How I wish he would've kept his mouth shut, Brother Elpidios! Yes, that means I was happy enough in Kherson. I had a place to sleep, I had work that wasn't too easy and wasn't too hard, either. I had plenty to eat. I had plenty to drink. If I wanted anything more, I had places where I could go. I didn't go to the same place Justinian used, but Kherson had plenty of them. Never known a town full of sailors that didn't.
But that's not what I'm talking about, not this time. I wish Justinian would have kept his mouth shut because opening it drew notice to him that he didn't want. We'd been making plans, the lot of us. We knew what we wanted to do. We just weren't quite ready to do it yet- and doing it with people keeping an eye on us was ten times tougher than if we'd been able to go about our business with nobody the wiser.
Justinian, though, he was never one for doing things by halves. What's that you say, Brother? You've seen as much? I hope you have, what with spending so much time reading his book to me. Holding back after the tudun warned him- it ate at him. He couldn't stand it, no matter how plain the need was.
Afterwards, he felt better. He was all happy and smiling and lazy, like he'd just had a woman after doing without for a long time. What? You don't know what I'm talking about? Oh, that's right, so you don't, poor fellow. Well, you're a holy man, Brother Elpidios, and God loves you. That's\a160… very fine.
But you lay a woman, you can get in trouble, too. It's not all fun. She can give you a drippy pipe. You can put a baby in her. Even if you don't put a baby in her, her brothers and her father are liable to find out you've spread her legs, and then come after you with clubs, or maybe knives.
Say you've been bragging. That helps 'em find out. And when Justinian shouted out that he was the rightful Emperor and he aimed to get his crown back, if you wouldn't call that bragging, Brother Elipidios, what would you call it?