Jake wakes up the next morning to a nice day. Bill is still asleep, so Jake dresses quietly and goes outside to dig for worms. The innkeeper is awake by now, and Jake asks her for coffee and a lunch they can take with them. Bill jokes with Jake when he comes upstairs; he saw Jake out the window, but he did not want to leave his bed and help. He will get up for breakfast, though. He jokes some more, asking Jake to show some Irony and Pity, singing the words to the tune of "The Bells are Ringing For Me And My Gal." It's a New York thing, he says, and he tries to get Jake to be ironical, but he's not up for it. His life is ironical enough as it is, with his wound and his love. Bill asks him to say something pitiful, and Jake says Robert Cohn. But that's the best he can do. Bill makes fun of him:
"'You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see. You hang around cafés.'"Chapter 12, pg. 115
Jake plays along, says that sounds like a good life. It is his life. Bill jokes about impotence, and he feels bad. In jest, he tells Jake he shouldn't talk about his injury, making it a mystery like Henry's bicycle. Too much on the subject of impotence, Bill changes the subject. Probably uncomfortable with the last topic, Bill jokes around some more, trying to lighten the mood.
Bill and Jake head out to fish. They follow a path up and through the countryside. It will be a long walk to the Irati River, where they plan to fish. They reach the river, and Bill goes upriver to fly-fish, and Jake stays to use the worms. Each man fishes alone. The river is full of trout, and Jake does well, catching six. He guts and packs them, and reads in the shade while he waits for Bill. He's reading a book by A.E.W. Mason about a man who was lost in the Alps while his lover and her lover waited years to see if he was found.
Bill returns. He has four trout, but they are bigger than Jake's. They get the wine and start lunch. They have eggs and chicken, and Bill wants to start with the egg first, then the chicken. He makes a joke about William Jennings Bryan, the lawyer who defended evolution. Bryan died yesterday, and Bill recites a humorous grace before eating, then launches into some jokes about evolution.
After all that wine, they are pretty drunk, and they joke around some more. Then they decide to take a nap before the long walk home. As they are falling asleep, Bill asks Jake about Brett, if he was ever in love with her. Jake, who still loves Brett, answers Bill as though his love for Brett was all in the past. Then Bill wants to know if Jake is a Catholic, and Jake answers that question more honestly. Then they fall asleep.
Bill wakes up first and starts to pack. He had a nice dream, but he can't remember it. They walk back toward the inn, and it is dark when they get home.
Their trip to Burguete lasts five days. The fishing was good, and they met a nice Englishman named Harris, who came fishing with them twice. The weather was warm and pleasant, and they found a nice place to swim. They do not hear from Cohn, Mike, or Brett.
