Page:Iracéma, the honey-lips (1886).djvu/61

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
IRAÇÉMA.
47

The Jandaia never returned to the Wigwam, and Tupan no longer owned his Virgin in the Tabajára land.

CHAPTER XVI.

The moon՚s white disc rose slowly above the horizon. The brightness of the sun pales the virgin of the heavens, as the warrior՚s love blanches the wife՚s cheek.

"Jacy!"[1]... "Our mother!" exclaimed the Tabajára warriors. And brandishing their bows, they chanted the song of the new moon, discharging at her showers of arrows.

"Thou art come into the heavens, O mother of the braves! Thou turnest thy face once more to behold thy sons. Thou bringest waters to fill the rivers, and pulp to the Cujú-nut.

"Thou art come, O bride of the sun! Thy daughters, the virgins of the earth, smile at thy approach. May thy soft light bring love into the hearts of the brave, and make fruitful the young mother՚s bosom."

The evening was falling. The women and children sported in the vast Ocara. The youths who had not yet won their name by notable deeds were running races in the valley.

The warriors followed Irapúam to the Sacred Wood, where the Pagé and his daughter awaited them for the mysteries of the Jurema.

Iraçéma had already lit the fires of joy ![2]

  1. ↑ Jacy, the moon, literally our mother. Amongst the savages the moon was a month, and at the change they held their feast.
  2. ↑ Fogos de alegria. The savages called their fire-faggots tory and toryba. A joy-feast was a great number of fires.
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.