The Compleat ^Angler 



Pise. Nay, brother, you shall not stay so Jong ? for, look you, 

 here is a trout will fill six reasonable bellies. Come, hostess, dress 

 it presently, and get us what other meat the house will afford, and 

 give us some of your best barley-wine, the good liquor that our 

 honest forefathers did use to drink of; the drink which preserved 

 their health, and made them live so long, and do so many good deeds. 



PETER. O' my word, this trout is perfect in season. Come, I 

 thank you, and here is a hearty draught to you, and to all the 

 brothers of the angle wheresoever they be, and to my young 

 brother's good fortune to-morrow. I will furnish him with a rod if 

 you will furnish him with the rest of the tackling ; we will set him 

 up and make him a fisher. 



And I will tell him one thing for his encouragement, that his 

 fortune hath made him happy to be scholar to such a master; a 

 master that knows as much, both of the nature and breeding of 

 fish, as any man; and can also tell him as well how to catch and 

 cook them, from the minnow to the salmon, as any that I ever met 

 withal. 



Pise. Trust me, brother Peter, I find my scholar to be so 

 suitable to my own humour, which is, to be free and pleasant and 

 civilly merry, that my resolution is to hide nothing that I know 

 from him. Believe me, scholar, this is my resolution ; and so here's 

 to you a hearty draught, and to all that love us and the honest art 

 of angling. 



VEN. Trust me, good master, you shall not sow your seed in 

 barren ground ; for I hope to return you an increase answerable to 

 your hopes : but, however, you shall find me obedient and thankful 

 and serviceable to my best ability. 



Pise. 'Tis enough, honest scholar ! come, let's to supper. Come, 

 my friend Coridon, this trout looks lovely ; it was twenty-two inches 

 when it was taken ! and the belly of it looked, some part of it, as 

 yellow as a marigold, and part of it as white as a lily ; and yet, me- 

 thinks, it looks better in this good sauce. 



CORIDON. Indeed, honest friend, it looks well, and tastes well: I 

 thank you for it, and so doth my friend Peter, or else he is to blame. 



PETER. Yes, and so do I, we all thank you ; and when we have 



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