16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
solely on oily nuts, seeds and fruit.
'You astonish me,' cried Stephen.
'I too was dumbfounded,' replied Eduardo.
'Yet such is the case. In the season of the year
the people of the village climb up to the cave,
take all the young they can reach – mere balls
of fat – and melt them down for oil, a pure
transparent oil which they use for lamps or for
cooking. They showed me the cauldron, they
showed me the brimming oil-jars, astonished
at my ignorance. I went far into the cave,
wearing a broad hat against their droppings,
and while they screeched and clattered over
my head – it was like being in the midst of a
huge swarm of bees, gigantic bees, and a din
so that one could hardly think – I saw a small
forest of wretched light-starved dwarvish trees,
sprung from seeds they had voided.'
'Pray tell me of their eggs,' said Stephen, for