16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
pus', on either side of him his followers murmured
'Quipus'.
'I am sure you have often seen quipus, don
Esteban?' said Eduardo.
'Never in life, my dear,' replied Stephen.
'You will see them presently,' said Eduardo,
and they watched the far small man as he
came running steadily along the track, his
coloured staff rising and falling. 'They are
knotted cords and thin strips of cloth: our kind
of writing, concise, ingenious, secret. I am a
sinful creature, but on no more than a few
inches I can record all I must remember at
confession; and only I can read it, since the
first knot gives the clue to all the rest.'
The messenger came running along the line;
his face was blue, but his breath was even,
unhurried. He kissed Eduardo's knee, unwound
the coloured cords and strips from his