The stuffed trout

THE STUFFED TROUT

 The Auther biography Jerome Klapke a Jerome 

Jerome was born in Walsall, Staffs, in 1859. He was educated at Marylebone Grammar School, but when he was fourteen, he started working as a railway clerk. Later, he become a school-master, actor, and finally a journalist. 1 published his first book, on stage and off in 1888.

Jerome- k -jerome

Next year came "The idle thoughts of an Idle fellow" and "Three Men in a Boat" (of which the present story is taken). He had considerable success with two books. In 1892 he, along with others, founded the Idler, an Illustrated monthly magazine. In 1893 he also founded a weekly paper "Today".

 His remaining novels are Three Men of the Bummel and Paul Kelver. He also wrote plays and other books besides the novels. His play "The pass­ing of the Third Floor Back" brought him a great success. 

He has also penned down his reminiscences, "My Life and Juries" which was pub­lished in 1926. He served as an ambulance driver during the First World War in France. The Stuffed Trout is taken from Jerome. K. Jermoe's most pop­ular work "three Men in a Boat". 

The testimony of it popularity lies in the fact that it has been translated into many languages. The story relates the imaginary achievemnet of the old fisher nien. The situation is full of humour and irony. The suspense is kept up to the last line and at no moment, we lose interest in the story.

Story of fish

 The writer and his friend George happened to stay in a an inn on the river side during a walk to Willingford. There they came in con­tact with four fishermen, one after the other. In the parlour of the inn they saw a stuffed trout kept in a glass case, hung over the chimney piece.

Stuffed trout

It was a striking big fish. The writer and his friend were curiously looking at the stuffed trout. This inn was frequented by fishermen. Old fishermen are very talkative by nature. The writer and his friend wanted to know about the stuffed trout, which was kept in the glass case. It was a very big fish. Soon another man came and sat near them. 

 He was the local carrier. George diverted his attention to the good-sized trout. The carrier after knowing that the writer and his friend were strangers in that inn said that he had caught it just below the lock with a fly on a Friday afternoon when he had gone out pike-fishing. He gave its weight as twenty-six pounds. 

 Five minutes after him a third man came in and described how he had caught it early one morning with bleak , and then he left. Next to him came the foruth fisherman, who was serious looking middle-aged person and sat down over by the window. George put him a direct question about the trout, taking liberty with him and said that he and his friend would be obliged to him if he told them how he had caught that trout up there.

 At first he was taken by surprise, but then George took him into confidence by saying that they had instinctively felt that it was his achievement, According to him he had caught it with great difficulty.

 As a matter of fact they had invented differ­ent stories of their own. When the last fisherman was gone, the landlord came there. He was told the various histories that they had heard about that trout. From four rodmen.

 He was immensely amused and dismissed the different versions given by Jim Bates, Geo Muggles, Mr, Jones and old billy Maunders, as he called them. He gave the real history of the fish and explained how he had played truant from the school one day and by chance had got that trout on a sunny aft­er-noon with a bit of string tied on to the end of a tree.

 He also added that the trout had saved him from being punished by his father or he his teacher. At this point he was called outside by some one. The writer and George became all the more curious about the trout.

 George therefore, climbed up a chair to have a better view of the trout but the chair slipped and there was a crash. The glass-case gave way and the big trout lay shattered into many pieces and George too fell down on it. 

 Then the reality dawned upon them. It was not a stuffed trout, but was made of plaster of Paris.