- Home
- 80 Days
- Pole to Pole
- Full Circle
- Hemingway
- Sahara
- Himalaya
- New Europe
- 80 Days Revisited
- Brazil
- Photo Gallery
- Keyword Search
- Photo Search
- Geography
- Accommodation
- Activity
- History
- Nature
- Person
- Transport
- Advanced Search
- The Chatter Box
- Chat Room
- Competition
- Polls
- Register
- Bookshop
- Bibliography
- Links
- Instructions
Hemingway Adventure
Cáorle (second day)
Hemingway in his late forties at duck-shoot with Alberto's father.
So we wait and call and wait and watch. Alberto turns out to be a good companion, and his wide and sympathetic knowledge of country matters bears out the point that no one knows or cares more about the habits of animals than those who kill them. I learn, for instance, that if the female of a pair of ducks is shot, the male will always come back to look for her, whereas a female will never come back for a male.Alberto likes me because I'm not impatient. I don't like to tell him that I have followed Hemingway's example and brought a book to read, as well as a hip-flask. And opened both.
After an hour and a half there is sudden excitement. A flock is turning towards us, only fifty yards away and coming in low. To encourage them, Alberto is frantically giving his widgeon on the whistle. Then, just as they seem to be taking avoiding action, I hear a shot followed by the thwack of a bird skidding across the ice. A spent cartridge flies out of the magazine, narrowly missing my left ear. Alberto looks relieved. The duck flaps for a while and lies still.
And that's all we get. Though we remain in the barrels for a hopeful half-hour more, it seems the curse of Palin, that so frustrated our trout-fishing in Michigan, has struck again. Back at the casone the mood is subdued. No one in the party even shot double figures. Various theories are advanced. Weather too settled, end of the season, so ducks wiser. Alberto tries to make us feel better.
'Hemingway was not so good, you know.' He peels off a balaclava, smooths his hair back and goes on. 'At the end of the shoot, all the ducks would be arranged in the yard in front of the house, so everyone could see what everyone had caught. And it was a little embarrassing sometimes, because someone would have sixty, another fifty, and Hemingway only four.'
'Four?'
Alberto nods, and I detect a hint of barely suppressed satisfaction.' He was not a good shot but he was a great character.'
Choose another day from Hemingway Adventure
PALIN'S GUIDES
- Series: Hemingway Adventure
- Chapter: Cáorle (second day)
- Country/sea: Italy
- Place: Cáorle
- Book page no: 68
Bookmarks will keep your place in one or more series. But you'll need to register and/or log in.
){kind=link}