How the Whale Got His Throat
In the very beginning of the sea, when the salt was new and the water was blue, there swam a Whale. And he was VERY hungry.
He ate the starfish and the garfish, the crab and the dab. He ate the plaice and the dace, the skate and his mate, the mackerel and the pickerel, and finally the twirly-whirly eel. He ate them ALL, until there was only one small fish left in all the wide sea.
She was a clever little fish, and she hid behind the Whale's right ear where he couldn't reach her.
The Whale stood up on his tail. 'I'm still hungry,' he grumbled.
The tiny clever fish poked her head out. 'Excuse me, sir,' she said, 'but have you ever tasted a Man?'
'No,' said the Whale. 'What are they like?'
'Nubbly,' said the fish. 'But rather nice. There is one on a raft in the middle of the sea, quite far away. He wears blue canvas trousers, a pair of braces, and a jack-knife. Now — you MUST not forget the braces.'
Away sped the Whale, faster than fast, all the way to the middle of the sea. And there, on a little raft, was a small sailor.
GULP. The Whale opened his mouth wider than wide, and down went the sailor, the raft, the trousers, the jack-knife, and (yes) the braces.
But the sailor, once inside, was not a still sort of sailor at all. He jumped. He thumped. He stamped. He hopped and he clanged and he danced hornpipes where he really shouldn't.
The Whale felt very unwell indeed. 'This person is nubbly,' he groaned, 'and he is making me hiccup. Please come out.'
'Take me home first,' called the sailor.
So the Whale swam and swam, faster than ever, until he saw the sailor's own shore. He rushed up onto the beach and opened his mouth wide.
Out walked the sailor. But while he had been dancing inside, he had also been busy: with his jack-knife, he had cut his raft into a little criss-cross grate, and tied it firm with his braces. He wedged that grate into the Whale's throat, and there it stuck.
From that day on, the Whale could not eat anything larger than a very tiny fish. The grate saw to that.
And that is why whales, to this very day, only eat the tiniest fish in the sea.