Межзвёздный скиталец
Chapter 15
Thecabinboy,abeardedmanoftwenty-odd,losthold,slipped,swungaroundthemast,andwaspinchedagainstthebossofrock.Pinched?Thelifesqueezedfromhimontheinstant.Twoothersfollowedthewayofthecook.CaptainJohannesMaartenswasthelast,completingthefourteenofusthatclungoninthecleft.AnhourafterwardtheSparwehrslippedoffandsankindeepwater.
Twodaysandnightssawusneartoperishingonthatcliff,fortherewaswayneitherupnordown.Thethirdmorningafishing-boatfoundus.Themenwerecladentirelyindirtwhite,withtheirlonghairdoneupinacuriousknotontheirpates—themarriageknot,asIwasafterwardtolearn,andalso,asIwastolearn,ahandythingtoclutchholdofwithonehandwhilstyoucloutedwiththeotherwhenanargumentwentbeyondwords.
Theboatwentbacktothevillageforhelp,andmostofthevillagers,mostoftheirgear,andmostofthedaywererequiredtogetusdown.Theywereapoorandwretchedfolk,theirfooddifficultevenforthestomachofasea-cunytocountenance.Theirricewasbrownaschocolate.Halfthehusksremainedinit,alongwithbitsofchaff,splinters,andunidentifiabledirtwhichmadeonepauseofteninthechewinginordertostickintohismouththumbandforefingerandpluckouttheoffendingstuff.Also,theyateasortofmillet,andpicklesofastoundingvarietyandungodlyhot.
Theirhouseswereearthen-walledandstraw-thatched.
