How they doted on the trout's piscatorial petulance. No other fish they knew was as irascible, churlish, disagreeable, temperamental, or provocative, loyal only to its own survival. Elias Wonder's passion went deeper still. Like him, trout seemed to have a bilious, splenetic attitude toward life, and a man could experience no greater satisfaction than pursuing an ancient fish that just didn't give a damn about anything but itself. It seemed a puzzling relationship.
Nihilism is a rare trait in fish but trout are full of it.
The old men liked that. Trout were estimable companions, saying not a word, but speaking instead in motions, wrinkles of water, mystery and surprise. A passion play, a mystery, an extravagance, a morality play, a telling tableau, all of these at once as each of the old men cast, trying not so much to hook a trout as to immerse himself in the trout's wildness. Article copyright Pruett Publishing . The Earth is Enough is available from the Adventurous Traveler Bookstore.