Dr. Herbert Benjamin
friendliest advice, I’d say get a shell. Any kind of shell.
The ocean’s full of them.”
“Could you tell me how to get to land?” said Henry.
“No idea!” said the sea turtle.
“The whale said the law said I was sure to get to
land. It’s all settled,” said Henry. “I just have to find out
how.”
“Was Pale That-Settles-It the Whale here?” asked
the sea turtle. “Did he tell you the law of the ocean?”
“Yes,” said Henry. “He said I’d get to land, but he
didn’t say how.”
“Hmm,” said the turtle. “The law of the ocean
indeed! There
aren’t
any laws out here. What good are
laws, anyhow? They just end up in Punishment. Who
wants
Punishment?
”
“Well, Punishment starts with a P,” said Henry,
“and I think you should have your Punishment if you
really
deserve
it!”
“I’d get a
shell
if I were you,“ said the sea turtle.
“Shell starts with an S, and only things that start with an
S are any good out here.”
“Like what?” asked Henry.
“Oh, like swimming and sweetness, and sea-things,
and salmon, and sea turtles, and sea-shells, and seasons,
and sea-sense, and seaweed, and silence. I’d get a shell
or be silent,” said the sea turtle. Look down below you.”
Henry looked down and saw piles of sea-shells at
the bottom of the ocean.
“How do I get down? he asked, but the sea turtle
was no longer there. He had swum off silently.
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