164 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



But now let 's say grace and fall to breakfast. What say 

 you, scholar, to the providence of an old angler ? does not 

 this meat taste well ? and was not this place well chosen to 

 eat it ? for this sycamore-tree will shade us from the sun's 

 heat. 



VEN. All excellent good, and my stomach excellent good 

 too. And now I remember and find that true which devout 

 Lessius says : " That poor men, and those that fast often, 

 have much more pleasure in eating than rich men and glut- 

 tons, that always feed before their stomachs are empty of 

 their last meat, and call for more ; for by that means they 

 rob themselves of that pleasure that hunger brings to poor 

 men." And I do seriously approve of that saying of yours, 

 "that you would rather be a civil, well-governed, well- 

 grounded, temperate, poor angler, than a drunken lord." 

 But I hope there is none such : however, I am certain of 

 this, that I have been at many very costly dinners that have 

 not afforded me half the content that this has done, for 

 which I thank God and you. 



And now, good master, proceed to your promised direc- 

 tion for making and ordering my artificial fly. 



PlSC. My honest scholar, I will do it ; for it is a debt 

 due unto you by my promise. And because you shall not 

 think yourself more engaged to me than indeed you really 

 arc, I will freely give you such directions as were lately 

 given to me by an ingenious brother of the angle, an honest 

 man, and a most excellent fly-fisher. 



You are to note, that there are twelve kinds of artifici; 

 made flies to angle with upon the top of the water. Not( 

 by the way, that the fittest season of using these is 

 blustering windy day, when the waters are so troubled that 



