Jeremy liked getting his feet wet; nobody ever scolded him, and he never
caught a cold!
He was quite pleased when he looked out and saw
large drops of rain, splashing in the pond —
“I will get some worms and go fishing and catch a
dish of minnows for my dinner,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. “If I catch more than five fish, I will invite my
friends Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise and Sir Isaac Newton. The Alderman, however, eats salad.”
Mr. Jeremy put
on a macintosh, and a pair of shiny goloshes; he took his rod and basket, and set off with enormous hops to
the place where he kept his boat.
The boat was round and green, and very like the
other lily-leaves. It was tied to a water-plant in the middle of the pond.
Mr. Jeremy
took a reed pole, and pushed the boat out into open water. “I know a good place for minnows,” said Mr.
Jeremy Fisher.
Mr. Jeremy
stuck his pole into the mud and fastened the boat to it.
Then he settled himself cross-legged and arranged his fishing tackle. He had the
dearest little red float. His rod was a tough stalk of grass, his line was a fine long white horse-hair, and
he tied a little wriggling worm at the end.
The rain trickled down his back, and for nearly an
hour he stared at the float.
“This is getting tiresome, I think I should like some lunch,” said Mr. Jeremy
Fisher.
He punted back again amongst the water-plants, and
took some lunch out of his basket.
“I will eat a butterfly sandwich, and wait till the shower is over,” said Mr. Jeremy
Fisher.
A great big water-beetle came up underneath the
lily leaf and tweaked the toe of one of his goloshes.
Mr. Jeremy crossed his legs up shorter, out of reach, and went on eating his
sandwich.
Once or twice something moved about with a rustle
and a splash amongst the rushes at the side of the pond.
“I trust that is not a rat,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher; “I think I had better get away
from here.”
Mr. Jeremy
shoved the boat out again a little way, and dropped in the bait. There was a bite almost directly; the float
gave a tremendous bobbit!
“A minnow! a minnow! I have him by the nose!” cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher, jerking up his
rod.
But what a horrible surprise! Instead of a smooth
fat minnow, Mr. Jeremy landed little Jack Sharp the stickleback, covered with spines!
The stickleback floundered about the boat,
pricking and snapping until he was quite out of breath. Then he jumped back into the water.
And a shoal of other little fishes put their heads
out, and laughed at Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
And while Mr. Jeremy sat disconsolately on the
edge of his boat — sucking his sore fingers and peering down into the water — a much worse thing happened; a really frightful thing it
would have been, if Mr. Jeremy had not been wearing a macintosh!
A great big enormous trout came up —
ker-pflop-p-p-p! with a splash — and it seized Mr. Jeremy with a snap, “Ow! Ow! Ow!” — and then it turned
and dived down to the bottom of the pond!
But the trout was so displeased with the taste of
the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again; and the only thing it swallowed was
Mr. Jeremy’s goloshes.
Mr. Jeremy
bounced up to the surface of the water, like a cork and the bubbles out of a soda water bottle; and he swam
with all his might to the edge of the pond.
He scrambled out on the first bank he came to, and
he hopped home across the meadow with his macintosh all in tatters.
“What a mercy that was not a pike!” said Mr.
Jeremy Fisher.
“I have lost my rod and basket; but it does not much matter, for I am sure I should
never have dared to go fishing again!”
He put some sticking plaster on his fingers, and
his friends both came to dinner. He could not offer them fish, but he had something else in his
larder.
Sir Isaac
Newton wore his black and gold waistcoat,
And Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise brought a salad
with him in a string bag.
And instead of a nice dish of minnows — they had a
roasted grasshopper with ladybird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!
The End
FREDERICK WARNE
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand,
London WC2R
0RL, England
Website: www.peterrabbit.com
First published by Frederick Warne 1906
This electronic edition first published 2010
New reproductions copyright ©Frederick Warne & Co., 2002
Original copyright in text and illustrations ©Frederick Warne & Co., 1906
Frederick Warne & Co. is the owner of all rights, copyrights and trademarks in the Beatrix
Potter character names and illustrations.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-72-326566-5
.
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