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south sea tales(南海传说)-第14部分

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attack and the cutting off of the schooner and all hands。 Truly; white men 

must be terrible。 Besides; they were possessed of such devil…devilsrifles 

that shot very rapidly many times; things of iron and brass that made the 

schooners go when there was no wind; and boxes that talked and laughed 

just as men talked and laughed。 

     Ay;   and   he   had   heard   of one   white   man   whose   particular   devil…devil 

was so powerful that he could take out all his teeth and put them back at 

will。 

     Down   into   the   cabin   they   took   Mauki。   On   deck;   the   one   white   man 

kept guard with two revolvers in his belt。 In the cabin the other white man 

sat with a book before him; in which he inscribed strange marks and lines。 

He looked at Mauki as though he had been a pig or a fowl; glanced under 

the   hollows   of   his   arms;   and   wrote   in   the   book。   Then   he   held   out   the 

writing stick and Mauki just barely touched it with his hand; in so doing 

pledging      himself     to  toil   for  three    years   on   the   plantations     of   the 

Moongleam Soap Company。 It was not explained to him that the will of 

the   ferocious   white   men   would   be   used   to   enforce   the   pledge;   and   that; 

behind   all;   for   the   same   use;   was   all   the   power   and   all   the   warships   of 

Great Britain。 

     Other   blacks   there   were   on   board;   from   unheard…of   far   places;   and 

when      the  white    man    spoke    to  them;   they   tore   the  long    feather   from 

Mauki's hair; cut that same hair short; and wrapped about his waist a lava… 

lava of bright yellow calico。 

     After many days on the schooner; and after beholding more land and 

islands than he had ever dreamed of; he was landed on New Georgia; and 

put to work in the field clearing jungle and cutting cane grass。 For the first 

time   he   knew   what   work   was。   Even   as   a   slave   to   Fanfoa   he   had   not 

worked like this。 And he did not like work。 It was up at dawn and in at 

dark; on two meals a day。 And the food was tiresome。 For weeks at a time 

they were given nothing but sweet potatoes to eat; and for weeks at a time 

it would be nothing but rice。 He cut out the cocoanut from the shells day 

after day; and   for long days   and weeks he   fed the fires   that smoked the 

copra; till his eyes got sore and he was set to felling trees。 He was a good 

axe…man; and later he was put in the bridge…building gang。 Once; he was 



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punished   by   being   put   in   the   road…building   gang。 At   times   he   served   as 

boat's crew in the whale boats; when they brought in copra from distant 

beaches or when the white men went out to dynamite fish。 

     Among other things he learned beche…de…mer English; with which he 

could talk with all white men; and with all recruits who otherwise would 

have   talked   in   a   thousand   different   dialects。    Also;   he   learned   certain 

things about the white men; principally that they kept their word。 If they 

told a boy he was going to receive a stick of tobacco; he got it。 If they told 

a boy they would knock seven bells out of him if he did a certain thing; 

when he did that thing; seven bells invariably were knocked out of him。 

Mauki did not know what seven bells were; but they occurred in beche…de… 

mer;   and   he   imagined   them   to   be   the   blood   and   teeth   that   sometimes 

accompanied the process of knocking out seven bells。 One other thing he 

learned: no boy was struck or punished unless he did wrong。 Even when 

the   white   men   were   drunk;   as   they   were   frequently;   they   never   struck 

unless a rule had been broken。 

     Mauki did not like the plantation。 He hated work; and he was the son 

of   a   chief。   Furthermore;   it   was   ten   years   since   he   had   been   stolen   from 

Port Adams by Fanfoa; and he was homesick。 He was even homesick for 

the slavery under Fanfoa。 So he ran away。 He struck back into the bush; 

with the idea of working southward to the beach and stealing a canoe in 

which to go home to Port Adams。 

     But   the   fever   got   him;   and   he   was   captured   and   brought   back   more 

dead than alive。 

     A   second   time   he   ran   away;   in   the   company   of   two   Malaita   boys。 

They  got   down   the   coast   twenty   miles;  and   were  hidden   in   the  hut of   a 

Malaita freeman; who dwelt in that village。 But in the dead of night two 

white men came; who were not afraid of all the village people and who 

knocked   seven   bells   out   of   the   three   runaways;   tied   them  like   pigs;   and 

tossed   them   into   the   whale   boat。   But   the   man   in   whose   house   they   had 

hiddenseven times seven bells must have been knocked out of him from 

the way the hair; skin; and teeth flew; and he was discouraged for the rest 

of his natural life from harboring runaway laborers。 

     For a year Mauki toiled on。 Then he was made a house…boy; and had 



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good food and easy times; with light work in keeping the house clean and 

serving the white men with whiskey and beer at all hours of the day and 

most hours of the night。 He liked it; but he liked Port Adams more。 He had 

two   years   longer   to   serve;   but   two   years   were   too   long   for   him   in   the 

throes of homesickness。 He had grown wiser with his year of service; and; 

being   now   a   house…boy;   he   had   opportunity。   He   had   the   cleaning   of   the 

rifles; and he knew where the key to the store room was hung。 He planned 

to escape; and one night ten Malaita boys and one boy from San Cristoval 

sneaked from the barracks and dragged one of the whale boats down to the 

beach。 It was Mauki who supplied the key that opened the padlock on the 

boat; and it was Mauki who equipped the boat with a dozen Winchesters; 

an   immense   amount   of   ammunition;   a   case   of   dynamite   with   detonators 

and fuse; and ten cases of tobacco。 

     The northwest monsoon was blowing; and they fled south in the night 

time; hiding by day on detached and uninhabited islets; or dragging their 

whale     boat    into   the   bush   on    the   large   islands。   Thus    they    gained 

Guadalcanar;       skirted   halfway     along   it;  and   crossed    the  Indispensable 

Straits to Florida Island。 It was here that they killed the San Cristoval boy; 

saving his head and cooking and eating the rest of him。 The Malaita coast 

was    only   twenty    miles    away;   but   the  last  night   a  strong   current   and 

baffling winds prevented them from gaining across。 Daylight found them 

still several miles from the
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