INTRODUCTORY 31 



Though the angler is convinced that his pastime is 

 a lottery in which the chances are often in favour of 

 the trout, he is regardless of omens. He is a firm 

 believer in luck, but he is without the small supersti- 

 tions by which the professional fisherman directs his 

 conduct. In a casual meeting with the harmless, 

 necessary cat, he perceives no 

 presage of evil, nor does the 

 sight of an errant hare loping 

 aimlessly across his path fill 

 him with disquieting forebod- 7- 

 ings of mishap. To him it is 

 a matter of indifference with 

 which foot he first touches the 



floor as he gets up to greet the morn. In his uncon- 

 cern — not to mention his enthusiasm for the chase — he 

 escapes the temptation which occasionally assails the 

 man to whom the fish is a precarious means of liveli- 

 hood, not a source of exquisite delight. He does not, 

 when the wind is in the chimney and the rain is on 

 the roof, cautiously project the limb he knows to be 

 unlucky, and then withdrawing it, thank whatever gods 

 he worships that since the signs are unpropitious he 

 need not yet abandon the luxury of bed. The angler 

 finds nothing auspicious — ^or otherwise — in the flight of 



