Testament of a Fisherman

[Slettet]

De fleste av dere har sikkert lest denne før, men den er så god at jeg drister meg til å gjenta den. Voelker beskriver hvorfor han fisker, på en måte mange forstår og kjenner seg igjen i.

John D. Voelker skrev novellen Testament of a Fisherman i 1964. På det tidspunktet hadde han allerede gitt ut en rekke bøker. Han hadde sagt opp sin stilling som høyesteretts dommer fordi, som han sa: "Andre kan skrive mine dommer, men ingen kan skrive mine bøker."

Voelker var usedvanlig ressurssterk, men fisket likevel 5-6 ganger i uken. Han døde 87 år gammel, på vei hjem fra fisketur.

Testament of a Fisherman

I fish because I love to;

Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly;

Because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape;

Because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion;

Because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience;

Because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don’t want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters;

Because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness;

Because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there;

Because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid;

And, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant – and not nearly so much fun.

:)