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When the World Shook-Part13_H.Rider Haggard(1856-1925)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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took advantage of it to explain that Tommy was in fact a

supernatural animal, a sort of tame demon which only harmed



people who had malevolent intentions towards those he served or

who tried to steal any of their possessions or to intrude upon



them at inconvenient hours, especially in the dark. So terrible

was he, indeed, that even the skill of the Great Priest, i.e.,



Bickley, could not avail to save any whom once he had bitten in

his rage. Even to be barked at by him was dangerous and conveyed



a curse that might last for generations.

All this we set out when Bastin was not there. He had wandered



off, as he said, to look for shells, but as we knew, to practise

religious orations in the Polynesian tongue with the waves for



audience, as Demosthenes is said to have done to perfect himself

as a political orator. Personally I admit that I relied more on



the terrors of Tommy to safeguard us from theft and other

troubles than I did upon those of the native taboo and the



priestly oaths.

The end of it all was that we left our ship, having padlocked



up the door (the padlock, we explained, was a magical instrument

that bit worse than Tommy), and moved inland in a kind of



triumphal procession, priests and singers going before (the

Orofenans sang extremely well) and minstrels following after



playing upon instruments like flutes, while behind came the

bearers carrying such goods as we needed. They took us to a



beautiful place in a grove of palms on a ridge where grew many

breadfruit trees, that commanded a view of the ocean upon one



side and of the lake with the strange brown mountain top on the

other. Here in the midst of the native gardens we found that a



fine house had been built for us of a kind of mud brick and

thatched with palm leaves, surrounded by a fenced courtyard of



beaten earth and having wide overhanging verandahs; a very

comfortable place indeed in that deliciousclimate. In it we took



up our abode, visiting the ship occasionally to see that all was

well there, and awaiting events.



For Bickley these soon began to happen in the shape of an

ever-increasing stream of patients. The population of the island



was considerable, anything between five and ten thousand, so far

as we could judge, and among these of course there were a number



of sick. Ophthalmia, for instance, was a prevalent disease, as

were the growths such as Marama had suffered from, to say nothing



of surgical cases and those resulting from accident or from

nervous ailments. With all of these Bickley was called upon to



deal, which he did with remarkable success by help of his books

on Tropical Diseases and his ample supplies of medical



necessaries.

At first he enjoyed it very much, but when we had been



established in the house for about three weeks he remarked, after

putting in a solid ten hours of work, that for all the holiday he



was getting he might as well be back at his old practice, with

the difference that there he was earning several thousands a



year. Just then a poor woman arrived with a baby in convulsions

to whose necessities he was obliged to sacrifice his supper,



after which came a man who had fallen from a palm tree and broken

his leg.



Nor did I escape, since having somehow or other established a

reputation for wisdom, as soon as I had mastered sufficient of



the language, every kind of knotty case was laid before me for

decision. In short, I became a sort of Chief Justice--not an easy



office as it involved the acquirement of the native law which was

intricate and peculiar, especially in matrimonial cases.



At these oppressive activities Bastin looked on with a gloomy

eye.



"You fellows seem very busy," he said one evening; "but I can

find nothing to do. They don't seem to want me, and merely to set



a good example by drinking water or tea while you swallow whisky

and their palm wine, or whatever it is, is very negative kind of



work, especially as I am getting tired of planting things in the

garden and playing policeman round the wreck which nobody goes



near. Even Tommy is better off, for at least he can bark and hunt

rats."



"You see," said Bickley, "we are following our trades.

Arbuthnot is a lawyer and acts as a judge. I am a surgeon and I



may add a general--a very general--practitioner and work at

medicine in an enormous and much-neglected practice. Therefore,






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