The Guarany (From the Portuguese of José Martiniano de Alencar), Part I, Chapters I-VI [pp. 81-97]

l The Guarany.
THE GUARANY.
FROM THE PORTUGUESE OF JOSE MARTINIANO DE ALENCAR.
[Many books have been printed in
America, from those of Mayne Reid and
yet earlier writers, to that of Mrs. Alice
Wellington Rollins, giving the impres sions of travelers in Brazil, though even
these chiefly confine themselves to the
neighborhood of Rio and the course of
the Amazon. But very few books have
been published in English written by
Brazilians, or giving any view of their
life as seen from within. This is the
OVERLIAND'S warrant for giving space to
a translation of probably the most popular of Brazilian stories. How little Brazilian literature is known to the Englishspeakiig world is shown by the fact that
in none of the American or English cyclopaedias or biographical dictionaries,
save Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia for
I1877 (p. 59I), and Appleton's Cyclopaedclia of American Biography (in the latter more briefly and with a misspelled
name), is mentioned at all the most shining light of Brazilian letters, Jose Martiniano de Alencar. He was the son of
a priest, and was born in Ceara, in I829,
was educated for the law at Sao Paulo,
and established himself at Rio, where
he gained distinction as a jurist and contributor to the journals of the day. He
was in I868 elected deputy from CearA,
and continued such to the end of his life,
in I877, at one time in the Government
as Minister of Justice, but more often in
the opposition. As deputy he spoke seldom, but with great effect. His principal works are a poem, "Iracema," and
two romances, "Urabijara" and "The
Guarany." The latter has been translated into German, and an opera founded on it has been played in New York.
It has never been printed in English till
\ OL. XX-. 7.
now, it is believed, when we present it
to our readers, translated by James W.
Hawes. ED.]
PART FIRST.-THE ADVENTURERS.
I.
SCENERY.
FROM one of the summits of the Or gan Mountains glides a small stream,
which flows northerly, and enlarged by
the springs which it receives in its course
of ten leagues, becomes a considerable
river. It is the Paquequer. Leaping
from cascade to cascade, winding like a
serpent, it dozes at last in the plain,
and empties into the Parahyba, which
rolls majestically in its vast bed. Vassal and tributary of that king of waters,
the little river, haughty and overbearing to its rocks, bows humbly at the
feet of its sovereign. It loses then its
wild beauty; its waves are calm and
peaceful as those of a lake, and do not
rebel against the boats and canoes that
glide over them. A submissive slave,
it feels the lash of its master. It is not
at this point that it should be seen, but
three or four leagues above its mouth,
where it is still free. There the Paquequer rushes rapidly over its bed, and
traverses the forests foaming and filling
the solitude with the noise of its career.
Vegetation in those regions formerly
displayed all its luxuriance and vigor;
virgin forests extended along the margins of the river, which flowed through
arcades of verdure, with capitals formed
by the fans of the palm trees.
In the year of grace I604, the place
we have been describing was deserted
and uncultivated; the city of Rio de
81
1893.]