THE TENCH. 225 



morrow, had for the time completely taken away, though 

 Desdemona herself never devoured the discourse of her swarthy 

 lover with more eager delight than I did that of my young friend's 

 papa a kj n d hearted and chatty old gentleman, who wore pow- 

 der ; sported shorts, silk stockings and pumps : but it 

 was not because he was dressed like a gentleman that I was so 

 eager a listener the subject that so much engrossed my attention 

 was an account of the pond I was to visit on the following day, 

 and of what fish my worthy host had himself caught there ; and 

 what weighty fish had been taken out there by other persons at 

 sundry times and in divers manners ; as well as what immense 

 ones the pond was still supposed to contain ; which at length wor- 

 ked me up to that pitch of eager excitement an ardent sportsman 

 may form some idea of, but which none but a really half mad lover 

 of the angle can actually feel. 



At length having retired to rest, I tried to compose myself at 

 once to sleep > in order to pass away as unconsciously as I could the 

 weary hours that must necessarily elapse before I could commence 

 my labours ; and so earnestly did I strive to accomplish this, that 

 the bare attempt kept me wide awake the greater part of the night ; 

 and when at last I did fall into a kind of restless slumber, it was 

 only to dream of the all engrossing subjects of my waking thoughts. 

 There in imagination was I standing by the pond side, in 

 whose clear waters I could discern perfect giants of the finny tribe, 

 swimming eagerly around in every direction : all apparently so 

 fiercely hungry as to be contesting amongst each other for the 

 very pebbles at the bottom, which they greedily seized upon and 

 bolted with a voracity truly miraculous. 



But I, from some unaccountable cause or other, was continually 

 baffled in my attempts. First, though anxious beyond measure to 

 accomplish it, I was unable to put my rod together ; as I either 

 found the ferrules too tight to admit the joints, or the next mo- 

 ment they would become so enlarged as to cause the rod to separate 

 every time I attempted to cast in ; then again the pond would be- 

 come all of a sudden so overspread with weeds, that it was in vain- 

 I sought an aperture ; or it would change to a mere mossy bog, 

 or a dry ditch by the way side ; then my line would get entangled 

 in the trees, or in the rushes by the water side, or the hook would 

 come off I know not how, or why, and do all I could I found my- 

 self unable to fix on another, and when I did, after immense labour 



p K 



