I could not even make out
his features, although, oddly enough, I could see the trout very
distinctly. The fish, I recollected, had a peculiarly ferocious scowl,
as if it resented the absurd blotches of green and gold with which the
artist had attempted to imitate Nature's colour scheme. Gradually I
found myself thinking of the trout as a member of Congress. Had I
continued much longer, I should have visualised that fish in the act of
addressing the Speaker of the House on the tariff bill.
Yet I could not help taking the professor's implied criticism to heart.
It would have been something even, to be able to tell whether I lived in
the Eleventh Congressional District or the Fifteenth; but I didn't know.
For how long a term was the man elected? I didn't know. Was it required
that he should be able to read and write? I didn't know.
That was the beginning. When luncheon was over, I sat before the fire
and tried to find out how much I did know of the things I should. I
found myself staring into bottomless depths of ignorance. I tried to
draw up a list of State Governors. I knew there must be between forty
and fifty, but I could remember only three Governors, including our own;
and later I recalled that one of the three was dead.
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