FISHERMAN'S LUCK AND SOME OTHER UNCERTAIN THINGS   by Henry van Dyke

"Now I conclude that not only in Physicke, but likewise in sundry more certaine arts, fortune hath great share in them."
M. DE MONTAIGNE: Divers Events.

DEDICATION
TO MY LADY
GRAYGOWN

Here
is the basket;
I bring it home to you.
There are no great fish in it.
But perhaps there may be one or two little ones which will be to your taste. And there are a few shining pebbles from the bed of the brook, and ferns from the cool, green woods, and wild flowers from the places that you remember. I would fain console you, if I could, for the hardship of having married an angler: a man who relapses into his mania with the return of every spring, and never sees a little river without wishing to fish in it. But after all, we have had good times together as we have followed the stream of life towards the sea. And we have passed through the dark days without losing heart, because we were comrades. So let this
book tell you one thing that is certain.
In all the life of your fisherman
the best piece of luck
is just
YOU.

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