Page:Fairytales•Tregear•1891.pdf/65

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THE IRONWOOD TREE.
59

which remained. Forth from the hole emerged the horrible face of Vao, distorted with rage at his disturbance. The huge mouth with its many rows of glittering teeth threatened to devour Ono, but the hero with one blow of his enchanted weapon, the spade-club, split the skull of the malignant monster. Ono divided the arms and legs of Vao—the gnarled roots—from the trunk which was the bleeding body of the wood-spirit, and made the timber into spears and swords. Everywhere from the chips which Ono had scattered when engaged in felling the tree sprang up little plants of the ironwood tree, and these increased so quickly that now they are to be found everywhere in the island. The tree is known as Toa, which signifies both “ironwood” and “warrior.”

un-dis-turbed′
ex-trem′-i-ties
en-chant′-ed
he′-roes
dis-tort′-ed
e-mer′-ged
guard′-ing
por′-tion
in-sig-nif′-i-cant
pe-cu-li-ar′-i-ties
per-sist′-ent
sur′-face

tal′-is-man, a thing possessed of magical power.
for′-mi-da-ble, adapted to excite fear.
ma-lig′-nant, extremely malicious; virulent.
mor′-tal, deadly; dangerous to life.
root′-let, a little root; fibrous end of root.
tap′-root, the chief root of a tree, running straight downward.