Then with a shudder he saw that they were feet no longer , but bird 's claws . He looked at the girl he was clasping , and beheld a great black bird standing at his side ; he turned to his friends , but a flock of great awkward flapping creatures stood in their place He put up his hands to cover his face , but they were no more hands , only the ends of wings ; and when he tried to speak , a noise such as he had never heard before seemed to come from his throat , which had suddenly become narrow and slender . Already the water had risen to his waist , and he found himself sitting easily upon it , while its surface reflected back the image of a black swan , one of many . Never again did the swans become men ; but they are still different from other swans , for in the night-time those who listen can hear them talk in a language that is certainly not swan 's language ; and there are even sounds of laughing and talking , unlike any noise made by the swans whom we know . The little Bunyip was carried home by its mother , and after that the waters sank back to their own channels . The side of the pool where she lives is always shunned by everyone , as nobody knows when she may suddenly put out her head and draw him into her mighty jaws . But people say that underneath the black waters of the pool she has a house filled with beautiful things , such as mortals who dwell on the earth have no idea of . Though how they know I can not tell you , as nobody has ever seen it . -LSB- From Journal of Anthropological-Institute . -RSB- Father Grumbler Once upon a time there lived a man who had nearly as many children as there were sparrows in the garden . He had to work very hard all day to get them enough to eat , and was often tired and cross , and abused everything and everybody , so that people called him ` Father Grumbler . ' By-and-by he grew weary of always working , and on Sundays he lay a long while in bed , instead of going to church . Then after a time he found it dull to sit so many hours by himself , thinking of nothing but how to pay the rent that was owing , and as the tavern across the road looked bright and cheerful , he walked in one day and sat down with his friends . ` It was just to chase away Care , ' he said ; but when he came out , hours and hours after , Care came out with him . Father Grumbler entered his house feeling more dismal than when he left it , for he knew that he had wasted both his time and his money . ' I will go and see the Holy Man in the cave near the well , ' he said to himself , ` and perhaps he can tell me why all the luck is for other people , and only misfortunes happen to me . ' And he set out at once for the cave . It was a long way off , and the road led over mountains and through valleys ; but at last he reached the cave where the Holy Man dwelt , and knocked at the door . ` Who is there ? ' asked a voice from within .
` It is I , Holy Man , Father Grumbler , you know , who has as many XXXXX as sparrows in the garden . '
children everybody head luck mother surface swan things time waist