Three Arched Bridge

16

ALL THAT SUMMER, day and night, the work of erecting the bridge piers continued* They dug pits for the foundations until they struck bedrock, then began filling them with large stones, These were brought by cart from an old, distant quarry and lowered into the pits with the help of a winch that they called a gikrik. Its squeaking did not cease day or night as it lowered sometimes stones slung with stout rope, sometimes buckets filled with mortar.

Lime pits had been dug nearby, and some of the men working on the bridge piers were entirely coated with white. But the color of mud still predominated.

Work proceeded feverishly on the bridge piers. The master-in-chief, with his assistants in tow, spent hours on the wooden scaffolding that surrounded each of the pits. Sometimes they swarmed like demons over the timbers nailed like crosses, and sometimes, when oppressed by the heat, they would plunge stark naked into the river, oblivious to the eyes of the world. They worked swiftly to raise the piers before autumn came, when the Ujana e Keqe would swell The diversion channels for the river were intended only for the dry season, and after the first rains they would be unable to cope with the volume of water, part of which would flow again in the old bed,

Whenever a cloud appeared in the sky, the master-in-chief lifted his sparkling — head anxiously toward the mountains.

In fact, everybody was waiting for autumn to come. Some were curious to see what the river would do when it met the obstacles in its path. Others shook their heads, convinced that the Ujana e Keqe would know how to exact its revenge. It had not earned its name in vain,

People waited for the river to rise, in the way that they wait for someone who has been away from home for a long time, while great changes have taken place in his absence. Although most took the side of the river, and even laid wagers on the scale of its revenge, there were also those who felt pity for the bridge. However, they were still few, and they concealed their sympathy.

The days grew shorten Summer gave way to autumn without anything noteworthy happening, A workman drowned in a lime pit, and two others were crippled by the winch, but these were very minor incidents compared with what had been expected,