Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived
in
a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond.
The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage.
But Mr. 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.
The Tale Of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
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 lady-bird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think
it must have been nasty!
THE END
Jeremy Fisher eats supper 2
Jeremy Fisher eats supper 3
Jeremy Fisher eats supper 4
The Tale of Jeremy Fisher
The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher tells the story of a frog who lives next to a pond.
The story tells us all about his mis-adventures. One day he decides he wanted minnows for his dinner so he dons his macintosh and wellington boots, because
The story tells us all about his mis-adventures. One day he decides he wanted minnows for his dinner so he dons his macintosh and wellington boots, because
it is a very rainy day, and goes out to fish.
He takes his lily-leaf boat and his rod to the middle of the pond and makes himself comfortable. He sits for an hour but catches no fish and, as he is tired he takes a break to have a butterfly sandwich for his lunch.
He decides to move his boat further away as he has been interrupted by a rat and a water beetle. Lo and behold he gets a bite almost immediately, but what he thought was a fish turns out to be the stickleback little Jack Sharp. who promptly jumps back into the water.
The stickleback spines have hurt Mr. Jeremy’s fingers and he takes time to nurse them. All at once a trout jumps up and snaps him in its mouth. Fortunately the macintosh causes the trout to spit him back out, but it swallows his wellington boots.
As he swims to the shore Jeremy is upset at the loss of his basket and fishing rod but decides he will not be going fishing again anyway. At the end of the day his friends Sir Isaac Newton (a newt) and Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise come to dinner. They cannot have of minnows but they have roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce instead.
He takes his lily-leaf boat and his rod to the middle of the pond and makes himself comfortable. He sits for an hour but catches no fish and, as he is tired he takes a break to have a butterfly sandwich for his lunch.
He decides to move his boat further away as he has been interrupted by a rat and a water beetle. Lo and behold he gets a bite almost immediately, but what he thought was a fish turns out to be the stickleback little Jack Sharp. who promptly jumps back into the water.
The stickleback spines have hurt Mr. Jeremy’s fingers and he takes time to nurse them. All at once a trout jumps up and snaps him in its mouth. Fortunately the macintosh causes the trout to spit him back out, but it swallows his wellington boots.
As he swims to the shore Jeremy is upset at the loss of his basket and fishing rod but decides he will not be going fishing again anyway. At the end of the day his friends Sir Isaac Newton (a newt) and Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise come to dinner. They cannot have of minnows but they have roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce instead.
