قراءة كتاب The Rose of Dawn: A Tale of the South Sea
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اللغة: English
الصفحة رقم: 2
again,
Sunning themselves to languor ere they made
Their pretty toilet.
Some had gathered flowers
In fragrant wreaths, and others brought the grave
Work of the morning. Yet because the wine—
Sun of the South—gilds even toil, it seemed
A poet's pastime. Scarlet beans they threaded
Later to lie about some golden throat.
Deftly they wove fine mats, and deftly twisted
Bright witchery to adorn themselves, and snare
Men's eyes. With little songs they pearled the air.
Hush! it is Taka singing:—
"Far away
In a fountain dwelt a maiden;
When the silver moon was high
She was glad, but heavy laden
Was she when its light must die.
Far away.
In a fountain dwelt a maiden;
When the silver moon was high
She was glad, but heavy laden
Was she when its light must die.
Far away.
"Far away
Came a stranger brave to love her,
Loved her when the moon was high;
When the moon was pale above her
Love grew pale and like to die
Far away.
Came a stranger brave to love her,
Loved her when the moon was high;
When the moon was pale above her
Love grew pale and like to die
Far away.
"Far away
From the fountain's mist he drew her
Happy while the moon was high,
Waning, fled she, her pursuer
Held her back, and saw her die
Far away."
From the fountain's mist he drew her
Happy while the moon was high,
Waning, fled she, her pursuer
Held her back, and saw her die
Far away."
"'T is a sad song for morning," cried the maids—
"And for a bride. Come, Hopa, sing of laughter."
Hopa sang:—
"And for a bride. Come, Hopa, sing of laughter."
Hopa sang:—
"Little brown streams,
Slim as my fingers,
Running and laughing
While the light lingers,
Have you no dreams,
Little brown streams?
Slim as my fingers,
Running and laughing
While the light lingers,
Have you no dreams,
Little brown streams?
"Little brown maidens,
Laughing and weeping,
Singing and dancing,
All the night sleeping,
Have you no lovers,
Little brown maidens?"
Laughing and weeping,
Singing and dancing,
All the night sleeping,
Have you no lovers,
Little brown maidens?"
Afar there sounded in the mellow breeze
The rhythmic movement of the maidens' toil;
Before them on the sand a snowy sheet
Lay spread,—the tapa cloth; tutunga trees
Yield them their inner bark, and lightly then
The maidens tap the fibres till they join,
Made firm with scented gums and bright with dyes,
To form a fabric that a bride might choose,
And this was for a bride. Among the rest
One maiden shone; a moon beside her stars,
Taka, the fair. Her father was the chief
Of this small village. His the splendid store
Of kava bowls for which the isle is famed,
The shining fish-hooks, fairest of mother of pearl,
Great mats from ancient days with border rare
Of crimson feathers, cruel tragic spears,
Sweet unguents, necklaces of pearly shells
Envied by maidens, and above them all
Bales of the snowy tapa, made by hands
Subtle, wise hands of women, over whom
The earth had long laid flowers.
The rhythmic movement of the maidens' toil;
Before them on the sand a snowy sheet
Lay spread,—the tapa cloth; tutunga trees
Yield them their inner bark, and lightly then
The maidens tap the fibres till they join,
Made firm with scented gums and bright with dyes,
To form a fabric that a bride might choose,
And this was for a bride. Among the rest
One maiden shone; a moon beside her stars,
Taka, the fair. Her father was the chief
Of this small village. His the splendid store
Of kava bowls for which the isle is famed,
The shining fish-hooks, fairest of mother of pearl,
Great mats from ancient days with border rare
Of crimson feathers, cruel tragic spears,
Sweet unguents, necklaces of pearly shells
Envied by maidens, and above them all
Bales of the snowy tapa, made by hands
Subtle, wise hands of women, over whom
The earth had long laid flowers.
In the land
Where history is but a charming tale
Droned by old men at twilight, future days
Pleasantly certain as the next repast,
Where gods and goddesses appear as birds,
Trees, plants or moonlight, gently rising tide,
And shining girdle of leaves,—all homely things,
Which hold the people's hearts.—In this fair land
Taka was born. Thro' sixteen years of moon
And tropic sun she blossomed in the air.
Chilled by no frost, the world unconsciously
Mirrored her sweetness back to her. The sun
Had kissed her skin to a warm topaz; rare
As dusky wealth of Autumn, her sweet breast,
Gleaming and bare, was hung with ropes of flowers
Yellow and white, and in her curling hair
Glimmered the pure gardenia. All the braves
Wished her for wife, but old Akau the chief,
Knowing Uhila's prowess and the blood
Left by an English forbear in his veins,
Knowing that Taka too could boast, or mourn,
A foreign ancestry, had lately pledged
His daughter to this brave, and now the village
Made preparations for the marriage. There
By the warm sea the maidens paid their court
To Taka, who so soon would leave their gay
Indifferent frolic lives to wed the grave
Stern chief. She did not falter at the choice.
Love which the maidens sang was but a word;
She wished no better fate than to be mated
To a strong warrior whom her heart held dear
As friend to kind Akau. So she waited.
In her slim hands she held a polished cup,
The shell of cocoanut, which caught the light
Like a brown pool. The toil of many days
Had turned the tawny shade to warmest black
In gradual depths as shaded Taka's cheek;
With perfumed oil her fingers gave caress
And waked the hidden pictures in the grain,
The yellow sand, the dusky amber girl,
The brown perfected in the shining globe.
Earth's monotones are justified in this.
Close to her lolled small Hopa, blithe and gay
As a young cricket, teasing all the rest
With her sharp wit; often she dropped her work—
The threading of bright flowers into wreaths—
To look across the waves, and suddenly
She called, "A sail, a little sail," and all
Followed her pointing fingers. Far away,
Tossed like a feather, black against the sky,
Hovered a tiny craft, its unknown lines
Marked it as stranger, and the maidens all
Curiously watched its coming to the shore.
Where history is but a charming tale
Droned by old men at twilight, future days
Pleasantly certain as the next repast,
Where gods and goddesses appear as birds,
Trees, plants or moonlight, gently rising tide,
And shining girdle of leaves,—all homely things,
Which hold the people's hearts.—In this fair land
Taka was born. Thro' sixteen years of moon
And tropic sun she blossomed in the air.
Chilled by no frost, the world unconsciously
Mirrored her sweetness back to her. The sun
Had kissed her skin to a warm topaz; rare
As dusky wealth of Autumn, her sweet breast,
Gleaming and bare, was hung with ropes of flowers
Yellow and white, and in her curling hair
Glimmered the pure gardenia. All the braves
Wished her for wife, but old Akau the chief,
Knowing Uhila's prowess and the blood
Left by an English forbear in his veins,
Knowing that Taka too could boast, or mourn,
A foreign ancestry, had lately pledged
His daughter to this brave, and now the village
Made preparations for the marriage. There
By the warm sea the maidens paid their court
To Taka, who so soon would leave their gay
Indifferent frolic lives to wed the grave
Stern chief. She did not falter at the choice.
Love which the maidens sang was but a word;
She wished no better fate than to be mated
To a strong warrior whom her heart held dear
As friend to kind Akau. So she waited.
In her slim hands she held a polished cup,
The shell of cocoanut, which caught the light
Like a brown pool. The toil of many days
Had turned the tawny shade to warmest black
In gradual depths as shaded Taka's cheek;
With perfumed oil her fingers gave caress
And waked the hidden pictures in the grain,
The yellow sand, the dusky amber girl,
The brown perfected in the shining globe.
Earth's monotones are justified in this.
Close to her lolled small Hopa, blithe and gay
As a young cricket, teasing all the rest
With her sharp wit; often she dropped her work—
The threading of bright flowers into wreaths—
To look across the waves, and suddenly
She called, "A sail, a little sail," and all
Followed her pointing fingers. Far away,
Tossed like a feather, black against the sky,
Hovered a tiny craft, its unknown lines
Marked it as stranger, and the maidens all
Curiously watched its coming to the shore.
All night the little shell with ceaseless dip
And pause, and rise and dip again, had borne
The trackless trade winds. Tui Tua Kau,
"King of the Reefs," had ventured over far
From Tonga's shore. Caught by a wanton gale,
His idle racing, lengthened in a whim
To cheat his laughing mates, grew a wild flight.
The frail canoe seemed, on the angry sea,
A sweet rose petal blown across the night.
Yet wisely now the winds had mind to crown
Their joyous undertaking, and upon
The shores of Fiji's isles they drew their prize.
The maidens on the shore had seen afar
And pause, and rise and dip again, had borne
The trackless trade winds. Tui Tua Kau,
"King of the Reefs," had ventured over far
From Tonga's shore. Caught by a wanton gale,
His idle racing, lengthened in a whim
To cheat his laughing mates, grew a wild flight.
The frail canoe seemed, on the angry sea,
A sweet rose petal blown across the night.
Yet wisely now the winds had mind to crown
Their joyous undertaking, and upon
The shores of Fiji's isles they drew their prize.
The maidens on the shore had seen afar
