-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Роберт Баллантайн
-
- Коралловый остров
-
- Стр. 102/154
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
"
How
comes
it
,
Bill
,
that
the
mothers
allow
such
a
dreadful
thing
to
be
done
?
"
"
Allow
it
?
the
mothers
do
it
!
It
seems
to
me
that
there
's
nothing
too
fiendish
or
diabolical
for
these
people
to
do
.
Why
,
in
some
of
the
islands
they
have
an
institution
called
the
Areoi
,
and
the
persons
connected
with
that
body
are
ready
for
any
wickedness
that
mortal
man
can
devise
.
In
fact
,
they
stick
at
nothing
;
and
one
o
'
their
customs
is
to
murder
their
infants
the
moment
they
are
born
.
The
mothers
agree
to
it
,
and
the
fathers
do
it
.
And
the
mildest
ways
they
have
of
murdering
them
is
by
sticking
them
through
the
body
with
sharp
splinters
of
bamboo
,
strangling
them
with
their
thumbs
,
or
burying
them
alive
and
stamping
them
to
death
while
under
the
sod
.
"
I
felt
sick
at
heart
while
my
companion
recited
these
horrors
.
"
But
it
's
a
curious
fact
,
"
he
continued
after
a
pause
,
during
which
we
walked
in
silence
towards
the
spot
where
we
had
left
our
comrades
--
"
it
's
a
curious
fact
that
wherever
the
missionaries
get
a
footin
'
all
these
things
come
to
an
end
at
once
,
an
'
the
savages
take
to
doin
'
each
other
good
and
singin
'
psalms
,
just
like
Methodists
.
"
"
God
bless
the
missionaries
,
"
said
I
,
while
a
feeling
of
enthusiasm
filled
my
heart
so
that
I
could
speak
with
difficulty
.
"
God
bless
and
prosper
the
missionaries
till
they
get
a
footing
in
every
island
of
the
sea
!
"
"
I
would
say
Amen
to
that
prayer
,
Ralph
,
if
I
could
,
"
said
Bill
,
in
a
deep
,
sad
voice
;
"
but
it
would
be
a
mere
mockery
for
a
man
to
ask
a
blessing
for
others
who
dare
not
ask
one
for
himself
.
But
,
Ralph
,
"
he
continued
,
"
I
've
not
told
you
half
o
'
the
abominations
I
have
seen
durin
'
my
life
in
these
seas
.
If
we
pull
long
together
,
lad
,
I
'll
tell
you
more
;
and
if
times
have
not
changed
very
much
since
I
was
here
last
,
it
's
like
that
you
'll
have
a
chance
o
'
seeing
a
little
for
yourself
before
long
.
"
Next
day
the
wood-cutting
party
went
ashore
again
,
and
I
accompanied
them
as
before
.
During
the
dinner-hour
I
wandered
into
the
woods
alone
,
being
disinclined
for
food
that
day
.
I
had
not
rambled
far
when
I
found
myself
unexpectedly
on
the
seashore
,
having
crossed
a
narrow
neck
of
land
which
separated
the
native
village
from
a
large
bay
.
Here
I
found
a
party
of
the
islanders
busy
with
one
of
their
war-canoes
,
which
was
almost
ready
for
launching
.
I
stood
for
a
long
time
watching
this
party
with
great
interest
,
and
observed
that
they
fastened
the
timbers
and
planks
to
each
other
very
much
in
the
same
way
in
which
I
had
seen
Jack
fasten
those
of
our
little
boat
.
But
what
surprised
me
most
was
its
immense
length
,
which
I
measured
carefully
,
and
found
to
be
a
hundred
feet
long
;
and
it
was
so
capacious
that
it
could
have
held
three
hundred
men
.
It
had
the
unwieldy
outrigger
and
enormously
high
stern-posts
which
I
had
remarked
on
the
canoe
that
came
to
us
while
I
was
on
the
Coral
Island
.
Observing
some
boys
playing
at
games
a
short
way
along
the
beach
,
I
resolved
to
go
and
watch
them
;
but
as
I
turned
from
the
natives
who
were
engaged
so
busily
and
cheerfully
at
their
work
,
I
little
thought
of
the
terrible
event
that
hung
on
the
completion
of
that
war-canoe
.
Advancing
towards
the
children
,
who
were
so
numerous
that
I
began
to
think
this
must
be
the
general
playground
of
the
village
,
I
sat
down
on
a
grassy
bank
under
the
shade
of
a
plantain-tree
to
watch
them
.
And
a
happier
or
more
noisy
crew
I
have
never
seen
.
There
were
at
least
two
hundred
of
them
,
both
boys
and
girls
,
all
of
whom
were
clad
in
no
other
garments
than
their
own
glossy
little
black
skins
,
except
the
maro
,
or
strip
of
cloth
,
round
the
loins
of
the
boys
,
and
a
very
short
petticoat
or
kilt
on
the
girls
.
They
did
not
all
play
at
the
same
game
,
but
amused
themselves
in
different
groups
.
One
band
was
busily
engaged
in
a
game
exactly
similar
to
our
blind
man
's
buff
.
Another
set
were
walking
on
stilts
,
which
raised
the
children
three
feet
from
the
ground
.
They
were
very
expert
at
this
amusement
,
and
seldom
tumbled
.
In
another
place
I
observed
a
group
of
girls
standing
together
,
and
apparently
enjoying
themselves
very
much
;
so
I
went
up
to
see
what
they
were
doing
,
and
found
that
they
were
opening
their
eyelids
with
their
fingers
till
their
eyes
appeared
of
an
enormous
size
,
and
then
thrusting
pieces
of
straw
between
the
upper
and
lower
lids
,
across
the
eyeball
,
to
keep
them
in
that
position
!
This
seemed
to
me
,
I
must
confess
,
a
very
foolish
as
well
as
dangerous
amusement
.
Nevertheless
,
the
children
seemed
to
be
greatly
delighted
with
the
hideous
faces
they
made
.
I
pondered
this
subject
a
good
deal
,
and
thought
that
if
little
children
knew
how
silly
they
seemed
to
grown-up
people
when
,
they
make
faces
,
they
would
not
be
so
fond
of
doing
it
.
In
another
place
were
a
number
of
boys
engaged
in
flying
kites
;
and
I
could
not
help
wondering
that
some
of
the
games
of
those
little
savages
should
be
so
like
to
our
own
,
although
they
had
never
seen
us
at
play
.
