SCALES, MIRRORS, LEATHERS 



fish are left on the bottom of the pond. By degrees, 

 all the carp go down to the fishing point where they 

 can easily be secured. 



I love to see the operations which are carried out in 

 fishing of this sort, the keenness — one might almost 

 say the exaltation — shown by those who take part, in 

 spite of all the disagreeable conditions, the chilly 

 temperature, sometimes rain or mist, of a winter's 

 day. From the owner to the least of his hired men, 

 all are wildly enthusiastic and interested. At last the 

 pond will be made to give up its secrets. For eight 

 or ten months, sometimes more, since the moment 

 when the young fish were put into the pond to grow, 

 they have remained in that pond unseen; there was 

 no means of finding out what was going on. Were 

 they prospering, or were they decreasing in numbers? 

 There was no sign by which this could be known. 

 Was their development proceeding along regular lines ? 

 Were the otters, the birds that frequent the marshes, 

 all the beasts of prey which feed upon fishes, doing 

 their deadly work ? Finally, was the harvest, a harvest 

 similar to that which the farmer sees coming in his 

 forcing grounds and fields, but which the fish breeder 

 cannot follow because it is prepared in the bosom of 

 the water, was that harvest going to be as good 

 as was hoped for? Only when the fish were taken 

 could this be known, and that is why all the incidents 

 of the reaping were followed with such keen interest. 



On this particular morning, the temperature at 

 daybreak was icy. It had been freezing during the 

 night. A light mist lay over the distance in the 

 direction of the forests, but it was clear enough close 

 by. My friend and I rose early and were at the sluice 

 before dawn. Behind us was the dike, like a wall 

 fifteen feet high or so, faced with stone, covered with 

 mud, joining the banks of the pond on either side. 

 A few days before, the water still covered it; little 

 waves raised by the breeze beat gently against it. 



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