Oh, not really.
Sometimes one gets unpleasantly damp out there.
Hrolfur stood still, chewing his quid of tobacco and staring out at
the entrance to the creek. He seemed to have forgotten all about
answering my question.
Sometimes one gets unpleasantly damp out there, he repeated, laying
great emphasis on every word. I looked straight at him and saw there
were tears in his eyes. Now his features were all working again and
twitching as they had done earlier.
There's many a boat filled up there, he added, and some have got no
further. But I've floated in and out so far. Oh well, 'The silver
cup sinks, but the wooden bowl floats on', as the proverb says.
There was a time when I had to drag out of the water here a man who
was better than me in every way--that's when I really got to know
the old creek.
For a time he continued to stand there, staring out at the creek
without saying a word. But, at last, after wiping the tears from his
face with the back of his glove, he seemed to come to himself once
more.
You were asking, my lad, what the journey costs--it costs nothing.
Nothing? What nonsense!
Not since you got wet, said Hrolfur and smiled, though you could
still see the tears in his eyes. It's an old law of ours that if the
ferry-man lets his passengers get wet, even though it's only their
big toe, then he forfeits his toll.
I repeatedly begged Hrolfur to let me pay him for the journey, but
it was no use. At last he became serious again and said:
The journey costs nothing, as I said to you. I've brought many a
traveller over here to the creek and never taken a penny in return.
But if you ever come back to our village again, and old Hrolfur
should happen to be on land, come over to Weir and drink a cup of
coffee with him--black coffee with brown rock-sugar and a drop of
brandy in it; that is, if you can bring yourself to do such a thing.
This I promised him, and old Hrolfur shook me firmly and
meaningfully by the hand as we parted.
As they prepared to leave, we all three, the farmers from Mular and
I, stood there on the rocks to see how Hrolfur would manage. The
crew had furled the sails and sat down to the oars, whilst old
Hrolfur stood in front of the crossbeam, holding the rudder-line.
They weren't rowing though, but held their oars up, waiting for
their opportunity. All this while, wave after wave came riding
through the entrance to the creek, pouring their white cascades of
foam over the reefs.
Hrolfur watched them steadily and waited, like an animal ready to
pounce on its prey.
Now, my lads, cried Hrolfur suddenly. The oars crashed into the sea,
and the boat shot forward.
Just so, I thought, must the vikings in olden time have rowed to the
attack.
Hrolfur's voice was lost to us in the roaring of the surf, but he
seemed to be urging the men on to row their utmost. They rowed,
indeed, like things possessed, and the boat hurtled forward.
At the mouth of the creek a surf-topped wave rose against them,
sharp and concave, as it rushed on its way to the reefs. We held our
breath. It was a terrifying but magnificent sight.
Hrolfur shouted something loudly, and at the same moment every oar
hugged the side of the boat, like the fins of a salmon as it hurls
itself at a waterfall. The boat plunged straight into the wave. For
a moment we lost sight of her in the swirling spray; only the mast
was visible. When we saw her again, she was well out past the
breakers. She'd been moving fast and was well steered.
Hrolfur took his place on the crossbeam as if nothing had happened,
just as he had sat there earlier in the day, whilst he was 'on the
frigate'.
Two of the crew began to set the sails, whilst one started to bail
out. Soon the boat was once more on the move.
I felt a strange lump in my throat as I watched old Hrolfur sailing
away.
God bless you, old salt, I thought. You thoroughly deserved to
cleave through the cold waters of Iceland in a shapely frigate.
The boat heeled over gracefully and floated over the waves like a
gull with its wings outstretched. We stood there watching, without a
move, until she disappeared behind the headland.