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But if you have to climb to the shore from the depths here, it will be uphill all the way!
You were not here when we dropped anchor! I the first sounding made. No depths! If theDaphne
went a little more ahead, it would run aground!
But how can you support the bell, its weight all on your head? Roberto asked. And Father Caspar
reminded him that in the water he would not feel this weight, and Roberto would know this if he had ever
tried to push a boat, or extract from a tub an iron ball with his hand: the effort all came after you had
pulled it out, not while it was still immersed.
In the face of the old man s stubbornness, Roberto tried to postpone the moment of his destruction. But
if the bell is lowered with the windlass, he asked, how do we unhook the cable afterwards? If we do
not, the rope will hold you here, unable to move away from the ship.
Caspar answered that once he was on the bottom, Roberto would know, because the rope would
slacken; and at that point he was to cut it. Did he perhaps think Caspar would come back by the same
means? Once on the Island, he would go and recover the boat, and with that he would come back, God
willing.
But as soon as he was on shore, when he had freed himself from the straps, the bell if another windlass
did not keep it aloft would slump to the ground, imprisoning him. Do you want to spend the rest of
your life on an island, trapped inside a bell? And the old man replied that once he had freed him-self
from those underpants, he had only to slash the hide with his knife, and he would emerge like Minerva
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from Jove s head.
And what if, in the water, he encountered a big fish of some man-eating species? Father Caspar burst
out laughing: surely the most ferocious of fish, encountering in its path a self-moving contraption capable
of frightening even a human, would rapidly flee in bewilderment.
In short, Roberto concluded, sincerely concerned for his friend, you are old and frail. If someone has
to make this test, it will be me! Father Caspar thanked him but explained that he, Roberto, had already
given ample evidence of being a scatterbrain, and heaven only knows what a botch he would make of it.
He, Caspar, already had some knowledge of that body of water and of the reef, and he had seen similar
reefs elsewhere from a flatboat; this bell he had built himself and therefore knew its merits and defects; he
had a good notion of hydrostatic physics and would know how to deal with un-foreseen circumstances;
and, he added, as if presenting the ultimate argument in his favor, after all, I have the faith, and you not.
And Roberto understood that this was not by any means the last consideration: it was the first, and
surely the most beautiful. Father Caspar Wanderdrossel believed in his Bell as he believed in his Specula,
and he believed he had to use the Bell to reach the Specula, and he believed that everything he was doing
was for the greater glory of God. And as faith can move mountains, it can surely overcome waters.
So there was nothing to be done but set the bell back on deck and prepare it for immersion. An
operation that kept them busy till evening. To treat the hide in such a way that it was both impermeable to
water and air-tight, they had to prepare a paste over a slow fire, mixing three pounds of wax, one pound
of Venetian turpentine, and four ounces of another varnish used by carpenters. Then the hide had to
absorb that substance; so it was left to sit until the next day. Finally, with another paste made of pitch and
wax they had to caulk the edges of the window,- where the glass had already been fixed with mastic,
then tarred.
Omnibus rimis diligenter repletis, Father Caspar said, and spent the night in prayer. At dawn they
examined the bell, the straps, the hooks. The Jesuit waited for the right moment, when the reflux could
best be exploited and the sun was high enough to illuminate the sea before him, casting all shadows
behind his back. Then the two men embraced.
Father Caspar repeated that it would be an enjoyable en-terprise in which he would see amazing things
such as not even Adam or Noah had known, and his one fear was of committing the sin of Pride proud
as he was of being the first man to descend into the sea s depths. However, he added, this is also a
proof of mortification: if Our Lord on the water walked, I will walk under, suitable path for sinners.
Then the bell had to be raised, with Father Caspar fastened inside it, testing the device to guarantee that
he was able to move comfortably.
For a few minutes Roberto observed the spectacle of a huge snail no, a puffball, an ambulant
agaric advancing with slow and awkward steps, often stopping and half-turning when the Jesuit wanted
to look to the left or right. More than a progress, that walking hood appeared to perform a gavotte, a
bourree, which the absence of music made even clumsier.
Finally Father Caspar seemed satisfied with his rehearsal and, in a voice that sounded as if it came from
his boots, he said he was ready to set out.
He moved to the windlass; Roberto hooked him up and began turning it, making sure, when the bell was
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