“Once upon a time there was a little chimney-sweep, and his name was Tom. That is a short name, and you have heard it before, so you will not have much trouble in remembering it. He lived in a great town in the North country, where there were plenty of chimneys to sweep, and plenty of money for Tom to earn and his master to spend.”
This is the beginning of “The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby” (1863) written by Charles Kingsley. He was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian social reformer, novelist and poet.
He was sympathetic to the idea of evolution and one of the first to appreciate Charles Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species”: his children’s novel has been described as a slightly distorted mirror version of Darwin’s work of scientific literature.
It was originally written for his four-year-old son, not only as a response to the theory of evolution, but also as a fairy tale, a moral fable, and a satire on Victorian attitudes to child labour and religion.
It deals with of a young chimney sweep, Tom, who finds redemption from the horrors of his work after he drowns and is magically transformed from a dirty little boy into a clean aquatic creature, a ‘water baby’. Taking up this second chance, the boy begins his moral education embarking on a series of adventures and lessons from all sorts of sea creatures. This will make him ‘evolve’ into a strong and worthy man capable of taking part in the modern world, after he regains his human form once again.
The novel seems to foreshadow Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, which appeared just two years later, in which the protagonist begins her adventures when she slips underground rather than underwater.
The year after “The Water Babies” was published, British parliament began the process that would lead to the 1864 Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act, which helped liberate so many children from unbelievable suffering.

(Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library)
Three quotes:
“But there are no such things as water-babies.”
How do you know that? Have you been there to see? And if you had been there to see, and had seen none, that would not prove that there were none”
“Some people think that there are no fairies. But it is a wide world, and plenty of room in it for fairies, without people seeing them; unless, of course, they look in the right place.”
“The most wonderful and the strongest things in the world, you know, are just the things which no one can see. There is life in you; and it is the life in you which makes you grow, and move, and think: and yet you can’t see it. And there is steam in a steam-engine; and that is what makes it move: and yet you can’t see it; and so there may be fairies in the world, and they may be just what makes the world go round to the old tune of “C’est l’amour, l’amour, l’amour
Qui fait la monde à la ronde:” (*)
and yet no one may be able to see them except those whose hearts are going round to that same tune.”
(*) In “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, which may have been written partially in response to Rev. Kingsley’s novel, the translation of this refrain is recited by the Duchess, “Oh, ’tis love, ’tis love, that makes the world go round!”.
“Ma non esistono cose come i bambini acquatici.”
Come fai a saperlo? Sei andato lì a vedere? E se anche tu fossi andato lì a vedere, e non ne avessi visto nessuno, ciò non proverebbe che non ce n’erano “
“Alcune persone pensano che non ci siano fate. Ma è il mondo è immenso, e c’è molto spazio per le fate, senza che la gente le veda; a meno che, ovviamente, non guardi nel posto giusto. “
“Le cose più meravigliose e più potenti del mondo, sai, sono solo le cose che nessuno può vedere. C’è vita in te; ed è questa vita che ti fa crescere, muovere e pensare: eppure non riesci a vederla. E c’è vapore in una macchina a vapore; e questo è ciò che lo fa muovere: eppure non puoi vederlo; e quindi potrebbero esserci fate nel mondo, e potrebbero essere proprio ciò che fa girare il mondo sulla vecchia melodia di
“È amore, amore, amore
Chi fa girare mondo:”
e tuttavia nessuno può riuscire a vederle tranne quelli il cui cuore gira sulla stessa melodia. “
To be continued…
Che bel libro che sei andata a scovare, Luisa! Ho visto in basso un timido “to be continued…”. L’attendo!
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Si, domani vorrei pubblicare una poesia contenuta nel libro, appena finisco di tradurla 🙂
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❤🌹🙏
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Ma dai.. pensavo lo stesso degli unicorni stamattina.😊
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Davvero???? Però i bambini acquatici sono più in tema con questa pioggia ininterrotta, non credi?
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Eh già. Sarà che gli unicorni sono più in tema con le fate
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🧚 🦄 🧚 🦄 🧚
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Wow, that is really a surprise! Not only for introducing this wonderful book but also to know a “priest” to like and write a fairytale and being a fan of Darwin 😳😊 Thank you, dearest Luisa, for this great post 🙏💖🥰
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I am really happy to stimulate your curiosity, at least in a small part of what you do with your beautiful posts. Have a nice afternoon (here it’s raining hard)❤🙏🌹
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wow thank you, my dear, that flatters me 😂💖 Here is not raining but cold and wet, 😛☁☁ have a nice afternoon too, in spite of the rain 🙏💖
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Thank you so much Aladin.💖❤️🙏🏼
As ever, you are so supportive and I value that greatly! Be Well!! 🙂
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It comes all from bottom of my heart ❤ 🤗
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I bambini acquatici! L’ho letto! Lui un personaggio del tutto particolare se penso alle sue parole nei confronti dei preti “cattolici” irlandesi! Sono proprio curiosa e aspetto ! Bravissima!
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Domani pubblicherò una poesia tratta dal secondo capitolo, se ho tempo per tradurla
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Bravissima!
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💖❤️🙏🏼
Più tardi passo a farti visita 😉
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non aver fretta tanto oggi piove e piove e piove
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Inoltre, con il passaggio all’ora solare, il buio che scende presto rende tutto più triste
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è vero,ma poi davvero oggi piove con una intensità grandissima
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☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
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Fascinating! I read the book as a child but did not pick-up on the evolutionary nature of his journey.
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I’m so glad you appreciated this post.
I love yours where I invariably learn something new and am then left to ponder.
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I did! You always have something interesting to offer us!
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🙏🤗🙏🌺🙏🙋🏼♀🙏🏻
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I read it as a child too and loved it, so it was wonderful to be reminded of it after all these years. And I also didn’t pick up on the link to evolution.
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[…] Source link […]
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Wonderful tale. Iearned a lot.
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I’m so glad you liked it! The topic is in tune with the weather here in Italy: today is a watery day
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How apt then.
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😊🌺😊🌺😊🌺
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Ricordi della mia infanzia e di mia nonna che me lo leggeva la sera.
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Ma davverooo? Che bel ricordo
Ho visto delle edizioni con illustrazioni bellissime 🙏🙏🙏
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Wow Luisa, I need to read this book, I really do😨😭
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It’s really nice, with some prejudices that were common at the time.
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Very interesting, Luisa. The son, Maurice, for whom this story was written, lived for a while in Colorado Springs in the early 1870s, and his sister, Rose, also came to visit, as did Reverend Kingsley a few years later. I haven’t actually read any of his writing, but have always wanted to, so I thank you for this introduction.
Best wishes,
Tanja
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Thank you for your thorough comment, Tanja.
Pleased to know that you enjoyed the post. Sending love and best wishes 💗⭐️
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Much appreciated. Warmest wishes back to you. 😊
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🤗🤗🤗
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Thank you LUISA, I ENJOYED IT BECAUSE I KNOW IT’S TRUE. THERE’S SO MUCH OUT IN THE HIDDEN WORLD WE DON’T UNDERSTAND OR JUST DON’T KNOW ABOUT . I REMEMBER THE GREAT BISHOP FULTON J. SHEEHAN WAS ON TELEVISION , I WAS LITTLE GIRL , HE SAID, HOW DO WE KNOW THERE ISN’T A TRAIN GOING BY THIS PODIUM RIGHT NOW , WE KNOW NOTHING .WE HUMANS WANT TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO INHABIT THIS WORLD , AS FOR THE FAR
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As far as the fairies I feed the birds every day I have a beautiful combination of Seagulls pigeons Ravens even red tailed hawks Blue Jays finches sparrows and of course my angels boy and girl Cardinals and they say where there’s Cardinals that’s where the angels are the bird baths everything that they need the flowers to trees everything is in the yard there’s different little resting place has some e and don’t leave some stay just to get a bite or a little wash and bird bath let some just stay there all day they sit there and watch over the yard maybe there’s a little fairies who knows we don’t know
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How lovely…🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚
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Awesome post 😊 Luisa
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Many thanks for your kindness! I am pleased that you enjoyed the read 🙂
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🤩
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[…] the end of Chapter II of “The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby” ( see here), the children’s novel written by Charles Kingsley, we can read the following poem, which […]
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Splendida! e come molto spesso accade, nelle favole per bambini ci sono molti insegnamenti…
Noi adulti non dovremmo sorridere con distacco e superiorità davanti ad un buon libro simile
Brava!
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Vero!! I libri per bambini sono pieni di insegnamenti, critiche e aspetti che da piccoli forse non si riescono a cogliere completamente, ma che sono molto molto preziosi
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🌹🌞
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hai scovato una vera chicca. Ignoravo questo narratore di favole dell’ottocento.
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Ti ringrazio e ti saluto caramente
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un sorriso
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😘 🤗 🙏❤️ 🌹
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Sarebbe da farlo leggere ai negazionisti!
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Eh sì
Buon pomeriggio, Stefano
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Sei un mito Luisa!
Passare da te è come vivere avventure di Alice nel Paese delle meraviglie
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Sei troppo gentile!
Grazie di cuore ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜
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[…] The Water Babies […]
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Merci ❤️💜💛💚
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Thanks for introducing me to a new book. I like your writing style and the way your post is structured. Looking forward to read more!!
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Thank you very much for taking the time to read. I am so grateful for your kind and appreciative words. 🙏😊🌼
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This children’s fantasy tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who discovers a complex underwater world where young children are held prisoner by an evil shark and an eel.
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