第 34 节
作者:精灵王      更新:2021-04-30 17:23      字数:9316
  the    natural    water…flies    which     haunt    a   given      stream;    except    among
  cunning   old   fishermen   of   the   lower       class;   who   get   their   living   by   the
  gentle   art;   and   bring   to   indoors   baskets   of   trout   killed   on   flies;   which
  look as if they had been          tied with a pair of tongs; so rough and ungainly
  are    they;   but    which;     nevertheless;     kill;  simply     because    they    are  (in
  COLOUR;          which is all that fish really care for) exact likenesses of some
  obscure      local   species;   which     happen     to  be   on   the  water    at  the   time。
  Among        gentlemen…fishermen;           on   the    other    hand;    so    deep    is   the
  ignorance   of   the   natural   fly;   that   I   have   known   good   sportsmen         still
  under the delusion that the great green May…fly comes out of                        a caddis…
  bait; the gentlemen having never seen; much less fished                     with; that most
  deadly   bait   the   〃Water…cricket;〃   or   free   creeping       larva   of   the   May…fly;
  which may be found in May under the river… banks。                     The consequence of
  this   ignorance   is   that   they   depend   for    good   patterns   of   flies   on   mere
  chance and experiment; and that the                shop patterns; originally excellent;
  deteriorate continually; till         little or no likeness to their living prototype
  remains; being tied         by town girls; who have no more understanding of
  what the feathers         and mohair in their hands represent than they have of
  what the      National Debt represents。           Hence follows many a failure at the
  stream…side; because the 〃Caperer;〃 or 〃Dun;〃 or 〃Yellow Sally;〃                        which
  is   produced   from   the   fly…book;   though;   possibly;   like   the      brood   which
  came   out   three   years   since   on   some   stream   a   hundred        miles   away;   is
  quite unlike the brood which is out to…day on one's                   own river。      For not
  only do most of these flies vary in colour in               different soils and climates;
  but    many     of   them     change     their   hue     during     life;   the   Ephemerae;
  especially; have a habit of throwing               off the whole of their skins (even;
  marvellously enough; to the            skin of the eyes and wings; and the delicate
  〃whisks〃   at   their     tail);   and   appearing   in   an   utterly   new   garb   after   ten
  minutes'      rest; to the discomfiture of the astonished angler。
  The     natural   history   of   these   flies;  I  understand     from   Mr。    Stainton
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  (one of our most distinguished entomologists); has not yet been                        worked
  out; at least for England。          The only attempt; I believe; in            that direction
  is one made by a charming book; 〃The Fly…fisher's                     Entomology;〃 which
  should     be   in  every   good   angler's   library;   but      why   should   not   a   few
  fishermen combine to work out the subject for                  themselves; and study for
  the interests both   of science and their            own sport; 〃The Wonders of   the
  Bank?〃       The work; petty as it may           seem; is much too great for one man;
  so   prodigal   is   Nature   of   her   forms;   in   the   stream   as   in   the   ocean;   but
  what   if   a   correspondence       were   opened   between   a   few   fishermen   …   of
  whom one should live; say;            by the Hampshire or Berkshire chalk streams;
  another on the slates         and granites of Devon; another on the limestones of
  Yorkshire       or    Derbyshire;       another     among      the   yet   earlier   slates    of
  Snowdonia; or         some mountain part of Wales; and more than one among
  the hills of     the Border and the lakes of the Highlands?                Each would find
  (I   suspect); on comparing his insects with those of the others; that                       he
  was     exploring     a  little  peculiar   world     of  his  own;    and    that  with    the
  exception   of   a   certain   number   of   typical   forms;   the   flies   of   his   county
  were unknown a hundred miles away; or; at least;                     appeared there under
  great   differences   of   size   and   colour;   and      each;   if   he   would   take   the
  trouble   to   collect   the   caddises   and    water…crickets;   and   breed   them   into
  the     perfect    fly    in   an    aquarium;        would       see    marvels      in   their
  transformations; their instincts; their           anatomy; quite as great (though not;
  perhaps; as showy and           startling) as I have been trying to point out on the
  sea…shore。        Moreover;   each   and   every  one   of   the   party;   I   will   warrant;
  will    find his fellow…correspondents (perhaps previously unknown to him)
  men   worth   knowing;   not;   it   may   be;   of   the   meditative   and   half…   saintly
  type   of   dear   old   Izaak   Walton   (who;   after   all;   was   no   fly…   fisher;   but   a
  sedentary   〃popjoy〃   guilty   of   float   and   worm);   but        rather;   like   his   fly…
  fishing disciple Cotton; good fellows and men                  of the world; and; perhaps;
  something better over and above。
  The     suggestion     has   been    made。     Will    it  ever   be  taken    up;   and   a
  〃Naiad Club〃 formed; for the combination of sport and science?
  And;   now;   how   can   this   desultory   little   treatise   end   more   usefully
  than in recommending a few books on Natural History; fit for the                        use of
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  young people; and fit to serve as introductions to such                  deeper and larger
  works      as   Yarrell's    〃Birds     and    Fishes;〃     Bell's     〃Quadrupeds〃         and
  〃Crustacea;〃 Forbes and Hanley's 〃Mollusca;〃                   Owen's 〃Fossil Mammals
  and Birds;〃 and a host of other admirable                works?      Not that this list will
  contain all the best; but simply            the best of which the writer knows; let;
  therefore; none feel        aggrieved; if; as it may chance; opening these pages;
  they find      their books omitted。
  First   and   foremost;   certainly;   come   Mr。   Gosse's   books。         There   is   a
  playful     and   genial   spirit   in  them;   a  brilliant   power     of  word…    painting
  combined with deep and earnest religious feeling; which                      makes them as
  morally   valuable   as   they   are   intellectually       interesting。      Since   White's
  〃History   of   Selborne;〃   few   or   no     writers   on   Natural   History;   save   Mr。
  Gosse; Mr。 G。 H。 Lewes; and              poor Mr。 E。 Forbes; have had the power of
  bringing   out   the   human       side   of   science;   and   giving   to   seemingly   dry
  disquisitions and        animals of the lowest type; by little touches of pathos
  and     humour;      that    living   and    personal     interest;   to  bestow     which     is
  generally the       special function of the poet:           not that Waterton and Jesse
  are   not    excellent   in   this   respect;   and   authors   who   should   be   in   every
  boy's      library:     but     they   are   rather    anecdotists     than    systematic     or
  scientific inquirers; while Mr。 Gosse; in his 〃Naturalist on the                    Shores of
  Devon;〃       his   〃Tour     in  Jamaica;〃      his   〃Tenby;〃     and    his    〃Canadian
  Naturalist;〃 has done for those three places what White                   did for Selborne;
  with   all   the   improved   appliances   of   a   science     which   has   widened   and
  deepened       tenfold    since   White's     time。    Mr。     Gosse's      〃Manual     of   the
  Marine   Zoology   of   the   British   Isles〃   is;   for     classification;   by   far   the
  completest handbook extant。              He has      contrived in it to compress more
  sound knowledge of vast classes of               the animal kingdom than I ever saw
  before in so small a space。 (35)
  Miss   Anne   Pratt's   〃Things   of   the   Sea…coast〃   is   excellent;   and        still
  better is Professor Harvey's 〃Sea…side Book;〃 of which it is                   impossible to
  speak   too   highly;   and   most   pleasant   it   is   to   see   a man   of   genius   and
  learning thus gathering the bloom of his varied                 knowledge; to put it into
  a form equally suited to a child and a              SAVANT。