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The Tale Of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
By
Beatrix Potter
FOR STEPHANIE FRO=
M COUSIN
B.
Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr.
Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the
edge of a pond.
The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder =
and
in the back passage.
But Mr. Jeremy liked getting his feet wet; nob=
ody
ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!
=
He was
quite pleased when he looked out and saw large drops of rain, splashing in =
the
pond--
"I will get some worms and go fishing and
catch a dish of minnows for my dinner," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "=
If I
catch more than five fish, I will invite my friends Mr. Alderman Ptolemy
Tortoise and Sir Isaac Newton. The Alderman, however, eats salad."
Mr. Jeremy put on a macintosh, and a pair of s=
hiny
goloshes; he took his rod and basket, and set off with enormous hops to the
place where he kept his boat.
The boat was round and green, and very like the other lily-leaves. It was tied to a water-plant in the middle of the pond.<= o:p>
Mr. Jeremy took a reed pole, and pushed the bo=
at
out into open water. "I know a good place for minnows," said Mr.
Jeremy Fisher.
Mr. Jeremy stuck his pole into the mud and fas=
tened
the boat to it.
Then he settled himself cross-legged and arran=
ged
his fishing tackle. He had the dearest little red float. His rod was a tough
stalk of grass, his line was a fine long white horse-hair, and he tied a li=
ttle
wriggling worm at the end.
The rain trickled down his back, and for nearl=
y an
hour he stared at the float.
"This is getting tiresome, I think I shou=
ld
like some lunch," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
He punted back again amongst the water-plants,=
and
took some lunch out of his basket.
"I will eat a butterfly sandwich, and wait
till the shower is over," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
A great big water-beetle came up underneath the
lily leaf and tweaked the toe of one of his goloshes.
Mr. Jeremy crossed his legs up shorter, out of
reach, and went on eating his sandwich.
Once or twice something moved about with a rus=
tle
and a splash amongst the rushes at the side of the pond.
"I trust that is not a rat," said Mr.
Jeremy Fisher; "I think I had better get away from here."
Mr. Jeremy shoved the boat out again a little =
way,
and dropped in the bait. There was a bite almost directly; the float gave a
tremendous bobbit!
"A minnow! a minnow! I have him by the
nose!" cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher, jerking up his rod.
But what a horrible surprise! Instead of a smo=
oth
fat minnow, Mr. Jeremy landed little Jack Sharp the stickleback, covered wi=
th
spines!
The stickleback floundered about the boat,
pricking and snapping until he was quite out of breath. Then he jumped back
into the water.
And a shoal of other little fishes put their h=
eads
out, and laughed at Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
And while Mr. Jeremy sat disconsolately on the
edge of his boat--sucking his sore fingers and peering down into the water-=
-a
_much_ worse thing happened; a really _frightful_ thing it would have been,=
if
Mr. Jeremy had not been wearing a macintosh!
A great big enormous trout came
up--ker-pflop-p-p-p! with a splash--and it seized Mr. Jeremy with a snap,
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"--and then it turned and dived down to the bottom of=
the
pond!
But the trout was so displeased with the taste=
of
the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again; and t=
he
only thing it swallowed was Mr. Jeremy's goloshes.
Mr. Jeremy bounced up to the surface of the wa=
ter,
like a cork and the bubbles out of a soda water bottle; and he swam with all
his might to the edge of the pond.
He scrambled out on the first bank he came to,=
and
he hopped home across the meadow with his macintosh all in tatters.
"What a mercy that was not a pike!" = said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "I have lost my rod and basket; but it does not much matter, for I am sure I should never have dared to go fishing again!"<= o:p>
He put some sticking plaster on his fingers, a=
nd
his friends both came to dinner. He could not offer them fish, but he had s=
omething
else in his larder.
Sir Isaac Newton wore his black and gold
waistcoat,
And Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise brought a sa=
lad
with him in a string bag.
And instead of a nice dish of minnows--they ha=
d a
roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful
treat; but _I_ think it must have been nasty!
=
THE
END