Mardi, and a voyage thither, Vol. 1 (of 2)Melville, Herman
PhilosophyPhilosophy
Mardi, and a voyage thither, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Melville, Herman
Adventure stories; Polynesia -- Description and travel -- Fiction
Emerging, what a scene was revealed! All round, embracing a circuit of
some three leagues, stood heights inaccessible, here and there, forming
buttresses, sheltering deep recesses between. The bosom of the place
was vivid with verdure.
Shining aslant into this wild hollow, the afternoon sun lighted up its
eastern side with tints of gold. But opposite, brooded a somber shadow,
double-shading the secret places between the salient spurs of the
mountains. Thus cut in twain by masses of day and night, it seemed as
if some Last Judgment had been enacted in the glen.
No sooner did we emerge from the defile, than we became sensible of a
dull, jarring sound; and Yoomy was almost tempted to turn and flee,
when informed that the sea-cavern, whose mouth we had passed, was
believed to penetrate deep into the opposite hills; and that the
surface of the amphitheater was depressed beneath that of the lagoon.
But all over the lowermost hillsides, and sloping into the glen, stood
grand old groves; still and stately, as if no insolent waves were
throbbing in the mountain’s heart.
Such was Willamilla, the hereditary abode of the young monarch of Juam.
Was Yillah immured in this strange retreat? But from those around us
naught could we learn.
Our attention was now directed to the habitations of the glen;
comprised in two handsome villages; one to the west, the other to the
east; both stretching along the base of the cliffs.
Said Media, “Had we arrived at Willamilla in the morning, we had found
Donjalolo and his court in the eastern village; but being afternoon, we
must travel farther, and seek him in his western retreat; for that is
now in the shade.”
Wending our way, Media added, that aside from his elevated station as a
monarch, Donjalolo was famed for many uncommon traits; but more
especially for certain peculiar deprivations, under which he labored.
Whereupon Braid-Beard unrolled his old chronicles; and regaled us with
the history, which will be found in the following chapter.
CHAPTER LXXII.
A Book From The Chronicles Of Mohi
Many ages ago, there reigned in Juam a king called Teei. This Teei’s
succession to the sovereignty was long disputed by his brother Marjora;
who at last rallying round him an army, after many vicissitudes,
defeated the unfortunate monarch in a stout fight of clubs on the
beach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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