Summary

Part III is called “All Crete”. At this point in the novel, Korin begins to recount the content of the manuscript out loud, mainly to Maria, but sometimes to the interpreter Mr. Sarvary. The manuscript began in ancient Crete where some villagers watched a shipwreck of a foreign vessel in the bay during a storm. When the weather settled, they rowed out to the boat to see if there were any survivors. Of the hundred or so on board, only four had survived the shipwreck and were unconscious. The villagers rescued them, took them ashore, and nursed them back to health. No matter how many questions they asked them, the men did not reveal who they were or where they had come from, answering only in the vaguest terms. In reply, the men asked the villagers questions about things like the...