A young Trout was about to bite on a fly. Mother stopped her with a caution about making certain it would be safe. A Gudgeon bit and was caught. Phew!
Don’t rush into things; study them first.
JBR Collection
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. “Never,” said she, “my child, be too precipitate where there is a possibility of danger. Take due time to consider, before you risk an action that may be fatal. How know you whether yon appearance be indeed a fly, or the snare of an enemy? Let some one 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 Gudgeon seized upon the pretended fly, and became an example to the giddy daughter of the great importance of her mother’s counsel.