A Fish Out of Water

  • 2 days ago
by Helen Palmer
illustrated by P.D. Eastman
Transcript
00:00A Fish Out Of Water, by Helen Palmer, illustrated by P.D. Eastman.
00:16This little fish, I said to Mr. Karp, I want him, I like him, and he likes me, I will call
00:22him Otto, very well, said Mr. Karp, now I will tell you how to feed him, then Mr. Karp
00:29told me, when you feed a fish, never feed him a lot, so much and n more, never more
00:34than a spot or something may happen, you never know what, then I took Otto home, I gave him
00:40some food, I did not give him much, just one little spot, but this did not make Otto happy,
00:46he wanted some food, he had to have more, poor Otto, he just had to have more, I knew
00:52what Mr. Karp had told me, never feed him a lot, never more than a spot, or something
00:58may happen, you need know what, but I gave Otto all the food in the box, then something
01:03did happen, my little Otto began to grow, I saw him grow, I saw him grow and grow, soon
01:09he was too big for his little fish bowl, there was just one thing to do, I put Otto into
01:14the flower bowl, there Otto, I said, this will hold you, but no, the flower bowl did
01:20not hold him, Otto went right on growing, this was not funny, not funny at all, his
01:26tail was growing right out of the top, I grabbed the flower bowl, I ran with it, Otto,
01:32I said, I know just where to put you, then you will be alright, I put him in a big pot,
01:38but Otto was not alright, I saw him grow some more, very soon he was too big for the pot,
01:44I put him in pot after pot, he was growing so fast, poor Otto, my poor little fish, oh,
01:50why did I feed him so much, Otto, I said, stop growing, please, but Otto could not stop
01:57growing, he was growing all the time, very soon I ran out of pots, Otto had to have water,
02:03there was just one thing to do, I did it, I grabbed him, I grabbed him by the tail,
02:09I ran with him, up to the tub, the tub is big, it can hold lots of water, at last, there
02:15Otto, I said, this tub holds my father, this tub holds my mother, so, it will hold you,
02:22but the tub did not hold him at all, he went right on growing, oh Otto, I said, what can I do now,
02:29then crash, the door went down, crash, Otto went down, I went down too, oh, what a ride,
02:36down went the water into the cellar, and down went Otto too, I had to do something fast,
02:41I grabbed the phone, I called a policeman, help, help, I said, I fed my fish too much,
02:48Mr. Karp told me not to, but I did, what, said the policeman, Mr. Karp told you not to but you did,
02:55too bad, I will come at once, the policeman came, my fish went that way, I said, he is down in the
03:02cellar, the policeman ran down with me, what a fish, he said, he is much too big to keep in a
03:08cellar, we will have to get him out, we had to work and work to get Otto out, poor Otto, oh,
03:14why did I feed him too much, Mr. Karp told me something would happen, and it did, it did,
03:21now we had Otto out of the cellar, but now Otto had no water, no water at all, a fish has to have
03:28water, I said to the policeman, we must take him to water, get help, call for help on the radio,
03:35the policeman called on the radio, he called for the fireman, help, help, he said, a boy has fed a
03:41fish too much, a boy has fed a fish too much, we will come at once, the fireman came, they all
03:48helped to get Otto up, but where can we take him, I asked, uptown, downtown, to the pool,
03:55yelled the fireman, to the pool, and please hurry, they did hurry, the fire truck with Otto came
04:02right up to the pool, the fireman yelled, everyone get out of the pool, this fish is going in,
04:09down into the pool went Otto, into the pool was a big big splash, now I is happy, now at last,
04:16my Otto had water, lots of water, this big pool was just the thing, this big pool would hold him,
04:23but Otto went right on growing, and no one wanted Otto in the pool, they did not like Otto at all,
04:29you take that fish out of here, they yelled, there was just one thing to do, I did it, I ran to the
04:35phone, I called Mr. Karp, please please help me, I said, I fed Otto too much, oh dear, said Mr. Karp,
04:43so you fed him too much, I knew you would, I always say don't, but you boys always do, yes,
04:50I will come, then Mr. Karp came, he had a black box in his hand, he had a lot of other things too,
04:57what are you going to do Mr. Karp, I asked him, but Mr. Karp said nothing, he just went right up
05:03to the pool, he took his black box with him and all the other things too, splash, Mr. Karp jumped
05:09into the pool, splash, now Otto went down too, all I could see was his tail, I could not see Mr. Karp
05:16at all, what was going on down there, what were they going down there in the water, now I could
05:22see nothing, not Otto, not Mr. Karp, nothing at all, would I see my Otto again, would I see Mr.
05:29Karp again, Mr. Karp, Mr. Karp, I yelled, what are you doing, are you all right, then up jumped Mr.
05:36Karp, in his hand was a little fish bowl, in the bowl was my Otto, Mr. Karp had made him little
05:42again, don't ask me how I did it, he said, but here is your fish, and from now on, said Mr. Karp,
05:49please don't feed him too much, just so much and no more, now that is what I always do,
05:55now I feed Otto so much and no more, never more than a spot or something may happen,
06:00and now I know what, the end.