German composition

Section 171 Tahiti. — III

A white man bathing (S. 16, N. 4) by the side of a Tahitian was⁠1 like a plant bleached (S. 7, N. 3, attrib.) by the gardener’s art compared⁠2 with a fine dark-green one growing vigorously⁠3 in the field. Most of the men are tatooed, and the ornaments follow the curvature⁠4 of the body so⁠5 gracefully, that they⁠6 have a very elegant effect. The most common pattern, varying⁠7 in its details, is somewhat like⁠16 the crown of a palm-tree. It springs⁠8 from the central line of the back, and gracefully curls⁠9 round both sides. The simile may⁠10 be a fanciful one, but I⁠11 thought the body of a man thus ornamented⁠12 was (App. §§ 29 and 30) like⁠13 the trunk of a noble tree embraced⁠14 by a delicate creeper.

Many of the elder people⁠15 had their feet covered with small figures, so⁠16 placed as to resemble a sock. This fashion, however, is partly gone⁠17 by, and has been succeeded⁠18 by others. Here⁠19, although fashion is far from immutable, every one must abide⁠20 by that prevailing at his youth. An old man has thus⁠21 his age for ever stamped on his body, and he cannot assume⁠22 the airs of a young dandy. The women are tatooed in the same manner as the men, and⁠23 very commonly on their fingers.

In⁠24 returning to the boat, we witnessed⁠25 a very pretty scene. Numbers⁠26 of children were playing on the beach, and had lighted bonfires, which illuminated the placid sea and⁠27 surrounding trees; others, in⁠28 circles, were singing Tahitian verses. We seated ourselves on the sand, and⁠29 joined their party. The songs were impromptu⁠30, and⁠31 I believe related to our arrival. One little girl sang a line⁠32, which⁠33 the rest took up in parts, forming⁠34 a very pretty chorus. The whole scene made⁠35 us unequivocally aware that⁠36 we were seated on the shore of an island in the far-famed⁠37 South Sea.—Charles Darwin.

Notes

1 = appeared.

2 = in (contracted with the Dat. of the def. art.) comparison.

3 = in full vigour (Kraft, f.).

4 Kurvatur, f.

5 auf eine so anmutige Weise.

6 they have a = they are of.

7 varying — details = the single parts of which often differ (ab´weichen) from each other.

8 springs from, geht... aus; from — back, vom Rückgrat (spine).

9 to curl round, sich um... herum´winden.

10 may — one = is perhaps fanciful (phantastisch).

11 ich dachte bei mir selbst.

12 Use the attribut. const.

13 wie.

14 = which is embraced (umschlin´gen, insep. comp. str. v.) by (S. 106, N. 23) a delicate (zart) creeper (Schlingpflanze, f.).

15 = men.

16 = which were so arranged that they resembled (gleichen, to be like, str. v. governing the Dat.) a sock.

17 = antiquated, veraltet.

18 verdrängt, i.e. displaced.

19 Say ‘Although fashion here is far from (weit davon entfernt) being (S. 1, N. 3) immutable.

20 to abide by a thing, bei etwas verbleiben. Use the attributive constr. in this clause.

21 Auf diese Weise, which place at the head of the period. ‘Old’, here bejahrt; ‘to stamp’, here aus´prägen.

22 to assume the airs of a dandy, den Stutzer spielen. Render ‘not’ by ‘not possibly’, unmöglich.

23 = but generally also.

24 = When we returned to the vessel.

25 Yesterday I witnessed a very pretty scene, gestern bot sich mir ein sehr hübsches Schauspiel dar.

26 = Numerous children.

27 und die in der Nähe stehenden Bäume.

28 = who formed a circle (Kreis, m.), sang verses in their mother-tongue (i.e. native language).

29 = and joined them (sich an´schließen, sep. comp. str. v. refl., governing the Dat.).

30 aus dem Stegreif.

31 = and related (sich beziehen, insep. comp. irreg. v. refl.), I believe (inverted), to (auf) our arrival.

32 the ‘line’ of a verse is generally rendered by ‘Strophe’, f.

33 which — parts, welche von den übrigen mehrstimmig aufgenommen wurde.

34 = and formed.

35 made — aware, legte unzweifelhaftes Zeugnis davon ab.

36 = that we found ourselves.

37 here vielbesungen, adj.