey, but I do not mind that. We arerested now, and travel does teach people so much. I should think youwould get dreadfully tired of being in the water all the time. I want mychildren to see the world. Now they know grass, and trees, and air, anddry ground. There are not many children of their age who know more thanthey. We stayed in a brook the one day we were gone, so they have feltrunning water too. It was clean--I will say that for it--but it was noplace for Eels, and so we came back."
There is no telling how long she would have kept on talking if she hadnot been called away. As soon as she left, the Sticklebacks began totalk about her.
"So she thinks we must be tired of staying in the water all the time,"said one. "It doesn't tire me nearly so much as it would to go draggingmyself over the country, wearing out my fins on the ground."
"Indeed?" said a Clam, to whom she turned as she spoke.
"Well, I'll tell you what I think," said another Stickleback Mother. "Ithink that if she didn't care so much for travel herself, she would notbe dragging her family around to learn grass and trees. Some night theywill be learning Owls or men, and that will be the end of them!"
"I do not believe in it at all," said the first speaker. "I certainlywould not want my sons to learn these things, for they must grow up tobe good nest-builders and baby-tenders. I have told their fathersparticularly to bring them up to be careful housekeepers. With mydaughters, it is different."
For a long time nobody spoke; then a Clam said, "What a difference thereis in mothers!" It quite startled the Sticklebacks to hear a Clam say somuch. It showed how interested he was, and well he might be. The Clamwho brings up children has to do it alone, and be both father and motherto them, and of course that is hard work. It is hard, too, because whena little Clam is naughty, his parent can never say that he takes hisnaughtiness from any one else.
"And there is a difference in fathers too," exclaimed one fine-lookingStickleback Mother. "_I_ say that a father's place is by the nest, andthat if he does his work there well, he will not have much time to wantto travel, or to loaf around by the shore." The Clams looked at eachother and said nothing. Some people thought that the Stickleback Motherswere lazy.
Just then a Crayfish Mother came swimming slowly along, stopping oftento rest. Her legs were almost useless, there were so many littleCrayfishes clinging to them.
"Now look at her," said one Stickleback. "Just look at her. She laid hereggs at the beginning of last winter and fastened them to her legs. Saidshe was so afraid something would happen if she left them, and that thiswas a custom in her family anyway. Now they have hatched, and herchildren hang on to her in the same way."
The Crayfish Mother stopped with a sigh. "Isn't it dreadfully warm?"said she.
"We haven't found it so," answered the Sticklebacks, while the Clamsmurmured "No."
"Let me take some of your children," said one Stickleback. "Perhapscarrying them has made you warm and tired."
The Crayfish stuck her tail-paddles into the mud, and spread herpinching-claws in front of her family. "Oh no, thank you," said she."They won't be contented with any one but me."
"That must make it hard for you," said another Stickleback politely. Shewas thinking how quickly she would shake off the little Crayfishes ifthey were her children.
"It does," answered their mother. "It is hard, for I carried the eggs onmy legs all through the cold weather and until it was very warm again;and now that they are hatched, the children hang on with theirpinching-claws. Still, I can't bear to shake them off, poor littlethings!" She held up first one leg and then another to show off herdangling babies.
"I don't know what will happen to them when I cast my shell," said she."I shall have to soon, for I can hardly breathe in it. My sister changedhers some time ago, and her new one is getting hard already."
"Oh, they'll be all right," said a Stickleback cheerfully. "Theirfathers tell me that my children learn remarkably fast how to look outfor themselves."
"But my children can't walk yet," said the Crayfish Mother, "and theydon't know how to swim."
"What of that?" asked a Stickleback, who was beginning to lose herpatience. "They can learn, can't they? They have eight legs apiece,haven't they, besides the ones that have pincers? Isn't that enough tobegin on? And haven't they tail-paddles?"
"I suppose so," said their mother, with a sigh, "but they don't seem towant to go. I must put them to sleep now and try to get a little restmyself, for the sun is well up."
The next night she awakened and remembered what the Sticklebacks hadsaid, so she thought she would try shaking her children off. "It is foryour own good," she said, and she waved first one leg and then another.When she got four of her legs free, and stood on them to shake the otherfour, her children scrambled back to her and took hold again with theirstrong little pinching-claws. Then she gave it up. "You dear tinythings!" she said. "But I do wish you would walk instead of making mecarry you."
"We don't want to!" they cried; "we don't know how."
"There, there!" said their mother. "No, to be sure you don't."
The next night, though, they had to let go, for their mother was castingher shell. When it was off she lay weak and helpless on thepond-bottom, and her children lay around her. They behaved very badlyindeed. "Come here and let me catch hold of you," cried one. "I can'twalk," said another, "because I don't know how."
Some of them were so cross that they just lay on their backs and kickedwith all their eight feet, and screamed, "I _won't_ try!" It wasdreadful!
The Crayfish Mother was too weak to move, and when the Wise Old Crayfishcame along she spoke to him. "My children will not walk," said she,"even when I tell them to." He knew that it was because when she hadtold them to do things before, she had not made them mind.
"I will see what I can do," said he, "but you must not say a word." Hewalked backward to where they were, and kept his face turned towardtheir mother, which was polite of him. "Do you want the Eels to find youhere?" he said, in his gruffest voice. "If you don't, you'd betterrun."
What a scrambling there was! In one way or another, every littleCrayfish scampered away. Some went forward, some went sidewise, and somewent backward. Some didn't keep step with themselves very well at first,but they soon found out how. Even the crossest ones, who were lying ontheir backs flopped over and were off.
The Wise Old Crayfish turned to their mother. "It is no trouble to teachten-legged children to walk," said he, "if you go at it in the rightway."
The little Crayfishes soon got together again, and while they weretalking, one of their many aunts came along with all her childrenhanging to her legs. Then the little Crayfishes who had just learned towalk, pointed their pinching-claws at their cousins, and said, "Sh-h-h!'Fore I'd let my mother carry me! Babies!"
Among the Pond People Page 17
