Blanes was entering local politics with the enthusiasm of a middle-class man for novel adventure.
Cinta never said a word to influence her husband.

She was the daughter of a sailor and had accepted the life of a sailor's wife.

Furthermore, she looked upon matrimony in the light of the old familiar traditions:--the woman absolute mistress of the interior of the home, but trusting outside affairs to the will of the lord, the warrior, the head of the hearth, without permitting herself opinions or objections to their acts.
It was Ulysses, therefore, who decided to abandon the seafaring life.
Worked upon by the suggestions of his cousins, it needed only a little dispute with one of the directors of the shipping firm to make him hand in his resignation, and refuse to reconsider it, although urged by the protests and entreaties of the other stockholders.
In the first months of his existence ashore, he was amazed at the desperate immovability of everything.

The world was made up of revolting rigidity and solidity.

He felt almost nauseated at seeing all his possessions remain just where he left them, without the slightest fluctuation, or the least bit of casual caprice.
In the mornings upon opening his eyes, he at first experienced the sweet sensation of irresponsible liberty.