At the same time he made instinctively a movement
of repulsion. His head had sunk in the water
without his being conscious of it. A bitter liquid
was beginning to filter through his mouth....
He made a mighty effort to keep himself in a vertical
position, looking again at the sky, still black as
ink, and all the stars as red as drops of blood.
Suddenly he felt a certain consciousness that he was
not alone, and he closed his eyes.... Yes, somebody
was near him. It was a woman!...
It was a woman white as the clouds, white as the sail,
white as the foam. Her sea-green tresses were
adorned with pearls and phosphorescent corals; her
proud smile was that of a goddess, in keeping with
the majesty of her diadem.
She stretched her pearly arms around him, pressing
him close against her life-giving and eternally virginal
bosom. A dense and greenish atmosphere was giving
her whiteness a reflection like that of the light
of the caves of the sea....
Her pale mouth then pressed against the sailor’s,
making him feel as though all the light of this white
apparition had liquefied and was passing into his
body by means of her impelling kiss.
He could no longer see, he could no longer speak.
His eyes had closed, never to open again; a bitter
river of salt was flowing down his throat.
Nevertheless he continued looking at her,—more
luminous, pressed closer and closer,—with
a sad expression of love in his glassy eyes....
And thus he went down and down the infinite levels
of the abyss, inert, and without volition, while a
voice within him was crying, as though just recognizing
her:
“Amphitrite!... Amphitrite!”
