1 Once upon a time, in a beautiful pond, there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher. He lived at the edge of a pond in a little damp house lined by buttercups.
2 Mr. Jeremy liked his little damp house and loved getting his feet wet. Nobody scolded him for getting wet, and he never caught a cold!
3 He looked out of the window. He was pleased as he saw large drops of rain splashing in the pond.
4 "I will go fishing and catch Minnows for my dinner," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "If I catch more than five fish, I will invite my friends Mr. Alderman, Ptolemy Tortoise, and Sir Isaac Newton. The Alderman, however, eats salad."
5 Mr. Jeremy Fisher put on a Macintosh, and a pair of shiny galoshes. With his rod and basket, he set off to the place where he kept his boat.
6 He reached the place where he knew he could catch Minnows and settled himself cross-legged and arranged his fishing tackle.
The rainwater trickled down his back. He sat there for an hour but could not catch anything.
7 He sat among the water reeds and ate his lunch. Suddenly he felt a tug on his fishing tackle. But to his surprise and horror, instead of a smooth fat minnow, he saw Jack Sharp, the stickleback, covered with spines! The stickleback struggled for a while before jumping back into the water. The shoal of fishes who were watching laughed at poor Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
8 As Mr. Jeremy sat there disappointed, the most FRIGHTFUL thing happened. An enormous trout came up, caught him and ker- pflop-p-p-p! With a splash— and it seized Mr. Jeremy and dived to the bottom of the pond.
But, the trout which first bit the Macintosh didn't quite like it and the only thing it ate was Mr. Jeremy's goloshes.
9 Mr. Jeremy was able to bounce up to the surface of the water.
He scrambled out on the bank and hopped back home across the meadow.
"What a mercy!" cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "I lost my rod and my basket. I will never go fishing again!"
10 When his friends came to dinner, he could not offer any fish. But he had something else for them in his larder. Instead of a
dish of minnows, they feasted on a roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce. Frogs consider a beautiful treat, but I think it must have been nasty!
