Excerpt from The Fisherman's Allegories The wise man says Be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness to the flesh. Book-making, before the art of printing was in vented, must have been a tedious and slow process. Five men, with the present facilities, can print more matter in six months than a hundred thousand men could copy in a life-time with the pen or pencil, as the old process of copying by hand was practiced. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was the first book I read, and that was in German. I read it to my mother. Afterwards I read it in the English language. Perhaps this was the reason that my mind became somewhat allegorically inclined. I soon fell into the habit of making use of illustrations in my public speaking and writing. I always thought there was great force in Bunyan's writings. But I do not wish to convey the idea that I want to compare myself to John Bunyan. My friends here at home and abroad, who know me, are all well aware that I am not a scholar, and not even capable of obtaining a certificate to teach a common school. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.