Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Follow the Vine

It was Sunday, May 26th, 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. This way, a few youngsters can get away from the lovely Iggy Toast 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.

Joam.Neither Galar nor Yaquita had time to walk with them.On the one hand, the design of the big raft was not yet completed, and there was no room for delay; on the other hand, although all the maids of the manor came to help Yaquita and Sibel, they still could not 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.With us, you'll have me do my housewife! Dear Mina, replied Manoel, you will be the hostess both at Iquitos and in our city of Belem.there as here oh!Manoel!And you, my sister!cried Benito, I suppose you are not here to tell each other your heart?In these few hours, please temporarily forget that you are an unmarried couple!

Not even an hour!Impossible for a while!Manoel countered. And what if Mina asks you to do it? Mina won't! Then who can know?Lina said with a smile. Lina is right!Mina said as she held out her hand to Manoel, trying to forget!Let's forget about it!This is what my brother asked for!Cut off all ties!On this walk, we are no longer a married couple!I'm no longer Benito's sister either!You are no longer his friend either! See what you said!cried Benito. Very good!Very good!Everyone is a stranger now!cried the young mulatto girl, clapping her hands. We are all strangers meeting for the first time.Mina added that everyone met and said hello to each other

Mademoiselle Manoel bowed to Mina as she spoke. May I ask your name, sir?Mina asked extremely seriously. This is Manoel.Valdes.I would be very happy if Brother Ling could introduce you to me 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, keep this relationship forever! forever?cried Mina.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 walked, we might talk less.Let's hit the road!Benito suggested in order to help his sister out of the 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 enjoyment, you want Manoel and I to forget that we are 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 Yes, I won't let you shoot all these lovely birds, these parrots, phoenixes, chieftains, gurugus, flying happily in the forest.You are also not allowed to shoot those small animals, of course it is only required of you today.You can't shoot unless a snow leopard, jaguar, or some other beast gets too close!

But Benito grumbled. Otherwise, I will walk away with Manoel's arm and disappear into this forest, and you will have to come after us! Hi!Do you want me to object?Benito looked at his friend Manoel and asked: I think so.Manoel replied. But no!Benito shouted, I have no objection, I obey my sister, make you angry!hit the road! 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, rangers can easily spot loggers who haven'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 red 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 Sabias who are as black as crows. 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 auspicious flowers with their long beaks; and woodpeckers, which are nodding their little heads covered with purple spots.It's all so pleasing to the eye.

When the spirit of birds, the fawn sparrowhawk, howls like a rusty weathervane in the treetops, the whole bird world hides and is silent.And when this sparrowhawk soars proudly with its long white tail feathers spread out, if the 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 flee in panic. up.For the Garvey Harrier is the fiercest 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 covered 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 was the Wisdom Moth, whose wings were blue with glittering ripples; the Lyjans butterfly, whose golden wings were streaked with green, and the Agripina Moth, which was about ten inches, with wings as thin as leaves, and the Malinamys, with their emerald-green bodies set in golden carapaces; Mums, whose eyes emit a yellowish glow.When night falls, their colorful lights can illuminate the entire forest. How wonderful!The excited Mina clicked her tongue in admiration. Now you are in your own house, Mina, at least that's what you said, cried Benito, and look how you flaunt your wealth! Stop joking, brother!Mina replied that so many beautiful things certainly deserve my praise.Is not it?Manoel?God created them all, and they belong to everyone. Let him laugh!Manoel said, actually, you don't know, your brother was once a poet too!He admired these beauties of the natural world as much as we do.However, once he picked up the shotgun, his poetic interest disappeared without a trace. Well, brother, you'd better be your poet!Mina said in surprise. Yes, I am a poet!Benito retorted, 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 strolling.Accompanying them is the Selima turkey who is inseparable from them.From an edible point of view, these turkeys are much more delicious than ostriches. well!This is the price I paid for that damned oath I just made!Under the signal of his sister, Benito yelled, while putting down the shotgun that had just been instinctively raised on his shoulder, and put it under his arm again. These turkeys should be treated with respect as they are natural enemies of snakes.Manoel said. Then you should respect snakes too!Benito counters that because they eat harmful insects, which in turn eat even more harmful aphids!That being said, 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, the swift deer and the beautiful roe 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, the western badger (a kind of American wild boar) favored by hunting enthusiasts, and wild rabbits in South America. Very similar to the agouti, and the armadillo, an odontoid 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 and its tributaries, the Brazilians call this tapir (like a small elephant) the 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 she came across a Tamandoa.Asa is a very strange large anteater, so he can't help but put a shot.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.This animal can't let them get too close. All in all, a good walk, said Benito after a pause, but such an aimless walk How can it be said that it is aimless!Our purpose, cried Mina, is to come here to see, to admire, and to visit for the last time this great Central American forest, for we shall see it no more in Pala.We've come to say goodbye to it! ah!I have an idea!Lina said. Lina's idea must be a crazy one!Benito shook his head and said. elder 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 clear target! Mr. Benito, I'm sure my idea will please you!The mulatto girl replied. What idea?Mina asked. Have you seen this long vine?Lina pointed to a sipo vine wrapped 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?Benito said. I suggest that we follow this vine all the way to its end!Lina replied. good!Here's an idea!Also a goal!Benito shouted, no matter what obstacles we encounter, bushes, felled forests, rocks, creeks or rapids, we must not stop, we must keep walking along the vines Yes, you were right just now, brother!Mina smiled and said: Lina is really crazy! OK, let's go!Benito replied to his sister: You said Lina, to avoid saying that I am also crazy, right?Because I agree with her idea too! Oh well!If you like it, let's all go crazy for once!Advance along the vine!Mina said. You are not afraid of Manoel interjecting. Opposition again!cried Benito, Oh!Manoel, if Mina had been waiting for you at the end of the vine, you wouldn't have said that, and you would have been on your way! Well then, I won't say any more!Manoel replied, I said nothing.I listen to you, advance along the vine! So, like children on vacation, they happily hit the road. If we say that the thread of Ariana (the daughter of King Minos) [Note: A character in Greek mythology.In Greek mythology, Ariana used a thin thread to help Theseus escape from the labyrinth. ] can help people get out of the maze, so if they insist on going to the end of it, this sibo vine can only make them go farther and farther. This is a red yuppie.The spinosa of Gunga, of the genus Sibovine, 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 extends from a dracaena to a rosewood tree, and sometimes from a tree named Bertolesia.The giant chestnut tree of Excelsa coils around several wine palms called bagaba.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 the few euphorbias that produced rubber, then to the beautiful and graceful palm tree called Galgi, with a smooth trunk, and then to the cocoa tree that grows by itself along the banks of the Amazon and its tributaries, Then it continued along several wild peonies of different varieties.These wild peonies range from rose-colored flowers to clusters of white berries. What a disappointment these happy young men were when they thought for a moment that they could not find their guide, Sibaten!They stopped several times, making sure to pick it out from among the multitude of parasitic plants. Where!Where!cried Lina, I see it! You got it wrong!Mina replied, this one is not, it is another kind of vine. No!Lina is right!Benito said. No!It was Lina who was wrong.Manoel was naturally on Mina's side. 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 Karata, but also a glove-sized orchid with rose-colored flowers and lilac-topped petals; The branches and leaves 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.How difficult it is to distinguish the cibovine among the many plants on the ground, among which are the stone pine, the broad-leaved Erylinia, the rosy-topped Gariondra, and a The plant called Lipsall, which wraps around the sibo 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 remained motionless.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?No problem, they'll cut a hole with a machete and slip through it.Sometimes they came upon a tall green rock, through which the sipod crawled like a snake, and they clambered up and 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 banana tree stands alone.Residents in tropical areas often eat bananas.According to Professor Humboldt's observation, this kind of tree has been with human beings 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 now?Manoel made the request. No!A thousand no!Benito yells, don't stop until you've reached the end of the Siberian! But, Mina added, it's time we thought about going back, too. oh!Dear lady; go on!keep going!Lina begged. Go all the way!Go all the way!Benito echoed. 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: Mina, stop!stop now!Since Benito is willing, let him go on.Let's wait for him here! No!Dear lady, come on!Come on!Lina cried, don't be afraid!Sibo 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. What children!Come on, my dear Manoel, said Mina, we must follow them! In this way, several people passed the rattan bridge that wobbled 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 Sibovine?Mina asked. not yet!Benito replied, 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 Sibo Vine?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 man!Mina murmured. Monsieur Manoel!Monsieur Manoel!Lena shouted, he's still breathing!His heart is still beating!Gotta save him! I thought 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 is an empty jug, and a bill made of palm wood. , catch with the tip of a small stick or a plate on top of a stick. ], with a small ball tied to it. Hanged, hanged, Lina repeated, so young, what had brought him to this point? Manoel brought the poor man back to life in time. He opened his eyes and sighed heavily, alas! , Unprepared Lina screamed in fright. who are you?my friend?Benito asked him. A man who nearly hanged himself! But what is your name? Wait, let me think about that.He patted his forehead and said, ah!My name is Fragoso and I would love to cut your hair, shave you, and use my skills to satisfy your every request if I can!I am a barber, or rather the most cornered Figaro.Since then, it has become synonymous with barber. 】! then how do you think well!Then what can I do!Good sir!Fragoso sighed with a smile, I was so desperate at the time!I don't have a penny in my pocket, but I still have to drive more than 3,000 kilometers, and I can't comfort myself at all!In this way, 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 Iggy Toast with us. ah!real!Very good!Fragoso replied, You saved me, and I am your servant!You really shouldn't have saved me just now! Hi!my dear lady!We did the right thing in continuing our walk just now!Lina said. I never thought we'd find someone on the other side of the Siboten!Benito said. And especially a barber in distress, hanging himself!Fragoso replied. Fragoso became lively again.After everyone told him the ins and outs of the matter, he warmly thanked Lina for the good idea of ​​moving forward.Afterwards, everyone returned to the manor together.At the estate, Fragoso was received so warmly that he never wanted or needed to resume his miserable business.