In the Day of the Flood Quotes

“Pérha, whose name meant “prayer”, came from the coastlands and spoke in a strange accent. She pronounced Deghóm’s name in her own tongue: ‘Demagóma.’ Deghóm had heard that accent all her life. It was Méri, the common language of the sea-peoples. Their own dialect was simply called Déngi, ‘the tongue.’ The girls said Deghóm sounded like a foreigner, but they loved her none the less for it.
Pérha told the story of Deghóm’s birth solemnly, like a prayer taught to a child. Even amid the song, she heard her milk-mother’s soft voice.
“Tunégata, lubagúna… She was so weak, that dear woman…”
― Stephen Thomas, In the Day of the Flood

“There are three kinds of beautiful things, he thought. The first, like the sparrow, come into the world of themselves. The second, like the axe, are made for a purpose. The third are shaped from pure sorrow and touch the sky.”
― Stephen Thomas, In the Day of the Flood