Легкости перевода - 67. Задачка для филолога

[klopk]

Maxim opened the hatch, leaned out, and cautiously scanned the sky. Low-lying and solid-looking, it lacked that airy transparency suggestive of infinite space and a multitude of inhabited worlds; it was a real biblical firmament, smooth and dense. Undoubtedly this firmament rested on the powerful shoulders of a local Atlas. It glowed with a steady phosphorescence. Maxim looked for the hole that his ship had pierced, but it was gone; only two large dark blots floated at the zenith like dead bodies in water. Flinging the hatch wide open, he jumped into the tall dry grass.

Заодно и задачка для любителей словесности: восстановите исходную метафору в предпоследнем предложении, не заглядывая в оригинал.

PS Это не моя придумка, а канонический перевод "Обитаемого острова".