It was Sunday, May 26, and a couple of young people decided to relax.The weather was excellent that day, with a cool breeze from the Andes, so the temperature was not too high.All this attracts people to go outing.
So Benito and Manoel invited Mina to go with them through the large forest on the right bank of the Amazon opposite the estate.
In this way, a few young people can get away from the lovely Iquitos estate for a while.The two gentlemen were going hunting, and of course they would not leave the two young girls in pursuit of their prey.We can trust Manoel as much as we can on this.As Lina and her mistress are always inseparable, the two young girls will walk together.After all, a journey of ten miles or so would not deter them.
Neither Joam Galal nor Yaquita had time to go with them.On the one hand, the design of the big wooden paper has not been completed, so there is no room for delay; on the other hand, although all the maids in the manor came to help Yaquita and Sibel, they still couldn't waste even an hour.
Mina accepted the invitation with great joy.On that day, two boys and two young girls, accompanied by a nigger, came to the bank of the confluence of two rivers at about eleven o'clock after lunch.Five people boarded a small boat of the estate, and after passing between the islands of Iquitos and Parianta, they reached the right bank of the Amazon River.
The boat is moored beside a beautiful green cane forest.About ten meters above the ground, the fern forest seems to wear a huge crown, decorated with smooth green branches and delicate lace-like leaves.
"Manoel," said Mina, "I welcome you now on behalf of the Great Forest, because you are a guest of this region of the Upper Amazon. You must make me my housewife with us!"
"My dear Mina," replied Manoel, "you will be mistress both at the estate of Iquitos and in our city of Belem. There as here..."
"Oh! Manoel! And you, my sister!" cried Benito. "I don't think you have come here to talk to each other? Forget about you for a few hours." It's an unmarried couple!"
"Not for an hour! Not for a moment!" retorted Manoel.
"And what if Mina asks you to?"
"Mina won't!"
"Then who knows?" Lina said with a smile.
"Lina is right!" said Mina, offering her hand to Manoel, "try to forget! . . . let us forget! . . . My brother asked for it! . . . During this walk we are no longer married couple! I am no longer Benito's sister! You are no longer his friend! …"
"Look what you say!" cried Benito.
"Great! Great! We're all strangers now!" cried the young mulatto girl, clapping her hands.
"We are all strangers meeting for the first time." Mina added, "Everyone meets and says hello to each other..."
"Miss..." said Manoel, bowing to Mina.
"Excuse me, sir's name?" Mina asked very seriously.
"My humble servant is Manoel Valdes. I would be very glad if my brother would introduce me to you..."
"Oh! To hell with the red tape!" cried Benito.
"It seems that I was wrong just now!... You should continue to be your fiancée! As long as you want to, keep this relationship forever!"
"Forever?" Mina yelled.As soon as she blurted out this casual remark, Lina burst out laughing.
Manoel cast a grateful glance at Mina, who accidentally spoke her mind.
"If we walk, we may talk less. Let's go!" suggested Benito, trying to help his sister out of her predicament.
However, Mina was not in a hurry to get on the road.
"Brother, wait!" she said, "just now you saw how I obeyed you. In order not to spoil your own pleasure, you made me and Manoel forget that we were married. Well, now, In order not to spoil my pleasure, it's your turn to make sacrifices! Although you will be unhappy, I still ask you to promise me personally, forget..."
"Forget what?..."
"Forget that you are a hunter, my brother!"
"What! You don't allow me to..."
"Yes, I won't let you shoot all these cute little birds, these parrots, phoenixes, chief birds, gurugus that are flying happily in the forest. And you won't be allowed to shoot those little animals - only of course That's what you're asked of today. Unless a snow leopard, jaguar, or some other beast gets too close, you're not going to shoot!"
"But..." muttered Benito.
"Otherwise, I will walk away with Manoel's arm and disappear into this forest, and you will have to come after us!"
"Hey! Do you wish me to object?" asked Benito, looking at his friend Manoel:
"I think so," replied Manoel.
"But no!" cried Benito, "I have no objection, I obey my sister and make you angry! Let's go!"
So these four young men walked into this beautiful forest together with the black man.Here, sunlight cannot penetrate the dense foliage to reach the ground.
There is no other place like this beautiful forest on the right bank of the Amazon River.There are many different tree species growing here, and there are more than a hundred kinds of rare plants on the land of one square kilometer.Plus, the rangers could easily tell that the woodworkers hadn't been here to swing their axes.Otherwise, deforestation will be evident even after centuries.A new tree will look different from what it is now after a hundred years of growth.This is a peculiar sight caused by the constant growth and change of vines and other parasitic plants, and the local aborigines can't get it wrong.
These young people laughed and talked happily.Sometimes they hide in the tall grass, sometimes through the depths of the dense forest, and sometimes walk under the undergrowth.The black man walked in front of them, and when the bushes became too thick, he swung his machete to open a path, and thousands of birds fluttered and fled in fright.
Fortunately, Mina had already interceded for this little bird world just now.Here, live the most beautiful birds in the tropics, fluttering among the tall branches and leaves.There are green parrots and parrots here, which seem to be natural products of this huge forest.There are also various kinds of hummingbirds, some with blue feathers all over, some with red and yellow all over, and another kind of hummingbird with long tails like scissors. They fly among the branches like flowers flying in the wind.There are also blackbirds with brown and yellow fur, warblers with golden wings, and "Sabia" with a black body like a crow. They gather in the woods and chirp, as if they are performing a deafening chorus.There are also parrots unique to South America, which are pecking at clusters of golden "jilili" flowers with their long beaks; and woodpeckers, which are nodding their small heads covered with purple spots.It's all so pleasing to the eye.
When the cat genie, a tawny sparrowhawk, howls in the treetops like a rusty weathervane, the whole bird world hides and is silent.And when this sparrowhawk spreads its long white tail feathers to soar proudly, if a "Garvey Harrier" - a giant eagle with a snow-white head - appears above it at this time, then it is the turn of the sparrowhawk to fly. The eagle fled in panic.Because the "Garvey Harrier" is the most ferocious of the birds.
Mina let Manoel admire these wonders of nature, because in the more civilized and civilized eastern provinces he could not appreciate such primitive and simple beauty.Manoel followed Mina's story with his ears, or rather his eyes.Besides, sometimes the singing and chirping of these birds was so loud that he couldn't even hear what Mina was talking about. Sounds: gurgling, chirping, whistling, and cooing.
An hour passed and they hadn't gone a mile.The trees here are not the same as those on the shore.There are no more animals on the ground, but there are groups of monkeys chasing and playing among the branches at a height of 20 meters above the ground.Sunbeams of sunlight fell on the undergrowth through the thick shade of the trees.In fact, sunlight is not a necessary factor for this tropical forest.As long as there is air, the plants here can grow no matter whether they are big or small, trees or grass.As for the heat necessary for plant growth, they are taken up from the soil, not from the surrounding air.The soil here is like a huge heating device, inexhaustible and inexhaustible.
Under the towering giant trees, pineapple, tarragon, orchids, cacti and other parasitic plants form a small forest world.There are so many wonderful little insects here that one cannot help picking them as if they were real flowers.There is a wise insect with blue wings with shining ripples; there is a "Lejans" butterfly with green stripes on its golden shining wings, and there is an "Agrippina" flying moths, about ten inches long, with wings as thin as leaves, and the Malinamys wasps, whose emerald-green bodies are set in golden carapaces; Green-winged "Waragum" worms, their eyes radiate a yellowish glow.When night falls, their colorful lights can illuminate the entire forest.
"How wonderful!" Excited Mina exclaimed.
"Mina, you are in your own house now—at least that's what you said," cried Benito. "Look how you flaunt your wealth!"
"Don't be joking, brother!" Mina answered. "Surely so many beautiful things deserve my praise. Don't you, Manoel? God made them all, and they belong to all."
"Let him laugh!" said Manoel. "Actually, you don't know, your brother was a poet too! He appreciates these natural beauties as much as we do. Only, once he picks up a shotgun, his Shixing disappeared without a trace."
"Then, brother, you should be your poet!" Mina said in amazement.
"Yes, I am a poet!" retorted Benito, "oh! beautiful nature! . . . "
It must be admitted, however, that Mina's refusal to let her brother use a shotgun was, on Benito's part, a forced sacrifice.The forest is full of prey.It's a pity that I can't put a few shots.
In an open space with relatively sparse trees, several pairs of ostriches about one and a half meters high, belonging to the "Nuodu" species, were "walking".Accompanied by them is the "Selima" turkey who is inseparable from them.From an edible point of view, these turkeys are much more delicious than ostriches.
"Ah! This is the price I paid for that damned oath just now!" Benito yelled at the gesture of his sister, while putting down the shotgun that he instinctively raised on his shoulder just now, and put it under his arm again. .
"These turkeys should be respected because they are natural enemies of snakes," Manoel said.
"Snakes should be respected!" retorted Benito, "because they eat harmful insects, and these insects eat even more harmful aphids! In this way, everything should be respected!"
Being in this large forest with a lot of prey, Benito, who loves hunting by nature, is indeed about to go through a severe test.look!In the forest, agile deer and beautiful roe deer are running.If you aim and shoot, you will definitely be able to hit them. In addition, you can often see light brown turkeys in the forest, and the western badger (a kind of American wild boar) favored by hunting enthusiasts. The hare resembles the agouti, and the armadillo, a flat-toothed animal with scales on its carapace.
When Benito sees a tapir, it is not merely virtue that he displays, but a true heroism, so to speak.On the banks of the Amazon River and its tributaries, the Brazilians call this tapir (which looks like a small elephant) "onta".This tapir is almost extinct.Because of its rarity, this pachyderm is still a hunter's dream.Plus, because their meat is tastier than beef, they are even more prized by gourmets.Especially the piece of meat with the protruding neck is simply an incomparable delicacy!
Yes, the itchy Benito really wanted to raise the shotgun, but in order to be true to his oath, he had to leave the shotgun useless.
However, Benito had told his sister that if he came across a "Tamandoa Asa", a very strange large anteater, he could not help but shoot.In that case, his shot would be worthy of entry in the hunting almanac.
Fortunately, however, they did not encounter giant anteaters, nor the various leopard species known in South America as Onsa.The animal can't let them get too close.
"All in all, it's a nice walk," continued Benito after a pause, "but this aimless walk..."
"How can it be said that it is aimless!" Mina cried, "our purpose is to come here to see, to admire, and to visit this great forest of Central America for the last time, because we can no longer see it in Pala. Here it is. We have come to say goodbye to it!"
"Ah! I have an idea!" Lina said.
"Lina's idea must be a crazy idea!" said Benito, shaking his head.
"Brother!" Mina said, "it's not good for you to laugh at Lina like this. Don't you regret that we are walking aimlessly? Lina is looking for a definite object!"
"Monsieur Benito, I'm sure my idea will please you!" replied the half-breed girl.
"What idea?" Mina asked.
"Did you see this long vine?" Lina said, pointing to a sipodilla tangled around a giant mimosa.The leaves of mimosa are as light as a feather, and they will close up at the slightest movement.
"So what?" said Benito.
"I suggest that we follow this vine until it ends!" Lina replied.
"That's right! It's an idea! It's a goal!" cried Benito. "No matter what obstacles we encounter, bushes, felled woods, rocks, creeks or rapids, we must not stop, but keep following the vines. go down..."
"That's right, you were right, brother!" Mina said with a smile, "Lina is really crazy!"
"Okay, let's go!" Benito replied to his sister: "You said Lina to avoid saying that I was crazy too? Because I also agree with her idea!"
"Okay then! If you like, let's all go crazy for once! Go along the vine!" Mina said.
"You are not afraid..." Manoel interjected.
"Another objection!" cried Benito. "Oh! Manoel, if Mina had been waiting for you at the end of the vine, you would not have said so, and would have been on your way!"
"Well then, I won't say anything!" Manoel replied, "I won't say anything. I'll follow your orders and follow the vine!"
So, like children on vacation, they happily hit the road.
If it can help people get out of the maze, then this sibo vine can only make them go farther and farther if they insist on going to the end of it.
This is a Sibo vine of the genus called the red 'Yupi Gunga', which sometimes reaches several miles in length.Of course, believe it or not.
This sipo vine winds and turns from tree to tree, it sometimes goes around the trunk and sometimes climbs up the branches.It sometimes stretches from a dracaena to rosewood, and sometimes coils from a giant chestnut tree called 'Bertolesia Excelsa' to several wine palms called 'Bagaba' tree.Professor Agassiz once aptly compared the branches of these wine palms to coral-red baguettes flecked with green.
Immediately, the vines were gracefully wound around several fig trees named "Duguma", making these fig trees look like olives that had grown for a hundred years.There are at least forty-three different varieties of this fig tree in Brazil.Then, the rattan continued to climb forward.It went first to a few euphorbia trees that produced rubber, then to a beautiful and elegant palm tree called Garj with a smooth and delicate trunk, and then to the cocoa trees that grow naturally along the banks of the Amazon and its tributaries. up, and then it went on along several wild peonies of different varieties.These wild peonies range from rose-colored flowers to clusters of white berries.
What a disappointment this happy group of young people felt when they thought for a moment that they could not find their guide, Siboten!They stopped several times, making sure to pick it out from among the multitude of parasitic plants.
"There! There!" Lina cried. "I see it!"
"You're mistaken!" Mina replied, "It's not, it's another kind of vine."
"No! Lina is right!" said Benito.
"No! Lina made a mistake." Manoel naturally turned to Mina.
Thus began a serious, protracted debate in which neither side would budge.
So, Benito and the blacks with him climbed up the entwined branches of the sipo vine to find out its true whereabouts.
However, it is undoubtedly more difficult to find the sibo vine in this overgrown plant.There are not only the spiky monocot "Kalata", but also a glove-sized orchid with rose-colored flowers and lilac upper petals; there is also a plant called "Onhidiyem", The leaves and branches of this plant are intertwined, like a ball of wool messed up by a kitten!
Afterwards, the Xibo vine hung down to the ground and continued to crawl.And how difficult it is to distinguish the cibovine among the multitude of plants on the ground, among them the stone pine, the broad-leaved 'Erylinia', the rose-topped 'Galiondra' , There is also a plant called "Ripsal", which is wrapped around the sipo vine like a wire.Sipo vine sometimes drills into the vines of large white morning glory, sometimes crawls under the thick stems of vanilla, and sometimes walks through the shoots of passionflower, apple trees, grape vines and various long runners.
How happy the young people were when they found Xibo Teng again!Because this way they can continue their temporary walk again.
They walked like this for an hour, and there was still no sign that they were nearing the end of the Sibo Vine.They shook the cane vigorously, but it would not budge.Hundreds of small birds fluttered their wings in fright, and several monkeys hurriedly fled from one tree to another, as if to show them the way.
What if a bush blocks the way?That's okay, they'll carve a hole with a machete and slip through it.Sometimes they came upon a tall rock covered with greenery, and the sipod crawled across it like a snake, and they climbed and climbed over it, and continued on their way.
Soon, an open space appeared in front of them.Sunshine and air are indispensable for the growth of trees. In this open space with fresher air, a typical tropical tree species - banana tree stands alone.Residents in tropical areas often eat bananas.According to Professor Humboldt's observations, this tree "has been with mankind since the origin of human civilization".Flower-covered sipo vines twine among the tall branches of the banana trees and stretch from one end of the clearing to the other before disappearing again into the forest.
"Should we stop?" Manoel demanded.
"No! A thousand nos!" cried Benito, "never stop till the end of the cibovine!"
"But," Mina continued, "we should consider going back."
"Oh! dear lady; go on! go on!" implored Lina.
"Go on! Go on!" echoed Benito.
So, this group of daredevils continued to go deep into the forest.The further they went, the wider the forest opened up, making it easier for them to walk than before.
Sibo vine continued to meander towards the north, as if it was going back to the shore again.Thus, going along the vines was less difficult than before, for they were now near the right bank of the river, and it would be easy to go back.
After walking forward for another quarter of an hour, before a small tributary of the Amazon River, there was a deep ravine, and everyone stopped.A vine bridge made of netted branches just crossed this ravine.The Xibo vine is divided into two branches here, just like the two rows of railings of the vine bridge, passing through the ravine.
Manoel tried to hold Mina back, and said:
"Stop, Mina! Stop! If Benito wants to, let him go on. Let's wait for him here!"
"No! My dear lady, come! Come quickly!" cried Lina. "Don't be afraid! The vines are getting thinner, and we're almost at the end!"
The bold half-race girl followed Benito as she spoke, and stepped onto the vine bridge without hesitation.
"Such children!" said Mina. "Come, my dear Manoel, we must follow them!"
In this way, several people passed the vine bridge that swayed like a swing, went deep under the dome of the towering tree again, and continued to move forward.
Along the direction of the river, after walking along this never-ending Xibo vine for less than ten minutes, several people stopped, and the stop this time was not unreasonable.
"Have we reached the end of the Siberian?" Mina asked.
"Not yet!" replied Benito, "but we'd better be careful! You see..."
Benito yelled, pointing to the cipodilla that disappeared among the branches of a tall banyan tree.At this time, the Xibo vine was shaking violently.
"Who is shaking the sibotine?" asked Manoel.
"Maybe it's a beast, let's be careful!"
As Benito said, he raised his shotgun and signaled everyone to let him pass.He took ten steps forward.
Manoel stood motionless with the two girls and the Negro.
Suddenly, Benito yelled, and everyone saw him rushing towards a big tree.So, several people also quickly ran towards the big tree.
Everyone unexpectedly saw a tragic scene:
A man is struggling with his neck hanging from the end of a siberian.He made a loop on the siba vine that was as soft as a rope, and the violent shaking of the siba vine just now was caused by his convulsions just before he died.
Benito lunged at the unfortunate man and chopped off the sipo vine with his machete.
The hanged man slid to the ground, and Manoel leaned over to rescue him, and perhaps revive him if it wasn't too late.
"Poor thing!" Mina murmured.
"Monsieur Manoel! Monsieur Manoel!" Lina cried. "He's still breathing! His heart is still beating! He has to be brought back to life!"
"I think so too," replied Manoel. "It seems that we have come at just the right time!"
This man was in his thirties, he was white, but he was very poorly dressed and very thin, as if he had suffered a lot.
At his feet, there was an empty jug, and a palm-wood throw, to which was tethered a small ball in the shape of a turtle's head.
"Hanging, hanging," Lina repeated, "so young, what brought him to this point?"
Manoel brought the poor man back to life just in time. He opened his eyes and sighed heavily, "Oh!" Lina, who was unprepared, screamed in fright.
"Who are you? My friend?" Benito asked him.
"A man who nearly hanged!"
"But what's your name?"
"Wait, let me think about it." He said, patting his forehead. "Ah! My name is Fragoso, and if I can, I'd love to cut your hair, shave you, and use my skills At your request! I am a barber, or rather the most cornered!"
"Then why do you think of..."
"Oh! What can I do then! Kind sir!" Fragoso sighed with a smile, "I was so desperate at the time! I didn't have a dime in my pocket, but I had to drive more than 3,000 kilometers. Cheng, I can't comfort myself at all! Just like that, I lost my courage!"
On the whole, this Fragoso was well-featured and pleasing.As he slowly woke up, everyone found that he was originally a cheerful person.He was one of those itinerant barbers.They haunted the banks of the upper Amazon and made a living by cutting the hair of blacks and Indians in various villages.These Negroes and Indians, men and women alike, greatly admired their craft.
And this poor, unfortunate, abandoned Fragoso, lost in the woods, without food for forty hours, then fell into a moment of confusion, and you will see the consequences.
"My friend," Benito said to him, "you can go back to the Iquitos estate with us."
"Ah! Really! That's great!" replied Fragoso. "You saved me, and I am your servant! You really shouldn't have saved me just now!"
"Hey! My dear lady! It was a good thing we went on walking just now!" said Lina.
"I never thought we'd find someone on the other side of the Siberian!" said Benito.
"And especially a barber in distress, hanging himself!" replied Ferragoso.
Ferragoso became lively again.After everyone told him the ins and outs of the matter, he warmly thanked Lina for the good idea of "going along the vine".Afterwards, everyone returned to the manor together.At the estate, Ferragoso was so warmly received that he never wanted or needed to resume his miserable business.
Notes:
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