"Yes, we spoke to the police before coming here and we saw the lifeboat."
"I'm a little hungry."
"Would you like a cookie?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Here you go."
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome. It's only a cookie. Now, Mr. Patel, we were wondering if you could tell us what happened to you, with as much detail as possible."
"Yes. I'd be happy to."
CHAPTER 97
The story.
CHAPTER 98
Mr. Okamoto: "Very interesting."
Mr. Chiba: "What a story."
<translation>"He thinks we're fools.</translation> Mr. Patel, we'll take a little break and then we'll come back, yes?"
"That's fine. I'd like another cookie."
"Yes, of course."
Mr. Chiba: <translation>"He's already had plenty and most he hasn't even eaten. They're right there beneath his bedsheet."
"Just give him another one. We kave to humour him.</translation> We'll be back in a few minutes."
CHAPTER 99
Mr. Okamoto: "Mr. Patel, we don't believe your story."
"Sorry—these cookies are good but they tend to crumble. I'm amazed. Why not?"
"It doesn't hold up."
"What do you mean?"
"Bananas don't float."
"I'm sorry?"
"You said the orangutan came floating on an island of bananas."
"That's right."
"Bananas don't float."
"Yes, they do."
"They're too heavy."
"No, they're not. Here, try for yourself. I have two bananas right here."
Mr. Chiba: <translation>"Where did those come from? What else does he have under his bedsheet?"
Mr. Okamoto: "Damn it.</translation> No, that's all right."
"There's a sink over there."
"That's fine."
"I insist. Fill that sink with water, drop these bananas in, and we'll see who's right."
"We'd like to move on."
"I absolutely insist."
[Silence]
Mr. Chiba: <translation>"What do we do?"
Mr. Okamoto: "I feel this is going to be another very long day."</translation>
[Sound of a chair being pushed back. Distant sound of water gushing out of a tap]
Pi Patel: "What's happening? I can't see from here."
Mr. Okamoto [distantly]: "I'm filling the sink."
"Have you put the bananas in yet?"
[Distantly] "No."
"And now?"
[Distantly] "They're in."
"And?"
[Silence]
Mr. Chiba: <translation>"Are they floating?"
[Distantly] "Tkey're floating."</translation>
"So, are they floating?"
[Distantly] "They're floating."
"What did I tell you?"
Mr. Okamoto: "Yes, yes. But it would take a lot of bananas to hold up an orangutan."
"It did. There was close to a ton. It still makes me sick when I think of all those bananas floating away and going to waste when they were mine for the picking."
"It's a pity. Now, about—"
"Could I have my bananas back, please?"
Mr. Chiba: <translation>"I'll get them."
[Sound of a chair being pushed back]
[Distantly] "Look at that. They really do float."</translation> Mr. Okamoto: "What about this algae island you say you came upon?"
Mr. Chiba: "Here are your bananas."
Pi Patel: "Thank you. Yes?"
"I'm sorry to say it so bluntly, we don't mean to hurt your feelings, but you don't really expect us to believe you, do you? Carnivorous trees? A fish-eating algae that produces fresh water? Tree-dwelling aquatic rodents? These things don't exist."
"Only because you've never seen them."
"That's right. We believe what we see."
"So did Columbus. What do you do when you're in the dark?"
"Your island is botanically impossible."
"Said the fly just before landing in the Venus flytrap."
"Why has no one else come upon it?"
"It's a big ocean crossed by busy ships. I went slowly, observing much."
"No scientist would believe you."
"These would be the same who dismissed Copernicus and Darwin. Have scientists finished coming upon new plants? In the Amazon basin, for example?"
"Not plants that contradict the laws of nature."