16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
tedium of self-sacrifice, protests against the
sacrifice, and privy maundering afterwards it
had long been agreed that they should share
accordingly: finishing his fourth dish, therefore,
Jack also finished his explanation of the
remarkable sailing qualities of both the Franklin
and the Surprise: '... so as I say, although
at present we have the current setting against
us, I believe I can promise we shall make as
much of what breeze there is as any two ships
afloat: from the look of the sky and the glass I
should not be astonished if we achieved five
knots tomorrow. And then, you know, as we
slant down towards the equator, there is the
counter-current in our favour.'
'So much the better,' said Stephen. 'Now what
do you say to our Boccherini in D major? The
minuet has been running in my head these last
two or three days; but we have still to work out
the adagio.'