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Green Mansions-Part8_W.H.Hudson(1841-1922)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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enlighten me about the matter; and I concluded that Kua-ko's



words about the daughter of the Didi, and what she would do if he

blew an arrow at a bird, had accidentally escaped him in a moment



of excitement. Nothing, therefore, was to be gained by

questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them how much the



subject attracted me. And I had nothing to fear; my independent

investigations had made this much clear to me; the voice might



proceed from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of wild

fantastic humours, but nothing worse. It was friendly to me, I



felt sure; at the same time it might not be friendly towards the

Indians; for, on that day, it had made itself heard only after my



companion had taken flight; and it had then seemed incensed

against me, possibly because the savage had been in my company.



That was the result of my reflections on the day's events when I

returned to my entertainer's roof and sat down among my friends



to refresh myself with stewed fowl and fish from the household

pot, into which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture to



dip my fingers.

Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think--certainly not



reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me,

probably surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid



temper. I laughed at the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he

dropped his head down again. After a minute or two I took the



metal match-box and tossed it on to his breast. He clutched it

and, starting up, stared at me in the utmostastonishment. He



could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had failed to

carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to the



loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up

the box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid



look; while all the others gathered about him, each trying to get

the box into his own hands to admire it again, notwithstanding



that they had all seen it a dozen times before. But it was

Kua-ko's now and not the stranger's, and therefore more nearly



their own than formerly, and must look different, more beautiful,

with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful



enamelled cock on the lid--figured in Paris probably, but just

like a cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of



killing and eating than we do our purring pussies and

lemon-coloured canaries--must now look more strikingly valiant



and cock-like than ever, with its crimson comb and wattles,

burnished red hackles, and dark green arching tail-plumes. But



Kua-ko, while willing enough to have it admired and praised,

would not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously that



it was not theirs for them to handle, but his--Kua-ko's--for all

time; that he had won it by accompanying me--valorous man that he



was!--to that evil wood into which they--timid, inferior

creatures that they were!--would never have ventured to set foot.



I am not translating his words, but that was what he gave them to

understand pretty plainly, to my great amusement.



After the excitement was over, Runi, who had maintained a

dignified calm, made some roundabout remarks, apparently with the



object of eliciting an account of what I had seen and heard in

the forest of evil fame. I replied carelessly that I had seen a



great many birds and monkeys--monkeys so tame that I might have

procured one if I had had a blow-pipe, in spite of my never



having practiced shooting with that weapon.

It interested them to hear about the abundance and tameness of



the monkeys, although it was scarcely news; but how tame they

must have been when I, the stranger not to the manner born--not



naked, brown-skinned, lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an owl in his

movements--had yet been able to look closely at them! Runi only



remarked, apropos of what I had told him, that they could not go

there to hunt; then he asked me if I feared nothing.



"Nothing," I replied carelessly. "The things you fear hurt not

the white man and are no more than this to me," saying which I



took up a little white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with

my breath. "And against other enemies I have this," I added,



touching my revolver. A brave speech, just after that araguato




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