“We think your valley is beautiful,” he told the humanoid, “and we would like to stay and visit, but we have business to attend to on the other side of the ocean.”
“Landsmen spend too much time attending to business and not enough time living. If you spent more time in the sea you would be happier.”
“I could not agree with you more,” Ehomba replied. “However, I am a herder of cattle and sheep, and they do not do as well in the ocean as jellyfish and clams.”
“I fathom.” The sargassum man popped something small and blue into his mouth.
“There is a problem with our leaving. Our ship cannot sail up the walls of your valley. There is not enough wind to make her go fast enough. Not even if we sailed in circles until we got going as fast as we can and then tried. We need help.”
The humanoid nodded gravely. What strange thoughts must lie behind those impenetrable black eyes? the herdsman wondered. What sights must they have seen? To someone like himself who so loved the sea, the temptation to wish oneself a similar life was almost irresistible. Not all wishes in life, he reminded himself, could be fulfilled. He knew that despite his yearning, his desire to spend time at sea would have to restrict itself to long swims from shore and endless walks on the beach below the village. Perhaps, he mused, the sargassum man longs to walk on dry lands.
“We can do nothing.” The sympathetic humanoid spread leafy arms wide. “We could pull your ship out of the valley, but it would take a thousand sargassum men, and there are not that many dwelling within many weeks’ journey of this place. Most live farther to the south, where the water is warmer and the seaweed beds more extensive.”