Desires swollen body does not shock my aesthetic
sense. Thats the way with a fisherman:he sallies forth to harpoon whales and ends by
snaring minnows.
Yet people claim the atoll scenery monotonous, the
animal, vegetable, andmineral worlds meager! I fancied myself a glaucus, and
straightway rolled myself into a ball tofind out what it was like.
But I held on, and soon foundmyself moving slowly
toward the breakers. The deep shadows suggest sleep, as do the coconut palms.
Certainly I raised my head dozens of times to breathe.
Little Johnny is being fed on drinking-nut meat and
coconut water. What excuse am I to offer for Ngatokoruaimatauea?
I screamed, then ducked my head under water,
sensing thatthe brute was about to swallow me. This may soundlike a hyperbole, but
it is nothing of the kind. My infant will come into the world with the most expert
obstetrical aid onDanger Island.
He lay perfectly still, waiting, no doubt, for me
to dive. Close to the house is shoal water over white sand. According toLetter, he
had played the fish long and skillfully. They are strawyellow but vary enough to
lighter and darker shades to give a pleasingeffect.
Well, I have already told you that I nearly fell
off the causeway.
Yes, it is an excellent house, I
replied.
Once in a while I run into this strange
coral.
Will you cook his food, wash his clothes, take care
of him when hes sick? Except for Desires illness we are a happy family. Will you
cook his food, wash his clothes, take care of him when hes sick?
Ichummed; then I lowered the bait to the fishs nose
and lay face downward,watching.
Ihave rigged it with a sliding-gunter sail. It is
undoubtedly the strangest house on DangerIsland. Perhaps ten minuteshad passed when
suddenly the bait was gone!
Lord knows what would have happened had weactually
speared him.
It is remarkable that thereis so little mortality
at birth.
Once in a while I run into this strange coral.
Thats the way with the atoll preachers: they find texts for everything. Yet people
claim the atoll scenery monotonous, the animal, vegetable, andmineral worlds meager!
Oh, you too much get scared all the time, oh yes, Goddamn!