‘I want to get down,’ said Mrs. Noah, swaying backwards and forwards because her stand was broken.
‘You’ll get down whether you want to or not, ma,’ said Shem irritably, ‘if you go swaying about like that. Don’t catch hold of me now. I’ve got quite enough to do with keeping my balance myself.’
‘Why don’t you get down?’ asked David, who wanted to see what would happen next.
‘I haven’t seen the crow fly yet,’ said Noah. ‘We can’t get down till the crow has flown.’
‘What did the crow do?’ asked David.
‘It didn’t. That’s why we’re still here,’ said Japheth.
‘Some people,’ said Noah, ‘want everything explained to them. When the cock crows it shows it’s morning, and when the crow flies it shows it’s night. We can’t get down until.’
‘But what would happen if you did get down?’ said David.
‘Nobody knows,’ said Noah. ‘I knew once, and tied a knot in my handkerchief about it, so that I could remember, but the handkerchief went to the wash, and they took out the knot. So I forgot.’
‘If you tied another knot in another handkerchief, wouldn’t you remember again?’ asked David.