THERE was a man in the islands who fished for his bare bellyful,
and took his life in his hands to go forth upon the sea between
four planks. But though he had much ado, he was merry of heart;
and the gulls heard him laugh when the spray met him. And though
he had little lore, he was sound of spirit; and when the fish came
to his hook in the mid-waters, he blessed God without weighing. He
was bitter poor in goods and bitter ugly of countenance, and he had
no wife.
It fell in the time of the fishing that the man awoke in his house
about the midst of the afternoon. The fire burned in the midst,
and the smoke went up and the sun came down by the chimney. And
the man was aware of the likeness of one that warmed his hands at
the red peats.
"I greet you," said the man, "in the name of God."
"I greet you," said he that warmed his hands, "but not in the name
of God, for I am none of His; nor in the name of Hell, for I am not
of Hell. For I am but a bloodless thing, less than wind and
lighter than a sound, and the wind goes through me like a net, and
I am broken by a sound and shaken by the cold."
"Be plain with me," said the man, "and tell me your name and of
your nature."
"My name," quoth the other, "is not yet named, and my nature not
yet sure. For I am part of a man; and I was a part of your
fathers, and went out to fish and fight with them in the ancient
days.
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