Hiwa’s refuge was the crater of one of these small, extinct volcanoes. At some time a lake of boiling rock, perhaps a mile long and three-quarters of a mile wide and a thousand feet deep, forcing a subterranean11 exit to the sea, had disappeared, leaving a huge puka, a hole in the mountain, some two thousand feet deep. As the centuries came and went the surface rock gradually became soil of marvellous fertility. Birds, flying across, dropped seeds of vegetables, fruits, shrubs12, and trees. The place became a wilderness13 of luxuriant vegetation. In moist, eternal summer food for a hundred mouths ripened14 every day in the year. Nor was Hiwa denied her accustomed food from the sea, as well as from the land. The makai or sea entrance to the passage was some three or four fathoms15 below the ebb16 and flow of the tide, but after a few rods its roof rose abruptly17 to a height of several hundred feet, and the passage itself broadened into a large cavern18, its bottom [19] being a salt-water pool swarming19 with fish. And the mountain rivulet20, after its wild leap of two thousand feet, lazily crawled along the bottom of the crater till it reached the pool.
So Hiwa and Aelani were safe from hunger and thirst. Nature provided a varied21 and abundant diet. They had no need of clothes, for the days were not hot nor the nights cold. They had no enemies to fear. No other human being knew of their refuge or dreamed of their existence. There were no wild beasts to attack them, no poisonous serpents, no snakes of any kind, no reptiles22 or insects that could seriously injure or annoy them. In that age even mosquitoes were unknown.
But Hiwa did not look to a safe and easy existence. She had devoted23 her life to a great purpose. She had become more than a woman, more than a mother. Her son was Aelani, The Pledge from Heaven. The rainbow had covered him at his birth, and Ku had answered her irrevocable vow24 with thunder from the mountains. Separated from her lover, exiled from the human race, [20] consecrated25 to death on the altar of Ku, yet still moi wahine, believing herself goddess-born, and as far above mere26 mortals as we think ourselves above the brutes27, her sole remaining object in life was to care for her child, to teach him the accomplishments28, duties and prerogatives29 of a moi, to prepare the way for his return to his people, and then send him forth30 to battle for his throne.
Her first task was to secure the fisherman’s boat.
It is said that a native woman on Kahlooawe kept appointments with her lover on Lanai, swimming to meet him one night and returning the next, the round trip being nearly six miles. Such stories are accepted without hesitation31 by people familiar with a race which still spends much of its time in the sea, and was practically amphibious until civilization changed its habits.
Although in swimming and diving Hiwa had proved herself a match for Kaanaana, the champion athlete of the nation, she knew she was undertaking32 a task dangerous even for her, if not impossible. Yet she felt that the boat was worth risking everything.
[21] At break of the day following the birth of her child, having nursed him and tenderly laid him on a soft bed of ferns, in the shade of a big koa tree, she swam forth, armed with a sharp stick to protect herself from sharks. Sharks, however, were a matter of small concern; the danger lay in the fierce waves and terrible cliff.
She crossed the pool, dived through the makai entrance, and struck boldly out to reconnoitre. The boat, as she anticipated, had been left, a thing accursed, to drift where it would. She found it, together with the paddles, a couple of miles to leaward, wedged between two rocks. It was uninjured, but dangerously near frequented fishing-grounds, and there was no time to lose. After an hour of hard work she got it loose and paddled swiftly to windward. It was necessary to load it with small rocks, to make it nearer the specific gravity of water, so that it could be floated or sunk at will; but no stones could be had for half a mile on either side of the entrance to the crater. The bare, perpendicular33 cliff, rising from deep water, made it impossible to get them at a [22] nearer point, and, when she had gotten them, the weight and unwieldy bulk of her prize made progress exceedingly slow and difficult. She struggled on for hours.
“My child,” she muttered, “will need this boat before he can be moi; and moi he shall be, for what the Ruler of the Gods promises never fails!”
A huge shark attacked her. As he turned to bite she jabbed the stick into his eye, and he disappeared, leaving blood behind. It was a moment of extreme peril34 to her undertaking, for the incident, trifling35 as it was, came near causing her to lose the ballast from the boat.
At length she neared the entrance to the crater. The supreme36 test of fortune, courage, skill, and endurance, was at hand, for the waves pounded against the cliff with tremendous power, and the boat had to be sunk some four fathoms and steered37 through a narrow passage of jagged rocks, where the water sucked back and forth with frightful38 velocity39.
“It is impossible for a mortal,” Hiwa repeated to herself, “but I am daughter of the gods—and it must be done!”
[23] For some time she lay quietly on her back, just outside the surf-line, recovering her strength and watching for her opportunity. When it came she sank to a depth of about twenty-five feet, taking the boat with her. Then the wave struck her and bore her towards the cliff with resistless power. She had to keep the boat right side up or the ballast would be lost. She had to guide it to the entrance, straight as a spear to a warrior’s heart, or it would be dashed to pieces. She had to make the entrance herself or be hurled40 against the rock, mangled41 out of human shape. The passage was small, and certain death awaited her a single yard above or below or to the right or to the left.
Strength, skill, and fortune favored her, or, as she would have said, the will of almighty42 Ku. After two minutes of life and death struggle she entered the passage with her prize, escaping destruction by a hair’s-breadth.
Then the wave receded43, the waters pent up within poured back, and Hiwa felt herself being irresistibly44 sucked to the open sea. With the quickness of thought she [24] took a turn of the rope around a projecting rock, and thus hung on until the out-going current had nearly spent its force.
But already she had been four minutes under water. The strain of intense action, the excitement of extreme peril, and the torture of long-suspended respiration45 passed away. The horrible, sickening green and white of the mad flood in which she was perishing became cultivated lowlands, rich fields, beautiful meadows, and waving forests before her eyes, and the wild surge and roar seemed the loved voice of Kaanaana, in whose arms she was falling asleep.
“This,” she said to herself, longingly46, “is the peace the gods send to their children!” Then the thought returned to her, “If I die the child will die also!”
Even as Death seized her, her unconquerable spirit flashed forth, and she tore herself from his grasp. Abandoning the boat for the moment, she made her way through the passage to the surface of the pool.
As her lungs filled with air, the sweet delirium47 of a water death vanished, and her whole body was racked with pain. But it [25] was no time to heed48 that, and, diving again, she caught the incoming flood and saved the boat. Then, staggering to the tree where her baby lay half famished49, she gave it her breast and fainted.
Sleep followed the swoon, the long, deep sleep of utter exhaustion50, and then, after many hours of death-like unconsciousness, came dreams. She dreamed that Kaanaana, lying beside her, with his arms twined around her, told her, between hot kisses, that Ii and Aa were dead, and that he, being of the next noblest blood, could now marry her.
As she uttered a cry of rapture51, the dream changed. She saw her child and her lover dead at her feet, and her fierce uncle stood before her with a bloody52 spear in his hand.
The swiftly succeeding events of the past two days came back to her in visions more horrible than the reality: her sin against Ku, the doom53 hanging over her, the flight, the pursuit, the escape, the maternity54, the irrevocable vow, and the rescue of the boat—all these facts, colored and intensified55 by the ghastly fancies that come to us only in dreams.
[26] She awoke with a shiver. Her head throbbed56. Every bone in her body ached. Every nerve was pain. Yet, for the moment, superstitious57 terror and the reaction of a noble but over-taxed spirit were far harder to bear.
Baby fingers and a plaintive58 wail59 of hunger aroused her, and, when the little keike was again fed and sleeping, she arose and went to the boat, a few steps away, to satisfy her bewildered senses that the day’s work was not a dream.
It rested upon the beach of smooth, hard, white sand, the gift of the coral insect, a rare one, too, on the rock-bound, windward coast of Hawaii. Tiny waves murmured on the shore as softly as a mother’s lullaby. The thunder of the ocean was muffled60 by a wall of eternal rock, and the mad rush and swirl61 of waters in the passage sounded but faintly from the furthermost recess62 of the cavern. Save for these distant sounds and the occasional splash of a fish, the silence of death reigned63. All around were black walls, two thousand feet high, and overhead shone the moon and the stars.
[27] The beauty and grandeur64 of the solitude65 appealed strongly to Hiwa, child of an impressionable and poetic66 race, and restored her to her wonted frame of mind.
“Eternal Ku,” she cried, falling on her knees, “Ruler of Gods, from whom I am descended67, and to whom I shall return, I have rescued this boat through thy help. In it my child shall learn to do such deeds as I have done this day. In it, when he is grown, he shall go to meet the chiefs who will follow him to victory. I thank thee, Ku, and, when the time comes, I will pay thee with my blood according to my vow, knowing that my son is Aelani, The Pledge from Heaven, and that he shall yet be moi, mightiest68 of his line!”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
volcanic
|
|
| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
lava
|
|
| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
pulverized
|
|
| adj.[医]雾化的，粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
porous
|
|
| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
overflowing
|
|
| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
crater
|
|
| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
stiffened
|
|
| 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
subterranean
|
|
| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
shrubs
|
|
| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
ripened
|
|
| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
fathoms
|
|
| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
ebb
|
|
| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
cavern
|
|
| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
swarming
|
|
| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
rivulet
|
|
| n.小溪，小河 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
varied
|
|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
reptiles
|
|
| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
vow
|
|
| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
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： |
|
|
|
|
26
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
brutes
|
|
| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
accomplishments
|
|
| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
prerogatives
|
|
| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
perpendicular
|
|
| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
trifling
|
|
| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
supreme
|
|
| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
steered
|
|
| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
frightful
|
|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
velocity
|
|
| n.速度，速率 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
hurled
|
|
| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
mangled
|
|
| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
almighty
|
|
| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
receded
|
|
| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
irresistibly
|
|
| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
respiration
|
|
| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
longingly
|
|
| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
delirium
|
|
| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
heed
|
|
| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
famished
|
|
| adj.饥饿的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
exhaustion
|
|
| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
rapture
|
|
| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
doom
|
|
| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
maternity
|
|
| n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
intensified
|
|
| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
throbbed
|
|
| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
superstitious
|
|
| adj.迷信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
plaintive
|
|
| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
wail
|
|
| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
swirl
|
|
| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
recess
|
|
| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
reigned
|
|
| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
grandeur
|
|
| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
poetic
|
|
| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
mightiest
|
|
| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |