"I wish I were dead," he muttered. "They'll never get me out of here." Behind him, he heard the plop-plop of food tidbits landing on the floor of the tank as the onlookers sought to regain his attention. They must have come out of their moment of pique if they were trying to coax him to amuse them further. "If I could find a bone in those hunks of fish, I'd kill myself," said Harris. The dark shape of Big Fish settled over the tank, cutting off what little light there was like a cloud. Harris looked up resentfully. _I do not understand you_, thought the monster. _That would be very foolish._ "What--trying to commit suicide with a fish bone?" _No matter how, it would be extremely foolish, for then you would be dead._ Harris could not think of anything to say. He could not even think of anything to think, obviously, since none of his chaotic, half-formed thoughts brought a response. _It would be as if you had been eaten_, insisted his friend. "All right, all right! I won't do it then, if that'll make you happy," exclaimed Harris. _It has no effect on how well I feed_, Big Fish informed him. It took Harris a minute, but he figured it out. "So that's your philosophy!" he muttered to himself. "Now I know what it takes to make you happy. Something to eat!" _Where?_ inquired the monster. _I do not see anyone I want to eat._ "Never mind!" said Harris. "Tell me more about the ocean bottom. Where there are big holes or cliffs, can you see ... uh ... stripes in the sides, layers of rock?" _Sometimes. Where it is deep enough. Other places there are things growing to the bottom. Only little fish that are not even good to eat do their feeding there. Sometimes the sea-people take away the growing things or dig holes._ "I'll bet there are plenty of things to get out of this ocean," mused Harris. "Who knows how the climate may have changed in thousands of years. Maybe if there was an ice age the seas would have shrunk. Maybe there was a volcanic age. Maybe you could drill underwater and find oil--if you knew where to look. Maybe there are deposits of diamonds under the ooze." He stopped when he sensed a vague irritation. He realized that his thoughts had been going out and scoring the cleanest of misses. "It doesn't matter," he said. "Just tell me what you do know about the sea." _I can tell you where to find tribes of the sea-people. I can tell you where to find all sorts of good eating-fish. I know where to think to other Big Fish but that I cannot tell you, for you cannot feel it._ The monster rose slowly through the water. He had seen something up there that interested him, Harris knew, and would return when it occurred to him.