Circe's Island by Eden Phillpotts

Author:Eden Phillpotts [Phillpotts, Eden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781440544699
Publisher: Adams Media
Published: 1926-03-08T05:00:00+00:00

VII

THE QUEST CONTINUES

ABOUT the middle of the second week, Amphion, walking among the rocks when the tide was low, found a pelican eating a dead lobster; and something about the drab and homely bird put him in mind of his dear father. But the pelican proved to be a fishmonger from Athens, cast away here on an expedition of pleasure.

“The only time in my life that I permitted myself a holiday,” he chattered through his long bill; “and this was the appalling result. The glaring injustice bewilders me. Something ought certainly to be done about it.”

“You all say that,” replied Amphion sadly. “You all tell me something ought to be done about it — and I think so too; but what can be done?”

“There is no system, no coherence, no solidarity,” replied the pelican. “We talk our wretched heads off; but the moment anybody like myself attempts to organise, and centralise, and control public opinion, factious idiots argue and disagree. It is admitted that a union of sufferers, a combination, an amalgamation, or synthesis should be constructed; but everybody wants to take the lead: nobody is content to keep in the background and let the more powerful and intelligent guide their operations. This accursed jealousy keeps the whole pack of us impotent. My idea is simplicity itself. We select a leader — one who has been accustomed to the business — and we leave him to appoint conferences, consisting of committees, subcommittees, commissions, sub-commissions and so forth, thus applying the recognised resources of civilisation to the unparalleled situation in which we find ourselves. Then — ”

“Forgive me; but do you know a fisherman named Dolius?” asked Amphion.

“You’re not interested,” said the pelican. “I see you’re not interested.”

The boy left him talking to himself about coalescence and esprit de corps; and when he next met Simo, engaged in conversation with a striped zebra under a coconut-palm, Amphion mentioned his adventure.

“He used very long words, and was eating a lobster that had been dead many days,” explained the lad; “but there was something about him so like my father that I was wondering if Dolius may not after all be a shabby bird.”

“He may be,” admitted the snake. “We agreed that he was not a bird; but, after all, there is no certain reason against it.”

“You see,” continued Amphion, “many birds catch fish, whereas few beasts attempt to do so, except the otter and the jaguar.”

“True, true,” replied Simo; “but we must not press the analogy too hard. However, it enlarges the field of exploration, which begins to grow rather narrow. I have myself spoken to fourteen otters. They were river men in their better days, and, adventuring to sea beyond the domain of their experience, came to grief here many years ago. I have not as yet seen a jaguar, and, in any case, he has qualities one does not associate with Dolius. We can approach the kingfishers, the storks, the sea-hawks, the ospreys, cormorants and gulls. Yet I have a shrewd intuition that your father will not be found among them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.