Read "Papillon" by Henri Charrière online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I discovered a world, a people, a civilization totally unknown to me. Those first minutes on Venezuelan soil were so moving, it would take a talent far greater than mine to describe the warm welcome we received from these generous people. The men were both blacks and whites, though most of them were the tan of a white man who's been in the sun a few days. Almost all wore their pants rolled up to the knees.
"You poor people! You really are in sad shape. ! " one of the men said.