The Complete Adventures of Curious George (20 page)

He saw a long string on a long stick.

A fat man had the long stick in his hand.

What could the man do with a stick that long?

George was curious.

The fat man was on his way to the lake, and soon George was on his way to the lake too.

The man took a hook out of his box, put it on a string and then put something on the hook.

Then the man let the string down into the water and waited.

Now George knew!

The string on the stick was to fish with.

When the man pulled the string out of the water, there was a big fish on the hook.

George saw the man pull one fish after another out of the lake, till he had all the fish he wanted.

What fun it must be to fish!

George wanted to fish too.

He had his string.

All he needed was a stick, and he knew where to get that.

George ran home as fast as he could.

In the kitchen he took the mop off the kitchen wall.

The mop would make a good stick.

Now George had the string and the stick.

He was all set to fish.

Or was he?

Not yet.

George had to have a hook and on the hook something that fish like to eat.

Fish would like cake, and George knew where to find some.

But where could he get a hook?

Why—there was a hook for the mop on the kitchen wall!

It would have to come out.

With the hook on the string and the string on the stick and the cake in the box in his hand, George went back to the lake.

George sat down, put some cake on the hook, and let the line down into the water.

Now he had to wait, just as the man had waited.

George was curious.

The fish were curious too.

All kinds of fish came to look at the line, big fish and little fish, fat fish and thin fish, red fish and yellow fish and blue fish.

One of them was near the hook.

The cake was just what he wanted.

George sat and waited.