WORD LISTS

"Call It Courage" by Armstrong Sperry, Chapter 1

Tue May 09 10:59:06 EDT 2023
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
With a name that translates into Stout Heart, fifteen-year-old Mafatu, the son of the Great Chief of the Polynesian island of Hikueru, is determined to conquer his fear of the sea.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
indifference
A man who was afraid—what place had he in their midst? And the boy Mafatu—son of Tavana Nui, the Great Chief of Hikueru—always had been afraid. So the people drove him forth. Not by violence, but by indifference.
interval
There were other canoes scattered at wide intervals along the reef.
impending
It was the season of hurricane and the people of Hikueru were nervous and ill at ease, charged, it seemed, with an almost animal awareness of impending storm.
frail
It seized the frail craft in its swift race.
churning
Despite all the woman’s skill, the canoe was carried on the crest of the churning tide, through the reef-passage, into the outer ocean.
crest
Waves lifted and struck at one another, their crests hissing with spray.
capsize
The woman sprang forward to seize her child as the canoe capsized.
shroud
Off the tip of Hikueru, the uninhabited islet of Tekoto lay shrouded in darkness.
awash
It was scarcely more than a ledge of coral, almost awash.
grim
Dawn found the woman still clinging to the purau pole and the little boy with his arms locked about his mother’s neck. The grim light revealed sharks circling, circling.
beckon
But the palms of Tekoto beckoned with their promise of life, and the woman fought on.
pinnacle
When at last they were cast up on the pinnacle of coral, Mafatu’s mother crawled ashore with scarcely enough strength left to pull her child beyond reach of the sea’s hungry fingers.
sustain
At hand lay a cracked coconut; the woman managed to press the cool, sustaining meat to her child’s lips before she died.
stout
Mafatu, the boy who had been christened Stout Heart by his proud father, was afraid of the sea. What manner of fisherman would he grow up to be? How would he ever lead the men in battle against warriors of other islands?
scorn
Mafatu’s stepmother knew small sympathy for him, and his stepbrothers treated him with open scorn.
jibe
“Moana, the Sea God, thunders on the reef. He is angry with us all because Mafatu is afraid!”
The boy learned to turn these jibes aside, but his father’s silence shamed him.
nondescript
A nondescript yellow dog named Uri was Mafatu’s inseparable companion—Uri with his thin coat which showed his ribs, and his eyes so puzzled and true.
albatross
Their only other friend was Kivi, an albatross. The boy had once found the bird on his lonely wanderings.
fledgling
Perhaps because it was different from its kind, the older birds were heckling and pestering the fledgling.
serene
In the air it achieved perfection, floating serenely against the sky while Mafatu followed its effortless flight with envious eyes.
shaft
Every boy in the village sharpened his spear, tested the shaft, honed his shark knife.
hone
Every boy in the village sharpened his spear, tested the shaft, honed his shark knife.
falter
His fingers faltered as they flew among the sennit fibers of the net he was making.
contract
Mafatu, standing tense in the shadows, heard a scornful laugh. His heart contracted.
scoff
“Not all of us will go,” he heard Kana scoff.
resentment
Suddenly a fierce resentment stormed through him.
taut
The boy stood there taut as a drawn arrow awaiting its release.
stern
The boy shoved off and climbed into the stern.
jeer
What matter if they jeered? For a second he almost turned back. Then he heard Kana’s voice once more saying: “Mafatu is a coward.”
ebb
The canoe entered the race formed by the ebbing tide.

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