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It was a ood for the purposes of Solid Jackson He fished for Curious Squid, so called because, as well as being squid, they were curious That is to say, their curiosity was the curious thing about theot curious about the lantern that Solid had hung over the stern of his boat, they started to become curious about the way in which various of their number suddenly vanished skywards with a splash Some of them even beca that was co very quickly towards them The Curious Squid were extre connections It was a very long way to this fishing ground, but for Solid the trip was usually orth it The Curious Squid were very small, harmless, difficult to find and reckoned by connoisseurs to have the foulest taste of any creature in the world This made them very hly skilled chefsno trace of the squid whatsoever Solid Jackson's proble season, when the squid were especially curious about everything, the chef seemed to have been at work on the sea itself There was not a single interested eyeball to be seen There weren't any other fish either, and usually there were a few attracted to the light He'd caught sight of one It had been ht line He laid down his trident and walked to the other end of the boat, where his son Les was also gazing intently at the torchlit sea 'Not a thing in half an hour,' said Solid 'You sure we're in the right spot, Dad?' Solid squinted at the horizon There was a faint glow in the sky that indicated the city of Al–Khali, on the Klatchian coast He turned round The other horizon glowed, too, with the lights of AnkhMorpork The boat bobbed gently halfway between the two ‘ ‘Course we are,' he said, but certainty edged away from his words Because there was a hush on the sea It didn't look right The boat rocked a little, but that ith their movement, not fro to be a storm But the stars twinkled softly and there was not a cloud in the sky The stars twinkled on the surface of the water, too Now that was so out of here,' Solid said Les pointed at the slack sail 'What're we going to use for wind, Dad?' It was then that they heard the splash of oars,

Solid, squinting hard, could just rabbed his boathook 'I knows that's you, you thieving foreign bastard!' The oars stopped A voice sang over the water 'May you be consulided closer It looked foreign, with eyes painted on the prow, 'Fished 'ern all out, have you? I'll take my trident to you, you bottom– feedin' scum that y'are!'

'My curvy sword at your neck, you unclean son of a dog of the female persuasion!' Les looked over the side Little bubbles fizzed on the surface of the sea 'Dad?' he said 'That's Greasy Arif out there!' snapped his father, 'You take a good look at hi our squid, the evil lying little devil!'

'Dad, there's–'

'You get on them oars and I'll knock his black teeth out!' Les could hear a voice saying from the other boat, '–see, my son, how the underhanded fish thief–'

'Row!' his father shouted 'To the oars!' shouted someone in the other boat 'Whose squid are they, Dad?' said Les 'Ours!'

'What, even before we've caught them?'

'Just you shut up and row!'

'I can't !'

'It's a hundred fathoms deep here, boy! What's there to stick on?' Les tried to disentangle an oar fro sea 'Looks like a a chicken, Dad!' There was a sound fro, sloinging 'Chickens can't swim!'

'It's made of iron, Dad!' Solid scrambled to the rear of the boat It was a chicken, made of iron Seaweed and shells covered it and water dripped off it as it rose against the stars It stood on a cross–shaped perch There seemed to be a letter on each of the four ends of the cross Solid held the torch closer 'What the–' Then he pulled the oar free and sat down beside his son 'Row like the blazes, Les!'

'What's happening, Dad?'

'Shut up and row! Get us away from it!'

'Is it a monster, –Dad?'

'It's worse than a monster, son!' shouted Solid, as the oars bit into the water The thing was quite high now, standing on some kind of tower 'What is it, Dad! What is it?'