The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World Summary

A group of children discovers a drowned man who washes up on the beach, and they play with the corpse all afternoon—burying him in the sand then digging him out—until someone sees them and alerts the village. When the men come to take him away, they find the huge man is tremendously heavy—not just from being waterlogged but also on account of his size. The townsfolk are convinced he is a stranger without even cleaning off his face. Using fish scaling tools, the village women clean the crust and debris from the man. He is not only the biggest and strongest man they have ever seen, but also the most virile and handsome. Compared with this colossus, their own men seem weak and small. The...