Akulina

“ Akulina entered the shop from the workroom, a guttering [Pg 61] candle in a battered candlestick in one hand, and a number of gaily coloured pasteboard boxes tucked under the other arm. "What is the use of eating to-day when there will be so many good things to-morrow?"
Neither Fischelowitz nor the Count vouchsafed any answer to this thrust. For the second time, since the Count had entered, however, the tobacconist wore an expression approaching to gravity. The Count himself kept his composure admirably, only glancing coldly at Akulina, and then looking at his cigarette. ”

“ More she would not trouble to undertake, and, as before, Agafia Matvievna remained the active pendulum of the domestic clock. Not only did she superintend the kitchen and the dining-room, and prepare tea and coffee for the entire household, but also she did the general mending and supervised the linen, the children, Akulina, and the dvornik.
Why was this? Was she not Madame Oblomov and the proprietress of a landed estate? Might she not have maintained a separate, an independent establishment, and have wanted for nothing, and have been at no one’s beck and call? ”

“ He wondered how long it would be before Fischelowitz would come and tell the truth of the Gigerl's story. By his knowledge of the time of daybreak, he guessed that it was not yet much past four o'clock, and he doubted whether Fischelowitz would come before eight. The tobacconist was a kind man, but a comfortable one, loving his rest and his breakfast and his ease at all times. Moreover, as the Count knew better than any one else, Akulina would be rejoiced to hear of the misadventure which had befallen her enemy and would in no way hurry her husband upon his mission of justice. ”

“ Then the dragon taught the boy all kinds of magic power.
The brothers, who were great warriors, determined to sail away, find a new land and conquer it by fighting. Aukele persuaded them to take him. Then he sent one to get the stick he had brought from the dragon pit which was near the sea.
After a long time on the sea all their food was gone and they were starving and lying in the bottom of the boat. Aukele fed them from the leaf which he touched to their lips.
Some days passed and Aukele said, “To-morrow we will come to a land where a woman is the ruler. Let me tell why we journey.” ”

“ The youngest was Aukele-nui-a-Iku, Aukele the Great Son of Iku.
Aukele was a favorite of the Self-reliant Dragon. She gave him a large bamboo stick. Inside she placed an image of the god Lono, and also a magic leaf which could provide plenty of food for any one who touched the leaf to his lips. She put in a part of her own skin.
She said, “This skin is a cloak for you. If you lift it up against any enemies, they will fall to pieces as dust and ashes.” ”

“ Some time after this his brothers-in-law said to him: “Today you will realize the blessings of the deity.” After a while he was asked: “Say, has your wife given you the power to change yourself into different forms?” Aukelenuiaiku replied: “Yes.” “What different forms did she give you?” “The power to change into a cliff, into an ocean, and into fire.” The brothers-in-law replied: “Then she has not given you all her powers. She has kept to herself the power to fly.” ”

“ SHIN-BONES
They have gone down to the pit with their weapons of war, and they have laid their swords under their heads.
“It was a sad thing to see the old lady revert.”
Prince Akuli shot an apprehensive glance sideward to where, under the shade of a kukui tree, an old wahine (Hawaiian woman) was just settling herself to begin on some work in hand.
“Yes,” he nodded half-sadly to me, “in her last years Hiwilani went back to the old ways, and to the old beliefs—in secret, of course. And, believe me, she was some collector herself. You should have seen her bones. ”

“ If he died, many of his wives, slaves and soldiers would be killed to go with him into the spirit-world.
A woman from a neighboring village came to the house of Chief Okurike's wives.
"You are sad because Chief Okurike is dying," said the woman. "I know someone who can help him. Far away through the jungle at Ekenge lives the white Ma. With her magic she can make devils go out of your chief. My son's child was dying. The white Ma saved her. She is well today. The white Ma has done many wonderful things by the power of her juju. Let your chief send for her. Then he will not die." ”

“ And this spear-head is made of the shin-bone of Keola, a mighty wrestler and runner of their own time and place. And he loved Laulani, and she fled with him. But in a forgotten battle on the sands of Kalini, Akaiko rushed the lines of the enemy, leading the charge that was successful, and seized upon Keola, his wife’s lover, and threw him to the ground, and sawed through his neck to the death with a shark-tooth knife. Thus, in the old days as always, did man combat for woman with man. And Laulani was beautiful; that Keola should be made into a spearhead for her! ”

“ The country was so healthy and so fertile that sickness and want were unknown; and the people were so good that no laws were ever broken. And Akinosuké dwelt and ruled in Raishū for twenty years more,—making in all twenty-three years of sojourn, during which no shadow of sorrow traversed his life. ”

“ He and his wife lived many days’ travel towards the west in a great skin house on a rocky plain, and all about the house were the skulls of men and women, for Ukla and his wife ate people’s flesh, and every night he traveled across the land to the Eskimo villages. Then he would kill any one he found outside the huts, and if he could not do this, he would steal the bodies of the dead and fastening a thong about their feet, would drag them to his home. ”

“ Upon seeing the canoe coming to be moored on the kapued grounds, Niniukalani took up his war club, Kahikinaakala, and approached the canoe. When he reached the dry sand he began twirling his war club. As the man was approaching, Kila asked his men: “Which one of you is willing to go and fight Niniukalani?” No one spoke up for some time, as they were all afraid. Ukulii, however, arose and said: “I will go and fight him.” Kila then said: “Yes, you are so small that you will be able to get very close to him. When you get ashore don’t look up or you will get killed ”

“ Shere Khan dares not kill thee in the jungle for fear of those that love thee; but remember, Akela is very old, and soon the day comes when he cannot kill his buck, and then he will be leader no more. ”

“ By thy very carelessness they know that thou art a man. But be wise. It is in my heart that when Akela misses his next kill,—and at each hunt it costs him more to pin the buck,—the Pack will turn against him and against thee. They will hold a jungle Council at the Rock, and then—and then—I have it!' said Bagheera, leaping up. 'Go thou down quickly to the men's huts in the valley, and take some of the Red Flower which they grow there, so that when the time comes thou mayest have even a stronger friend than I or Baloo or those of the Pack that love thee. ”

“ Awaking the next day, the chief and his people went to the houses and saw they were filled to overflowing with images, and covering the platforms and fences around the houses.
Kauilani said to his father, “Let the men go up to a high hill inland and burn the dry wood and brush to attract the attention of your enemy while we prepare our battle.”
Akua-pehu-ale was sporting in the sea when he saw the smoke rising from the hills and mingling with the clouds. He said: “That is something different from a cloud, and must be smoke from a fire made by some man. What man has escaped my eyes? ”

“ In this flight to heaven, Aukelenuiaiku did not think that he was going to meet anyone who would oppose him, and consequently he went along unguarded; but through the powers of his god Lonoikoualii he was warned in time, for the god called out to him: “Say, Aukelenuiaiku, watch or else we will be killed, for I see that we are going to be attacked. Put on your garment of ashes and cover yourself from head to feet; don’t be slow or we will be killed.” By this warning Aukelenuiaiku knew that a conflict was about to begin, and he immediately put on his war pau. ”

“ AKOONTALÁ makes an effort to rise.
KING. Nay, trouble not thyself, dear maiden.
Move not to do me homage; let thy limbs
Still softly rest upon their flowery couch;
And gather fragrance from the lotus-stalks,
Bruised by the fevered contact of thy frame.
ANASÚYÁ. Deign, gentle Sir, to seat yourself on the rock on which our friend is reposing.
[The KING sits down. [S'] AKOONTALÁ is confused.
PRIYAMVADÁ. Any one may see at a glance that you are deeply attached to each other. But the affection I have for my friend prompts me to say something of which you hardly require to be informed. ”

“ He left others behind him, though, nearly as large and dangerous as himself, and they hide now in the deep pools in the river and about lonely passes in the high mountains, the places which the Cherokee call, “Where the Uktena stays.”
Those who know say that the Uktena with its horns on its head has a bright blazing crest like a diamond upon its forehead, and scales glittering like sparks of [155] fire upon its body. It has rings or spots along its whole length, and cannot be wounded except by shooting in the seventh spot from the head because under this spot are its heart and its life. ”

“ They never had any idea that the small man had any chance with the big man at all. Niniukalani, upon seeing Ukulii, began to twirl his war club, Kahikinaakala, and, when Ukulii was within striking distance, let it come down ”

“ But which of these austere hermits could we ask to be the bearer of it? Then, again, Father Kanwa has just returned from his pilgrimage; and how am I to inform him of [S'] akoontalá's marriage to King Dushyanta, and her expectation of becoming soon a mother? I never could bring myself to tell him, even if I felt that [S'] akoontalá had been in fault, which she certainly has not. What is to be done?
PRIYAMVADÁ. [Entering; joyfully.
Quick! quick! Anasúyá! come and assist in the joyful preparations for [S'] akoontalá's departure to her husband's palace. ”

“ Akatan, which is in the Aleutians; Akatan, beyond Chignik, beyond Kardalak, beyond Unimak. As I say, we dwelt in Akatan, which lies in the midst of the sea on the edge of the world. We farmed the salt seas for the fish, the seal, and the otter; and our homes shouldered about one another on the rocky strip between the rim of the forest and the yellow beach where our kayaks lay. We were not many, and the world was very small. There were strange lands to the east, -- islands like Akatan; so we thought all the world was islands, and did not mind. ”

“ Kauilani called to his sister to go around before all the people, putting on her spotted body, and then return, looking sharply at the right wing of her enemy to find a place to break it, then fly against the right eye and pick it out, and after that fly down on the head of the king of Maui, then leap to the last battle, break the left wing, pluck out the left eye and tear the body to pieces. “Then he will die. He cannot make a new body for himself.” ”

“ Even among the warriors of the cannibal Bagalla, he encountered individuals who possessed great natural dignity, poise and evident strength of character. Bulala, a typical West Coast black, densely ignorant and superstitious, had, nevertheless, a heart of gold that revealed itself in his loyalty and generosity; while little Ukundo, the pygmy, perhaps among the lowest in the social scale of all African peoples, proved a staunch friend and a good comrade. To his natural shrewdness was added an almost uncanny knowledge of the jungle and the jungle people, both beast and human ”

“ Louhi stole the fire from Northland,
From the regions of Wainola,
Left the mansions cold and cheerless,
And the cabins full of darkness.
Night was king and reigned unbroken,
Darkness ruled in Kalevala,
Darkness in the home of Ukko.
Hard to live without the moonlight,
Harder still without the sunshine;
Ukko’s life is dark and dismal,
When the Sun and Moon desert him.
Ukko, first of all creators,
Lived in wonder at the darkness;
Long reflected, well considered,
Why this miracle in heaven,
What this accident in nature
To the Moon upon her journey ”

“ The Uktena tried to follow, but the arrow was thru his heart, and in another moment he rolled over in his death struggle, spitting poison over all the mountainside. The poison drops could not pass the circle of fire, but only hissed and sputtered in the blaze, and the magician on the inside was untouched except by one small drop which struck upon his head as he lay close to the ground; but he did not know it. The blood, too, as poisonous as the froth, poured from the Uktena’s wound and down the slope in a stream, but it ran into the trench and left him unharmed. ”

“ Bakula admitted that he had lost faith in ngangas, and told with dramatic force of the nganga’s exposed trickery in the King’s town; he did not deny his liking for the white man, for had he not shown kindness to him in forgiving him and healing his wound? He assented to the charge of throwing his charms away, for he could not see that the messes the witch-doctors put into horns and shells could help them in sickness, hunting, trading, or anything else. ”

“ KANWA. Blessings on thee, my child! May all my hopes of thee be realized!
[S'] AKOONTALÁ [Approaching her friends.
Come, my two loved companions, embrace me both of you together.
PRIYAMVADÁ AND ANASÚYÁ. [Embracing her.
Dear [S'] akoontalá, remember, if the King should by any chance be slow in recognizing you, you have only to show him this ring, on which his own name is engraved.
[S'] AKOONTALÁ. The bare thought of it puts me in a tremor.
PRIYAMVADÁ AND ANASÚYÁ. There is no real cause for fear, dearest. Excessive affection is too apt to suspect evil where none exists. ”