And the ethereal shapes which are suspended
O’er its expanse, and those fair daughters,
The clouds, of Sun and Ocean who have blended
The colors of the air since first extended,
It cradled the young world....”
Shelley.
Olmedo had not been idle during the year in his labors1 to convert the islanders to his faith. Nor was he without a certain degree of success, though very far from having instilled2 into them any definite ideas of Christianity. Indeed, strange as it may appear at the first statement, there was in the rites3 he wished to supersede4 so much analogy with those he wished to introduce, that the substitution was not easily effected. Juan, in his martial5 zeal6 for the Roman Catholic faith, would gladly have used the same arguments here as in Mexico; that is, have destroyed the idols7, purified the temples, and set up crucifixes and new images, which only they should worship, whether persuaded or not of their religious efficacy. For once, however, Spanish zeal was obliged to be tempered with a respect for the force which was not now on their side. It must be confessed, also, that the easy, seductive[84] life he had led, the absence of the worst features of heathenism, and the generous character and shrewdness of Kiana, had not a little weakened Juan’s fanaticism8; so that, although conforming sufficiently9 to the ritual of his faith to keep himself within the pale of his church’s salvation10, he had almost unconsciously imbibed11 the idea that some even of the virtues12 of Christianity might exist among pagans.
Within the walled enclosure in which Juan and his sister resided, overlooking the sea, Olmedo had built a small chapel13. The rude images which native ingenuity14 under his direction had carved to represent the Virgin15 and her Son, were not so unlike their own wooden deities16, as to require anything more than an enlargement of their mythology17, for the simple natives to have accepted them as their own. This of course would have been only adding to the sin which Olmedo wished to eradicate18. The good man, however, persevered19 in his rites and doctrines20, and had the satisfaction to have numbers of the chiefs and their attendants come to witness his worship. Among them most frequently was Kiana, but as his eyes were oftener directed towards kneeling Beatriz, than the holy symbols of the altar, it is to be presumed that another motive21 beside religious conviction swayed his heart. He saw that the crucifix and the images of the gods of the white man, as he regarded them, were very dear to them. Out of respect, therefore, to his guests, in unconscious philosophical22 imitation of Alexander Severus, when he placed statues of Abraham[85] and Christ among his revered23 images, Kiana had set up the crucifix in his domestic pantheon. How far he understood the teachings of Olmedo may be gathered from one of their not unfrequent colloquies24 upon religion.
Mass had just been said. Olmedo had trained some of the more tractable25 youths to assist him in the service, which they did the more willingly, from perceiving that it gave them a personal importance to be considered of the household of Lono. The solemn chant of the priest in a strange and sonorous26 tongue, the regular responses of the Spaniards, and their thorough devotion, the simple exhortations27 to a good life, which all present could comprehend, followed by the earnest eloquence28 of Olmedo, as he sought to expound29 in the Hawaiian tongue the mysteries of a faith which it had no terms correctly to render, all made an impressive scene. Their[86] hearts were touched even when their minds were not enlightened.
It was the decline of day. The sun was pouring a flood of soft light over the sea, which sparkled as with the radiance of an opal. Kiana, Olmedo, and Beatriz, came out of the chapel, and reclined upon a pile of mats which their attendants had spread for them on a green knoll30 just beyond the reach of the waves. The trade wind fanned them with its cool breath, and sang an evening hymn31 amid the waving palms, high above their heads. A group of fishermen were hauling their nets, heavy with the meshed32 fishes, to the music of a wild chant. Numbers of both sexes were sporting in the surf. The line of breakers commenced far seaward, in long, lofty, curling swells33, that came in regular succession thundering onward34 to the shore, which trembled under the mighty35 reverberation36. It was not a sound of anger, nor of merriment, but the pealing37 forth38 of Nature’s mightiest39 organ, in deep-toned notes of praise. There was much in the commingled40 glories of sound and color, the beauty of the shore, and the expanse of the ocean, to suggest an Infinite Author to the most thoughtless mind.
Human life and happiness mingle41 largely with the scene. The bathers shout and gambol42 in the water as if in their native element. The maidens43 and boys,—with their parents, who in the frolic become children also,—dive under the huge combers as one after another they break and foam44 on their way to the shore. Heads with flowing tresses and laughing eyes are continually shooting[87] up through the yeast45 of waters with merry cries, then ducking again to escape the quick coming wave. Rising beyond it, each plunge46 carries them further seaward, till with their surf-boards they reach the line of deep water. Then poising47 their boards on the very crests48 of the heaviest rollers, they throw themselves flat upon them, and skilfully49 keeping their position just on its edge before it topples and breaks, they are borne with the speed of race horses towards the shore. Now is their highest glee. In revelry they scream and toss their dark arms, which strikingly contrast with the silvery gleaming wave, urging their ocean steeds to still more headlong haste. They near the rocks. Another instant, and of their gaysome forms nothing will remain but mangled50 flesh and broken bones. But no: the wave passes from under them, and dashes its salt spray upon the land barrier, and far away among the green bushes; the surf board is cast with violence upon the shore, but the active swimmers avoid the shock, by sliding at the latest moment from their boards and diving seaward, again emerge, challenging each other once more to mount Neptune’s car.
A more quiet scene is at the left. Here flows a gentle stream, overhung with deep foliage51. On its banks, to the beating of drums and the quick[88] chants of the musicians, young children are dancing. They wear wreaths of white or scarlet52 flowers, intermingled with deep green leaves, on their heads; and on their bosoms53 are necklaces of bright shells or finely braided hair, and feather mantles54 about their waists. They are yet too young to feel other instincts than the gladsome and chaste55 impulses which are shown in light and graceful56 motions. Even the groups of adults seated on the grass, watching with interest their sports, reflect their innocent gayety, and become for the moment young and innocent themselves.
In the stream itself, mothers are teaching their infants to swim. Their love for the water is apparent in every struggle. They take to it like ducklings, and almost as soon as they can walk they can be trusted alone in that element. Now they turn their smiling faces towards their parents, and kick and cry for one more plash and still another; the delighted mother encouraging its attempts with soothing57 voice and tender care.
Such was the spectacle on which Kiana and his[89] friends were gazing, after leaving the chapel and seating themselves by the sea-shore.
That day Olmedo had in his discourse58 dwelt more earnestly than usual upon the doctrines of his creed59, with the hope finally to induce Kiana to cast aside his mythology and accept the Roman Catholic Trinity. Here, indeed, was the stumbling-block. How could Olmedo hope to make an idea, which was in a great degree contradictory60 and incomprehensible even to many of the cultivated and theological minds of Europe, intelligible61 to the simple reason of the Polynesian, when by the former it was at least only received as a great mystery!
“You tell me,” said Kiana, “that there is one great God, who made heaven and earth, an all-wise, all-perfect, all-powerful Being. He has created the Hawaiian, the Spaniard, the Mexican, and all the races of men. I know this to be true. My people worship the wooden images of deities, and think they supply their wants. But those of us who have been taught the true meaning of our sacred songs, know full well that these senseless idols cannot make the taro62 grow,—they do not send us rain,—neither do they bestow63 life, nor health. My thought has always been, there is one only Great God dwelling64 in the heavens.”
“Your thought is indeed right,” replied Olmedo; “but God many years ago, seeing how wicked the world was, sent his only-begotten Son to teach it true religion. He was cruelly crucified by the people to whom he was sent, and he went up to heaven, where he remains65 to be the judge and Saviour[90] of all men. After his ascension, he sent to his disciples66, to comfort them, the Holy Ghost. Now these three persons are one God,—the God whom we Christians67 worship. All your images are vain idols; cast them aside, and set up in their places the image of the Son, Jesus Christ, and his holy mother, of whom he was born in the flesh, by the will of God, without a human father. Then shall you and your people be saved.”
Had Olmedo been content to have acquiesced68 in the simple conception of the One God, he would have had little difficulty in persuading Kiana and his people to renounce69 the direct worship of idols, and to trust in and pray to the Great Father. There was something in their minds that made this idea seem not wholly new to them. This was derived70 in part from the mystic expressions of their bards71, who had dimly felt this sublime72 truth, and in the testimony73 of the universal heart of the human race, which ultimately resolves all things into One Great Cause, however much it may overshadow his glory and pervert74 his attributes, by multiplying the symbols of natural powers, and make to itself “graven images” of earthly passions and foibles. But when Olmedo talked dogmatically of the “Three in One,” he left only a vague impression, that he worshipped either “three male gods and one female, which made four,” or that there were absolutely three equal gods, which in time they called “Kane, Kaneloa, and Maui.”
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1
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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2
instilled
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| v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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4
supersede
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| v.替代；充任 | |
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5
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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6
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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7
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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9
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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10
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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11
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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12
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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13
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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14
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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15
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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16
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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17
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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18
eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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19
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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21
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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22
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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23
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
colloquies
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| n.谈话，对话( colloquy的名词复数 ) | |
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25
tractable
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| adj.易驾驭的；温顺的 | |
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26
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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27
exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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28
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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29
expound
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| v.详述；解释；阐述 | |
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30
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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31
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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32
meshed
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| 有孔的，有孔眼的，啮合的 | |
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33
swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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34
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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35
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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36
reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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37
pealing
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的现在分词 ) | |
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38
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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39
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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40
commingled
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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42
gambol
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| v.欢呼，雀跃 | |
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43
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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44
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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45
yeast
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| n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫 | |
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46
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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47
poising
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| 使平衡( poise的现在分词 )； 保持（某种姿势）； 抓紧； 使稳定 | |
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48
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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49
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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50
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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52
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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53
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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54
mantles
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| vt.&vi.覆盖（mantle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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55
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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56
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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57
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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58
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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59
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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60
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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61
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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62
taro
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| n.芋，芋头 | |
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63
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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64
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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65
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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66
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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67
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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68
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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70
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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71
bards
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| n.诗人( bard的名词复数 ) | |
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72
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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73
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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74
pervert
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| n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路 | |
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