Quotes from Gerald Durrell

lavender-coloured lightning.

The sliding doors between the dining-room and drawing-room had been pulled back and the vast room thus formed was a riot of flowers, balloons and paintings, the long tables with their frost-white cloths sparkling with silver, the side tables groaning under the weight of the cold dishes.

escaped to the veranda, where he stood in the moonlight taking deep breaths.

Lena, glowing like a tiger-lily, swept to the piano

Talking cheerfully, we would set out, and the dogs, tongues lolling, tails wagging, would leave the shade of the tangerine trees and follow us.

The dogs would fan out ahead of us, cocking their legs, snuffling in the dark holes that honeycombed the great, ancient olive trees, and dashing off in noisy and futile pursuit of the swallows

rolled their eyes, panted and gasped, and tried by every means possible to show us that they were at death's door from starvation. Unusually, Roger did not join in. Instead he was sitting out in the sunshine in front of a patch of brambles watching something with great intentness. I went over to see what was intriguing him to such an extent that he was ignoring my sandwich crusts. At

In those days, living as we did in the country, without the dubious benefits of radio or television, we had to rely on such primitive forms of amusement as books, quarrelling, parties, and the laughter of our friends, so naturally parties – particularly the more flamboyant ones – became red-letter days, preceded by endless preparations.

I'm sure it's an epidemic,' she exclaimed at last, peering down nervously into the street. 'Nonsense, Mother; don't fuss,' said Larry airily. 'But, dear, so many of them … it's unnatural.' 'There's nothing unnatural about dying. People do it all the time.

the incessant shimmering cries of the cicadas. If the curious, blurring heat haze produced a sound, it would be exactly the strange, chiming cries of these insects.

He had a four-inch gash on his forehead and the blood was running down his face and into his moustache. Larry had one eye bruised and scraped and rapidly swelling.

Captain Creech's face, bobbing between Larry's and Donald's, had achieved an extraordinary mauve colour, rather like the bloom of a plum.

It became obvious, now that we had time to concentrate, that Captain Creech was extremely drunk.

Roger and I would squat in the heavily scented shade of the myrtle bushes and watch the array of creatures that passed us; at certain times of the day the branches were as busy as the main street of a town.

Even in the shade of the olive groves it was not cool

the shallow waters too warm to be refreshing.

Olvidándome de mi inminente peligro de ser educado, salí con Roger a cazar luciérnagas por entre las abundantes zarzas

Es la vida la que va frenando a los ojos de uno. Todo se hace más pausado, por así decirlo, y al contemplar las cosas a cámara lenta se aprecia mucho más. ¡Qué cosas se ven entonces! ¡Qué cosas tan extraordinarias se revelan a nuestro alrededor, que antes ni siquiera habíamos sospechado! ¡Es verdaderamente una aventura encantadora, deliciosa!

Otra cosa que no se nota cuando se es joven es que las flores tienen personalidad. Son distintas unas de otras, como las personas.

I visualized myself walking proudly through the olive groves, preceded by the dogs, Ulysses, and my two magpies, and trotting at my heels, four tame hedgehogs, all of which I would have taught to do tricks.

Adult ant-lions come in a variety of sizes and, for the most part, rather drab colouring. They look like extremely untidy and demented dragon-flies. They have wings that seem out of all proportion to their bodies and these they flap with a desperate air, as though it required the maximum amount of energy to prevent them from crashing to the earth.

In fine weather we always had our meals on the veranda at the rickety marble-topped table and it was here that all the major family decisions were taken.

we reached the bay which was rimmed with silvery olive groves and great golden tangles of broom that sent its heavy musky scent out over the still clear waters.

I stepped into the gin-clear sea which was as warm as a bath.