` Stop your silly chatter ! ' answered the man crossly , ` or I will give you a bath in the river . ' ` Oh , I wish , I do wish , I had a boat to mend , ' cried the fox again , as if he had not heard . And the man grew angry and seized him by the tail , and threw him far out in the stream close to the edge of an island ; which was just what the fox wanted . He easily scrambled up , and sitting on the top , he called : ` Hasten , hasten , O fishes , and carry me to the other side ! ' And the fishes left the stones where they had been sleeping , and the pools where they had been feeding , and hurried to see who could get to the island first . ' I have won , ' shouted the pike . ` Jump on my back , dear fox , and you will find yourself in a trice on the opposite shore . ' ` No , thank you , ' answered the fox , ` your back is much too weak for me . I should break it . ' ` Try mine , ' said the eel , who had wriggled to the front . ` No , thank you , ' replied the fox again , ' I should slip over your head and be drowned . ' ` You wo n't slip on MY back , ' said the perch , coming forward . ` No ; but you are really TOO rough , ' returned the fox . ` Well , you can have no fault to find with ME , ' put in the trout . ` Good gracious ! are YOU here ? ' exclaimed the fox . ` But I 'm afraid to trust myself to you either . ' At this moment a fine salmon swam slowly up .
` Ah , yes , you are the person I want , ' XXXXX the fox ; ` but come near , so that I may get on your back , without wetting my feet . '
called carry coming said seized shouted slip threw won wriggled