16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
I can say is that they belong to the pentamera
and that I am astonished that
even such meagre, attenuated creatures
could scrape a living from the desolation
we travelled over. The General was
more fortunate. He brought down a
singularly beautiful tern, the Sterna ynca
of Suarez: I can only suppose that it was
taking a direct path from a curve in the
river to some better fishing-ground
along the coast; but the event was so
rare, so nearly unknown, that it gave
the General the utmost satisfaction – he
declared there could be no finer omen
for our future conversations.
A good omen is always welcome: yet if
it were not presumptuous I should feel
inclined to say that there is comparatively
little doubt about the outcome of
these conversations, three of the high