Manchurian Books

Arrived at Belem, it came to
a halt, turned back on its road, remounted the Amazon to the Rio
Negro, and returned to the forest from which it had mysteriously
started. One day somebody tried to drag it ashore, but the river rose
in anger, and the attempt had to be given up. And on another occasion
the captain of a ship harpooned it and tried to tow it along. This
time again the river, in anger, broke off the ropes, and the trunk
mysteriously escaped."
"What became of it?" asked the mulatto.
"It appears that on its last voyage, Miss Lina," replied Fragoso, "it
mistook the way, and instead of going up the Negro it continued in
the Amazon, and it has never been seen again."
"Oh, if we could only meet it!" said Lina.
"If we meet it," answered Benito, "we will put you on it! It will
take you back to the mysterious forest, and you will likewise pass
into the state of a legendary mind!"
"And why not?" asked the mulatto.
"So much for your legends," said Manoel; "and I think your river is
worthy of them. But it has also its histories, which are worth
something more.


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