RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32553, 12 March 1971, Page 17

RANDOM REMINDER

SCALES OF JUSTICE

There is something of Robin Hood in most people, a bit of the practical joker in nearly everyone. Nowhere are these characteristics more clearly defined than in fishermen, who often stage a running battle with authority, but have the patience and the time to contrive their little jests. Some time ago a ranger was out looking, at a Canterbury river, for people selling salmon. He went down the bank interrogating fisherman after fisherman, and each one stoutly denied that he would be guilty of selling

fish to the public. The ranger, posing as a prospective buyer, offered some very high prices to tempt the anglers. But he failed. Although, near the end, one of the fishermen told him that if he was desperately keen to buy a salmon, there was a chap half a mile up the river who was thought to be selling one or two. The ranger, Mr X, set off enthusiastically along a broken and very difficult trail, but finally caught up with his victim. He asked the man to sell him a fish, mentioning a very fancy price. The

fisherman refused. But the price was increased, and the angler, with an air of reluctance, agreed to sell a salmon. The ranger then took action. “You don’t know who I am, do you?” he said. “Oh, yes I do,” said the fisherman. “You’re Mr X, the ranger. And I suppose you want to see my licence to sell? Here it is.” The point of all this was that the fisherman was selling fish quite readily—on behalf of the others, half a mile away, who had caught them.