human
I only wish, he says,
gpt
What! exclaims Ludwig, raising his head in surprise,
human
Ay, _senorito_; just that.
gpt
Surely you wouldn't eat _it_, would you?
human
Wouldn't I? If I had one here now, you'd soon see.
gpt
But are they really good to eat?
human
Good to eat! I should think they are; and if you could but taste them yourself, _senorito_, you'd say so. A lightning eel's about the daintiest morsel I ever stuck teeth into; though they do have their dwelling-place in mud, and as some say, feed upon it. Before cooking them, however, something needs being done. You must cut away a portion of their flesh; the spongy part, which it's said gives them power to make their lightning play. In that lies the dangerous stuff, whatever sort of thing it is.
gpt
But what are they like, Gaspar? I've never seen one.
human
Oh, cousin! Do you mean to say you've never seen an electric eel?
gpt
Indeed do I. I've heard father speak of them often, and I know them by their scientific name, _gymnotus_. I believe there are plenty of them in the rivers of Paraguay; but, as it chances, I never came across one, either dead or alive.
human
I have, says Cypriano,
gpt
How so, _sobrino_?
human
Ah! that's a tale I never told you, Ludwig; but I'll tell it now, if you wish.
gpt
Oh I do wish it.
human
Well, near the little village where, as you know, I was born, and went to school before coming to live with uncle at Assuncion, there was a pond full of these fish. We boys used to amuse ourselves with them; sending in dogs and pigs, whenever we had the chance, to see the scare they would get, and how they scampered out soon as they found what queer company they'd got into. Cruel sport it was, I admit. But one day we did what was even worse than frightening either dogs or pigs; we drove an old cow in, with a long rope round her horns, the two ends of which we fastened to trees on the opposite sides of the pond, so that she had only a little bit of slack to dance about upon. And dance about she did, as the eels electrified her on every side; till at last she dropped down exhausted, and, I suppose, dead; since she went right under the water, and didn't come up again. I shall never forget her pitiful, ay, reproachful look, as she stood up to the neck, with her head craned out, as if making an appeal to us to save her, while we only laughed the louder. Poor thing! I can now better understand the torture she must have endured.
gpt
But is that the awkward circumstance you've spoken of?
human
Oh, no. _It_ was altogether another affair; and for me, as all the others, a more serious one. I hadn't come to the end of the adventure-- the unpleasant part of it--which was the chastisement we all got, by way of reward for our wickedness.
gpt
Chastisement! Who gave it to you?
human
Our worthy schoolmaster. It so chanced the old cow was his; the only one he had at the time giving milk. And he gave us such a thrashing! Ah! I may well say, I've a lively recollection of it; so lively, I might truly think the punishment then received was enough, without the additional retribution the eels have this day inflicted on me.