HOW HAMMY AND GOPH LOOKED INTO THE WATER
One day Hammy and
Goph were sitting on the bank of a stream. They often sat
there, they liked it there. They sat and looked at the
water. At their reflections. And the reflections looked
out of the water at them.
"Does the water swim away?" Goph said suddenly.
"It does," said Hammy.
"And new water takes its place?" Goph said.
"Uh huh," said Hammy. "It happens all the
time."
"Then why isn't my reflection swimming away?"
"It is," said Hammy. "Don't you believe
me?"
"I'll go and check," Goph announced and went
off upstream.
"Is it swimming away?" Goph shouted. "Not
yet," replied Hammy. They waited a bit.
"Is it swimming away?" Goph shouted.
"No," replied Hammy. "Are you looking into
the water?"
"Of course I am," said Hammy hufflly.
"Maybe it's got stuck somewhere on the way?"
said Hammy anxiously.
"It hasn't got stuck anywhere! It didn't even
swim." Goph came back.
"Oh, there it is!" cried Hammy happily.
"It's swum back!"
And so it had. Next to Hammy's reflection was Goph's
reflection. Goph looked at it mistrustfully, even
sticking his nose down to the stream.
"Hm," said Goph in surprise. "It looks
like mine."
"Of course it's yours," snapped Hammy.
"You're the only one of us who looks so awful."
"Then it's not me," said Goph.
"What about the height?" said Hammy. "Your
reflection's taller than mine!"
"Then it is me," Goph admitted and gave a
giggle. "I know you're having me on. It didn't swim
away at all. It stayed here and didn't go anywhere!"
"Go away from the bank!" yelled Hammy
furiously.
Goph hummed and hawed, but went away.
"Your reflection's not here!" exclaimed Hammy.
"Yes, it is!" said Goph stubbornly. "Only
I can't see it from where I am."
"It isn't here!" Hammy insisted. "It just
isn't. Look yourself."
"Alright, I will!" And he did look. "It
is! There it is!"
"That's funny..." Hammy was taken aback.
"It wasn't here before."
"Oh, yes, it was!" Goph insisted.
"Of course, it wasn't!" Hammy guessed what had
happened. "It's a new reflection. And the old one's
swum away downstream! If you don't believe me, run and
see."
"Alright, I will," Goph puffed. And off he ran.
Hammy waited a long time for him. A whole month.
Goph came back at last. He could hardly drag his feet
along.
"Well?" asked Hammy, sternly. "Did you
find it?"
"I did," said Goph, panting hard. "Help,
I'm dying... I caught it up straightaway at the bend.
Looked into the water and there it was! Then I ran a bit
further, and there it was again! Ran right up to the
river, and it was there too! And they were all mine, none
of yours!" Goph blurted out. "Only don't get
upset. It's just that mine can swim. But yours must have
drowned."
"Either you were only admiring yourself," Hammy
remarked, "or mine chased all yours away. If mine
are shorter, they must get carried away quicker!"
From that day onwards Goph and Hammy came every day to
gaze into the stream. They would look at their
reflections, turn round and look again... And they liked
to think that now an endless chain of their reflections
was swimming over the whole big country: first along the
stream, then along the river, then over the sea. Swimming
along happily, hair smartly licked down, paws proudly
crossed on their chests, grinning broadly from ear to
ear. And everyone was admiring them and shouting happily:
"Hi there, Hammy and Goph!"
Migrating birds called to them, and fisher-boys and
distant whalers out in the ocean.
