| |
| “AS unto the bow the cord is, | |
| So unto the man is woman; | |
| Though she bends him, she obeys him, | |
| Though she draws him, yet she follows; | |
| Useless each without the other!” | 5 |
| Thus the youthful Hiawatha | |
| Said within himself and pondered, | |
| Much perplexed by various feelings, | |
| Listless, longing, hoping, fearing, | |
| Dreaming still of Minnehaha, | 10 |
| Of the lovely Laughing Water, | |
| In the land of the Dacotahs. | |
| “Wed a maiden of your people,” | |
| Warning said the old Nokomis; | |
| “Go not eastward, go not westward, | 15 |
| For a stranger, whom we know not! | |
| Like a fire upon the hearth-stone | |
| Is a neighbor’s homely daughter, | |
| Like the starlight or the moonlight | |
| Is the handsomest of strangers!” | 20 |
| Thus dissuading spake Nokomis, | |
| And my Hiawatha answered | |
| Only this: “Dear old Nokomis, | |
| Very pleasant is the firelight, | |
| But I like the starlight better, | 25 |
| Better do I like the moonlight!” | |
| Gravely then said old Nokomis: | |
| “Bring not here an idle maiden, | |
| Bring not here a useless woman, | |
| Hands unskilful, feet unwilling; | 30 |
| Bring a wife with nimble fingers, | |
| Heart and hand that move together, | |
| Feet that run on willing errands!” | |
| Smiling answered Hiawatha: | |
| “In the land of the Dacotahs | 35 |
| Lives the Arrow-maker’s daughter, | |
| Minnehaha, Laughing Water, | |
| Handsomest of all the women. | |
| I will bring her to your wigwam, | |
| She shall run upon your errands, | 40 |
| Be your starlight, moonlight, firelight, | |
| Be the sunlight of my people!” | |
| Still dissuading said Nokomis: | |
| “Bring not to my lodge a stranger | |
| From the land of the Dacotahs! | 45 |
| Very fierce are the Dacotahs, | |
| Often is there war between us, | |
| There are feuds yet unforgotten, | |
| Wounds that ache and still may open!” | |
| Laughing answered Hiawatha: | 50 |
| “For that reason, if no other, | |
| Would I wed the fair Dacotah, | |
| That our tribes might be united, | |
| That old feuds might be forgotten, | |
| And old wounds be healed forever!” | 55 |
| Thus departed Hiawatha | |
| To the land of the Dacotahs, | |
| To the land of handsome women; | |
| Striding over moor and meadow, | |
| Through interminable forests, | 60 |
| Through uninterrupted silence. | |
| With his moccasins of magic, | |
| At each stride a mile he measured; | |
| Yet the way seemed long before him, | |
| And his heart outran his footsteps; | 65 |
| And he journeyed without resting, | |
| Till he heard the cataract’s laughter, | |
| Heard the Falls of Minnehaha | |
| Calling to him through the silence. | |
| “Pleasant is the sound!” he murmured, | 70 |
| “Pleasant is the voice that calls me!” | |
| On the outskirts of the forests, | |
| ’Twixt the shadow and the sunshine, | |
| Herds of fallow deer were feeding, | |
| But they saw not Hiawatha; | 75 |
| To his bow he whispered, “Fail not!” | |
| To his arrow whispered, “Swerve not!” | |
| Sent it singing on its errand, | |
| To the red heart of the roebuck; | |
| Threw the deer across his shoulder, | 80 |
| And sped forward without pausing. | |
| At the doorway of his wigwam | |
| Sat the ancient Arrow-maker, | |
| In the land of the Dacotahs, | |
| Making arrow-heads of jasper, | 85 |
| Arrow-heads of chalcedony. | |
| At his side, in all her beauty, | |
| Sat the lovely Minnehaha, | |
| Sat his daughter, Laughing Water, | |
| Plaiting mats of flags and rushes; | 90 |
| Of the past the old man’s thoughts were, | |
| And the maiden’s of the future. | |
| He was thinking, as he sat there, | |
| Of the days when with such arrows | |
| He had struck the deer and bison, | 95 |
| On the Muskoday, the meadow; | |
| Shot the wild goose, flying southward | |
| On the wing, the clamorous Wawa; | |
| Thinking of the great war-parties, | |
| How they came to buy his arrows, | 100 |
| Could not fight without his arrows. | |
| Ah, no more such noble warriors | |
| Could be found on earth as they were! | |
| Now the men were all like women, | |
| Only used their tongues for weapons! | 105 |
| She was thinking of a hunter, | |
| From another tribe and country, | |
| Young and tall and very handsome, | |
| Who one morning, in the Spring-time, | |
| Came to buy her father’s arrows, | 110 |
| Sat and rested in the wigwam, | |
| Lingered long about the doorway, | |
| Looking back as he departed. | |
| She had heard her father praise him, | |
| Praise his courage and his wisdom; | 115 |
| Would he come again for arrows | |
| To the Falls of Minnehaha? | |
| On the mat her hands lay idle, | |
| And her eyes were very dreamy. | |
| Through their thoughts they heard a footstep, | 120 |
| Heard a rustling in the branches, | |
| And with glowing cheek and forehead, | |
| With the deer upon his shoulders, | |
| Suddenly from out the woodlands | |
| Hiawatha stood before them. | 125 |
| Straight the ancient Arrow-maker | |
| Looked up gravely from his labor, | |
| Laid aside the unfinished arrow, | |
| Bade him enter at the doorway, | |
| Saying, as he rose to meet him, | 130 |
| “Hiawatha, you are welcome!” | |
| At the feet of Laughing Water | |
| Hiawatha laid his burden, | |
| Threw the red deer from his shoulders; | |
| And the maiden looked up at him, | 135 |
| Looked up from her mat of rushes, | |
| Said with gentle look and accent, | |
| “You are welcome, Hiawatha!” | |
| Very spacious was the wigwam, | |
| Made of deer-skins dressed and whitened, | 140 |
| With the Gods of the Dacotahs | |
| Drawn and painted on its curtains, | |
| And so tall the doorway, hardly | |
| Hiawatha stooped to enter, | |
| Hardly touched his eagle-feathers | 145 |
| As he entered at the doorway. | |
| Then uprose the Laughing Water, | |
| From the ground fair Minnehaha, | |
| Laid aside her mat unfinished, | |
| Brought forth food and set before them, | 150 |
| Water brought them from the brooklet, | |
| Gave them food in earthen vessels, | |
| Gave them drink in bowls of bass-wood, | |
| Listened while the guest was speaking, | |
| Listened while her father answered, | 155 |
| But not once her lips she opened, | |
| Not a single word she uttered. | |
| Yes, as in a dream she listened | |
| To the words of Hiawatha, | |
| As he talked of old Nokomis, | 160 |
| Who had nursed him in his childhood, | |
| As he told of his companions, | |
| Chibiabos, the musician, | |
| And the very strong man, Kwasind, | |
| And of happiness and plenty | 165 |
| In the land of the Ojibways, | |
| In the pleasant land and peaceful. | |
| “After many years of warfare, | |
| Many years of strife and bloodshed, | |
| There is peace between the Ojibways | 170 |
| And the tribe of the Dacotahs.” | |
| Thus continued Hiawatha, | |
| And then added, speaking slowly, | |
| “That this peace may last forever, | |
| And our hands be clasped more closely, | 175 |
| And our hearts be more united, | |
| Give me as my wife this maiden, | |
| Minnehaha, Laughing Water, | |
| Loveliest of Dacotah women!” | |
| And the ancient Arrow-maker | 180 |
| Paused a moment ere he answered, | |
| Smoked a little while in silence, | |
| Looked at Hiawatha proudly, | |
| Fondly looked at Laughing Water, | |
| And made answer very gravely: | 185 |
| “Yes, if Minnehaha wishes; | |
| Let your heart speak, Minnehaha!” | |
| And the lovely Laughing Water | |
| Seemed more lovely as she stood there, | |
| Neither willing nor reluctant, | 190 |
| As she went to Hiawatha, | |
| Softly took the seat beside him, | |
| While she said, and blushed to say it, | |
| “I will follow you, my husband!” | |
| This was Hiawatha’s wooing! | 195 |
| Thus it was he won the daughter | |
| Of the ancient Arrow-maker, | |
| In the land of the Dacotahs! | |
| From the wigwam he departed, | |
| Leading with him Laughing Water; | 200 |
| Hand in hand they went together, | |
| Through the woodland and the meadow, | |
| Left the old man standing lonely | |
| At the doorway of his wigwam, | |
| Heard the Falls of Minnehaha | 205 |
| Calling to them from the distance, | |
| Crying to them from afar off, | |
| “Fare thee well, O Minnehaha!” | |
| And the ancient Arrow-maker | |
| Turned again unto his labor, | 210 |
| Sat down by his sunny doorway, | |
| Murmuring to himself, and saying: | |
| “Thus it is our daughters leave us, | |
| Those we love, and those who love us! | |
| Just when they have learned to help us, | 215 |
| When we are old and lean upon them, | |
| Comes a youth with flaunting feathers, | |
| With his flute of reeds, a stranger | |
| Wanders piping through the village, | |
| Beckons to the fairest maiden, | 220 |
| And she follows where he leads her, | |
| Leaving all things for the stranger!” | |
| Pleasant was the journey homeward, | |
| Through interminable forests, | |
| Over meadow, over mountain, | 225 |
| Over river, hill, and hollow. | |
| Short it seemed to Hiawatha, | |
| Though they journeyed very slowly, | |
| Though his pace he checked and slackened | |
| To the steps of Laughing Water. | 230 |
| Over wide and rushing rivers | |
| In his arms he bore the maiden; | |
| Light he thought her as a feather, | |
| As the plume upon his head-gear; | |
| Cleared the tangled pathway for her, | 235 |
| Bent aside the swaying branches, | |
| Made at night a lodge of branches, | |
| And a bed with boughs of hemlock, | |
| And a fire before the doorway | |
| With the dry cones of the pine-tree. | 240 |
| All the travelling winds went with them, | |
| O’er the meadows, through the forest; | |
| All the stars of night looked at them, | |
| Watched with sleepless eyes their slumber; | |
| From his ambush in the oak-tree | 245 |
| Peeped the squirrel, Adjidaumo, | |
| Watched with eager eyes the lovers; | |
| And the rabbit, the Wabasso, | |
| Scampered from the path before them, | |
| Peering, peeping from his burrow, | 250 |
| Sat erect upon his haunches, | |
| Watched with curious eyes the lovers. | |
| Pleasant was the journey homeward! | |
| All the birds sang loud and sweetly | |
| Songs of happiness and heart’s-ease; | 255 |
| Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa, | |
| “Happy are you, Hiawatha, | |
| Having such a wife to love you!” | |
| Sang the robin, the Opechee, | |
| “Happy are you, Laughing Water, | 260 |
| Having such a noble husband!” | |
| From the sky the sun benignant | |
| Looked upon them through the branches, | |
| Saying to them, “O my children, | |
| Love is sunshine, hate is shadow, | 265 |
| Life is checkered shade and sunshine, | |
| Rule by love, O Hiawatha!” | |
| From the sky the moon looked at them, | |
| Filled the lodge with mystic splendors, | |
| Whispered to them, “O my children, | 270 |
| Day is restless, night is quiet, | |
| Man imperious, woman feeble; | |
| Half is mine, although I follow; | |
| Rule by patience, Laughing Water!” | |
| Thus it was they journeyed homeward; | 275 |
| Thus it was that Hiawatha | |
| To the lodge of old Nokomis | |
| Brought the moonlight, starlight, firelight, | |
| Brought the sunshine of his people, | |
| Minnehaha, Laughing Water, | 280 |
| Handsomest of all the women | |
| In the land of the Dacotahs, | |
| In the land of handsome women. | |
| |
