prompt:
Chapter: I was not disappointed on my next visit to the forest, nor on several
succeeding visits; and this seemed to show that if I was right in
believing that these strange, melodious utterances proceeded from one
individual, then the bird or being, although still refusing to show
itself, was always on the watch for my appearance and followed me
wherever I went. This thought only served to increase my curiosity; I
was constantly pondering over the subject, and at last concluded that it
would be best to induce one of the Indians to go with me to the wood on
the chance of his being able to explain the mystery.

One of the treasures I had managed to preserve in my sojourn with these
children of nature, who were always anxious to become possessors of my
belongings, was a small prettily fashioned metal match-box, opening
with a spring. Remembering that Kua-ko, among others, had looked at this
trifle with covetous eyes--the covetous way in which they all looked at
it had given it a fictitious value in my own--I tried to bribe him with
the offer of it to accompany me to my favourite haunt. The brave young
hunter refused again and again; but on each occasion he offered to
perform some other service or to give me something in exchange for the
box. At last I told him that I would give it to the first person who
should accompany me, and fearing that someone would be found valiant
enough to win the prize, he at length plucked up a spirit, and on the
next day, seeing me going out for a walk, he all at once offered to go
with me. He cunningly tried to get the box before starting--his cunning,
poor youth, was not very deep! I told him that the forest we were about
to visit abounded with plants and birds unlike any I had seen elsewhere,
that I wished to learn their names and everything about them, and
that when I had got the required information the box would be his--not
sooner. Finally we started, he, as usual, armed with his zabatana, with
which, I imagined, he would procure more game than usually fell to his
little poisoned arrows. When we reached the wood I could see that he was
ill at ease: nothing would persuade him to go into the deeper parts;
and even where it was very open and light he was constantly gazing
into bushes and shadowy places, as if expecting to see some frightful
creature lying in wait for him. This behaviour might have had a
disquieting effect on me had I not been thoroughly convinced that his
fears were purely superstitious and that there could be no dangerous
animal in a spot I was accustomed to walk in every day. My plan was
to ramble about with an unconcerned air, occasionally pointing out an
uncommon tree or shrub or vine, or calling his attention to a distant
bird-cry and asking the bird's name, in the hope that the mysterious
voice would make itself heard and that he would be able to give me some
explanation of it. But for upwards of two hours we moved about, hearing
nothing except the usual bird voices, and during all that time he never
stirred a yard from my side nor made an attempt to capture anything. At
length we sat down under a tree, in an open spot close to the border of
the wood. He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed more troubled in
his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continually roving about, while he
listened intently to every sound. The sounds were not few, owing to the
abundance of animal and especially of bird life in this favoured spot.
I began to question my companion as to some of the cries we heard. There
were notes and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the cock--parrot
screams and yelping of toucans, the distant wailing calls of maam and
duraquara; and shrill laughter-like notes of the large tree-climber as
it passed from tree to tree; the quick whistle of cotingas; and strange
throbbing and thrilling sounds, as of pygmies beating on metallic drums,
of the skulking pitta-thrushes; and with these mingled other notes
less well known. One came from the treetops, where it was perpetually
wandering amid the foliage a low note, repeated at intervals of a few
seconds, so thin and mournful and full of mystery that I half expected
to hear that it proceeded from the restless ghost of some dead bird.
But no; he only said it was uttered by a "little bird"--too little
presumably to have a name. From the foliage of a neighbouring tree came
a few tinkling chirps, as of a small mandolin, two or three strings of
which had been carelessly struck by the player. He said that it came
from a small green frog that lived in trees; and in this way my rude
Indian--vexed perhaps at being asked such trivial questions--brushed
away the pretty fantasies my mind had woven in the woodland solitude.
For I often listened to this tinkling music, and it had suggested the
idea that the place was frequented by a tribe of fairy-like troubadour
monkeys, and that if I could only be quick-sighted enough I might one
day be able to detect the minstrel sitting, in a green tunic perhaps,
cross-legged on some high, swaying bough, carelessly touching his
mandolin, suspended from his neck by a yellow ribbon.

By and by a bird came with low, swift flight, its great tail spread open
fan-wise, and perched itself on an exposed bough not thirty yards from
us. It was all of a chestnut-red colour, long-bodied, in size like a big
pigeon. Its actions showed that its curiosity had been greatly excited,
for it jerked from side to side, eyeing us first with one eye, then the
other, while its long tail rose and fell in a measured way.

"Look, Kua-ko," I said in a whisper, "there is a bird for you to kill."

But he only shook his head, still watchful.

"Give me the blow-pipe, then," I said, with a laugh, putting out my hand
to take it. But he refused to let me take it, knowing that it would only
be an arrow wasted if I attempted to shoot anything.

As I persisted in telling him to kill the bird, he at last bent his lips
near me and said in a half-whisper, as if fearful of being overheard: "I
can kill nothing here. If I shot at the bird, the daughter of the Didi
would catch the dart in her hand and throw it back and hit me here,"
touching his breast just over his heart.

I laughed again, saying to myself, with some amusement, that Kua-ko was
not such a bad companion after all--that he was not without imagination.
But in spite of my laughter his words roused my interest and suggested
the idea that the voice I was curious about had been heard by the
Indians and was as great a mystery to them as to me; since, not being
like that of any creature known to them, it would be attributed by their
superstitious minds to one of the numerous demons or semi-human monsters
inhabiting every forest, stream, and mountain; and fear of it would
drive them from the wood. In this case, judging from my companion's
words, they had varied the form of the superstition somewhat, inventing
a daughter of a water-spirit to be afraid of. My thought was that if
their keen, practiced eyes had never been able to see this flitting
woodland creature with a musical soul, it was not likely that I would
succeed in my quest.

I began to question him, but he now appeared less inclined to talk and
more frightened than ever, and each time I attempted to speak he imposed
silence, with a quick gesture of alarm, while he continued to stare
about him with dilated eyes. All at once he sprang to his feet as
if overcome with terror and started running at full speed. His fear
infected me, and, springing up, I followed as fast as I could, but he
was far ahead of me, running for dear life; and before I had gone forty
yards my feet were caught in a creeper trailing along the surface, and I
measured my length on the ground. The sudden, violent shock almost took
away my senses for a moment, but when I jumped up and stared round to
see no unspeakable monster--Curupita or other--rushing on to slay and
devour me there and then, I began to feel ashamed of my cowardice; and
in the end I turned and walked back to the spot I had just quitted and
sat down once more. I even tried to hum a tune, just to prove to myself
that I had completely recovered from the panic caught from the miserable
Indian; but it is never possible in such cases to get back one's
serenity immediately, and a vague suspicion continued to trouble me for
a time. After sitting there for half an hour or so, listening to distant
bird-sounds, I began to recover my old confidence, and even to feel
inclined to penetrate further into the wood. All at once, making me
almost jump, so sudden it was, so much nearer and louder than I had
ever heard it before, the mysterious melody began. Unmistakably it was
uttered by the same being heard on former occasions; but today it was
different in character. The utterance was far more rapid, with fewer
silent intervals, and it had none of the usual tenderness in it, nor
ever once sunk to that low, whisper-like talking which had seemed to me
as if the spirit of the wind had breathed its low sighs in syllables
and speech. Now it was not only loud, rapid, and continuous, but, while
still musical, there was an incisiveness in it, a sharp ring as of
resentment, which made it strike painfully on the sense.

The impression of an intelligent unhuman being addressing me in anger
took so firm a hold on my mind that the old fear returned, and, rising,
I began to walk rapidly away, intending to escape from the wood. The
voice continued violently rating me, as it seemed to my mind, moving
with me, which caused me to accelerate my steps; and very soon I would
have broken into a run, when its character began to change again. There
were pauses now, intervals of silence, long or short, and after each one
the voice came to my ear with a more subdued and dulcet sound--more of
that melting, flute-like quality it had possessed at other times; and
this softness of tone, coupled with the talking-like form of utterance,
gave me the idea of a being no longer incensed, addressing me now in a
peaceable spirit, reasoning away my unworthy tremors, and imploring me
to remain with it in the wood. Strange as this voice without a body was,
and always productive of a slightly uncomfortable feeling on account of
its mystery, it seemed impossible to doubt that it came to me now in
a spirit of pure friendliness; and when I had recovered my composure I
found a new delight in listening to it--all the greater because of the
fear so lately experienced, and of its seeming intelligence. For the
third time I reseated myself on the same spot, and at intervals the
voice talked to me there for some time and, to my fancy, expressed
satisfaction and pleasure at my presence. But later, without losing its
friendly tone, it changed again. It seemed to move away and to be thrown
back from a considerable distance; and, at long intervals, it would
approach me again with a new sound, which I began to interpret as of
command, or entreaty. Was it, I asked myself, inviting me to follow? And
if I obeyed, to what delightful discoveries or frightful dangers might
it lead? My curiosity together with the belief that the being--I called
it being, not bird, now--was friendly to me, overcame all timidity, and
I rose and walked at random towards the interior of the wood. Very soon
I had no doubt left that the being had desired me to follow; for there
was now a new note of gladness in its voice, and it continued near me
as I walked, at intervals approaching me so closely as to set me staring
into the surrounding shadowy places like poor scared Kua-ko.

On this occasion, too, I began to have a new fancy, for fancy or
illusion I was determined to regard it, that some swift-footed being was
treading the ground near me; that I occasionally caught the faint rustle
of a light footstep, and detected a motion in leaves and fronds and
thread-like stems of creepers hanging near the surface, as if some
passing body had touched and made them tremble; and once or twice that
I even had a glimpse of a grey, misty object moving at no great distance
in the deeper shadows.

Led by this wandering tricksy being, I came to a spot where the trees
were very large and the damp dark ground almost free from undergrowth;
and here the voice ceased to be heard. After patiently waiting and
listening for some time, I began to look about me with a slight feeling
of apprehension. It was still about two hours before sunset; only
in this place the shade of the vast trees made a perpetual twilight:
moreover, it was strangely silent here, the few bird-cries that reached
me coming from a long distance. I had flattered myself that the voice
had become to some extent intelligible to me: its outburst of anger
caused no doubt by my cowardly flight after the Indian; then its
recovered friendliness, which had induced me to return; and finally its
desire to be followed. Now that it had led me to this place of shadow
and profound silence and had ceased to speak and to lead, I could not
help thinking that this was my goal, that I had been brought to this
spot with a purpose, that in this wild and solitary retreat some
tremendous adventure was about to befall me.

As the silence continued unbroken, there was time to dwell on this
thought. I gazed before me and listened intently, scarcely breathing,
until the suspense became painful--too painful at last, and I turned and
took a step with the idea of going back to the border of the wood, when
close by, clear as a silver bell, sounded the voice once more, but only
for a moment--two or three syllables in response to my movement, then it
was silent again.

Once more I was standing still, as if in obedience to a command, in the
same state of suspense; and whether the change was real or only imagined
I know not, but the silence every minute grew more profound and the
gloom deeper. Imaginary terrors began to assail me. Ancient fables of
men allured by beautiful forms and melodious voices to destruction all
at once acquired a fearful significance. I recalled some of the Indian
beliefs, especially that of the mis-shapen, man-devouring monster who is
said to beguile his victims into the dark forest by mimicking the human
voice--the voice sometimes of a woman in distress--or by singing some
strange and beautiful melody. I grew almost afraid to look round lest I
should catch sight of him stealing towards me on his huge feet with toes
pointing backwards, his mouth snarling horribly to display his great
green fangs. It was distressing to have such fancies in this wild,
solitary spot--hateful to feel their power over me when I knew that they
were nothing but fancies and creations of the savage mind. But if these
supernatural beings had no existence, there were other monsters, only
too real, in these woods which it would be dreadful to encounter alone
and unarmed, since against such adversaries a revolver would be as
ineffectual as a popgun. Some huge camoodi, able to crush my bones like
brittle twigs in its constricting coils, might lurk in these shadows,
and approach me stealthily, unseen in its dark colour on the dark
ground. Or some jaguar or black tiger might steal towards me, masked by
a bush or tree-trunk, to spring upon me unawares. Or, worse still,
this way might suddenly come a pack of those swift-footed, unspeakably
terrible hunting-leopards, from which every living thing in the forest
flies with shrieks of consternation or else falls paralysed in their
path to be instantly torn to pieces and devoured.

A slight rustling sound in the foliage above me made me start and
cast up my eyes. High up, where a pale gleam of tempered sunlight fell
through the leaves, a grotesque human-like face, black as ebony and
adorned with a great red beard, appeared staring down upon me. In
another moment it was gone. It was only a large araguato, or howling
monkey, but I was so unnerved that I could not get rid of the idea that
it was something more than a monkey. Once more I moved, and again, the
instant I moved my foot, clear, and keen, and imperative, sounded the
voice! It was no longer possible to doubt its meaning. It commanded me
to stand still--to wait--to watch--to listen! Had it cried "Listen! Do
not move!" I could not have understood it better. Trying as the suspense
was, I now felt powerless to escape. Something very terrible, I felt
convinced, was about to happen, either to destroy or to release me from
the spell that held me.

And while I stood thus rooted to the ground, the sweat standing in large
drops on my forehead, all at once close to me sounded a cry, fine and
clear at first, and rising at the end to a shriek so loud, piercing, and
unearthly in character that the blood seemed to freeze in my veins,
and a despairing cry to heaven escaped my lips; then, before that long
shriek expired, a mighty chorus of thunderous voices burst forth around
me; and in this awful tempest of sound I trembled like a leaf; and the
leaves on the trees were agitated as if by a high wind, and the earth
itself seemed to shake beneath my feet. Indescribably horrible were my
sensations at that moment; I was deafened, and would possibly have been
maddened had I not, as by a miracle, chanced to see a large araguato
on a branch overhead, roaring with open mouth and inflated throat and
chest.

It was simply a concert of howling monkeys that had so terrified me! But
my extreme fear was not strange in the circumstances; since everything
that had led up to the display--the gloom and silence, the period of
suspense, and my heated imagination--had raised my mind to the highest
degree of excitement and expectancy. I had rightly conjectured, no
doubt, that my unseen guide had led me to that spot for a purpose;
and the purpose had been to set me in the midst of a congregation of
araguatos to enable me for the first time fully to appreciate their
unparalleled vocal powers. I had always heard them at a distance; here
they were gathered in scores, possibly hundreds--the whole araguato
population of the forest, I should think--close to me; and it may give
some faint conception of the tremendous power and awful character of
the sound thus produced by their combined voices when I say that this
animal--miscalled "howler" in English--would outroar the mightiest lion
that ever woke the echoes of an African wilderness.

This roaring concert, which lasted three or four minutes, having ended,
I lingered a few minutes longer on the spot, and not hearing the voice
again, went back to the edge of the wood, and then started on my way
back to the village.

Perhaps I was not capable of thinking quite coherently on what had just
happened until I was once more fairly outside of the forest shadows--out
in that clear open daylight, where things seem what they are, and
imagination, like a juggler detected and laughed at, hastily takes
itself out of the way. As I walked homewards I paused midway on the
barren ridge to gaze back on the scene I had left, and then the recent
adventure began to take a semi-ludicrous aspect in my mind. All that
circumstance of preparation, that mysterious prelude to something
unheard of, unimaginable, surpassing all fables ancient and modern, and
all tragedies--to end at last in a concert of howling monkeys! Certainly
the concert was very grand--indeed, one of the most astounding in
nature---but still--I sat down on a stone and laughed freely.

The sun was sinking behind the forest, its broad red disk still showing
through the topmost leaves, and the higher part of the foliage was of
a luminous green, like green flame, throwing off flakes of quivering,
fiery light, but lower down the trees were in profound shadow.

I felt very light-hearted while I gazed on this scene, for how pleasant
it was just now to think of the strange experience I had passed
through--to think that I had come safely out of it, that no human
eye had witnessed my weakness, and that the mystery existed still to
fascinate me! For, ludicrous as the denouement now looked, the cause of
all, the voice itself, was a thing to marvel at more than ever. That it
proceeded from an intelligent being I was firmly convinced; and although
too materialistic in my way of thinking to admit for a moment that it
was a supernatural being, I still felt that there was something more
than I had at first imagined in Kua-ko's speech about a daughter of the
Didi. That the Indians knew a great deal about the mysterious voice, and
had held it in great fear, seemed evident. But they were savages, with
ways that were not mine; and however friendly they might be towards one
of a superior race, there was always in their relations with him a
low cunning, prompted partly by suspicion, underlying their words and
actions. For the white man to put himself mentally on their level is
not more impossible than for these aborigines to be perfectly open, as
children are, towards the white. Whatever subject the stranger within
their gates exhibits an interest in, that they will be reticent about;
and their reticence, which conceals itself under easily invented lies
or an affected stupidity, invariably increases with his desire for
information. It was plain to them that some very unusual interest took
me to the wood; consequently I could not expect that they would tell
me anything they might know to enlighten me about the matter; and I
concluded that Kua-ko's words about the daughter of the Didi, and what
she would do if he blew an arrow at a bird, had accidentally escaped
him in a moment of excitement. Nothing, therefore, was to be gained
by questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them how much
the subject attracted me. And I had nothing to fear; my independent
investigations had made this much clear to me; the voice might proceed
from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of wild fantastic
humours, but nothing worse. It was friendly to me, I felt sure; at the
same time it might not be friendly towards the Indians; for, on that
day, it had made itself heard only after my companion had taken flight;
and it had then seemed incensed against me, possibly because the savage
had been in my company.

That was the result of my reflections on the day's events when I
returned to my entertainer's roof and sat down among my friends to
refresh myself with stewed fowl and fish from the household pot, into
which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture to dip my fingers.

Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think--certainly not
reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me, probably
surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid temper. I laughed
at the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he dropped his head down again.
After a minute or two I took the metal match-box and tossed it on to
his breast. He clutched it and, starting up, stared at me in the utmost
astonishment. He could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had
failed to carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to
the loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up the
box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid look; while all
the others gathered about him, each trying to get the box into his own
hands to admire it again, notwithstanding that they had all seen it a
dozen times before. But it was Kua-ko's now and not the stranger's, and
therefore more nearly their own than formerly, and must look different,
more beautiful, with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful
enamelled cock on the lid--figured in Paris probably, but just like a
cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of killing and
eating than we do our purring pussies and lemon-coloured canaries--must
now look more strikingly valiant and cock-like than ever, with its
crimson comb and wattles, burnished red hackles, and dark green arching
tail-plumes. But Kua-ko, while willing enough to have it admired and
praised, would not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously that
it was not theirs for them to handle, but his--Kua-ko's--for all time;
that he had won it by accompanying me--valorous man that he was!--to
that evil wood into which they--timid, inferior creatures that they
were!--would never have ventured to set foot. I am not translating his
words, but that was what he gave them to understand pretty plainly, to
my great amusement.

After the excitement was over, Runi, who had maintained a dignified
calm, made some roundabout remarks, apparently with the object of
eliciting an account of what I had seen and heard in the forest of
evil fame. I replied carelessly that I had seen a great many birds and
monkeys--monkeys so tame that I might have procured one if I had had
a blow-pipe, in spite of my never having practiced shooting with that
weapon.

It interested them to hear about the abundance and tameness of the
monkeys, although it was scarcely news; but how tame they must have been
when I, the stranger not to the manner born--not naked, brown-skinned,
lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an owl in his movements--had yet been able
to look closely at them! Runi only remarked, apropos of what I had told
him, that they could not go there to hunt; then he asked me if I feared
nothing.

"Nothing," I replied carelessly. "The things you fear hurt not the white
man and are no more than this to me," saying which I took up a little
white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with my breath. "And against
other enemies I have this," I added, touching my revolver. A brave
speech, just after that araguato episode; but I did not make it without
blushing--mentally.

He shook his head, and said it was a poor weapon against some enemies;
also--truly enough--that it would procure no birds and monkeys for the
stew-pot.

Next morning my friend Kua-ko, taking his zabatana, invited me to go out
with him, and I consented with some misgivings, thinking he had overcome
his superstitious fears and, inflamed by my account of the abundance
of game in the forest, intended going there with me. The previous day's
experience had made me think that it would be better in the future to
go there alone. But I was giving the poor youth more credit than he
deserved: it was far from his intention to face the terrible unknown
again. We went in a different direction, and tramped for hours through
woods where birds were scarce and only of the smaller kinds. Then my
guide surprised me a second time by offering to teach me to use the
zabatana. This, then, was to be my reward for giving him the box! I
readily consented, and with the long weapon, awkward to carry, in my
hand, and imitating the noiseless movements and cautious, watchful
manner of my companion, I tried to imagine myself a simple Guayana
savage, with no knowledge of that artificial social state to which I had
been born, dependent on my skill and little roll of poison-darts for
a livelihood. By an effort of the will I emptied myself of my life
experience and knowledge--or as much of it as possible--and thought
only of the generations of my dead imaginary progenitors, who had ranged
these woods back to the dim forgotten years before Columbus; and if the
pleasure I had in the fancy was childish, it made the day pass quickly
enough. Kua-ko was constantly at my elbow to assist and give advice; and
many an arrow I blew from the long tube, and hit no bird. Heaven knows
what I hit, for the arrows flew away on their wide and wild career to
be seen no more, except a few which my keen-eyed comrade marked to their
destination and managed to recover. The result of our day's hunting was
a couple of birds, which Kua-ko, not I, shot, and a small opossum his
sharp eyes detected high up a tree lying coiled up on an old nest, over
the side of which the animal had incautiously allowed his snaky tail
to dangle. The number of darts I wasted must have been a rather serious
loss to him, but he did not seem troubled at it, and made no remark.

Next day, to my surprise, he volunteered to give me a second lesson, and
we went out again. On this occasion he had provided himself with a
large bundle of darts, but--wise man!--they were not poisoned, and it
therefore mattered little whether they were wasted or not. I believe
that on this day I made some little progress; at all events, my teacher
remarked that before long I would be able to hit a bird. This made me
smile and answer that if he could place me within twenty yards of a bird
not smaller than a small man I might manage to touch it with an arrow.

This speech had a very unexpected and remarkable effect. He stopped
short in his walk, stared at me wildly, then grinned, and finally burst
into a roar of laughter, which was no bad imitation of the howling
monkey's performance, and smote his naked thighs with tremendous energy.
At length recovering himself, he asked whether a small woman was not
the same as a small man, and being answered in the affirmative, went off
into a second extravagant roar of laughter.

Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he continued in this mood, I
began making any number of feeble jokes--feeble, but quite as good as
the one which had provoked such outrageous merriment--for it amused
me to see him acting in this unusual way. But they all failed of their
effect--there was no hitting the bull's-eye a second time; he would only
stare vacantly at me, then grunt like a peccary--not appreciatively--and
walk on. Still, at intervals he would go back to what I had said about
hitting a very big bird, and roar again, as if this wonderful joke was
not easily exhausted.

Again on the third day we were out together practicing at the
birds--frightening if not killing them; but before noon, finding that it
was his intention to go to a distant spot where he expected to meet
with larger game, I left him and returned to the village. The blow-pipe
practice had lost its novelty, and I did not care to go on all day
and every day with it; more than that, I was anxious after so long an
interval to pay a visit to my wood, as I began to call it, in the hope
of hearing that mysterious melody which I had grown to love and to miss
when even a single day passed without it.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Returning several times to the forest, Abel is gradually convinced that "the bird or being" follows him during each of the visits. He concludes that the Indians may know more about this mystery than they have revealed. Offering Kua-ko his metal match-box in return for the native's services as a guide through the woodland, Abel is at first spurned by the frightened Indian. Kua-ko, however, cannot resist the offer for long and so he accompanies Abel to the forest. Although Kua-ko takes along his zabatana, a long tube from which the Indians blow poisoned arrows, the young brave refuses to kill any game within the boundaries of the forbidden forest. He explains accidentally to Abel that "the daughter of the Didi," who dwells among the trees, would throw the poisoned dart back at him. Abel, although he laughs at this explanation, understands that he has become involved in a greater mystery. Kua-ko's alarmed behavior and abrupt silence confirm Abel's impression. Overcome by his fears, Kua-ko suddenly bolts from Abel's side and flees as fast as he can in the direction of the Indian village. Alone, Abel suddenly hears the mysterious creature nearby; he is completely bewildered by the apparently human emotions conveyed by the beautiful melodies of what he now calls "being, not bird." There is anger or resentment in the voice although Abel also feels that the creature is kindly disposed toward the young man's presence in the woodland. But Abel, like Kua-ko, begins to be overwhelmed by the imaginary terrors of the vast forest and by his own isolated situation. The suspense is broken when Abel finds himself in the surroundings of araguatos, or howling monkeys, who terrify him at first and then amuse him later with their antics and "unparalleled vocal powers." When the woodland voice becomes silent, Abel goes back calmly to the Parahuari village. After reflecting on his latest adventures, Abel enters the encampment of his hosts more confidently because he is now sure that the creature in the woods is friendly toward him and unfriendly toward the Indians. Runi and Kua-ko, obviously curious about their guest's impressions and experiences, conceal their desire to find out the truth. Nevertheless, they question Abel as slyly as possible; his report about the tame araguatos amaze the Indians who have never observed the howling monkeys at such close range. Runi, in fact, admits that the Indians never go to the forest to hunt despite the abundant game there. Abel impresses Kua-ko by giving the savage the match-box despite the fact that the Indian did not earn his prize. Kua-ko, in turn, surprises Abel by starting to teach the white man the use of the zabatana. When Abel becomes somewhat proficient in the use of the deadly weapon, Kua-ko eagerly agrees with his pupil that the latter might be able to shoot within twenty yards "a bird not smaller than a small man." Kua-ko, laughing heartily, puzzles Abel by inquiring "whether a small woman was not the same as a small man." Becoming curious once again about the "mysterious melody," Abel prepares to pay another visit to the forest, but he is determined to go alone from now on. While Abel is out with Kua-ko for further practice with the zabatana, he makes an excuse and returns to the village to ward off any suspicion before going into the woodland.


prompt:
Chapter: After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of pleasing
anticipations, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in!
What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness it possessed above
all forests, because of that mystery that drew me to it! And it was
mine, truly and absolutely--as much mine as any portion of earth's
surface could belong to any man--mine with all its products: the
precious woods and fruits and fragrant gums that would never be
trafficked away; its wild animals that man would never persecute; nor
would any jealous savage dispute my ownership or pretend that it was
part of his hunting-ground. As I crossed the savannah I played with this
fancy; but when I reached the ridgy eminence, to look down once more on
my new domain, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced to
my heart and was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to rush to
my eyes. And caring not in that solitude to disguise my feelings from
myself, and from the wide heaven that looked down and saw me--for this
is the sweetest thing that solitude has for us, that we are free in it,
and no convention holds us--I dropped on my knees and kissed the stony
ground, then casting up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being for
the gift of that wild forest, those green mansions where I had found so
great a happiness!

Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long after
noon; but no melodious voice gave me familiar and expected welcome; nor
did my invisible companion make itself heard at all on that day, or, at
all events, not in its usual bird-like warbling language. But on this
day I met with a curious little adventure and heard something very
extraordinary, very mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in my
mind with the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles.

It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and finding
myself in a rather open part of the wood, near its border, where the
breeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a large
branch, which was half broken, but still remained attached to the trunk
of the tree, while resting its terminal twigs on the ground. Just before
me, where I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad,
round, polished leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectly
horizontal position of the upper leaves made them look like a collection
of small platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. Through
the leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a slender dead
stem protruded, and from a twig at its summit depended a broken spider's
web. A minute dead leaf had become attached to one of the loose threads
and threw its small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves below;
and as it trembled and swayed in the current of air, the black spot
trembled with it or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and was
seldom at rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the small
dancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I noticed a
small spider, with a flat body and short legs, creep cautiously out on
to the upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred with velvet
black first drew my attention to it, for it was beautiful to the eye;
and presently I discovered that this was no web-spinning, sedentary
spider, but a wandering hunter, that captured its prey, like a cat, by
stealing on it concealed and making a rush or spring at the last. The
moving shadow had attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken
for a fly running about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to leaf.
Now began a series of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider's part, with
the object of circumventing the imaginary fly, which seemed specially
designed to meet this special case; for certainly no insect had ever
before behaved in quite so erratic a manner. Each time the shadow flew
past, the spider ran swiftly in the same direction, hiding itself under
the leaves, always trying to get near without alarming its prey; and
then the shadow would go round and round in a small circle, and some new
strategic move on the part of the hunter would be called forth. I became
deeply interested in this curious scene; I began to wish that the shadow
would remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to give the hunter a
chance. And at last I had my wish: the shadow was almost motionless, and
the spider moving towards it, yet seeming not to move, and as it
crept closer I fancied that I could almost see the little striped body
quivering with excitement. Then came the final scene: swift and straight
as an arrow the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, then
wiggled round and round, evidently trying to take hold of his prey with
fangs and claws; and finding nothing under him, he raised the fore
part of his body vertically, as if to stare about him in search of the
delusive fly; but the action may have simply expressed astonishment. At
this moment I was just on the point of giving free and loud vent to the
laughter which I had been holding in when, just behind me, as if from
some person who had been watching the scene over my shoulder and was as
much amused as myself at its termination, sounded a clear trill of merry
laughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but no living creature
was there. The mass of loose foliage I stared into was agitated, as if
from a body having just pushed through it. In a moment the leaves and
fronds were motionless again; still, I could not be sure that a slight
gust of wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced that I had
heard close to me a real human laugh, or sound of some living creature
that exactly simulated a laugh, that I carefully searched the ground
about me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing,
and going back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated for
a considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on the
mystery of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to wonder
whether I, like the spider that chased the shadow, had been deluded, and
had seemed to hear a sound that was not a sound.

On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or three
hours' ramble, during which I heard nothing, thinking it useless to
haunt the known spots any longer, I turned southwards and penetrated
into a denser part of the forest, where the undergrowth made progress
difficult. I was not afraid of losing myself; the sun above and my sense
of direction, which was always good, would enable me to return to the
starting-point.

In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on for over half an
hour, finding it no easy matter to make my way without constantly
deviating to this side or that from the course I wished to keep, when I
came to a much more open spot. The trees were smaller and scantier here,
owing to the rocky nature of the ground, which sloped rather rapidly
down; but it was moist and overgrown with mosses, ferns, creepers, and
low shrubs, all of the liveliest green. I could not see many yards ahead
owing to the bushes and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to hear
a low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or thirty
yards further, I made out to be the gurgling of running water; and at
the same moment I made the discovery that my throat was parched and my
palms tingling with heat. I hurried on, promising myself a cool draught,
when all at once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the water, I
caught yet another sound--a low, warbling note, or succession of
notes, which might have been emitted by a bird. But it startled me
nevertheless--bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so much to
me--and pausing, I listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally,
treading with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysterious
vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a quantity of
feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, I saw that just
beyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in the sunlight
from above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was in this open
space, about twenty yards from me, although the water was still hidden
from sight. Something else was there, which I did see; instantly my
cautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision,
scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it away.

It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among the ferns
and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled
behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held
extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched
on a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing
with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to
her hand; and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently
hopped up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting
its wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of dropping
on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to see her
distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that she was small,
not above four feet six or seven inches in height, in figure slim, with
delicately shaped little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her
only garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees,
of a whitish-gray colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material.
Her hair was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed
wavy or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it
appeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of her
skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, near to me as
she actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in the figure which made
it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed the
prevailing colour. This tint I presently attributed to the effect of
the sunlight falling on her through the green foliage; for once, for a
moment, she raised herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, and
then a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the arm
at that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just
where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of iridescent
colour.

I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the bird,
with a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in sudden alarm;
at the same moment she turned and saw me through the light leafy screen.
But although catching sight of me thus suddenly, she did not exhibit
alarm like the bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised look
in them, remained immovably fixed on my face. And then slowly,
imperceptibly--for I did not notice the actual movement, so gradual and
smooth it was, like the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its
form and place, yet to the eye seems not to have moved--she rose to her
knees, to her feet, retired, and with face still towards me, and eyes
fixed on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away into
the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise spot where she
had been a moment before--the feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, and
stems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an aquatic plant, and slim,
drooping fern fronds, and they were motionless and seemed not to have
been touched by something passing through them. She had gone, yet I
continued still, bent almost double, gazing fixedly at the spot where
I had last seen her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed by
sensations which were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid was
the image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually before
my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a dream, an
illusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in this gross
world; and at the same time I knew that she had been there--that
imagination was powerless to conjure up a form so exquisite.

With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I remained for
some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiar
melodious sound. For I was now convinced that in this wild solitary girl
I had at length discovered the mysterious warbler that so often followed
me in the wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a
drink from the stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the
forest and went home.

Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful anticipations,
and had no sooner got well among the trees than a soft, warbling sound
reached my ears; it was like that heard on the previous day just before
catching sight of the girl among the ferns. So soon! thought I, elated,
and with cautious steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again
to catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to
doubt that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on
a rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near and
distinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour later, in
another place, the same mysterious note sounded near me. During my
remaining time in the forest I was served many times in the same way,
and still nothing was seen, nor was there any change in the voice.

Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, feeling very
keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the cause of the elusive
creature's behaviour was that she had been piqued at my discovery of her
in one of her most secret hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and
that it had pleased her to pay me out in this manner.

On the next day there was no change; she was there again, evidently
following me, but always invisible, and varied not from that one mocking
note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her a second
time. In the end I was vexed, and resolved to be even with her by not
visiting the wood for some time. A display of indifference on my part
would, I hoped, result in making her less coy in the future.

Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two others
to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening fruit on a
cashew tree would attract a large number of birds. The fruit, however,
proved still green, so that we gathered none and killed few birds.
Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by and by, falling
behind our companions, he complimented me on my good shooting, although,
as usual, I had only wasted the arrows I had blown.

"Soon you will be able to hit," he said; "hit a bird as big as a small
woman"; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old joke. At last,
growing confidential, he said that I would soon possess a zabatana of my
own, with arrows in plenty. He was going to make the arrows himself,
and his uncle Otawinki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. I
treated it all as a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he meant it.

Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil fame, and
when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, very much to my
surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade me to go,
where before I had been earnestly recommended not to go, until, finding
that I would not, he took me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he
returned to the same subject: he could not understand why I would not go
to that wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid.

"No, not afraid," I replied; "but I know the place well, and am getting
tired of it." I had seen everything in it--birds and beasts--and had
heard all its strange noises.

"Yes, heard," he said, nodding his head knowingly; "but you have seen
nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet."

I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything strange
the wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I went on to
describe her appearance, and finished by asking if he thought a white
man was frightened at the sight of a young girl.

What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, growing
still more confidential and generous than on the previous day, he said
that I would soon be a most important personage among them, and greatly
distinguish myself. He did not like it when I laughed at all this, and
went on with great seriousness to speak of the unmade blowpipe that
would be mine--speaking of it as if it had been something very great,
equal to the gift of a large tract of land, or the governorship of a
province, north of the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke of something else
more wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore,
and this was that young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid of
about sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather lean and dirty; not
ugly, nor yet prepossessing. And this copper-coloured little drab of the
wilderness he proposed to bestow in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him,
I managed to control my muscles and asked him what authority he--a
young nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife
for himself--could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand way?
He replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would give his
consent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations; and last,
and LEAST, according to the matrimonial customs of these latitudes,
Oalava herself would be ready to bestow her person--queyou, worn
figleaf-wise, necklace of accouri teeth, and all--on so worthy a suitor
as myself. Finally, to make the prospect still more inviting, he added
that it would not be necessary for me to subject myself to any voluntary
tortures to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the purgatorial
state of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I said, and,
with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of torture he
would recommend. For me--so valorous a person--"no torture," he answered
magnanimously. But he--Kua-ko--had made up his mind as to the form of
torture he meant to inflict some day on his own person. He would prepare
a large sack and into it put fire-ants--"As many as that!" he exclaimed
triumphantly, stooping and filling his two hands with loose sand. He
would put them in the sack, and then get into it himself naked, and
tie it tightly round his neck, so as to show to all spectators that
the hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his flesh could be
endured without a groan and with an unmoved countenance. The poor youth
had not an original mind, since this was one of the commonest forms
of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But the sudden wonderful
animation with which he spoke of it, the fiendish joy that illumined his
usually stolid countenance, sent a sudden disgust and horror through me.
But what a strange inverted kind of fiendishness is this, which delights
at the anticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not on an enemy!
And towards others these savages are mild and peaceable! No, I could not
believe in their mildness; that was only on the surface, when nothing
occurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. I could have laughed at
the whole matter, but the exulting look on my companion's face had made
me sick of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more about it.

But he would talk still--this fellow whose words, as a rule, I had to
take out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on the same
subject, he said that not one person in the village would expect to
see me torture myself; that after what I would do for them all--after
delivering them from a great evil--nothing further would be expected of
me.

I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear plain
that in everything he had said he had been leading up to some very
important matter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake to
suppose that my savage was offering me a blow-pipe and a marketable
virgin sister from purely disinterested motives.

In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my being able
eventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with an arrow. Out of
it all came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious girl I had
seen in the wood was not of a size to suit me as a target when I had got
my hand in with a little more practice. That was the great work I was
asked to do for them--that shy, mysterious girl with the melodious
wild-bird voice was the evil being I was asked to slay with poisoned
arrows! This was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to become
more and more familiar with her haunts and habits, to overcome all
shyness and suspicion in her; and at the proper moment, when it would be
impossible to miss my mark, to plant the fatal arrow! The disgust he had
inspired in me before, when gloating over anticipated tortures, was a
weak and transient feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him in
a sudden transport of rage, and in a moment would have shattered on his
head the blow-pipe I was carrying in my hand, but his astonished look as
he turned to face me made me pause and prevented me from committing
so fatal an indiscretion. I could only grind my teeth and struggle to
overcome an almost overpowering hatred and wrath. Finally I flung the
tube down and bade him take it, telling him that I would not touch it
again if he offered me all the sisters of all the savages in Guayana for
wives.

He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence suggested
that it would be best to conceal as far as possible the violent
animosity I had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat scornfully
if he believed that I should ever be able to hit anything--bird or human
being--with an arrow. "No," I almost shouted, so as to give vent to my
feelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, "this is the white man's
weapon; but he kills men with it--men who attempt to kill or injure
him--but neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder innocent
young girls treacherously." After that we went on in silence for some
time; at length he said that the being I had seen in the wood and was
not afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a daughter of the Didi, an
evil being; and that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood they
could not go there to hunt, and even in other woods they constantly went
in fear of meeting her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on
in silence; and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw off
my clothes and plunged into the water to cool my anger before going in
to the others.

Thinking about the forest girl while lying awake that night, I came to
the conclusion that I had made it sufficiently plain to her how little
her capricious behaviour had been relished, and had therefore no need
to punish myself more by keeping any longer out of my beloved green
mansions. Accordingly, next day, after the heavy rain that fell during
the morning hours had ceased, I set forth about noon to visit the wood.
Overhead the sky was clear again; but there was no motion in the heavy
sultry atmosphere, while dark blue masses of banked-up clouds on the
western horizon threatened a fresh downpour later in the day. My mind
was, however, now too greatly excited at the prospect of a possible
encounter with the forest nymph to allow me to pay any heed to these
ominous signs.

I had passed through the first strip of wood and was in the succeeding
stony sterile space when a gleam of brilliant colour close by on the
ground caught my sight. It was a snake lying on the bare earth; had I
kept on without noticing it, I should most probably have trodden upon
or dangerously near it. Viewing it closely, I found that it was a coral
snake, famed as much for its beauty and singularity as for its deadly
character. It was about three feet long, and very slim; its ground
colour a brilliant vermilion, with broad jet-black rings at equal
distances round its body, each black ring or band divided by a narrow
yellow strip in the middle. The symmetrical pattern and vividly
contrasted colours would have given it the appearance of an artificial
snake made by some fanciful artist, but for the gleam of life in its
bright coils. Its fixed eyes, too, were living gems, and from the point
of its dangerous arrowy head the glistening tongue flickered ceaselessly
as I stood a few yards away regarding it.

"I admire you greatly, Sir Serpent," I said, or thought, "but it is
dangerous, say the military authorities, to leave an enemy or possible
enemy in the rear; the person who does such a thing must be either a bad
strategist or a genius, and I am neither."

Retreating a few paces, I found and picked up a stone about as big as
a man's hand and hurled it at the dangerous-looking head with the
intention of crushing it; but the stone hit upon the rocky ground a
little on one side of the mark and, being soft, flew into a hundred
small fragments. This roused the creature's anger, and in a moment with
raised head he was gliding swiftly towards me. Again I retreated, not
so slowly on this occasion; and finding another stone, I raised and
was about to launch it when a sharp, ringing cry issued from the bushes
growing near, and, quickly following the sound, forth stepped the forest
girl; no longer elusive and shy, vaguely seen in the shadowy wood, but
boldly challenging attention, exposed to the full power of the meridian
sun, which made her appear luminous and rich in colour beyond example.
Seeing her thus, all those emotions of fear and abhorrence invariably
excited in us by the sight of an active venomous serpent in our path
vanished instantly from my mind: I could now only feel astonishment
and admiration at the brilliant being as she advanced with swift, easy,
undulating motion towards me; or rather towards the serpent, which was
now between us, moving more and more slowly as she came nearer. The
cause of this sudden wonderful boldness, so unlike her former habit, was
unmistakable. She had been watching my approach from some hiding-place
among the bushes, ready no doubt to lead me a dance through the wood
with her mocking voice, as on previous occasions, when my attack on the
serpent caused that outburst of wrath. The torrent of ringing and to
me inarticulate sounds in that unknown tongue, her rapid gestures, and,
above all, her wide-open sparkling eyes and face aflame with colour made
it impossible to mistake the nature of her feeling.

In casting about for some term or figure of speech in which to describe
the impression produced on me at that moment, I think of waspish, and,
better still, avispada--literally the same word in Spanish, not having
precisely the same meaning nor ever applied contemptuously--only to
reject both after a moment's reflection. Yet I go back to the image of
an irritated wasp as perhaps offering the best illustration; of some
large tropical wasp advancing angrily towards me, as I have witnessed a
hundred times, not exactly flying, but moving rapidly, half running and
half flying, over the ground, with loud and angry buzz, the glistening
wings open and agitated; beautiful beyond most animated creatures in
its sharp but graceful lines, polished surface, and varied brilliant
colouring, and that wrathfulness that fits it so well and seems to give
it additional lustre.

Wonder-struck at the sight of her strange beauty and passion, I forgot
the advancing snake until she came to a stop at about five yards from
me; then to my horror I saw that it was beside her naked feet. Although
no longer advancing, the head was still raised high as if to strike;
but presently the spirit of anger appeared to die out of it; the lifted
head, oscillating a little from side to side, sunk down lower and lower
to rest finally on the girl's bare instep; and lying there motionless,
the deadly thing had the appearance of a gaily coloured silken garter
just dropped from her leg. It was plain to see that she had no fear of
it, that she was one of those exceptional persons, to be found, it is
said, in all countries, who possess some magnetic quality which has a
soothing effect on even the most venomous and irritable reptiles.

Following the direction of my eyes, she too glanced down, but did not
move her foot; then she made her voice heard again, still loud and
sharp, but the anger was not now so pronounced.

"Do not fear, I shall not harm it," I said in the Indian tongue.

She took no notice of my speech and continued speaking with increasing
resentment.

I shook my head, replying that her language was unknown to me. Then by
means of signs I tried to make her understand that the creature was safe
from further molestation. She pointed indignantly at the stone in my
hand, which I had forgotten all about. At once I threw it from me, and
instantly there was a change; the resentment had vanished, and a tender
radiance lit her face like a smile.

I advanced a little nearer, addressing her once more in the Indian
tongue; but my speech was evidently unintelligible to her, as she stood
now glancing at the snake lying at her feet, now at me. Again I had
recourse to signs and gestures; pointing to the snake, then to the stone
I had cast away, I endeavoured to convey to her that in the future I
would for her sake be a friend to all venomous reptiles, and that I
wished her to have the same kindly feelings towards me as towards these
creatures. Whether or not she understood me, she showed no disposition
to go into hiding again, and continued silently regarding me with a look
that seemed to express pleasure at finding herself at last thus suddenly
brought face to face with me. Flattered at this, I gradually drew nearer
until at the last I was standing at her side, gazing down with the
utmost delight into that face which so greatly surpassed in loveliness
all human faces I had ever seen or imagined.

And yet to you, my friend, it probably will not seem that she was
so beautiful, since I have, alas! only the words we all use to paint
commoner, coarser things, and no means to represent all the exquisite
details, all the delicate lights, and shades, and swift changes of
colour and expression. Moreover, is it not a fact that the strange or
unheard of can never appear beautiful in a mere description, because
that which is most novel in it attracts too much attention and is given
undue prominence in the picture, and we miss that which would have taken
away the effect of strangeness--the perfect balance of the parts and
harmony of the whole? For instance, the blue eyes of the northerner
would, when first described to the black-eyed inhabitants of warm
regions, seem unbeautiful and a monstrosity, because they would vividly
see with the mental vision that unheard-of blueness, but not in the
same vivid way the accompanying flesh and hair tints with which it
harmonizes.

Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint it in words than of
the feeling its original inspired in me when, looking closely for the
first time on that rare loveliness, trembling with delight, I mentally
cried: "Oh, why has Nature, maker of so many types and of innumerable
individuals of each, given to the world but one being like this?"

Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind before I dismissed it
as utterly incredible. No, this exquisite being was without doubt one
of a distinct race which had existed in this little-known corner of the
continent for thousands of generations, albeit now perhaps reduced to a
small and dwindling remnant.

Her figure and features were singularly delicate, but it was her colour
that struck me most, which indeed made her differ from all other human
beings. The colour of the skin would be almost impossible to describe,
so greatly did it vary with every change of mood--and the moods were
many and transient--and with the angle on which the sunlight touched it,
and the degree of light.

Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a somewhat dim white
or pale grey; near in the strong sunshine it was not white, but
alabastrian, semi-pellucid, showing an underlying rose colour; and
at any point where the rays fell direct this colour was bright and
luminous, as we see in our fingers when held before a strong firelight.
But that part of her skin that remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer
white, and the underlying colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim
blue. With the skin the colour of the eyes harmonized perfectly. At
first, when lit with anger, they had appeared flame-like; now the iris
was of a peculiar soft or dim and tender red, a shade sometimes seen
in flowers. But only when looked closely at could this delicate hue be
discerned, the pupils being large, as in some grey eyes, and the long,
dark, shading lashes at a short distance made the whole eye appear dark.
Think not, then, of the red flower, exposed to the light and sun in
conjunction with the vivid green of the foliage; think only of such
a hue in the half-hidden iris, brilliant and moist with the eye's
moisture, deep with the eye's depth, glorified by the outward look of
a bright, beautiful soul. Most variable of all in colour was the hair,
this being due to its extreme fineness and glossiness, and to its
elasticity, which made it lie fleecy and loose on head, shoulders, and
back; a cloud with a brightness on its surface made by the freer outer
hairs, a fit setting and crown for a countenance of such rare changeful
loveliness. In the shade, viewed closely, the general colour appeared a
slate, deepening in places to purple; but even in the shade the nimbus
of free flossy hairs half veiled the darker tints with a downy pallor;
and at a distance of a few yards it gave the whole hair a vague, misty
appearance. In the sunlight the colour varied more, looking now dark,
sometimes intensely black, now of a light uncertain hue, with a play of
iridescent colour on the loose surface, as we see on the glossed plumage
of some birds; and at a short distance, with the sun shining full on her
head, it sometimes looked white as a noonday cloud. So changeful was it
and ethereal in appearance with its cloud colours that all other human
hair, even of the most beautiful golden shades, pale or red, seemed
heavy and dull and dead-looking by comparison.

But more than form and colour and that enchanting variability was the
look of intelligence, which at the same time seemed complementary to and
one with the all-seeing, all-hearing alertness appearing in her face;
the alertness one remarks in a wild creature, even when in repose and
fearing nothing; but seldom in man, never perhaps in intellectual or
studious man. She was a wild, solitary girl of the woods, and did not
understand the language of the country in which I had addressed her.
What inner or mind life could such a one have more than that of any wild
animal existing in the same conditions? Yet looking at her face it
was not possible to doubt its intelligence. This union in her of two
opposite qualities, which, with us, cannot or do not exist together,
although so novel, yet struck me as the girl's principal charm. Why had
Nature not done this before--why in all others does the brightness of
the mind dim that beautiful physical brightness which the wild animals
have? But enough for me that that which no man had ever looked for or
hoped to find existed here; that through that unfamiliar lustre of the
wild life shone the spiritualizing light of mind that made us kin.

These thoughts passed swiftly through my brain as I stood feasting my
sight on her bright, piquant face; while she on her part gazed back
into my eyes, not only with fearless curiosity, but with a look of
recognition and pleasure at the encounter so unmistakably friendly that,
encouraged by it, I took her arm in my hand, moving at the same time a
little nearer to her. At that moment a swift, startled expression came
into her eyes; she glanced down and up again into my face; her lips
trembled and slightly parted as she murmured some sorrowful sounds in a
tone so low as to be only just audible.

Thinking she had become alarmed and was on the point of escaping out of
my hands, and fearing, above all things, to lose sight of her again so
soon, I slipped my arm around her slender body to detain her, moving
one foot at the same time to balance myself; and at that moment I felt
a slight blow and a sharp burning sensation shoot into my leg, so sudden
and intense that I dropped my arm, at the same time uttering a cry of
pain, and recoiled one or two paces from her. But she stirred not when
I released her; her eyes followed my movements; then she glanced down at
her feet. I followed her look, and figure to yourself my horror when I
saw there the serpent I had so completely forgotten, and which even that
sting of sharp pain had not brought back to remembrance! There it lay,
a coil of its own thrown round one of her ankles, and its head, raised
nearly a foot high, swaying slowly from side to side, while the swift
forked tongue flickered continuously. Then--only then--I knew what had
happened, and at the same time I understood the reason of that sudden
look of alarm in her face, the murmuring sounds she had uttered, and the
downward startled glance. Her fears had been solely for my safety, and
she had warned me! Too late! too late! In moving I had trodden on or
touched the serpent with my foot, and it had bitten me just above the
ankle. In a few moments I began to realize the horror of my position.
"Must I die! must I die! Oh, my God, is there nothing that can save me?"
I cried in my heart.

She was still standing motionless in the same place: her eyes wandered
back from me to the snake; gradually its swaying head was lowered again,
and the coil unwound from her ankle; then it began to move away, slowly
at first, and with the head a little raised, then faster, and in the end
it glided out of sight. Gone!--but it had left its venom in my blood--O
cursed reptile!

Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned to her face, now
strangely clouded with trouble; her eyes dropped before mine, while the
palms of her hands were pressed together, and the fingers clasped and
unclasped alternately. How different she seemed now; the brilliant face
grown so pallid and vague-looking! But not only because this tragic end
to our meeting had pierced her with pain: that cloud in the west had
grown up and now covered half the sky with vast lurid masses of vapour,
blotting out the sun, and a great gloom had fallen on the earth.

That sudden twilight and a long roll of approaching thunder,
reverberating from the hills, increased my anguish and desperation.
Death at that moment looked unutterably terrible. The remembrance of all
that made life dear pierced me to the core--all that nature was to me,
all the pleasures of sense and intellect, the hopes I had cherished--all
was revealed to me as by a flash of lightning. Bitterest of all was the
thought that I must now bid everlasting farewell to this beautiful being
I had found in the solitude--this lustrous daughter of the Didi--just
when I had won her from her shyness--that I must go away into the cursed
blackness of death and never know the mystery of her life! It was
that which utterly unnerved me, and made my legs tremble under me, and
brought great drops of sweat to my forehead, until I thought that the
venom was already doing its swift, fatal work in my veins.

With uncertain steps I moved to a stone a yard or two away and sat down
upon it. As I did so the hope came to me that this girl, so intimate
with nature, might know of some antidote to save me. Touching my leg,
and using other signs, I addressed her again in the Indian language.

"The snake has bitten me," I said. "What shall I do? Is there no leaf,
no root you know that would save me from death? Help me! help me!" I
cried in despair.

My signs she probably understood if not my words, but she made no reply;
and still she remained standing motionless, twisting and untwisting her
fingers, and regarding me with a look of ineffable grief and compassion.

Alas! It was vain to appeal to her: she knew what had happened, and what
the result would most likely be, and pitied, but was powerless to help
me. Then it occurred to me that if I could reach the Indian village
before the venom overpowered me something might be done to save me. Oh,
why had I tarried so long, losing so many precious minutes! Large drops
of rain were falling now, and the gloom was deeper, and the thunder
almost continuous. With a cry of anguish I started to my feet and
was about to rush away towards the village when a dazzling flash of
lightning made me pause for a moment. When it vanished I turned a last
look on the girl, and her face was deathly pale, and her hair looked
blacker than night; and as she looked she stretched out her arms towards
me and uttered a low, wailing cry. "Good-bye for ever!" I murmured, and
turning once more from her, rushed away like one crazed into the wood.
But in my confusion I had probably taken the wrong direction, for
instead of coming out in a few minutes into the open border of the
forest, and on to the savannah, I found myself every moment getting
deeper among the trees. I stood still, perplexed, but could not shake
off the conviction that I had started in the right direction. Eventually
I resolved to keep on for a hundred yards or so and then, if no opening
appeared, to turn back and retrace my steps. But this was no easy
matter. I soon became entangled in a dense undergrowth, which so
confused me that at last I confessed despairingly to myself that for
the first time in this wood I was hopelessly lost. And in what terrible
circumstances! At intervals a flash of lightning would throw a vivid
blue glare down into the interior of the wood and only serve to show
that I had lost myself in a place where even at noon in cloudless
weather progress would be most difficult; and now the light would only
last a moment, to be followed by thick gloom; and I could only tear
blindly on, bruising and lacerating my flesh at every step, falling
again and again, only to struggle up and on again, now high above the
surface, climbing over prostrate trees and branches, now plunged to my
middle in a pool or torrent of water.

Hopeless--utterly hopeless seemed all my mad efforts; and at each pause,
when I would stand exhausted, gasping for breath, my throbbing heart
almost suffocating me, a dull, continuous, teasing pain in my bitten leg
served to remind me that I had but a little time left to exist--that by
delaying at first I had allowed my only chance of salvation to slip by.

How long a time I spent fighting my way through this dense black wood I
know not; perhaps two or three hours, only to me the hours seemed like
years of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I found that I was free
of the close undergrowth and walking on level ground; but it was darker
here darker than the darkest night; and at length, when the lightning
came and flared down through the dense roof of foliage overhead, I
discovered that I was in a spot that had a strange look, where the trees
were very large and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to impede
progress beneath them. Here, recovering breath, I began to run, and
after a while found that I had left the large trees behind me, and was
now in a more open place, with small trees and bushes; and this made me
hope for a while that I had at last reached the border of the forest.
But the hope proved vain; once more I had to force my way through dense
undergrowth, and finally emerged on to a slope where it was open, and
I could once more see for some distance around me by such light as
came through the thick pall of clouds. Trudging on to the summit of
the slope, I saw that there was open savannah country beyond, and for a
moment rejoiced that I had got free from the forest. A few steps more,
and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, a precipice not less than
fifty feet deep. I had never seen that bank before, and therefore knew
that I could not be on the right side of the forest. But now my only
hope was to get completely away from the trees and then to look for the
village, and I began following the bank in search of a descent. No break
occurred, and presently I was stopped by a dense thicket of bushes. I
was about to retrace my steps when I noticed that a tall slender tree
growing at the foot of the precipice, its green top not more than
a couple of yards below my feet, seemed to offer a means of escape.
Nerving myself with the thought that if I got crushed by the fall I
should probably escape a lingering and far more painful death, I dropped
into the cloud of foliage beneath me and clutched desperately at the
twigs as I fell. For a moment I felt myself sustained; but branch after
branch gave way beneath my weight, and then I only remember, very dimly,
a swift flight through the air before losing consciousness.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: On the way to the forest, Abel is very happy at the thought of leaving the Indians for the "green mansions" where he had found "so great happiness." He is amused by watching a spider chase an imaginary fly, caused by a moving shadow. A sound of laughter from someone, equally enjoying the spider's motions, suggests again to Abel that the elusive singer is an intelligent being like himself. The next day, Abel's search is rewarded because he surprises a beautiful young girl near a stream. The girl vanishes so quickly that Abel doubts for a time whether or not he has been deceived by an illusion. Determined to meet the girl of the forest, Abel visits the same haunts for the next two days without success. He then decides to stay away for a while to feign indifference and thereby coax her into an appearance upon his return. For two days Abel goes with Kua-ko and tries to improve his marksmanship with the zabatana. He astonishes the Indian by revealing his accidental and brief meeting with the girl of the forest. Elated by the success of his plan, Kua-ko explains to Abel that the white man, able to approach the girl, can kill her with the zabatana. He further shocks Abel by promising to let him marry Oalava, his sister, as a reward for killing "the daughter of the Didi." Knowing instinctively that the girl is no daughter of an evil spirit, Abel almost strikes Kua-ko in rage and ends by refusing to speak to the savage about the matter. Abel, anxious to revisit the forest, ignores signs of an approaching storm and immediately enters his "beloved green mansions." He sees a coral snake on his path and starts to throw a rock at the serpent to protect himself. He misses and picks up another rock, but the forest girl suddenly appears and stops Abel. The young man is stunned to see the snake rest protectively beside her naked feet; he realizes that the girl is probably a wild solitary inhabitant of the woods and no fantastic vision or superstitious creation. Enraptured by her beauty, Abel tries to touch her but is bitten by the snake, which he has accidentally touched. Abel, sure that he will die within a short time unless help is obtained, runs in the direction of the Parahuari village. But he takes a wrong turn. Confused by the new scenery and drenched by the rain from the storm, he stumbles helplessly until he reaches a precipice. He falls to the bottom unconscious after endeavoring vainly to lower himself carefully to the top of a tree.