16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
'Not at all, not at all,' cried Stephen. 'But it is
true that I must not be late at the convent.'
Going down, Eduardo grew sadder as they
lost height: his spirits declined with the slope
of the path, and as they rested among the
shattered boulders of another gigantic rockfall,
the result of the most recent earthquake
and barely lichened yet, Stephen, to divert his
mind, said, 'I was pleased to see your people
so happy and gay. I had formed a false notion
from my trifling experience in and about Lima,
supposing them to be almost morose.'
'A people that has had its ancient laws and
customs taken from it, whose language and
history count for nothing, and whose temples
have been sacked and thrown down is apt to
be morose,' replied Eduardo: then, recollecting
himself, 'I do not say that this is the state of
affairs in Peru; and it would be the grossest
heresy to deny the benefits of the true religion: