'Gather flowers,' said I, 'but do not dress
yourselves in them; they are no fitting ornaments for us; your father
and Alfred cannot see them.' They were silent and sad, and threw their
garlands into the water, as I had done.
"We followed the stream, and passed two more nights under the trees. We
had the good fortune to find more figs; but they did not satisfy us, and
our eggs were exhausted. In my distress I almost decided to return to
the shore, where we might at least meet with that nourishment. As I sat
by the stream, reflecting mournfully on our situation, the children, who
had been throwing stones into the water, cried out, 'Look, mamma, what
pretty fishes!' I saw, indeed, a quantity of small salmon-trout in the
river; but how could I take them? I tried to seize them with my hands,
but could not catch them; necessity, however, is the mother of
invention. I cut a number of branches with my knife, and wove them
together to make a kind of light hurdle, the breadth of the stream,
which was very narrow just here. I made two of these; my daughters
assisted me, and were soon very skilful. We then undressed ourselves,
and took a bath, which refreshed us much. I placed one of my hurdles
upright across the rivulet, and the second a little lower. The fishes
who remained between attempted to pass, but the hurdles were woven too
close.
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