- description
- # CHAPTER XLII. MOTOO-OTOO A TAHITIAN CASUIST
## Overview
This chapter, titled "CHAPTER XLII. MOTOO-OTOO A TAHITIAN CASUIST," is part of the novel [Omoo: Adventures in the South Seas](arke:01KG8AJ7VM7B8YZ2568YF8PQ5J). It was extracted from the file [omoo.txt](arke:01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ) and is a component of the larger collection [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW). The chapter details a complex issue regarding the observance of the Sabbath in Tahiti and introduces a native character named Motoo-Otoo.
## Context
The chapter delves into a peculiar discrepancy in timekeeping that affects the native population of Tahiti. Missionaries, arriving via the Cape of Good Hope, inadvertently lost a day, causing their Sunday to differ from the day observed by sailors arriving from Cape Horn. This temporal confusion is a source of perplexity for the islanders, and the narrative recounts an unsuccessful attempt by a missionary to explain the phenomenon through an illustration involving a circle and moving sticks. The chapter also touches upon the social dynamics of Tahiti, including the competition for laundry services among the natives and their interactions with European visitors.
## Contents
The primary narrative thread of this chapter revolves around a moral and practical dilemma faced by the Tahitian people concerning the observance of the Sabbath. It highlights the cultural and temporal conflicts arising from European colonization and missionary efforts. A significant portion of the chapter is dedicated to the character of Motoo-Otoo, a Tahitian who, despite being a church member, is willing to engage in a questionable act: forging documents for the narrator. Motoo-Otoo seeks certificates recommending him for his skill in laundry services, a trade he pursues alongside other chiefs. The chapter explores the narrator's reaction to this request, his internal conflict, and his eventual refusal.
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- CHAPTER XLII. MOTOO-OTOO A TAHITIAN CASUIST
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It was this:—whether it was right and lawful for anyone, being a
native, to keep the European Sabbath, in preference to the day set
apart as such by the missionaries, and so considered by the islanders
in general.
It must be known that the missionaries of the good ship Duff, who more
than half-a-century ago established the Tahitian reckoning, came hither
by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; and by thus sailing to the
eastward, lost one precious day of their lives all round, getting about
that much in advance of Greenwich time. For this reason, vessels coming
round Cape Horn—as they most all do nowadays—find it Sunday in Tahiti,
when, according to their own view of the matter, it ought to be
Saturday. But as it won’t do to alter the log, the sailors keep their
Sabbath, and the islanders theirs.
This confusion perplexes the poor natives mightily; and it is to no
purpose that you endeavour to explain so incomprehensible a phenomenon.
I once saw a worthy old missionary essay to shed some light on the
subject; and though I understood but a few of the words employed, I
could easily get at the meaning of his illustrations. They were
something like the following:
“Here,” says he, “you see this circle” (describing a large one on the
ground with a stick); “very good; now you see this spot here” (marking
a point in the perimeter): “well; this is Beretanee (England), and I’m
going to sail round to Tahiti. Here I go, then (following the circle
round), and there goes the sun (snatching up another stick, and
commissioning a bandy-legged native to travel round with it in a
contrary direction). Now then, we are both off, and both going away
from each other; and here you see I have arrived at Tahiti (making a
sudden stop); and look now where Bandy Legs is!”
But the crowd strenuously maintained that Bandy Legs ought to be
somewhere above them in the atmosphere; for it was a traditionary fact
that the people from the Duff came ashore when the sun was high
overhead. And here the old gentleman, being a very good sort of man,
doubtless, but no astronomer, was obliged to give up.
Arheetoo, the casuist alluded to, though a member of the church, and
extremely conscientious about what Sabbath he kept, was more liberal in
other matters. Learning that I was something of a “mick-onaree” (in
this sense, a man able to read, and cunning in the use of the pen), he
desired the slight favour of my forging for him a set of papers; for
which, he said, he would be much obliged, and give me a good dinner of
roast pig and Indian turnip in the bargain.
Now, Arheetoo was one of those who board the shipping for their
washing; and the competition being very great (the proudest chiefs not
disdaining to solicit custom in person, though the work is done by
their dependants), he had decided upon a course suggested by a knowing
sailor, a friend of his. He wished to have manufactured a set of
certificates, purporting to come from certain man-of-war and merchant
captains, known to have visited the island; recommending him as one of
the best getters up of fine linen in all Polynesia.
At this time, Arheetoo had known me but two hours; and, as he made the
proposition very coolly, I thought it rather presumptuous, and told him
so. But as it was quite impossible to convey a hint, and there was a
slight impropriety in the thing, I did not resent the insult, but
simply declined.
- title
- CHAPTER XLII. MOTOO-OTOO A TAHITIAN CASUIST