nazareno navarro walks up and down, checking the lines on the thames, waiting for eel.
if he finds a little time to talk to you, he'll tell you about guido, roberto, giovanni, luigi, veronica, arabella... there used to be 17 of them, but now there's only 9. all the girls went. probably married, i think. "married women have a lower life expectancy than married men" (why does this fact pop into my head?) veronica, he'll explain, comes from "vera unica" this means "really a one", truly unique. arabella is from the arameic, "behold the beautiful one". i make a wish for a girl i can call arabella.
if you stick around long enough he'll show you how to check the lines. tugs in rhythmic succession means an eel, anything else is probably seaweed. riverweed? londonweed? i wait and wait but the eels are not stupid. they know all i'm after is a picture, they won't die for such a cause.
nazareno's mate is more of a carp man. carp he explains are more intelligent creatures. they live for longer through the generations, so they have time to pass on knowledge to the young.
"beware of those lines," they say to the young carp, "there are men out there, patient men, waiting to catch you if you're not awake."
i should know.
Quite satisfying the way the lamposts really do look like the fish.
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