Some
were big and lazy, floating slowly along or lying at
rest with just their fins waving. Many with big round
eyes looked full at the girl as she watched them and
Dorothy wondered if they could hear her through the
glass if she spoke to them. In Oz, where all the
animals and birds can talk, many fishes are able to
talk also, but usually they are more stupid than birds
and animals because they think slowly and haven't much
to talk about.
In the Lake of the Skeezers the fish of smaller size
were more active than the big ones and darted quickly
in and out among the swaying weeds, as if they had
important business and were in a hurry. It was among
the smaller varieties that Dorothy hoped to spy the
gold and silver and bronze fishes. She had an idea the
three would keep together, being companions now as they
were in their natural forms, but such a multitude of
fishes constantly passed, the scene shifting every
moment, that she was not sure she would notice them
even if they appeared in view. Her eyes couldn't look
in all directions and the fishes she sought might be on
the other side of the dome, or far away in the lake.
"P'raps, because they were afraid of Coo-ee-oh,
they've hid themselves somewhere, and don't know their
enemy has been transformed," she reflected.
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