Fisherman's Luck and Some Other Uncertain Things
Описание книги
This antiquarian volume contains an interesting, general discussion about fishing and the many novelties, delights, and vicissitudes that accompany this most ancient pursuit. Written in simple, plain language and full of interesting ideas and aphoristic comments, this text will greatly appeal to those with a keen interest in fishing, and it makes for a lovely addition to collections of related literature. The chapters of this book include: 'Fisherman's Luck', 'The Thrilling Moment', 'Talkability', 'A Wild Strawberry', 'Lovers and Landscape', 'A Fatal Success', 'Fishing in Books', 'A Norwegian Honeymoon', 'Who Owns The Mountains', 'The Open Fire', et cetera. This text is being republished now complete with a specially commissioned introduction on the history of fishing.
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Fisherman’s Luck and Some Other Uncertain Things
Fisherman’s Luck
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But when man abides in tents, after the manner of the early patriarchs, the face of the world is renewed. The vagaries of the clouds become significant. You watch the sky with a lover’s look, eager to know whether it will smile or frown. When you lie at night upon your bed of boughs and hear the rain pattering on the canvas close above your head, you wonder whether it is a long storm or only a shower.
The rising wind shakes the tent-flaps. Are the pegs well driven down and the cords firmly fastened? You fall asleep again and wake later, to hear the rain drumming still more loudly on the tight cloth, and the big breeze snoring through the forest, and the waves plunging along the beach. A stormy day? Well, you must cut plenty of wood and keep the camp-fire glowing, for it will be hard to start it up again, if you let it get too low. There is little use in fishing or hunting in such a storm. But there is plenty to do in the camp: guns to be cleaned, tackle to be put in order, clothes to be mended, a good story of adventure to be read, a belated letter to be written to some poor wretch in a summer hotel, a game of hearts or cribbage to be played, or a hunting-trip to be planned for the return of fair weather. The tent is perfectly dry. A little trench dug around it carries off the surplus water, and luckily it is pitched with the side to the lake, so that you get the pleasant heat of the fire without the unendurable smoke. Cooking in the rain has its disadvantages. But how good the supper tastes when it is served up on a tin plate, with an empty box for a table and a roll of blankets at the foot of the bed for a seat!
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