Within the temple-hut, however, Ula awaited him. That was a pleasant change. The beautiful, supple14, satin-skinned Polynesian looked more beautiful and more treacherous15 than ever that fateful evening. Her great brown limbs, smooth and glossy16 as pearl, were set off by a narrow girdle or waistband of green and scarlet17 leaves, twined spirally around her. Armlets of nautilus shell threw up the dainty plumpness of her soft, round forearm. A garland hung festooned across one shapely shoulder; her bosom18 was bare or but half hidden by the crimson19 hibiscus that nestled voluptuously20 upon it. As Tu-Kila-Kila entered, she lifted her large eyes, and, smiling, showed two even rows of pearly white teeth. “My master has come!” she cried, holding up both lissome21 arms with a gesture to welcome him. “The great god relaxes his care of the world for a while. All goes on well. He leaves his sun to sleep and his stars to shine, and he retires to rest on the unworthy bosom of her, his mate, his meat, that is honored to love him.”
Tu-Kila-Kila was scarcely just then in a mood for dalliance. “The Queen of the Clouds comes hither to-morrow,” he answered, casting a somewhat contemptuous glance at Ula’s more dusky and solid charms. “I go to seek her with the wedding gifts early in the morning. For a week she shall be mine. And after that—” he lifted his tomahawk and brought it down on a huge block of wood significantly.
Ula smiled once more, that deep, treacherous smile of hers, and showed her white teeth even deeper than ever. “If my lord, the great god, rises so early to-morrow,” she said, sidling up toward him voluptuously, “to seek one more bride for his sacred temple, all the more reason he should take his rest and sleep soundly to-night. Is he not a god? Are not his limbs tired? Does he not need divine silence and slumber22?”
Tu-Kila-Kila pouted23. “I could sleep more soundly,” he said, with a snort, “if I knew what my enemy, the Korong, is doing. I have set my Eyes to watch him, yet I do not feel secure. They are not to be trusted. I shall be happier far when I have killed and eaten him.” He passed his hand across his bosom with a reflective air. You have a great sense of security toward your enemy, no doubt, when you know that he slumbers24, well digested, within you.
Ula raised herself on her elbow, and gazed snake-like into his face, “My lord’s Eyes are everywhere,” she said, reverently25, with every mark of respect. “He sees and knows all things. Who can hide anything on earth from his face? Even when he is asleep, his Eyes watch well for him. Then why should the great god, the Measurer of Heaven and Earth, the King of Men, fear a white-faced stranger? To-morrow the Queen of the Clouds will be yours, and the stranger will be abased26: ha, ha, he will grieve at it! To-night, Fire and Water keep guard and watch over you. Whoever would hurt you must pass through Fire and Water before he reach your door. Fire would burn, Water would drown. This is a Great Taboo. No stranger dare face it.”
Tu-Kila-Kila lifted himself up in his thrasonic mood. “If he did,” he cried, swelling27 himself, “I would shrivel him to ashes with one flash of my eyes. I would scorch28 him to a cinder29 with one stroke of my lightning.”
Ula smiled again, a well-satisfied smile. She was working her man up. “Tu-Kila-Kila is great,” she repeated, slowly. “All earth obeys him. All heaven fears him.”
The savage took her hand with a doubtful air. “And yet,” he said, toying with it, half irresolute30, “when I went to the white-faced stranger’s hut this morning, he did not speak fair; he answered me insolently31. His words were bold. He talked to me as one talks to a man, not to a great god. Ula, I wonder if he knows my secret?”
Ula started back in well-affected horror. “A white-faced stranger from the sun know your secret, O great king!” she cried, hiding her face in a square of cloth. “See me beat my breast! Impossible! Impossible! No one of your subjects would dare to tell him so great a taboo. It would be rank blasphemy32. If they did, your anger would utterly33 consume them!”
“That is true,” Tu-Kila-Kila said, practically, “but I might not discover it. I am a very great god. My Eyes are everywhere. No corner of the world is hid from my gaze. All the concerns of heaven and earth are my care, And, therefore; sometimes, I overlook some detail.”
“No man alive would dare to tell the Great Taboo!” Ula repeated, confidently. “Why, even I myself, who am the most favored of your wives, and who am permitted to bask34 in the light of your presence—even I, Ula—I do not know it. How much less, then, the spirit from the sun, the sailing god, the white-faced stranger!”
Tu-Kila-Kila pursed up his brow and looked preternaturally wise, as the savage loves to do. “But the parrot,” he cried, “the Soul of all dead parrots! He knew the secret, they say:—I taught it him myself in an ancient day, many, many years ago—when no man now living was born, save only I—in another incarnation—and he may have told it. For the strangers, they say, speak the language of birds; and in the language of birds did I tell the Great Taboo to him.”
Ula pooh-poohed the mighty35 man-god’s fears. “No, no,” she cried, with confidence; “he can never have told them. If he had, would not your Eyes that watch ever for all that happens on heaven or earth, have straightway reported it to you? The parrot died without yielding up the tale. Were it otherwise, Toko, who loves and worships you, would surely have told me.”
The man-god puckered36 his brows slightly, as if he liked not the security. “Well, somehow, Ula,” he said, feeling her soft brown arms with his divine hand, slowly, “I have always had my doubts since that day the Soul of all dead parrots bit me. A vicious bird! What did he mean by his bite?” He lowered his voice and looked at her fixedly37. “Did not his spilling my blood portend,” he asked, with a shudder38 of fear, “that through that ill-omened bird I, who was once Lavita, should cease to be Tu-Kila-Kila?”
Ula smiled contentedly40 again. To say the truth, that was precisely41 the interpretation42 she herself had put on that terrific omen39. The parrot had spilled Tu-Kila-Kila’s sacred blood upon the soil of earth. According to her simple natural philosophy, that was a certain sign that through the parrot’s instrumentality Tu-Kila-Kila’s life would be forfeited43 to the great eternal earth-spirit. Or, rather, the earth-spirit would claim the blood of the man Lavita, in whose body it dwelt, and would itself migrate to some new earthly tabernacle.
But for all that, she dissembled. “Great god,” she cried, smiling, a benign44 smile, “you are tired! You are thirsty! Care for heaven and earth has wearied you out. You feel the fatigue45 of upholding the sun in heaven. Your arms must ache. Your thews must give under you. Drink of the soul-inspiring juice of the kava! My hands have prepared the divine cup. For Tu-Kila-Kila did I make it—fresh, pure, invigorating!”
She held the bowl to his lips with an enticing46 smile. Tu-Kila-Kila hesitated and glanced around him suspiciously. “What if the white-faced stranger should come to-night?” he whispered, hoarsely47. “He may have discovered the Great Taboo, after all. Who can tell the ways of the world, how they come about? My people are so treacherous. Some traitor48 may have betrayed it to him.”
“Impossible,” the beautiful, snake-like woman answered, with a strong gesture of natural dissent49. “And even if he came, would not kava, the divine, inspiriting drink of the gods, in which dwell the embodied50 souls of our fathers—would not kava make you more vigorous, strong for the fight? Would it not course through your limbs like fire? Would it not pour into your soul the divine, abiding51 strength of your mighty mother, the eternal earth-spirit?”
“A little,” Tu-Kila-Kila said, yielding, “but not too much. Too much would stupefy me. When the spirits, that the kava-tree sucks up from the earth, are too strong within us, they overpower our own strength, so that even I, the high god—even I can do nothing.”
Ula held the bowl to his lips, and enticed52 him to drink with her beautiful eyes. “A deep draught53, O supporter of the sun in heaven,” she cried, pressing his arm tenderly. “Am I not Ula? Did I not brew54 it for you? Am I not the chief and most favored among your women? I will sit at the door. I will watch all night. I will not close an eye. Not a footfall on the ground but my ear shall hear it.”
“Do.” Tu-Kila-Kila said, laconically55. “I fear Fire and Water. Those gods love me not. Fain would they make me migrate into some other body. But I myself like it not. This one suits me admirably. Ula, that kava is stronger than you are used to make it.”
“No, no,” Ula cried, pressing it to his lips a second time, passionately56. “You are a very great god. You are tired; it overcomes you. And if you sleep, I will watch. Fire and Water dare not disobey your commands. Are you not great? Your Eyes are everywhere. And I, even I, will be as one of them.”
The savage gulped57 down a few more mouthfuls of the intoxicating58 liquid. Then he glanced up again suddenly with a quick, suspicious look. The cunning of his race gave him wisdom in spite of the deadly strength of the kava Ula had brewed59 too deep for him. With a sudden resolve, he rose and staggered out. “You are a serpent, woman!” he cried angrily, seeing the smile that lurked upon Ula’s face. “To-morrow I will kill you. I will take the white woman for my bride, and she and I will feast off your carrion60 body. You have tried to betray me, but you are not cunning enough, not strong enough. No woman shall kill me. I am a very great god. I will not yield. I will wait by the tree. This is a trap you have set, but I do not fall into it. If the King of the Rain comes, I shall be there to meet him.”
He seized his spear and hatchet61 and walked forth62, erect63, without one sign of drunkenness. Ula trembled to herself as she saw him go. She was playing a deep game. Had she given him only just enough kava to strengthen and inspire him?
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1
bluster
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| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
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2
portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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4
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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6
taboo
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| n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止 | |
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7
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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8
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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9
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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10
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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11
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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12
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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13
aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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14
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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15
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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16
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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17
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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18
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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19
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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20
voluptuously
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| adv.风骚地，体态丰满地 | |
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21
lissome
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| adj.柔软的；敏捷的 | |
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22
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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23
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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25
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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26
abased
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| 使谦卑( abase的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到羞耻； 使降低（地位、身份等）； 降下 | |
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27
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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28
scorch
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| v.烧焦，烤焦；高速疾驶；n.烧焦处，焦痕 | |
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29
cinder
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| n.余烬，矿渣 | |
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30
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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31
insolently
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| adv.自豪地，自傲地 | |
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32
blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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33
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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34
bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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35
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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36
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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38
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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39
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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40
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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41
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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42
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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43
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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45
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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46
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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47
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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48
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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49
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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50
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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51
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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52
enticed
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| 诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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54
brew
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| v.酿造，调制 | |
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55
laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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56
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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57
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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58
intoxicating
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| a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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59
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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60
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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61
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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62
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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63
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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