登陆注册
5697700000030

第30章 THE BOTTLE IMP.(5)

"I thought I knew everyone in this country,"said he."How comes it that I do not know you?""I am Kokua,daughter of Kiano,"said the girl,"and I have just returned from Oahu.Who are you?""I will tell you who I am in a little,"said Keawe,dismounting from his horse,"but not now.For I have a thought in my mind,and if you knew who I was,you might have heard of me,and would not give me a true answer.But tell me,first of all,one thing:Are you married?"At this Kokua laughed out aloud."It is you who ask questions,"she said."Are you married yourself?"

"Indeed,Kokua,I am not,"replied Keawe,"and never thought to be until this hour.But here is the plain truth.I have met you here at the roadside,and I saw your eyes,which are like the stars,and my heart went to you as swift as a bird.And so now,if you want none of me,say so,and I will go on to my own place;but if you think me no worse than any other young man,say so,too,and I will turn aside to your father's for the night,and to-morrow I will talk with the good man."Kokua said never a word,but she looked at the sea and laughed.

"Kokua,"said Keawe,"if you say nothing,I will take that for the good answer;so let us be stepping to your father's door."She went on ahead of him,still without speech;only sometimes she glanced back and glanced away again,and she kept the strings of her hat in her mouth.

Now,when they had come to the door,Kiano came out on his verandah,and cried out and welcomed Keawe by name.At that the girl looked over,for the fame of the great house had come to her ears;and,to be sure,it was a great temptation.All that evening they were very merry together;and the girl was as bold as brass under the eyes of her parents,and made a mock of Keawe,for she had a quick wit.The next day he had a word with Kiano,and found the girl alone.

"Kokua,"said he,"you made a mock of me all the evening;and it is still time to bid me go.I would not tell you who I was,because Ihave so fine a house,and I feared you would think too much of that house and too little of the man that loves you.Now you know all,and if you wish to have seen the last of me,say so at once.""No,"said Kokua;but this time she did not laugh,nor did Keawe ask for more.

This was the wooing of Keawe;things had gone quickly;but so an arrow goes,and the ball of a rifle swifter still,and yet both may strike the target.Things had gone fast,but they had gone far also,and the thought of Keawe rang in the maiden's head;she heard his voice in the breach of the surf upon the lava,and for this young man that she had seen but twice she would have left father and mother and her native islands.As for Keawe himself,his horse flew up the path of the mountain under the cliff of tombs,and the sound of the hoofs,and the sound of Keawe singing to himself for pleasure,echoed in the caverns of the dead.He came to the Bright House,and still he was singing.He sat and ate in the broad balcony,and the Chinaman wondered at his master,to hear how he sang between the mouthfuls.The sun went down into the sea,and the night came;and Keawe walked the balconies by lamplight,high on the mountains,and the voice of his singing startled men on ships.

"Here am I now upon my high place,"he said to himself."Life may be no better;this is the mountain top;and all shelves about me toward the worse.For the first time I will light up the chambers,and bathe in my fine bath with the hot water and the cold,and sleep alone in the bed of my bridal chamber."So the Chinaman had word,and he must rise from sleep and light the furnaces;and as he wrought below,beside the boilers,he heard his master singing and rejoicing above him in the lighted chambers.

When the water began to be hot the Chinaman cried to his master;and Keawe went into the bathroom;and the Chinaman heard him sing as he filled the marble basin;and heard him sing,and the singing broken,as he undressed;until of a sudden,the song ceased.The Chinaman listened,and listened;he called up the house to Keawe to ask if all were well,and Keawe answered him "Yes,"and bade him go to bed;but there was no more singing in the Bright House;and all night long,the Chinaman heard his master's feet go round and round the balconies without repose.

Now the truth of it was this:as Keawe undressed for his bath,he spied upon his flesh a patch like a patch of lichen on a rock,and it was then that he stopped singing.For he knew the likeness of that patch,and knew that he was fallen in the Chinese Evil.(5)Now,it is a sad thing for any man to fall into this sickness.And it would be a sad thing for anyone to leave a house so beautiful and so commodious,and depart from all his friends to the north coast of Molokai between the mighty cliff and the sea-breakers.

But what was that to the case of the man Keawe,he who had met his love but yesterday,and won her but that morning,and now saw all his hopes break,in a moment,like a piece of glass?

Awhile he sat upon the edge of the bath;then sprang,with a cry,and ran outside;and to and fro,to and fro,along the balcony,like one despairing.

"Very willingly could I leave Hawaii,the home of my fathers,"Keawe was thinking."Very lightly could I leave my house,the high-placed,the many-windowed,here upon the mountains.Very bravely could I go to Molokai,to Kalaupapa by the cliffs,to live with the smitten and to sleep there,far from my fathers.But what wrong have I done,what sin lies upon my soul,that I should have encountered Kokua coming cool from the sea-water in the evening?

Kokua,the soul ensnarer!Kokua,the light of my life!Her may Inever wed,her may I look upon no longer,her may I no more handle with my loving hand;and it is for this,it is for you,O Kokua!

that I pour my lamentations!"

同类推荐
  • 灵宝无量度人上品妙经符图

    灵宝无量度人上品妙经符图

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 石头记索隐

    石头记索隐

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 剩语

    剩语

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明名臣琬琰录

    明名臣琬琰录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说拔除罪障咒王经

    佛说拔除罪障咒王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 四川文学(2015年第11期)

    四川文学(2015年第11期)

    《四川文学》: 文学刊物。以发表短篇小说为主,同时容纳其它文学体裁、品类,注重思想性与文学性的统一,刊物融现实性、艺术性、可读性于一体,聚读者、作者、编者为一家,所发作品受到省内外广大读者和全国各家文学选刊的青睐。
  • 民国之绝代商女

    民国之绝代商女

    【小荷初露锋芒待发】被卖到初家当了小妻?又跨进方家做了丫鬟!这娃纸的命怎么这么苦?她要扛起!崛起!勤奋学起!一把檀木算盘,便是她最强有力的资本,出色的天赋,让她很快便成为方家最年轻,也是唯一的一位女帐薄先生。【烽火动荡十里洋场】一场意外的救助,让她与官场军少结下了不解之缘,安详静谧的生活被彻底打乱。他在官场叱咤,她于商界风云,强强对抗?还是,强强联手?官职的交接,文化的更迭,生意场上的兴衰,令她一天天长大,一天天懂得成长的代价。她是一枚遭亲人嫌弃的棋子?还是一颗闪耀在商界的红顶明星?【名扬四海富可敌国】她,坚持一生不做官,只做商;她,爱财,但从来都是取之有道;她,喜欢把钱散给穷人时的潇洒;她,执着钱生钱,利滚利的痛快!【江南无恨携手一生】爱她有多深,就是苍天捉弄他几分?繁华锦绣,终不是她此生所要,她要的,不过是平淡安定。而他,要的却是天下社稷,垂名青史?他与她,一段缘?一段孽?本文一对一,宠文,偶尔小虐,无伤大雅,短暂的小虐是为了更腻歪的宠爱!
  • 求子助孕万事通

    求子助孕万事通

    男欢女爱与生儿育女,女性不孕如何诊断和检查,男性不育事出有因,心情愉悦迎“喜”事,了解现代助孕技术,不孕不育症的药食调理。想要宝宝之前应做哪些准备?怎样选择最佳的受孕年龄?阴道疾病与不孕有什么关系?子宫肌瘤与不孕有什么关系?内分泌失调所导致的不孕有什么治疗方法?不育症的常用推拿手法有哪些?只要您读了这本百事通便能找到答案。在这里专家为您解析性生理全过程,带您认识女性不孕和男性不育,女性不孕的诊断与检查,关注您的生活方式,不孕不育的治疗,了解现代助孕技术,以及不孕不育的药食调理等,相信通读《求子助孕万事通》之后,定能还您一个圆满的家庭。
  • 治学严谨(中华民族传统美德教育读本)

    治学严谨(中华民族传统美德教育读本)

    本丛书筛选内容主要遵循以下原则要求:(1)坚持批判继承思想,取其精华、去其糟粕。既不全盘肯定,也不全盘否定。坚持抽象继承、演绎发展、立足当代、为我所用。(2)坚持系统整体的原则。注意各历史时期分布;注意各民族的进步人物;注意各层面人物;注意人物各侧面。做到:竖看历史五千年,纵向成条线;横看美德重实践,横向不漏面。(3)坚持古为今用,为我所用原则。在发掘美德资源时,特别挖掘古代人物故事、言论,注重寻找挖掘各阶层、各民族的传统公德、通德、同德;注重人民性、民主性、进步性、发展性、普遍性、抽象性,不求全古代,不求全个体。
  • 我就是个保镖

    我就是个保镖

    一个几乎无敌的小子回归世俗,谨遵着师傅的教导“人在江湖飘,哪能不挨刀,要想不挨刀,就得有人罩”的宗旨,欢天喜地的下山了……“嗯,去哪呢?嘿嘿……”
  • 早懂经济学,早过好日子

    早懂经济学,早过好日子

    本书分析了生活中常见的经济学现象,并力求从中为你挖掘出最多的经济学信息,探测到最多的经济学秘密!它将在最贴近你的生活小事中为你进行经济思维的超级解密;它将带你透过生活中的千姿百态,看经济学的力量有多么不可思议;它将传授给你与众不同的智慧,教你懂得如何抉择才更能让自己游刃有余!
  • 龙主三国

    龙主三国

    穿越成为刺杀董卓的勇士伍孚之子,获得拥有召唤之力的神兽小白龙。小白龙说:敌人有四个,分别是恶魔龙、九尾狐、魔狼、白象。它们打破了时空壁垒,穿越到了这个世界,妄图借助召唤之力,灭绝中华文明,从而彻底将中华文明从时空洪流中抹去。我得知时空壁垒被打破的消息,就带着四位好友随后而来,阻止它们的阴谋。根据我穿越前的消息,恶魔龙在欧洲、九尾狐去了扶桑、白象去了印度,魔狼在北方草原。而我的四位好友全部在大汉,分别是朱雀、玄武、青龙、白虎。
  • 星际铁拳

    星际铁拳

    这个世界上有一颗远离地球很远的星球,它叫:寂静五号行星。他也繁衍了各种生物,生机勃勃。茫茫宇宙,意外在这颗小小的星球爆发蔓延,余风和叶博士被逼迫到外太空,救生舱需要保存动力,不能规避任何危险,到不了地球,无法与人类联盟,余风带着铁拳的力量,走向了拯救星球的伟大使命中。他能成功吗?还能回去吗?
  • 魔魂I

    魔魂I

    故事发生于人魔大战后,魔神肉身被毁,其元灵逃走,借一孕妇腹中胎儿身体重生,想吞噬婴儿灵识,婴儿长大后,机缘得到上古功法混沌决,修炼至高功法,如何于魔神元灵对抗,最后反吞魔神元灵,一统人魔两界,然而,事情并未了解,神界忌惮少年功法,并派兵围剿,最后少年何去何从?尽请关注:魔星灭世。
  • 诡异心理学

    诡异心理学

    怎样为犯罪嫌疑人做心理画像?奥斯维辛集中营的杀人魔鬼是如何炼成的?战争期间为何会发生惨绝人寰的大屠杀,而当事人却毫无负疚感?假使没有了谎言和欺骗,世界会变成美好的人间吗?为什么某些人会拥有异乎寻常的超强记忆力?从蝗虫生存智慧中能得到哪些启示?如何用最简单的办法提高领导力?你为什么容易受人操纵?如何对付各种各样的操纵者?…… 《诡异心理学》用讲故事的方式,用幽默另类、通俗易懂的语言,讲述了各种奇特的心理现象,如虚构症、心因性失忆症、恋物癖、精神分裂症、匿名化、双重自我、仪式性行为、操纵与反操纵等,并配有大量生动真实的案例,通过作者独到的分析,让你理解人类某些行为背后的逻辑。