And no more it was, because he was a water-baby, and had the original sow by the right ear; which you will never have, unless you be a baby, whether of the water, the land, or the air, matters not, provided you can only keep on continually being a baby.

So [the old fairy] took the poor professor in hand: and because he was not content with things as they are, she filled his head with things as they were not, to try if he would like them better; and because he did not choose to believe in a water-baby when he saw it, she made him believe in worse things than water-babies in unicorns, fire-drakes, manticoras, basilisks, amphisboenas, griffins, phoenixes, rocs,orcs, dog-headed men, three-headed dogs, three-bodied, greyons, and other pleasant creatures, which folks think never exsited yet, and which folks hope never will exist, though they know nothing about the matter and never will.

The Water Babies
WATER BABIES

Charles Kingsley