Here are the quotations for this week, 5th to 11th January:
1. 'Well, there we lay - engines stopped, rollin' to the swell, all dark,
yards cock-billed, an' that merry tune yowlin' from the upper bridge. We
fell in on the foc'sle, leavin' a large open space by the capstan, where our
sail-maker was sittin' sewin' broken firebars into the foot of an old
'ammick.'
2. The sea … drummed tackily to gather my attention, coughed, spat, cleared
its throat, and, on the eve of that portentous communication, retired up
stage as a multitude whispering. Anon, I caught the tramp of armies afoot,
the hum of crowded cities awaiting the event, the single sob of a woman, and
a dry roaring of wild beasts...
3. Very far to the west an elongated blur of red, low down, shows us the
North Banks Mark Boat. There are specks of fire round her rising and
falling - bewildered planets about an unstable sun - helpless shipping
hanging on to her light for company's sake. No wonder she could not quit
station...
The sources of last week's extracts (Dec 29th to Jan 4th), as several people
have pointed out, are as follows:
1. (...he was battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog ... to and fro
on the floor, up and down in great circles, but his eyes were red, and he
held on ...) This is from "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" in 'The Jungle Book'.
2. (...they could see the ridged and furrowed surface of the floe all tipped
and laced with strange colours - red, copper, and bluish...) This is from
"Quiquern" in 'The Second Jungle Book'.
3. (...he wanted to scratch, but that made it worse; and then he lay down on
the sand and rolled and rolled and rolled...) This is from "How the Rhino
got his Skin" in 'The Just-so Stories'.
Good New Year wishes to all, John R
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