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IRAÇÉMA.
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sleep. They opened despite all his endeavours. An inspiration from Heaven at last descended upon his troubled mind.

"Beautiful maid of the desert! this is the last night of thy guest under the roof of Araken. Would that he had never come there! For thy sake and for his own, make his sleep glad and happy."

"Let the warrior command, and Iraçéma will obey. What can she do to make him glad?"

The Christian murmured low that the old Pagé might not hear him.

"The Virgin of Tupan keeps the dreams of the Jurema, which are sweet and pleasant!"

A sad smile was Iraçéma՚s answer.

"The stranger is going to live for ever encircling the white virgin.[1] Never more will his eyes behold the daughter of Araken; yet he wishes that sleep should close his lids, and that dreams should convey him back to the land of his brothers!"

"Sleep is the warrior՚s rest," said Martim, "and dreams are the gladness of his soul. The stranger would not bear sadness with him from the Land of Hospitality, nor would he leave it in the heart of Iraçéma."

The virgin sat unmoved.

"Go! and return with the wine of Tupan."

When Iraçéma came back, the Pagé was no longer in the Wigwam. She drew from her bosom the bowl which she had hidden under her Carioba[2] of cotton interwoven with feathers. Martim seized it from her hands, and drained the few drops of bitter green liquid. Presently the hammock received his torpid form.

Now he may live with Iraçéma, and gather the

  1. ↑ In the original á cintura da virgem. The savages call a successful lover aguaçaba, which literally means, the woman whom the man՚s arm encircles.
  2. ↑ Carioba, a cotton garment ornamented with parrots՚ feathers.
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