Mrs. Eddy and the Goldfish

“I must not forget the goldfish in the fountain basin. There was a large number of them. The dogs from the street used to come and drink water from the basin to quench their thirst in the severe heat, and they would snap at the little goldfish.” Our Leader designed a cover for the basin of the fountain, which was of copper wire, with diamond-shaped holes through which the dogs could reach the water to drink, but the holes were not big enough to let them reach the goldfish.

“The food for the goldfish sent from Boston periodically in small boxes looked like oblong sheets of white blotting paper or rice paper, about six inches wide. Daily when Mother reached home after her drive, my duty was to have the little box of food ready for her. She would take a few sheets and we would go to the fountain together, and she would break them in pieces and feed the fish, which, on hearing her voice, would swim to the top of the water with wide open mouths.

“One day, when she put her hand in the water, her diamond marquise ring which was on the under side of her finger sparkled as the sun shone on it, and the fish were frightened and darted away. She did not move her hand but called out, ‘Come, little fish, come to Mother — you are not afraid,’ and they all returned and swam in and out between her fingers, regardless of the sparkling ring.

“Another day when I handed her the food, she said, ‘You stay here. Don’t come with me. I will go on tip-toe, very quietly, and see if they will feel my thought and come for food.’ She walked over the grass to the fountain very quietly and did not speak. Immediately the fish rose to the surface. Then she beckoned me to join her, signing to me not to speak, and I saw the fish waiting for her.'”