She had no notion of fire except in connexion with the smoke
on the mountain, and when I told her I could make fire like that and
convert it to my use, she became incredulous.
"If you can make fire, Peter," she said, "you are greater than all the
gods upon the island. Whoever heard of making fire?"
In order to convince her, and to test the effect which my fire might
have upon these islanders, I invited her to accompany me to a remote
part of the island, seldom visited, where I had already constructed a
fire-place and collected a quantity of fuel, of which there was an
abundance lying round. She came with me fearlessly, for she trusted me
entirely, and her intelligence, which was superior to the islanders',
made her less superstitious than the savages over whom she nominally
reigned. When she saw the dried wood and leaves I had collected in my
fire-place she appeared to think I had become suddenly demented, as
sometimes happened to the people on the island, when they were thought
to be possessed by evil spirits.
When I took up my flint and steel, however, and began to strike sparks
on to the prepared tinder, she drew back alarmed, although her woman's
curiosity conquered her desire to run away.
Pages:
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117