The last lava flow occurred here so long ago that there are none now living who witnessed it. In one place it enclosed and burned down a grove8 of cocoa-nut trees, and the holes in the lava where the trunks stood are still visible; their sides retain the impression of the bark; the trees fell upon the burning river, and becoming partly submerged, left in it the perfect counterpart of every knot and branch and leaf, and even nut, for curiosity seekers of a long distant day to gaze upon and wonder at.
There were doubtless plenty of Kanaka sentinels on guard hereabouts at that time, but they did not leave casts of their figures in the lava as the Roman sentinels at Herculaneum and Pompeii did. It is a pity it is so, because such things are so interesting; but so it is. They probably went away. They went away early, perhaps. However, they had their merits; the Romans exhibited the higher pluck, but the Kanakas showed the sounder judgment9.
Shortly we came in sight of that spot whose history is so familiar to every school-boy in the wide world—Kealakekua Bay—the place where Captain Cook, the great circumnavigator, was killed by the natives, nearly a hundred years ago. The setting sun was flaming upon it, a Summer shower was falling, and it was spanned by two magnificent rainbows. Two men who were in advance of us rode through one of these and for a moment their garments shone with a more than regal splendor10. Why did not Captain Cook have taste enough to call his great discovery the Rainbow Islands? These charming spectacles are present to you at every turn; they are common in all the islands; they are visible every day, and frequently at night also—not the silvery bow we see once in an age in the States, by moonlight, but barred with all bright and beautiful colors, like the children of the sun and rain. I saw one of them a few nights ago. What the sailors call “raindogs”—little patches of rainbow—are often seen drifting about the heavens in these latitudes11, like stained cathedral windows.
Kealakekua Bay is a little curve like the last kink of a snail-shell, winding deep into the land, seemingly not more than a mile wide from shore to shore. It is bounded on one side—where the murder was done—by a little flat plain, on which stands a cocoanut grove and some ruined houses; a steep wall of lava, a thousand feet high at the upper end and three or four hundred at the lower, comes down from the mountain and bounds the inner extremity12 of it. From this wall the place takes its name, Kealakekua, which in the native tongue signifies “The Pathway of the Gods.” They say, (and still believe, in spite of their liberal education in Christianity), that the great god Lono, who used to live upon the hillside, always traveled that causeway when urgent business connected with heavenly affairs called him down to the seashore in a hurry.
As the red sun looked across the placid14 ocean through the tall, clean stems of the cocoanut trees, like a blooming whiskey bloat through the bars of a city prison, I went and stood in the edge of the water on the flat rock pressed by Captain Cook’s feet when the blow was dealt which took away his life, and tried to picture in my mind the doomed15 man struggling in the midst of the multitude of exasperated16 savages17—the men in the ship crowding to the vessel’s side and gazing in anxious dismay toward the shore—the—but I discovered that I could not do it.
It was growing dark, the rain began to fall, we could see that the distant Boomerang was helplessly becalmed at sea, and so I adjourned18 to the cheerless little box of a warehouse19 and sat down to smoke and think, and wish the ship would make the land—for we had not eaten much for ten hours and were viciously hungry.
Plain unvarnished history takes the romance out of Captain Cook’s assassination20, and renders a deliberate verdict of justifiable21 homicide. Wherever he went among the islands, he was cordially received and welcomed by the inhabitants, and his ships lavishly22 supplied with all manner of food. He returned these kindnesses with insult and ill- treatment. Perceiving that the people took him for the long vanished and lamented23 god Lono, he encouraged them in the delusion24 for the sake of the limitless power it gave him; but during the famous disturbance25 at this spot, and while he and his comrades were surrounded by fifteen thousand maddened savages, he received a hurt and betrayed his earthly origin with a groan26. It was his death-warrant. Instantly a shout went up: “He groans27!—he is not a god!” So they closed in upon him and dispatched him.
His flesh was stripped from the bones and burned (except nine pounds of it which were sent on board the ships). The heart was hung up in a native hut, where it was found and eaten by three children, who mistook it for the heart of a dog. One of these children grew to be a very old man, and died in Honolulu a few years ago. Some of Cook’s bones were recovered and consigned28 to the deep by the officers of the ships.
Small blame should attach to the natives for the killing29 of Cook. They treated him well. In return, he abused them. He and his men inflicted30 bodily injury upon many of them at different times, and killed at least three of them before they offered any proportionate retaliation31.
Near the shore we found “Cook’s Monument”—only a cocoanut stump32, four feet high and about a foot in diameter at the butt33. It had lava boulders34 piled around its base to hold it up and keep it in its place, and it was entirely35 sheathed36 over, from top to bottom, with rough, discolored sheets of copper37, such as ships’ bottoms are coppered with. Each sheet had a rude inscription38 scratched upon it—with a nail, apparently—and in every case the execution was wretched. Most of these merely recorded the visits of British naval39 commanders to the spot, but one of them bore this legend:
“Near this spot fell CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, The Distinguished40 Circumnavigator, Who Discovered these Islands A. D. 1778.”
After Cook’s murder, his second in command, on board the ship, opened fire upon the swarms41 of natives on the beach, and one of his cannon42 balls cut this cocoanut tree short off and left this monumental stump standing43. It looked sad and lonely enough to us, out there in the rainy twilight44. But there is no other monument to Captain Cook. True, up on the mountain side we had passed by a large inclosure like an ample hog-pen, built of lava blocks, which marks the spot where Cook’s flesh was stripped from his bones and burned; but this is not properly a monument since it was erected45 by the natives themselves, and less to do honor to the circumnavigator than for the sake of convenience in roasting him. A thing like a guide-board was elevated above this pen on a tall pole, and formerly46 there was an inscription upon it describing the memorable47 occurrence that had there taken place; but the sun and the wind have long ago so defaced it as to render it illegible48.
Toward midnight a fine breeze sprang up and the schooner49 soon worked herself into the bay and cast anchor. The boat came ashore13 for us, and in a little while the clouds and the rain were all gone. The moon was beaming tranquilly50 down on land and sea, and we two were stretched upon the deck sleeping the refreshing51 sleep and dreaming the happy dreams that are only vouchsafed52 to the weary and the innocent.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
desolate
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
lava
|
|
| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
torrent
|
|
| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
cisterns
|
|
| n.蓄水池，储水箱( cistern的名词复数 )；地下储水池 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
splendor
|
|
| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
latitudes
|
|
| 纬度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
extremity
|
|
| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
placid
|
|
| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
doomed
|
|
| 命定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
savages
|
|
| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
adjourned
|
|
| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
warehouse
|
|
| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
assassination
|
|
| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
justifiable
|
|
| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
lavishly
|
|
| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
lamented
|
|
| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
delusion
|
|
| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
groan
|
|
| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
groans
|
|
| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
consigned
|
|
| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
inflicted
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
retaliation
|
|
| n.报复，反击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
stump
|
|
| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
butt
|
|
| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
boulders
|
|
| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
sheathed
|
|
| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
copper
|
|
| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
inscription
|
|
| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
naval
|
|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
swarms
|
|
| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
cannon
|
|
| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
memorable
|
|
| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
illegible
|
|
| adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
schooner
|
|
| n.纵帆船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
tranquilly
|
|
| adv. 宁静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
refreshing
|
|
| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
vouchsafed
|
|
| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |