The speaker, whose zeal8 thus confused his metaphors9, was a herculean, weather-beaten man of some fifty years. He was clothed in rough blue serge. Wind and spray had reddened his rugged10 face. His hair and short beard, iron-grey and grizzled, were in disorder11, and the light of enthusiasm brightened his deep-set grey eyes, peering from under their shaggy brows. He had the appearance of a sea-captain; and his raucous12 voice rumbled13 through the building as though it were carrying orders through the storming of a gale14. Through long study of the Bible, he had become possessed15 of a certain elevated phraseology; and, couching his everyday experiences in this, he managed to deliver a lurid16 and picturesque17 discourse18 which enthralled19 his hearers.
Before him now, in the bare pitch-pine pews of their place of worship, some twenty or more of these were seated. They were demure20 folk, and their chapel21 was tiny--diminutive even. Its walls were innocent of decoration--simply whitewashed22, its windows plain glass. Before a deal rostrum--up to which on either side led steps to a reading-desk--the preacher now gesticulated and thundered. The majority of the congregation were women; some old, some young; but all were clothed in the plainest of garments, their close Quakerish caps hiding their hair.
In contrast to these, their faces pallid23 and expression impassive, there sat, almost immediately below the missionary24, a dark and splendid girl of twenty-two or thereabouts, with a vivacious25 smiling face. She was the Tera, alias26 Bithiah, so eloquently27 referred to by the speaker. In deference28 to her savage29 love of colour, and her rank as a king's daughter, she was permitted to indulge somewhat in feminine fripperies. Of this latitude30 she did not fail to take full advantage. No parrot of her native isles31 ever spread a finer plumage than did Tera. A dark blue dress, a bright scarlet33 shawl, a wonderful straw hat trimmed with poppies and cornflowers--she glowed like a sun-smitten jewel in that sombre conventicle. She was in no wise embarrassed by the pointed34 reference of the missionary. Her rank and good looks accustomed her to observation, and indeed, to admiration35. Moreover, as a native convert, she was thought much of by the congregation at Grimleigh, and sat among them as a sign that the good work would prosper36 in the Island of Koiau. It was this impression that Korah Brand, former sailor and present missionary, wished to produce. Hence his use of her as an object-lesson.
"'I am black but comely,'" quoted Brand, in a strain of doubtful compliment to Tera. "'A king's daughter all-glorious.' As I am, so are those of my race, who yet bow down to idols37 of stone--the 'work of men's hands.'" Then the preacher passed into a description of the fierce heathen worship which Christianity was to destroy.
Tera's eyes flashed, and her nostrils39 dilated40, as Brand painted the idol38 ceremonies with natural eloquence41. She, too, knew of the trilithon in the dark forest, where scowled42 the terrible god, Lomangatini; she also had seen the limestone43 altar which had streamed so often with human blood. These things, fables44 to her neighbours, were realities to her; and the hot barbaric blood sang in her veins45 with quick response to the home picture. After a time the missionary began to describe the island; and Tera's fancy ran before his words to where Koiau lay amid leagues of shining seas, beneath the wider skies of the underworld. The lines of feathery palms; the long rollers crumbling46 on the ragged47 reef; the still lagoon48 where the parrot-fish darted49 amongst branching coral, of rainbow hues50; picture after picture presented itself to her mind, and faded to leave her sick for home. In this grey island of sunless skies and chilling mists, she was as one in the pale realms of the dead.
To distract her thoughts, which were too much for her, she glanced round at the attentive51 congregation. There, with the elders, sat Farmer Carwell, his jolly red face filled with interest and awe52. Near her, his daughter Rachel, pale and pretty, leaned forward to catch every word of the discourse; and beside the door, Herbert Mayne, the yeoman squire53, also leaned forward, but less to hear the preacher than to catch a loving glance from Rachel's bright eyes. Present also was Miss Arnott, a lean demure woman who had been an actress in her youth, but who, stirred by a chance word, had left the booths of Satan for the tabernacle of Zion. She was gazing ardently54 at a pale man seated on a cane55 chair near the rostrum, and guided by the intensity56 of the look, Tera let her eyes stray in the same direction. Yet there was little in the appearance of Mr. Johnson to attract the eye.
Johnson--the Rev57. George--was the minister of the Grimleigh Bethesda, which was also known locally as Bethgamul, i.e the House of Recompense. This tall slender expounder58 of the Word had been a missionary in the South Seas some years before, but had returned to take charge of the Grimleigh remnant. He was well acquainted with the Island of Koiau, with Buli the High Chief also; and it was he who had brought home Tera to be educated in England. A religious man, a sympathetic man, yet a guardian59 whom Tera feared, and more than half detested60. As she looked at his hairless face, the colour of old ivory, the minister, as if conscious of her gaze, raised his eyes. A look passed between them--on his part imploring61, yet withal imperious; on hers, defiant62, with a touch of dread63. And in that look--intercepted and frowned upon by the vigilant64 Miss Arnott--lay a story of love and rejection65. And the quondam actress shivered as her heart interpreted its meaning.
After an hour of description, denunciation, and imploring appeals on behalf of the poor heathen, Brand prayed long and fervently66 for the conversion67 of Tera's countrymen. Then he gave out the words of a favourite hymn68 bearing on the subject of his discourse, which was sung with fervour by the moved congregation.
The music, following so closely on Brand's discourse of her homeland, was too much for Tera's emotions. With an hysterical69 sob70 she rose hastily and passed down the narrow aisle71 out into the night. Johnson's burning gaze followed her graceful72 form, and a quiver passed over his face like a breath of wind on still waters.
Outside, the night was warm and balmy. Over the hills at the back of Bethgamul rode the golden wheel of the harvest moon. Below, where the land spread beach-ward at the foot of the rise, Tera could see the winking73 lights of the little town--the red eye of the lamp at the end of the jetty, and extending in radiance towards a darkening horizon, the silent ocean, broken here and there by the fitful moonlight into a myriad74 sparkles. Somewhere beyond those dark clouds lay Koiau, encircled by shining waters. The over-sea breeze blowing shoreward seemed almost to bear with it the spicy75 perfumes of the isle32, strange intoxicating76 odours which maddened her for home. On the beach below beat the surf, as at this moment it beat on the coral reefs beyond the lagoon. As a bird, her soul flew on the wings of fancy to the radiant isle of her birth--to the cocoa-palm groves77 and banana plantations78. Wild music, wilder dances, far-stretching spaces of silver sand, forests glowing with tropical blossom, the dusky women twining hibiscus flowers for coronals, and the great chiefs holding counsel in the "pure" (house) of the gods. Tera dreamed dreams; she saw visions; and still behind her drawled and droned the nasal harmonies of those colourless worshippers who adored an unknown god.
Suddenly a warm clasp was laid upon her wrist, and Tera awoke from her ecstasy79 to find a fair Saxon face close to her own. With a quiet little sigh of pleasure she nestled into the breast of the man.
"Put it in English, Tera," said Jack, slipping his arm round the girl; "I never could get my tongue round that Kanaka lingo81."
She hid her face on his shoulder with a blush. "It means, 'I love you,'" she said.
"Why then, Tera, Kanaka talk is very good talk. Let me hear more of it. But not here. The piety82 folk will soon be out, and their psalm-singing doesn't step well with our love-making."
"Aué," sighed Tera, christened Bithiah; "they make me dull and sad, these songs. Let us go." She moved along the brow of the hill, leaning on the sailor's arm.
Jack Finland was Farmer Carwell's nephew; a smart, alert second mate on board a coasting tramp. He should have shipped on a better boat, but Tera lived at Grimleigh, and Grimleigh was a port of call. He had sailed among the islands of Eden below Capricorn: he knew the looks of a coral atoll, and the beauty of the women who wandered on the South Sea beaches. After a prolonged stay in the islands, a fit of home-sickness had brought him back to the grimy port whence he had set sail many years before. Here he had seen Tera exiled from her Southern paradise, and here, with the impetuosity of a sailor, he had declared his love. That she returned it was natural enough; for Jack Finland was as splendid a young man as ever set foot ashore83 to beguile84 the hearts of maidens85. Tera, with her inherent love for physical beauty, had surrendered at once to his wooing.
"But I fear we may not marry," she said, as they strolled along. "My guardian--this Mr. Johnson--wishes that I should be his wife."
"He wishes what he won't get, then, Tera. You wouldn't throw yourself away on an ugly devil-dodger like him? No, my dear, you shall marry me; and we will go to the South Seas for our honeymoon86."
"With you, Jack!--ah, how I should love that! At Koiau my father is a great chief. He will admit you to our family; he will place his tabu on you; and when Buli goes into the darkness we shall rule, my dear." The girl sighed, and tightened87 her clasp on Jack's arm. "But this thing cannot be. My father has sent Korah Brand Misi" [missionary] "to carry me back to Koiau."
"But you won't go, Tera?"
"I must. Jack. If I do not, Mr. Johnson will make me his wife."
"Ah!" Tera's eyes gleamed with a savage light. "If we were in my land you could do that; but here"--she shrugged89 her shoulders--"they would lock you in prison. No, Jack, here you must not kill."
"Worse luck," grumbled90 Finland, whose wanderings had made a barbarian91 of him; "still, you ain't going to marry Johnson."
"Oh no! I shall buy him if I can. Listen, Jack. When I left Koiau, my father gave me pearls to sell here. But I have never sold them--oh no! I had no need to sell them. Mr. Johnson is poor--he wants money--I will give those pearls to him if he lets me go free."
"Then this missionary chap will collar you, Tera; and I don't take much stock in that lot."
"If I go with Misi, you come also, Jack. In Koiau we may marry."
"In Koiau your father may make you marry some big chief," said Jack, wisely, "and I should be left out in the cold."
Before Tera could protest that she would be nobody's wife save his, Johnson appeared, hurrying towards them with an angry look on his face. In the silver moonlight he could see the lovers plainly, and their attitude sent a thrill of rage through his heart.
"Bithiah," he said harshly, "this is not an hour for you to be out. Come! My mother is waiting for us."
"Tera is free to come and go as she pleases," struck in Finland, hotly.
Johnson turned on him with restrained passion.
"You call her by a heathen name; you think of her as a heathen girl. Oh, I know you, Mr. Finland, you beach-comber."
Finland, full of rage at the contemptuous word, would have struck the minister, but Tera flung herself between them.
"No, no, I must go!" she said, and flung a last word and look at Jack. "Toë fua" [farewell] said she, and walked away with Johnson.
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收听单词发音
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1
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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glimmers
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| n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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illuminate
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| vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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metaphors
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| 隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 ) | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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enthralled
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| 迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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alias
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| n.化名；别名；adv.又名 | |
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eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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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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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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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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idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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42
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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44
fables
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| n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说 | |
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45
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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46
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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48
lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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49
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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50
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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51
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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52
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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53
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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54
ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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55
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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56
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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57
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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58
expounder
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| 陈述者，说明者 | |
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59
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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60
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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63
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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66
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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68
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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69
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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70
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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71
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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72
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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73
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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74
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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intoxicating
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| a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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77
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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80
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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81
lingo
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| n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语 | |
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82
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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83
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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84
beguile
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| vt.欺骗，消遣 | |
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85
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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86
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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87
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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88
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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89
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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90
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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91
barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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