Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/112

 86 FIJI AND THE FIJIANS. was already a dead man in Tui Wainunu's estimation ; but the execu- tion of his vengeance was deferred until the eve of the visitor's depart- ure. Then, after midnight, Tui Wainunu called round him a few trusty men, and walked with them to the house where the victims slept. A blow on the wall from the Chief's heavy club woke the in- mates, who, before they could recover from their surprise, were ordered out to die, while the wrathful avenger cried, " And can you fly, that you will escape from me?" The first who came out was placed in the custody of an attendant. The next fell with his skull smashed, and the next, and the next, until eleven dead or dying men lay at the feet of the executioners. Two women of the party were kept as slaves, and the man who came out first managed to escape in the confusion. All the rest, without the slightest warning, were suddenly butchered, and their bodies shared and devoured by the friends of Tui Wainunu, who "spake" to his ill-fated guests "neither good nor bad."

It is a trite observation, that the character of a people is shown in their proverbs. The proverbs of Fiji are plentiful, and in agreement with this rule. Of those which grow out of local or other peculiari- ties, there are many, and some have been already quoted. A great number might be added, did they not entirely lose their force by translation, while some cannot be rendered into another tongue at all. The following proverbial saying is often heard, when the setting sun casts long shadows:—

"Sa coka na dabea;"

literally, " The dabea darts forth." The dabea is a large sea-eel which thrusts out its head from beneath the beds of coral, as the afternoon

advances. Greediness is reproved in this couplet : —

"Votavota ko lewa mata ca: Digitaka ka levu, Tea visa;"

which may be thus paraphrased:— "Your evil eye esteems your share too small, And prompts you greedily to aim at all." The spirit of another, used to shame a cruel husband, may be represented thus : — "what a valiant man you are, Who beat your wife, but dare not go to war!" An ill-regulated tribe, or family badly provided for, is sneered at as, "A mataqali yaitta, "A family on whom the dew falls;" i. e., unprotected. The result of wealth in adding care is thus set forth:—