After reading the long list of dignitaries, etc., and remembering the sparseness10 of the population, one is almost inclined to wonder where the material for that portion of the procession devoted11 to “Hawaiian Population Generally” is going to be procured12:
Undertaker. Royal School. Kawaiahao School. Roman Catholic School. Maemae School. Honolulu Fire Department. Mechanics’ Benefit union. Attending Physicians. Knonohikis (Superintendents) of the Crown Lands, Konohikis of the Private Lands of His Majesty13 Konohikis of the Private Lands of Her late Royal Highness. Governor of Oahu and Staff. Hulumanu (Military Company). Household Troops. The Prince of Hawaii’s Own (Military Company). The King’s household servants. Servants of Her late Royal Highness. Protestant Clergy14. The Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. His Lordship Louis Maigret, The Right Rev15. Bishop16 of Arathea, Vicar- Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands. The Clergy of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church. His Lordship the Right Rev. Bishop of Honolulu. Her Majesty Queen Emma’s Carriage. His Majesty’s Staff. Carriage of Her late Royal Highness. Carriage of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager. The King’s Chancellor17. Cabinet Ministers. His Excellency the Minister Resident of the United States. H. B. M’s Commissioner18. H. B. M’s Acting19 Commissioner. Judges of Supreme20 Court. Privy21 Councillors. Members of Legislative22 Assembly. Consular23 Corps24. Circuit Judges. Clerks of Government Departments. Members of the Bar. Collector General, Custom-house Officers and Officers of the Customs. Marshal and Sheriffs of the different Islands. King’s Yeomanry. Foreign Residents. Ahahui Kaahumanu. Hawaiian Population Generally. Hawaiian Cavalry25. Police Force.
I resume my journal at the point where the procession arrived at the royal mausoleum:
As the procession filed through the gate, the military deployed26 handsomely to the right and left and formed an avenue through which the long column of mourners passed to the tomb. The coffin27 was borne through the door of the mausoleum, followed by the King and his chiefs, the great officers of the kingdom, foreign Consuls28, Embassadors and distinguished29 guests (Burlingame and General Van Valkenburgh). Several of the kahilis were then fastened to a frame- work in front of the tomb, there to remain until they decay and fall to pieces, or, forestalling30 this, until another scion31 of royalty32 dies. At this point of the proceedings33 the multitude set up such a heart-broken wailing4 as I hope never to hear again.
The soldiers fired three volleys of musketry—the wailing being previously34 silenced to permit of the guns being heard. His Highness Prince William, in a showy military uniform (the “true prince,” this—scion of the house over-thrown by the present dynasty—he was formerly35 betrothed36 to the Princess but was not allowed to marry her), stood guard and paced back and forth37 within the door. The privileged few who followed the coffin into the mausoleum remained sometime, but the King soon came out and stood in the door and near one side of it. A stranger could have guessed his rank (although he was so simply and unpretentiously dressed) by the profound deference38 paid him by all persons in his vicinity; by seeing his high officers receive his quiet orders and suggestions with bowed and uncovered heads; and by observing how careful those persons who came out of the mausoleum were to avoid “crowding” him (although there was room enough in the doorway39 for a wagon40 to pass, for that matter); how respectfully they edged out sideways, scraping their backs against the wall and always presenting a front view of their persons to his Majesty, and never putting their hats on until they were well out of the royal presence.
He was dressed entirely41 in black—dress-coat and silk hat—and looked rather democratic in the midst of the showy uniforms about him. On his breast he wore a large gold star, which was half hidden by the lapel of his coat. He remained at the door a half hour, and occasionally gave an order to the men who were erecting42 the kahilis [Ranks of long-handled mops made of gaudy43 feathers—sacred to royalty. They are stuck in the ground around the tomb and left there.] before the tomb. He had the good taste to make one of them substitute black crape for the ordinary hempen44 rope he was about to tie one of them to the frame-work with. Finally he entered his carriage and drove away, and the populace shortly began to drop into his wake. While he was in view there was but one man who attracted more attention than himself, and that was Harris (the Yankee Prime Minister). This feeble personage had crape enough around his hat to express the grief of an entire nation, and as usual he neglected no opportunity of making himself conspicuous45 and exciting the admiration46 of the simple Kanakas. Oh! noble ambition of this modern Richelieu!
It is interesting to contrast the funeral ceremonies of the Princess Victoria with those of her noted47 ancestor Kamehameha the Conqueror48, who died fifty years ago—in 1819, the year before the first missionaries49 came.
“On the 8th of May, 1819, at the age of sixty-six, he died, as he had lived, in the faith of his country. It was his misfortune not to have come in contact with men who could have rightly influenced his religious aspirations50. Judged by his advantages and compared with the most eminent51 of his countrymen he may be justly styled not only great, but good. To this day his memory warms the heart and elevates the national feelings of Hawaiians. They are proud of their old warrior52 King; they love his name; his deeds form their historical age; and an enthusiasm everywhere prevails, shared even by foreigners who knew his worth, that constitutes the firmest pillar of the throne of his dynasty.
“In lieu of human victims (the custom of that age), a sacrifice of three hundred dogs attended his obsequies—no mean holocaust53 when their national value and the estimation in which they were held are considered. The bones of Kamehameha, after being kept for a while, were so carefully concealed54 that all knowledge of their final resting place is now lost. There was a proverb current among the common people that the bones of a cruel King could not be hid; they made fish-hooks and arrows of them, upon which, in using them, they vented55 their abhorrence56 of his memory in bitter execrations.”
The account of the circumstances of his death, as written by the native historians, is full of minute detail, but there is scarcely a line of it which does not mention or illustrate57 some by-gone custom of the country. In this respect it is the most comprehensive document I have yet met with. I will quote it entire:
“When Kamehameha was dangerously sick, and the priests were unable to cure him, they said: ‘Be of good courage and build a house for the god’ (his own private god or idol), that thou mayest recover.’ The chiefs corroborated58 this advice of the priests, and a place of worship was prepared for Kukailimoku, and consecrated59 in the evening. They proposed also to the King, with a view to prolong his life, that human victims should be sacrificed to his deity60; upon which the greater part of the people absconded61 through fear of death, and concealed themselves in hiding places till the tabu [Tabu (pronounced tah-boo,) means prohibition62 (we have borrowed it,) or sacred. The tabu was sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary; and the person or thing placed under tabu was for the time being sacred to the purpose for which it was set apart. In the above case the victims selected under the tabu would be sacred to the sacrifice] in which destruction impended63, was past. It is doubtful whether Kamehameha approved of the plan of the chiefs and priests to sacrifice men, as he was known to say, ‘The men are sacred for the King;’ meaning that they were for the service of his successor. This information was derived64 from Liholiho, his son.
“After this, his sickness increased to such a degree that he had not strength to turn himself in his bed. When another season, consecrated for worship at the new temple (heiau) arrived, he said to his son, Liholiho, ‘Go thou and make supplication65 to thy god; I am not able to go, and will offer my prayers at home.’ When his devotions to his feathered god, Kukailimoku, were concluded, a certain religiously disposed individual, who had a bird god, suggested to the King that through its influence his sickness might be removed. The name of this god was Pua; its body was made of a bird, now eaten by the Hawaiians, and called in their language alae. Kamehameha was willing that a trial should be made, and two houses were constructed to facilitate the experiment; but while dwelling66 in them he became so very weak as not to receive food. After lying there three days, his wives, children and chiefs, perceiving that he was very low, returned him to his own house. In the evening he was carried to the eating house, where he took a little food in his mouth which he did not swallow; also a cup of water. The chiefs requested him to give them his counsel; but he made no reply, and was carried back to the dwelling house; but when near midnight—ten o’clock, perhaps—he was carried again to the place to eat; but, as before, he merely tasted of what was presented to him. Then Kaikioewa addressed him thus: ‘Here we all are, your younger brethren, your son Liholiho and your foreigner; impart to us your dying charge, that Liholiho and Kaahumanu may hear.’ Then Kamehameha inquired, ‘What do you say?’ Kaikioewa repeated, ‘Your counsels for us.’
“He then said, ‘Move on in my good way and—.’ He could proceed no further. The foreigner, Mr. Young, embraced and kissed him. Hoapili also embraced him, whispering something in his ear, after which he was taken back to the house. About twelve he was carried once more to the house for eating, into which his head entered, while his body was in the dwelling house immediately adjoining. It should be remarked that this frequent carrying of a sick chief from one house to another resulted from the tabu system, then in force. There were at that time six houses (huts) connected with an establishment—one was for worship, one for the men to eat in, an eating house for the women, a house to sleep in, a house in which to manufacture kapa (native cloth) and one where, at certain intervals67, the women might dwell in seclusion68.
“The sick was once more taken to his house, when he expired; this was at two o’clock, a circumstance from which Leleiohoku derived his name. As he breathed his last, Kalaimoku came to the eating house to order those in it to go out. There were two aged69 persons thus directed to depart; one went, the other remained on account of love to the King, by whom he had formerly been kindly70 sustained. The children also were sent away. Then Kalaimoku came to the house, and the chiefs had a consultation71. One of them spoke72 thus: ‘This is my thought—we will eat him raw. [This sounds suspicious, in view of the fact that all Sandwich Island historians, white and black, protest that cannibalism73 never existed in the islands. However, since they only proposed to “eat him raw” we “won’t count that”. But it would certainly have been cannibalism if they had cooked him.—M. T.] Kaahumanu (one of the dead King’s widows) replied, ‘Perhaps his body is not at our disposal; that is more properly with his successor. Our part in him—his breath—has departed; his remains will be disposed of by Liholiho.’
“After this conversation the body was taken into the consecrated house for the performance of the proper rites74 by the priest and the new King. The name of this ceremony is uko; and when the sacred hog75 was baked the priest offered it to the dead body, and it became a god, the King at the same time repeating the customary prayers.
“Then the priest, addressing himself to the King and chiefs, said: ‘I will now make known to you the rules to be observed respecting persons to be sacrificed on the burial of this body. If you obtain one man before the corpse76 is removed, one will be sufficient; but after it leaves this house four will be required. If delayed until we carry the corpse to the grave there must be ten; but after it is deposited in the grave there must be fifteen. To-morrow morning there will be a tabu, and, if the sacrifice be delayed until that time, forty men must die.’
“Then the high priest, Hewahewa, inquired of the chiefs, ‘Where shall be the residence of King Liholiho?’ They replied, ‘Where, indeed? You, of all men, ought to know.’ Then the priest observed, ‘There are two suitable places; one is Kau, the other is Kohala.’ The chiefs preferred the latter, as it was more thickly inhabited. The priest added, ‘These are proper places for the King’s residence; but he must not remain in Kona, for it is polluted.’ This was agreed to. It was now break of day. As he was being carried to the place of burial the people perceived that their King was dead, and they wailed77. When the corpse was removed from the house to the tomb, a distance of one chain, the procession was met by a certain man who was ardently78 attached to the deceased. He leaped upon the chiefs who were carrying the King’s body; he desired to die with him on account of his love. The chiefs drove him away. He persisted in making numerous attempts, which were unavailing. Kalaimoka also had it in his heart to die with him, but was prevented by Hookio.
“The morning following Kamehameha’s death, Liholiho and his train departed for Kohala, according to the suggestions of the priest, to avoid the defilement79 occasioned by the dead. At this time if a chief died the land was polluted, and the heirs sought a residence in another part of the country until the corpse was dissected80 and the bones tied in a bundle, which being done, the season of defilement terminated. If the deceased were not a chief, the house only was defiled81 which became pure again on the burial of the body. Such were the laws on this subject.
“On the morning on which Liholiho sailed in his canoe for Kohala, the chiefs and people mourned after their manner on occasion of a chief’s death, conducting themselves like madmen and like beasts. Their conduct was such as to forbid description; The priests, also, put into action the sorcery apparatus82, that the person who had prayed the King to death might die; for it was not believed that Kamehameha’s departure was the effect either of sickness or old age. When the sorcerers set up by their fire-places sticks with a strip of kapa flying at the top, the chief Keeaumoku, Kaahumaun’s brother, came in a state of intoxication83 and broke the flag-staff of the sorcerers, from which it was inferred that Kaahumanu and her friends had been instrumental in the King’s death. On this account they were subjected to abuse.”
You have the contrast, now, and a strange one it is. This great Queen, Kaahumanu, who was “subjected to abuse” during the frightful84 orgies that followed the King’s death, in accordance with ancient custom, afterward85 became a devout86 Christian87 and a steadfast88 and powerful friend of the missionaries.
Dogs were, and still are, reared and fattened89 for food, by the natives—hence the reference to their value in one of the above paragraphs.
Forty years ago it was the custom in the Islands to suspend all law for a certain number of days after the death of a royal personage; and then a saturnalia ensued which one may picture to himself after a fashion, but not in the full horror of the reality. The people shaved their heads, knocked out a tooth or two, plucked out an eye sometimes, cut, bruised90, mutilated or burned their flesh, got drunk, burned each other’s huts, maimed or murdered one another according to the caprice of the moment, and both sexes gave themselves up to brutal91 and unbridled licentiousness92.
And after it all, came a torpor93 from which the nation slowly emerged bewildered and dazed, as if from a hideous94 half-remembered nightmare. They were not the salt of the earth, those “gentle children of the sun.”
The natives still keep up an old custom of theirs which cannot be comforting to an invalid95. When they think a sick friend is going to die, a couple of dozen neighbors surround his hut and keep up a deafening96 wailing night and day till he either dies or gets well. No doubt this arrangement has helped many a subject to a shroud97 before his appointed time.
They surround a hut and wail3 in the same heart-broken way when its occupant returns from a journey. This is their dismal98 idea of a welcome. A very little of it would go a great way with most of us.
点击收听单词发音
1 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 pandemonium | |
n.喧嚣,大混乱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 wail | |
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 wailing | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 maidens | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 questionable | |
adj.可疑的,有问题的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 decency | |
n.体面,得体,合宜,正派,庄重 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 grandiloquence | |
n.夸张之言,豪言壮语,豪语 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 perusal | |
n.细读,熟读;目测 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 sparseness | |
n.稀疏,稀少 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 rev | |
v.发动机旋转,加快速度 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 chancellor | |
n.(英)大臣;法官;(德、奥)总理;大学校长 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 commissioner | |
n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 privy | |
adj.私用的;隐密的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 consular | |
a.领事的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 deployed | |
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 coffin | |
n.棺材,灵柩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 consuls | |
领事( consul的名词复数 ); (古罗马共和国时期)执政官 (古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长,同时共有两位,每年选举一次) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 forestalling | |
v.先发制人,预先阻止( forestall的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 scion | |
n.嫩芽,子孙 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 royalty | |
n.皇家,皇族 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 betrothed | |
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 deference | |
n.尊重,顺从;敬意 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 erecting | |
v.使直立,竖起( erect的现在分词 );建立 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 gaudy | |
adj.华而不实的;俗丽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 hempen | |
adj. 大麻制的, 大麻的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 conqueror | |
n.征服者,胜利者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 missionaries | |
n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 warrior | |
n.勇士,武士,斗士 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 holocaust | |
n.大破坏;大屠杀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 vented | |
表达,发泄(感情,尤指愤怒)( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 abhorrence | |
n.憎恶;可憎恶的事 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 illustrate | |
v.举例说明,阐明;图解,加插图 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 corroborated | |
v.证实,支持(某种说法、信仰、理论等)( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 absconded | |
v.(尤指逃避逮捕)潜逃,逃跑( abscond的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 prohibition | |
n.禁止;禁令,禁律 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 impended | |
v.进行威胁,即将发生( impend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 derived | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 supplication | |
n.恳求,祈愿,哀求 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 seclusion | |
n.隐遁,隔离 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 consultation | |
n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 cannibalism | |
n.同类相食;吃人肉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 hog | |
n.猪;馋嘴贪吃的人;vt.把…占为己有,独占 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 corpse | |
n.尸体,死尸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 wailed | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 ardently | |
adv.热心地,热烈地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 defilement | |
n.弄脏,污辱,污秽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 dissected | |
adj.切开的,分割的,(叶子)多裂的v.解剖(动物等)( dissect的过去式和过去分词 );仔细分析或研究 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 defiled | |
v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 );污染;弄脏;纵列行进 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 apparatus | |
n.装置,器械;器具,设备 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 intoxication | |
n.wild excitement;drunkenness;poisoning | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 devout | |
adj.虔诚的,虔敬的,衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 steadfast | |
adj.固定的,不变的,不动摇的;忠实的;坚贞不移的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 fattened | |
v.喂肥( fatten的过去式和过去分词 );养肥(牲畜);使(钱)增多;使(公司)升值 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 bruised | |
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 licentiousness | |
n.放肆,无法无天 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
93 torpor | |
n.迟钝;麻木;(动物的)冬眠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
94 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
95 invalid | |
n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
96 deafening | |
adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
97 shroud | |
n.裹尸布,寿衣;罩,幕;vt.覆盖,隐藏 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
98 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |