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then I put another ripe tamarind into my mouth and greedily sucked the sweet flesh from the pits. Wild beauty surrounded me: the two rivers, the mountains, and the never-ending jungle. And I alone in the heart of the wilderness along with whomever was watching over me. Before long I had four minnows. I went to try my luck with them in the mighty Tuichi.

I stuck a whole minnow on a larger hook, drew back, and cast it into the water. The current was swift, and the hook disappeared beneath the white waters. I waited a while, and when I tried to draw the line in, I felt that it had snagged on a rock. Nothing I did succeeded in loosening it. I let it go slack and then gave it a good yank and then another. I tried angling in various directions, waiting for the river itself to set the line free, but it remained firmly planted. The current was rapid and foamy, and it would be too dangerous to try to wade into the water. The thought of doing so made me dizzy with fear. I was not going to put myself at the mercy of the Tuichi again. I had no choice but to break the line. That meant losing one of the last two hooks I had left. The line itself was strong and resilient and hard to break. I wrapped it around my waist a few times and backed off, stretching the line tightly until it snapped to shore with a shrill whine.

I took my supply of minnows back to the fire and tossed some more wood on. I filled a tin with water and set it in the hottest part of the fire. I