XVIII THE INCALCULABLE GRAYLING ^ 



MAN'S that is to say, my opinions are unstable 

 things. It is a humiliating reflection, yet I 

 must so reflect. The grayling, for instance I have 

 been cursing and praising him with alternate breaths 

 for years now. At times I have earnestly counselled 

 those of my acquaintance with views on stocking to 

 have nothing to do with him ; at others I have roundly 

 asserted that he is the jewel of price, the giver of 

 autumn and winter sport, the fighter of resolute battles, 

 and so on. Analyzed strictly, this fluctuation of mind 

 proves, I grieve to be at length convinced, to depend 

 on whether the beast has been at his old depressing 

 game of not rising, his pestilent play of being hooked, 

 giving a wriggle or two, and so going lightly off, his 

 maddening habit of feeding on that which is too small 

 for imitation, or whether, on the contrary, the noble 

 creature has been behaving as such, taking my fly, 

 bending my rod, and lining my basket. Most times, 

 especially of late years, I must own to having cursed ; 

 the baskets, and in consequence the blessings, have 

 been few and far between. 



And never, I think, did I curse him more vigorously 

 this cursing, you must know, is not the ordinary lay 



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