The Merganetta armata is a powerful swimmer that lives in the fast-flowing rivers of the Andes and nests beneath riverside rocks.
I’ve just finished reading Graham Greene’s Travels With My Aunt and found myself thinking of these adventurous ducks of the Andes and how alike their lives must be to the book’s main character, Aunt Augusta. It reminded me, in particular, of her words:
My dear Henry, if you live with us, you won’t be edging day by day across to any last wall. The wall will find you of its own accord without your help, and every day you live will seem to you a kind of victory.
“I was too sharp for it that time,” you will say, when night comes, and afterwards you’ll sleep well.”
