Tonight, we’ll read the opening to an edited version of John Steinbeck’s “Cup of Gold”, a 1929 historical fiction novel based loosely on the life and death of 17th century privateer Henry Morgan.

The piece begins in a small Welsh valley, where winter arrives with a biting chill, setting the stage for reflections within the Morgan household. Young Henry, yearning for adventure, listens eagerly to the tales of Dafydd, a former farmhand turned seafarer, who returns from the Indies. As Henry contemplates leaving home to seek his own path, his father, Robert, reflects on the inevitability of letting him go…