Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-08-02
y GRANT ALLEN9

aiOlt. aHtolS DbdSCS " Dtiuo VI uiILu-
itiated things, knows the secret on
which depends the life OF the TE-kila-
kila for The time being.
Can the parrot speak, L felix asked.
with profound emotion.
"MOnSieur, he can speak, and he
speaks frequently But not one word
OF all he says is prehensible either
to me or to any other living being. His
tongue is that of forgotten natl on.
The islanders understand him no more
than [ do. He has very long sermon
or poem, which he knows py heart in
some unknown language. and he re-
peat5 it often at tull length from time
to time, especially hen ne has eaten
well and feels full ana happy. The
Oldest natives tell romantic legend
about this strange recitation OF the
good MethuSela hi call him Methuse
lab because Of his great age bat [ do
not really know whether their tale is
true or purely fanciful. You never
can trust these Polynesian traditions. ;"
What IS the legend?" Felix asked.
with intense interest. ''In an island
where we find ourselves SO GRIT round
by mystery within mystery, and taboo
within taboo, as this, every key is
worth trying. 1t is well for us at least
to learn everything we can about the
ideas of the natives. Who knows what
clue may supply us at last with the
missing link, which will enable us to
break through this intolerable servl-
tude:'
"Well, the story they tellus is this"
the Frenchman replied, though 1
have gathered it only a hint at a time.
from very old men, who declared at
the same moment that some religious
fear Of which they have many-pre
vented them from telling me any
further about it. 1t seems that long
time ago-hOW many years ago nobody
knows, only that it was in the time OF
the thirty ninth Tu-kila-kila, before
the reign OF Lavita, the son of Sami-
4 strange korOng was east up upon this
island by the waves Of the sea, much
as you and | have been in the present
generation, BY accident, says the
story, or else. as others aver, through
the indiscretion ola native woman who
fell in love with him, and who worried
the taboo out of her husband. the
stranger became acquainted with the
secret of Tu Kila-Kila. AS the natives
themselves put it, he learned the
death of the High God, and where in
the world his soul was hidden, There
upon, in some mysterious way or other.
he became Tu-kila-Kila himself, and
raIed as High God for ten years or
more here on the island. Now, I'D to
that time, the legend goes on, none
but the men of the island knew the
secret; they learned it as soon as they
We're initiated in the great mysteries
which occur before q boy is given
spear and admitted to the rank of COM
pete manhood. But sometimes a
woman Yves told the secret wrongfully
10y her husband or her lover: and one
such woman, apparently, told the
strange koroag. and so enabled him to
become Tu-kila-kila.'
but where does the parrot come
in?' Felix asked. with still profounder
excitement than eVer Something
within him seemed to tell him in
stinctively he was now within touch of
the special key that must sooner Or
later unlock the mystery.
well the trenchlnan went on.
still strolling the parrot atfectionately
with his hand, and smoothing down the
feathers on its rule back. ''the
strange Tu-kila-kila. who thus ruled in
the island, though he learned TO speak
olN AACF>lbL W GIL, llLi ~ vi Ills
own, language of the birds, which no
man on earth could ever talk with
him So. to beGuie his time and to
have someone who could converse with
him in his native dialect, he taught
this parrot to 5pea < his own tongue,
and spent most Of his days in talking
with it and fond ing 1t. At last, after
he had instructed it by slow degrees
how TO repeat this long sermon or
poem-which | have often heard it re-
cite in a sing-song voice from begin
ming TO end his time came, as they
say. and he had to give way to another
Iu- hlla- hlla: for the Bouparese have
a proyerb like our own about the king,
the High Coz is dead may the Hig h
Col live forever But before he gave
up his Soul to his successor, and was
eaten or buried. which ever is the
custom, he handed over his pet TO the
King OF the Birds, strict Y charging
all future bearers Of that divine office
to care for the parrot as they would
care for son or a daughter. And SO
the natives make much of the parrot
to the present day, saying he IS great
e. than any, save a korong or a god.
for be is the Soul Of a dead race, sum-
ming it up in himself, AMI he knows
the secret of the Death OF Tu-ki.a-
kiIa"
but you can't tell me what Ian
guage he speoks?" Felix asked with a
despairing gesture. It was terrible to
stand thus within measuring distance
of the secret which might, perhaps,
save Muriel's life, and vet be perpet-
ually baked by wheel within wheel
of more than Egyptian mystery.
who can saw the Frenchman an
swerei, Struggling his shoulders help
le~-'v. 1T isn't Polynesian; that l
know wei, Cor speak Bout arese now
like native OF Boupari: and it isn't
the only other language spoken at the
present day in the South Seas the
Malanesian of New Caledonia-for
that I learned we'll from the kanakas
viii Q / was serving my time as a con-
Wet among them. All we can say for
certain is that it may, perhaps. be
some ancient tongue Some Of them,
it is said, excel their century, Is it