16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
diffused indignation; the same put-upon air;
and the same restless desire to have everything
proceed according to his own idea of
order – but with this essential difference, that
whereas Killick relied on the Captain's cook
for all but coffee and the simplest breakfast
dishes, Hipolito could provide a capital dinner
with no more help than a boy to carry plates.
This meal, however, being very early and the
guests very young, was as plain as well could
be: gazpacho, a dish of fresh anchovies, a
paella: with them a little flowery wine from
Pisco. Then came fruit, including the Peruvian
version of the custard-apple, the chirimoya at
its best, of which the little girls ate so greedily
that they were obliged to be restrained – so
greedily that they could manage few of the little
almond cakes that would have ended their
feast if they had been allowed to remain. But
happily Hipolito had been born old, and nei-