| * This illustrated story is about a young boy who goes fishing with an
elder from his village. The young boy hooks a shoe instead of a fish
in the water, causing him and the elder man to wonder whose shoe it is. In pursuit of their quest, they come
across a stranger carrying a basket of melons. They subsequently run into a group of
drunken army soldiers who come into a village to pillage. Three of them are found shot at
the river's edge and left there for dead. Eventually, the young boy again crosses
the path of the melon peddler, who, in flight, gets a foot caught in an animal trap.
A fight ensues and the peddler pulls out a pistol and shoots but misses hitting the
boy. He and the elder man subdue the peddler and are welcomed back home by the local
militia and other villagers. The title of the story refers to the fact that the
young boy used his fishing apparatus to catch the "spotty fish," i.e. the
"slippery criminal" with his hook and then to "roll him over" or
subdue him by jabbing him with the end of the pole. The local militia are portrayed
as young, handsome "good guys," and the army soldiers and melon
peddler as
"bad guys." |
