"I returned to the spot, even though the sun had already set, I cast my hook into the water and waited. I don't think there is a deeper silence in the world than the silence of water.
I felt it then and never forgot it."

On the banks of a river near his grandparents' farm, a boy is about to catch a big fish. At the same moment that he loses his prey, the boy has a moment of growing awareness of the interconnectedness of all things. He is compelled to try again to catch the fish even though he is sure it's gone. And even though his chance has passed and he is company only to silence, he has staked a claim there by the river's edge.

From a childhood memory detailed in his book Small Memories, José Saramago spins a tale of quiet depth and wisdom-here translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and beautifully illustrated by Yolanda Mosquera.