Page:Iracéma, the honey-lips (1886).djvu/85

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IRAÇÉMA.
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angába,[1] which they suppose have the virtue of making the virgins beautiful and beloved by the braves.

After the bath Iraçéma wandered to the skirts of the Serra of Maranguab, where rises the river of the Marrecas.[2] There in the cool shade grew the most savoury fruits of the country; she would collect a plentiful supply, and rock herself in the branches of the Maracujá-tree, waiting for Martim to return from hunting.

Her fancy did not always, however, lead her to the Jerarahú,[3] but often to the opposite side, close to the lake of the Sapiranga,[4] whose waters are said to inflame the eyes. Near it was a wood, thick and leafy, with clumps of Muritys, which formed in the middle of the plateau a large island of beautiful palms. Iraçéma loved the Murityapúa,[5] where the wind blew softly. Here she stripped the pulp from the red Coco to make refreshing drinks, mixed with the bee-honey, which the warriors liked to drink in the great heat of the day.

One morning Poty guided Martim to the chase. They marched towards a Serra which towers on the opposite side to Maranguab, its twin sister. The highest peak bends like the hooked beak of the

macaw, and hence the warriors named it Aratanha.[6]

  1. ↑ Porangaba means beauty; it is a lake in a delightful spot, distant one league from the City. Now it is called Arronches ; on its banks is a decayed village of the same name.
  2. ↑ Marrecas, wild ducks.
  3. ↑ Jerarahú, "river of the wild ducks." This place is even now notable for its delicious fruits, especially the beautiful oranges known as the oranges of Jerarahú.
  4. ↑ Sapiranga, which means "red eyes," and they also call by this name a certain ophthalmia in the North. It is a lake close to Alagadiço Novo, about two leagues from the Capital.
  5. ↑ Murityapúa, where there is now a small town. The word is from murity, palm, and apúam, an island or clump.
  6. ↑ Aratanha, from arara, a macaw, and tanha, teeth. A fertile and cultivated Serra, which is a continuation of Maranguape.
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