Pop! He had it in his mouth. Oh, soft morsel, worthy of a king's desire!
Now he could laugh at words of wisdom, and eat whatever came before his
eye. But ugh! What was that strange feeling that--Ouch! it was the fatal
hook!

With one frantic jerk, and a hundred twists and turns, poor Li sought
to pull away from the cruel barb that stuck so fast in the roof of his
mouth. It was now too late to wish he had kept away from temptation.
Better far to have starved at the bottom of the cool pond than to be
jerked out by some miserable fisherman to the light and sunshine of the
busy world. Nearer and nearer he approached the surface. The more he
struggled the sharper grew the cruel barb. Then, with one final splash,
he found himself dangling in mid-air, swinging helplessly at the end of
a long line. With a chunk he fell into a flat-bottomed boat, directly
on top of several smaller fish.

"Ah, a carp!" shouted a well-known voice gleefully; "the biggest fish
I've caught these three moons. What good luck!"

It was the voice of old Chang, the fisherman, who had been supplying
Mr. Li's table ever since that official's arrival in the village of
Everlasting Happiness. Only a word of explanation, and he, Li, would be
free once more to swim about where he willed. And then there should be
no more barbs for him. An escaped fish fears the hook.

"I say, Chang," he began, gasping for breath, "really now, you must
chuck me overboard at once, for, don't you see, I am Mr. Li, your old
master. Come, hurry up about it. I'll excuse you this time for your
mistake, for, of course, you had no way of knowing. Quick!"