However, although I love work, I do not want to take other poople's work from them But I get it without asking for it, and this worries me.

We agreed that we would row, and not tow, the boat. Harris said that George and I should row, and he would steer. I did not like this idea at all. I said that he and George should row, so that I could rest a little. I thought that I was doing too much of the work on this trip. I was beginning to feel strongly about it.

We woke up late the next morning, and it was about ten o'clock when we moved off. We had already decided that we wanted to make this a good day's journey.

I always think that I am doing too much work. It is not because I do not like work. I do like it. I find it very interesting. I can sit and look at it for hours. You cannot give me too much work. I like to collect it. My study is full of it.

And I am very careful with my work, too. Why, some of the work in my study has been there for years, and it has not got dirty or anything. That is because I take care of it.

George says that I should not worry about it. In fact, he thinks that perhaps I should have more work. However, I expect he only says that to make me feel better.

That amused Harris.

In a boat, I have noticed that each person thinks that he is doing all the work. Harris's idea was that both George and I had let him do all the work. George said that Harris never did anything except eat and sleep. He, George, had done all the work. He said that he had never met such lazy people as Harris and me.

'Well, how can you know?'George answered Harris.

'George! Work!'he laughed. 'If George worked for half an hour, it would kill him. Have you ever seen George work?'he added, and he turned to me.

'You're always asleep. Have you ever seen Harris awake, except at meal times?'George asked me.

I agreed with Harris that I had never seen George work.

'Well, it would be difficult to do less,'George added.

I had to tell the truth and agree with George. Harris had done very little work in the boat.

'Oh, come on! I've done more than old J., anyway,'Harris replied.

And that was how grateful they were to me, after I had brought them and their old boat all the way up from Kingston; after I had organized everything for them; and after I had taken care of them!

We reached Reading at about eleven o'clock. We did not stay long, though, because the river is dirty there. However, after that it becomes very beautiful. Goring, on the left, and Streatley, on the right, are both very pretty places. Earlier, we had decided to go on to Wallingford that day, but the river was lovely at Streatley. We left our boat at the bridge, and we went into the village. we had lunch at a little pub, and Montmorency enjoyed that.

We stayed at Streatley for two days, and we took our clothes to be washed. We had tried to wash them ourselves, in the river, and George had told us what to do. This was not a success! Before we washed them, they were very, very dirty, but we could just wear them. After we had washed them, they were worse than before. However, the river between Reading and Henley was cleaner because we had taken all the dirt from it, and we had washed it into our clothes. The woman who washed them at Streatley made us pay three times the usual price.

'Oh, him, he thinks he's a passenger and doesn't need to work!'Harris said.

Finally, we decided that Harris and George would row until we got past Reading, and then I would tow the boat from there.

The river near Streatley and Goring is excellent for fishing. You can sit and fish there all day.

Some people do sit and fish all day. They never catch any fish, of course. You may catch a dead cat or two, but you will not catch any fish. When you go for a walk by the river, the fish come and stand half out of the water, with their mouths open for bread. And if you go swimming, they all come and stare at you and get in your way. But you cannot catch them.

We paid her, and did not say a word about the cost.

On the second evening, George and I and Montmorency ( I do not know where Harris was) went for a walk to Wallingford. On the way back to the boat, we stopped at a little pub, by the river.

We went in and sat down. There was an old man there. He was smoking a pipe, and we began to talk to him.

He told us that it had been a fine day today, and we told him that it had been a fine day yesterday. Then we all told each other that we thought it would be a fine day tomorrow.

We told him that we were on holiday on the river, and that we were going to leave the next day. Then we stopped talking for a few minutes, and we began to look round the room. We noticed a glass case on the wall. In it there was a very big fish.

The old man saw that we were looking at this fish.

'Did you, really?'George asked.

'Yes,'the man answered. 'They told me he was in the river. I said I'd catch him, and I did. You don't see many fish as big as that one now. Well, good night, then. 'And he went out.

'Yes,'the old man continued,'it was sixteen years ago. I caught him just by the bridge. '

'Yes, it is,'I replied.

'Ah, yes,'the man replied. He drank some of his beer, and then he added,'Perhaps you weren't here when it was caught?'

'Ah, well,'the man went on,'it was nearly five years ago that I caught that fish. '

After that, we could not take our eyes off the fish. It really was a fine fish. We were still looking at it when another man came in. He had a glass of beer in his hand, and he also looked at the fish.

'That's a fine, big fish, isn't it?'George said to him.

'No,'we said, and we explained that we did not live there. We said that we were only there on holiday.

'Ah,'he said,' that's a big fish, isn't it?'

'Oh, did you catch it then?'I asked.

'Who told you that I caught that fish?'he asked.

Nobody spoke for some time. Then George turned to the man and said,'Excuse me, I hope you don't mind, but my friend and I, who are only on holiday here, would like to ask you a question. Could you tell us how you caught that fish?'

'Well, that's very strange,'he answered, with a little laugh. ' You're right. I did catch it. 'And he went on to tell us how he had done it, and that it had taken him half an hour to land it.

We said that nobody had told us. We just felt that he was the man who had caught it.

Five minutes later a third man came in and described how he had caught the fish, early one morning. He left, and another man came in and sat down by the window.

'Yes,'he replied. 'I caught him by the lock…Well, good-night to you. '

When he left, the landlord came in to talk to us. We told him the different stories we had heard about his fish. He was very amused and we all laughed about it. And then he told us the real story of the fish.

He said that he had caught it himself, years ago, when he was a boy. It was a lovely, sunny afternoon, and instead of going to school, he went fishing. That was when he caught the fish. Everyone thought he was very clever. Even his teacher thought he had done well and did not punish him.

And then George fell, and he caught hold of the glass case to save himself. It came down, with George and the chair on top of it.

He had to go out of the room just then, and we turned to look at the fish again. George became very excited about it, and he climbed up onto a chair to see it better.

'I hope so, 'George said. He stood up carefully and looked round. But the fish was lying on the floor -- in a thousand pieces!

'Is the fish all right?'I cried.

It was not a real fish.