FISHING

     The long-promised fishing was put off by a grandfather, he was very busy, repairing the net, managing the net lines with a shuttle, adjusting sinkers and floats, and finally, making a whip for his grandson, woven from rawhide straps, so that a favorite horse listened strictly and did not indulge under the saddle. 
     Finally, the day of fishing was fixed. Early in the morning  the fishermen  moved to the lake, hoisting their fishing rods, an oar and nets on their shoulders.
     Dawn caught them already in a fragile canoe in the middle of a wide lake. An old man slowly paddled with an oar, directing the boat to the passage in the reeds to the big water. Muskrats, had already crawled  out of their swampy huts, settled in a calm way to watch the early guests. The clay massifs descending to the lake were the houses of spiders, which both people and animals shunned. Their bite was fatal.
     After being bitten by a poisonous insect, any person “was running along the wall”, and then calmed down forever. Once the boy witnessed the death of an unknown man. 
     At the same time, the female spider carried offspring in its fur belly and was distinguished by extreme agility.
     Fishermen did not often indulge themselves in quiet hunting. In an hour they caught almost half of the boat with the help of three fishing rods. Large perches resisted captivity and slapped the bottom with their tails. The boy got bored and in result of uncomfortable position fidgeted all the time on the crossbar, rocking the boat. Grandfather  disliked it, afraid of capsizing, he began to rule towards the shore, setting up nets along the way.
     The flimsy shuttle, completely out of balance, scooped up water on its port side and dived into the lake like a light feather.
      Finding himself up to his neck in the water, the old man checked out if his cap was on his head, and only then looked around. Seeing his  grandson in the water, the grandfather began to row slowly towards the shore, while whistling piercingly. 
      Crazy, the boy decided to himself, his grandpa gave signals to someone and was not mistaken. The muskrats, dozing until now, jumped into the water with a loud splash and began to approach the unlucky swimmers.
    - Our death came, - a small  boy thought in horror. 
     But having approached, the animals clung to their clothes, and some of them even bit into the boat with their incisors, working with their paws as a motor, went to the shore. In shallow water, the gang, gliding, left people who needed help no longer.
     - They always help us, - the old man explained on the shore, wringing out his clothes, - and not only people, but also animals especially in the winter starvation. Even wolves come to them, but to the other side. No beast is denied. Any animal wants fish.
     Having dried off quickly, the fishermen set their sights on home, carrying away the basket with their catch. The old man did not take his grandson to fish with him anymore, fearing boyish briskness and inability to  quiet hunting. His grandson  didn’t understand it back then that it was not his hobby.