Section 171. Tahiti. III

A white man bathing (S. 16, N. 4) by the side of a Tahitian was⁠ like a plant bleached (S. 7, N. 3, attrib.) by the gardener’s art compared⁠ with a fine dark-green one growing vigorously⁠ in the field. Most of the men are tatooed, and the ornaments follow the curvature⁠ of the body so⁠ gracefully, that they⁠ have a very elegant effect. The most common pattern, varying⁠ in its details, is somewhat like⁠ the crown of a palm-tree. It springs⁠ from the central line of the back, and gracefully curls⁠ round both sides. The simile may⁠ be a fanciful one, but I⁠ thought the body of a man thus ornamented⁠ was (App. §§ 29 and 30) like⁠ the trunk of a noble tree embraced⁠ by a delicate creeper.

Many of the elder people⁠ had their feet covered with small figures, so⁠ placed as to resemble a sock. This fashion, however, is partly gone⁠ by, and has been succeeded⁠ by others. Here⁠, although fashion is far from immutable, every one must abide⁠ by that prevailing at his youth. An old man has thus⁠ his age for ever stamped on his body, and he cannot assume⁠ the airs of a young dandy. The women are tatooed in the same manner as the men, and⁠ very commonly on their fingers.

In⁠ returning to the boat, we witnessed⁠ a very pretty scene. Numbers⁠ of children were playing on the beach, and had lighted bonfires, which illuminated the placid sea and⁠ surrounding trees; others, in⁠ circles, were singing Tahitian verses. We seated ourselves on the sand, and⁠ joined their party. The songs were impromptu⁠, and⁠ I believe related to our arrival. One little girl sang a line⁠, which⁠ the rest took up in parts, forming⁠ a very pretty chorus. The whole scene made⁠ us unequivocally aware that⁠ we were seated on the shore of an island in the far-famed⁠ South Sea.—Charles Darwin.

= appeared.

= in (contracted with the Dat. of the def. art.) comparison.

= in full vigour (Kraft, f.).

Kurvatur, f.

auf eine so anmutige Weise.

they have a = they are of.

varying — details = the single parts of which often differ (ab´weichen) from each other.

springs from, geht ... aus; from — back, vom Rückgrat (spine).

to curl round, sich um ... herum´winden.

may — one = is perhaps fanciful (phantastisch).

ich dachte bei mir selbst.

Use the attribut. const.

wie.

= which is embraced (umschlin´gen, insep. comp. str. v.) by (S. 106, N. 23) a delicate (zart) creeper (Schlingpflanze, f.).

= men.

= which were so arranged that they resembled (gleichen, to be like, str. v. governing the Dat.) a sock.

= antiquated, veraltet.

verdrängt, i.e. displaced.

Say ‘Although fashion here is far from (weit davon entfernt) being (S. 1, N. 3) immutable.

to abide by a thing, bei etwas verbleiben. Use the attributive constr. in this clause.

Auf diese Weise, which place at the head of the period. ‘Old’, here bejahrt; ‘to stamp’, here aus´prägen.

to assume the airs of a dandy, den Stutzer spielen. Render ‘not’ by ‘not possibly’, unmöglich.

= but generally also.

= When we returned to the vessel.

Yesterday I witnessed a very pretty scene, gestern bot sich mir ein sehr hübsches Schauspiel dar.

= Numerous children.

und die in der Nähe stehenden Bäume.

= who formed a circle (Kreis, m.), sang verses in their mother-tongue (i.e. native language).

= and joined them (sich an´schließen, sep. comp. str. v. refl., governing the Dat.).

aus dem Stegreif.

= and related (sich beziehen, insep. comp. irreg. v. refl.), I believe (inverted), to (auf) our arrival.

the ‘line’ of a verse is generally rendered by ‘Strophe’, f.

which — parts, welche von den übrigen mehrstimmig aufgenommen wurde.

= and formed.

made — aware, legte unzweifelhaftes Zeugnis davon ab.

= that we found ourselves.

here vielbesungen, adj.