The part that best demonstrates the author's purpose is to entertain children with a humorous story is: "Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small 'Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale's right ear, so as to be out of harm's way.
Answer: The 2nd one, he is doing so through an action, it's not necessarily coming out and saying "He pays attention" it's indicating it through what his actions and thoughts are.