259.The Old Trout, the Young Trout, and the Salmon
A fisherman, in the month of May, stood angling on the bank of a river with an artificial fly. He threw his bait with so much art that a young trout was rushing towards it, when she was prevented by her mother. “Stop, child!” said she. “Never be too hasty where there is a possibility of danger. Take due time to consider, before you risk an action that may be fatal. How do you know whether that is indeed a fly, or the snare of an enemy? Let someone else make the experiment before you. If it be a fly, he will very probably elude the first attack, and then the second may be made if not with success, at least with safety.”
She had no sooner uttered this caution than a salmon seized upon the pretended fly, and was captured.
Do not rush into a strange position.
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