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1、SOUTH SEA TALESSOUTH SEA TALESby Jack London1SOUTH SEA TALESTHE HOUSE OF MAPUHIDespite the heavy clumsiness of her lines, the Aorai handled easily inthe light breeze, and her captain ran her well in before he hove to justoutside the suck of the surf. The atoll of Hikueru lay low on the water, acircl
2、e of pounded coral sand a hundred yards wide, twenty miles incircumference, and from three to five feet above high-water mark. On thebottom of the huge and glassy lagoon was much pearl shell, and from thedeck of the schooner, across the slender ring of the atoll, the divers couldbe seen at work. But
3、 the lagoon had no entrance for even a tradingschooner. With a favoring breeze cutters could win in through the tortuousand shallow channel, but the schooners lay off and on outside and sent intheir small boats.The Aorai swung out a boat smartly, into which sprang half a dozenbrown-skinned sailors c
4、lad only in scarlet loincloths. They took the oars,while in the stern sheets, at the steering sweep, stood a young man garbedin the tropic white that marks the European. The golden strain ofPolynesia betrayed itself in the sun-gilt of his fair skin and cast up goldensheens and lights through the gli
5、mmering blue of his eyes. Raoul he was,Alexandre Raoul, youngest son of Marie Raoul, the wealthy quarter-caste,who owned and managed half a dozen trading schooners similar to theAorai. Across an eddy just outside the entrance, and in and through andover a boiling tide-rip, the boat fought its way to
6、 the mirrored calm of thelagoon. Young Raoul leaped out upon the white sand and shook handswith a tall native. The mans chest and shoulders were magnificent, but thestump of a right arm, beyond the flesh of which the age-whitened boneprojected several inches, attested the encounter with a shark that
7、 had putan end to his diving days and made him a fawner and an intriguer forsmall favors.Have you heard, Alec? were his first words. Mapuhi has found apearl-such a pearl. Never was there one like it ever fished up in Hikueru,nor in all the Paumotus, nor in all the world. Buy it from him. He has itno
8、w. And remember that I told you first. He is a fool and you can get itcheap. Have you any tobacco?2SOUTH SEA TALESStraight up the beach to a shack under a pandanus tree Raoul headed.He was his mothers supercargo, and his business was to comb all thePaumotus for the wealth of copra, shell, and pearls
9、 that they yielded up.He was a young supercargo, it was his second voyage in such capacity,and he suffered much secret worry from his lack of experience in pricingpearls. But when Mapuhi exposed the pearl to his sight he managed tosuppress the startle it gave him, and to maintain a careless, commerc
10、ialexpression on his face. For the pearl had struck him a blow. It was large asa pigeon egg, a perfect sphere, of a whiteness that reflected opalescentlights from all colors about it. It was alive. Never had he seen anythinglike it. When Mapuhi dropped it into his hand he was surprised by theweight
11、of it. That showed that it was a good pearl. He examined it closely,through a pocket magnifying glass. It was without flaw or blemish. Thepurity of it seemed almost to melt into the atmosphere out of his hand. Inthe shade it was softly luminous, gleaming like a tender moon. Sotranslucently white was
12、 it, that when he dropped it into a glass of water hehad difficulty in finding it. So straight and swiftly had it sunk to thebottom that he knew its weight was excellent.Well, what do you want for it? he asked, with a fine assumption ofnonchalance.I want- Mapuhi began, and behind him, framing his ow
13、n dark face,the dark faces of two women and a girl nodded concurrence in what hewanted. Their heads were bent forward, they were animated by asuppressed eagerness, their eyes flashed avariciously.I want a house, Mapuhi went on. It must have a roof of galvanizediron and an octagon-drop-clock. It must
14、 be six fathoms long with a porchall around. A big room must be in the centre, with a round table in themiddle of it and the octagon-drop-clock on the wall. There must be fourbedrooms, two on each side of the big room, and in each bedroom must bean iron bed, two chairs, and a washstand. And back of
15、the house must be akitchen, a good kitchen, with pots and pans and a stove. And you mustbuild the house on my island, which is Fakarava.Is that all? Raoul asked incredulously.There must be a sewing machine, spoke up Tefara, Mapuhis wife.3SOUTH SEA TALESNot forgetting the octagon-drop-clock, added Nauri, Mapuhismother.Yes, that is all, said Mapuhi.Young Raoul laughed. He laughed long and heartily. But while helaughed he s
