"Your servant, Signor, and a fair wind to you!" said the gondolier, taking leave.
"Starboard!"
The lateen sail, with the Lion and the Book, swelled crimson. The craft turned toward the open sea, directing its course toward San Servolo. The shore seemed to assume a sharp curve, as if to repel it.
"To the right!"
The boat veered with great force. A miracle met it: the first rays of the sun pierced the fluttering sail and illumined the angels on the campaniles of San Marco and San Giorgio Maggiore, setting on fire the globe of the Fortuna and crowning the five miters of the Basilica with a diadem of light. Venice Anadyomene reigned over the waters, and from her beauty all her veils were ravished.
"Glory to the Miracle!" An almost superhuman feeling of power and of freedom swelled the young man's heart as the wind had swollen the sail transfigured for him. In its crimson splendor, he saw himself as in the splendor of his own blood. It seemed to him that all the mystery of this beauty demanded of him a triumphal act. He felt confident that he was able to accomplish it. "To create with joy!"
And the world was his!
BOOK II
THE EMPIRE OF SILENCE