How the Whale Got His Throat

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

It’s playful and explanatory, with a safe ending. Great as an origin-story bedtime read for older kids.

Story Synopsis

A whale decides it wants to eat all the fish in the sea. Only a very small, clever fish remains—and it tries to warn the whale. The whale doesn’t listen. Soon the whale swallows a shipwrecked sailor. But the sailor won’t stay quietly inside. With help from the small fish, he forces the whale to cough him up and leaves a wooden grid across the whale’s throat. From then on, the whale can eat fish, but it cannot swallow big things. That’s the tale’s playful explanation for why whales have narrow throats—plus a gentle lesson about pride and listening.

Story Excerpt

Once upon a time, in the wide, rolling sea, there lived a Whale. And the Whale ate fish. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackerel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. He ate every fish he could find, with his mouth—so! He ate and ate until, at last, there was only one little fish left in all the sea. This last fish was a small ’Stute Fish. He was clever, and he was careful. He swam a little behind the Whale’s right ear, just out of the way. Then the Whale stood up on his tail in the water, lifted his great head, and said, “I’m hungry.” The small ’Stute Fish answered in a small, ’stute voice, “Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?” “No,” said the Whale. “What is it like?” “Nice,” said the small ’Stute Fish. “Nice but nubbly.” “Then fetch me some,” said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail. “One at a time is enough,” said the ’Stute Fish. “If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is magic), you will find—sitting on a raft in the middle of the sea—with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders), and a jack-knife—one shipwrecked Mariner.

In One Glance