The Flatties 



tory. Except, of course, that the turbot looked more like an owl, 

 ugly and silent, smooth, with only the determination of its jaws to 

 vouch for its ruthlessness. 



TURBOT 



The turbot and its mirror image, the brill, were among the best 

 liked fish in the market, but they were only the beginning of what 

 began to look like an endless catalogue of flatties caught by accid- 

 ent in every other trawl haul. Topknots and megrim and witches 

 and flounders, they all swam helplessly into the waiting baskets on 

 the deck, and they were all sold, except for topknots. They were 

 a little too small. But the prices were always the subject of a 

 trawlerman's curse. Admittedly the megrim tasted faintly of the 

 smell of soap, but it was a good solid fish all the same. And the 

 witch might have more broomstick to her than flesh, but the bone 

 at least was savoury. And the flounder. Well, Jan didn't like floun- 

 ders and he never met anybody who did. But they were mainly 

 freshwater fish and invaded the sea only when they were spawn- 



117 



