It was pleasant in the shade. Peaceful. The leaves of an overhanging banyan tree cast restful shadows across the blanket. Around the side of the shrine, Alex could hear the gentle whifflings and slurping noises as the horses grazed […]

and his hand was restored whole as the other

Cassola regards the short form as an Aeolism (cf. Chantraine I, 161-3), which from an epic point of view would be an archaism.

While it is Huston's talent to untype the familiar character actor by blowing up a particular physical gesture, he seems also to incapacitate actors with anticipated, summarized characters.