Opo the Dolphin

In New Zealand, there was a quiet little village near the sea called Opononi. Fishermen tied up their boats in the harbor. Campers came in summer with tents and caravans. A few people spent their holidays in the only hotel.

Opononi was a quiet little place for fishing and swimming or playing on the sand. Hardly anyone outside New Zealand had ever heard of it.

Then came a dolphin. She was big and young and playful. She followed a fisherman one day when he was out at sea. She dived under his boat. She came up in front of it, then swam behind it. She followed it, followed, followed it all the way to the shore at Opononi.

In a few weeks, all the fishermen knew the dolphin. She swam quite close to their boats. She liked the sounds of the motorboats. The fishermen began to watch for her. They rubbed her with their oars, and she seemed to like it. She followed the fishermen to the harbor. She swam in and out among the boats.

People stood on the shore and watched her. Then they gave her a name. They called her Opo because she seemed to belong to Opononi. Soon she became friendly not only with the fishermen, but also with other people. She swam right to the place where the waves met the sandy beach, where people were swimming and playing in the sea. There were men, women and children in the water, gay rubber rings and big colored beach balls.

Swish! There was Opo the dolphin. She dived here. She came up there. She really seemed to want to play. Soon she came to the beach nearly every day. She let people pat her and stroke her. She bounced their balls on her nose. She liked to join in the fun. Best of all she liked to play with children; and the children, of course, loved the great gentle dolphin. And the children, of course, loved the great gentle dolphin.

Opononi had always been a quiet little village, but suddenly it was quiet no longer. But suddenly it was quiet no longer. Crowds of campers came with caravans and tents. Crowds of people came and wanted to stay in the only hotel. The beach was full of people. Everyone wanted to see Opo the dolphin. Everyone wanted to swim near her, to pat her and stroke her and play with her. Everyone wanted to go to Opononi just for this.

It was a hot, happy summer, and Opononi was full of fun and laughter. Opo the dolphin dived under the waves and came up where no one expected her. She played with the children day after day. Then after a while she chose her own special friend. This was a girl whose name was Jill.

Jill lived on the road behind the beach and she went swimming every day. Opo always knew when Jill was in the water, and she left the other children and dashed through the waves to her. She swam beside her, she dived under her and came up in front of her. Sometimes she even let Jill ride on her back.

“Fancy!” everyone said. “Fancy a wild dolphin from the sea that lets a child ride on her back.”

Jill felt very proud, for no one had ever seen a child riding on a dolphin’s back. Nothing like that had ever happened before.

Yet, perhaps it had happened before. Long, long, long ago, two thousand years ago there were coins and brooches with pictures on them. The pictures showed a child on a dolphin’s back. Two thousand years ago the people of Greece and Rome told stories of boys who rode on dolphins’ backs. These stories have come down through the ages.