230 



MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



offered the gurgling Tench some sound advice, telling the little 

 fish to make itself contented, to swim as it had fins, and that 

 " wishes are ways to pain." 



" ' Nay,' sigh'd the Tench, ' doth the Almighty Whale 



Plague us with wishes, only to deny 'em ? 

 Oh ! but for wings ! ' ' Stuff worms and stop thy wail,' 

 The Carp said, ' Carpe diem ! ' ' 



But, in spite of. this entreaty, the tiny Tench continued its 

 wailings and the cool-bellied Carp its simple philosophy, saying : 



" ' For fishes out of water, what are they ? 

 Neither flesh, fowl, nor fish ! 



They from their natural element ascend, 

 Drawn by a hook : at that hook's end, a string : 



At that string's end, a rod : at that rod's end, 

 Death. And the quivering 



Thou takest for the thrill of inspiration, 



Is but the agony of idiots hook'd, 

 The victims of their own imagination, 



Fisht for, and caught, then cook'd.' " 



Thus the story continues, the sage counsel of the Carp being 

 for the tiny Tench to make itself content, to keep at the 

 bottom of the pond, and to beware of the crafty Pike. The end 

 comes when both small Tench, and plump Carp, find themselves 

 in the same dish which was to feed the fatted prior ; thus sage, 

 or simple, fish come at last to the frying-pan. 



* "te 



FIG. 97. MUTE SWAN AND CYGNETS. 



