Herman Melville: Typee

13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN (continued)

Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse into our minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in his endeavours by the little knowledge of the language we had acquired, he actually made us comprehend a considerable part of what he said. To facilitate our correct apprehension of his meaning, he at first condensed his ideas into the smallest possible compass.

'Happar keekeeno nuee,' he exclaimed, 'nuee, nuee, ki ki kannaka!--ah! owle motarkee!' which signifies, 'Terrible fellows those Happars!--devour an amazing quantity of men!--ah, shocking bad!' Thus far he explained himself by a variety of gestures, during the performance of which he would dart out of the house, and point abhorrently towards the Happar valley; running in to us again with a rapidity that showed he was fearful he would lose one part of his meaning before he could complete the other; and continuing his illustrations by seizing the fleshy part of my arm in his teeth, intimating by the operation that the people who lived over in that direction would like nothing better than to treat me in that manner.

Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this point, he proceeded to another branch of his subject. 'Ah! Typee mortakee!--nuee, nuee mioree--nuee, nuee wai--nuee, nuee poee-poee--nuee, nuee kokoo--ah! nuee, nuee kiki--ah! nuee, nuee, nuee!' Which literally interpreted as before, would imply, 'Ah, Typee! isn't it a fine place though!--no danger of starving here, I tell you!--plenty of bread-fruit--plenty of water--plenty of pudding--ah! plenty of everything! ah! heaps, heaps heaps!' All this was accompanied by a running commentary of signs and gestures which it was impossible not to comprehend.

As he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation of our more polished orators, began to launch out rather diffusely into other branches of his subject, enlarging probably upon the moral reflections it suggested; and proceeded in such a strain of unintelligible and stunning gibberish, that he actually gave me the headache for the rest of the day.