16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
came clearly visible.
'There in the middle is the splendid fountain
of the world,' said Sam.
'Yes, Father,' they replied.
'Do you see the water spouting from the top?'
asked Stephen.
'Yes, sir,' they answered, and they ventured
no more until they came to Sam's quarters in
an arcaded court behind the university, not
unlike a quadrangle in one of the smaller Oxford
colleges. 'Yes, Father: yes, sir,' was their
total response to the news that the fountain
was forty foot high, not counting the figure of
Fame on the top; that it was surrounded by
four and twenty pieces of artillery and sixteen
iron chains of unusual weight; that the Casa
de la Inquisición had scarcely a rival but the
one in Madrid; that two of the streets through
which they passed had been entirely paved