None of us spoke, for the futility of the business clogged our spirits.

I bit hard on my lip to curb my restlessness, and I think I would have sold my soul there and then for anything that could move fast.

I don't know any sorer trial than to be mad for speed and have to crawl at a snail's pace.

I was getting ripe for any kind of desperate venture.
About midday we descended on a wide plain full of the marks of rich cultivation.

Villages became frequent, and the land was studded with olive groves and scarred with water furrows.