Page:Iracéma, the honey-lips (1886).djvu/105

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
IRAÇÉMA.
91

The innocent slept; Iraçéma sighed.

"The Jaty makes honey in the sweet-smelling trunk of the Sassafrax;[1] during the month of flowers it flies from branch to branch collecting the juice to fill the comb, but it does not taste its sweetness՚s reward, because the Irára[2] devours in one night the whole swarm. Thy mother, also, child of my sorrow, will never taste the joy of seeing the smile on thy lips."

The young mother fastened over her shoulders a broad swathe[3] of soft cotton, which she had made to carry her child always fastened upon her hip. She then followed over the sands the trail of her spouse, who had been gone three suns. She walked gently, not to awake the little one, that slept like a bird under the maternal wing.

When she arrived at the great hill of sand, she saw that the trail of Martim and Poty continued along the beach, and guessed that they were gone to the war. Her heart sighed, but her eyes sought the face of her babe.

She turned her face back towards the Mocoribe.

"Thou art the Hill of Gladness, but for Iraçéma thou bringest nothing but sorrow."

Returning, the mother placed the still - sleeping child in his father՚s hammock, widowed and solitary, in the cabin centre. She lay down upon the mat where she had slept since the time her husband՚s arms had ceased opening to receive her.

The morning light entered the cabin. Iraçéma saw the shade of a warrior come in with it.

Cauby was standing in the doorway.

  1. ↑ Sassafrax, a well-known tree, growing both in North and South America, much used in medicine.
  2. ↑ Irára, a kind of bush-dog, which attacks beehives and devours the honey.
  3. ↑ Faxa, vulgarly called Typoia; swathing or swaddling clothes.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.