| |
| YOU shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis, | |
| How the handsome Yenadizze | |
| Danced at Hiawatha’s wedding; | |
| How the gentle Chibiabos, | |
| He the sweetest of musicians, | 5 |
| Sand his songs of love and longing; | |
| How Iagoo, the great boaster, | |
| He the marvellous story-teller, | |
| Told his tales of strange adventure, | |
| That the feast might be more joyous, | 10 |
| That the time might pass more gayly, | |
| And the guests be more contented. | |
| Sumptuous was the feast Nokomis | |
| Made at Hiawatha’s wedding; | |
| All the bowls were made of bass-wood, | 15 |
| White and polished very smoothly, | |
| All the spoons of horn of bison, | |
| Black and polished very smoothly. | |
| She had sent through all the village | |
| Messengers with wands of willow, | 20 |
| As a sign of invitation, | |
| As a token of the feasting; | |
| And the wedding guests assembled, | |
| Clad in all their richest raiment, | |
| Robes of fur and belts of wampum, | 25 |
| Splendid with their paint and plumage, | |
| Beautiful with beads and tassels. | |
| First they ate the sturgeon, Nahma, | |
| And the pike, the Maskenozha, | |
| Caught and cooked by old Nokomis; | 30 |
| Then on pemican they feasted, | |
| Pemican and buffalo marrow, | |
| Haunch of deer and hump of bison, | |
| Yellow cakes of the Mondamin, | |
| And the wild rice of the river. | 35 |
| But the gracious Hiawatha, | |
| And the lovely Laughing Water, | |
| And the careful old Nokomis, | |
| Tasted not the food before them, | |
| Only waited on the others, | 40 |
| Only served their guests in silence. | |
| And when all the guests had finished, | |
| Old Nokomis, brisk and busy, | |
| From an ample pouch of otter, | |
| Filled the red-stone pipes for smoking | 45 |
| With tobacco from the South-land, | |
| Mixed with bark of the red willow, | |
| And with herbs and leaves of fragrance. | |
| Then she said, “O Pau-Puk-Keewis, | |
| Dance for us your merry dances, | 50 |
| Dance the Beggar’s Dance to please us, | |
| That the feast may be more joyous, | |
| That the time may pass more gayly, | |
| And our guests be more contented!” | |
| Then the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis, | 55 |
| He the idle Yenadizze, | |
| He the merry mischief-maker, | |
| Whom the people called the Storm-Fool, | |
| Rose among the guests assembled. | |
| Skilled was he in sports and pastimes, | 60 |
| In the merry dance of snow-shoes, | |
| In the play of quoits and ball-play; | |
| Skilled was he in games of hazard, | |
| In all games of skill and hazard, | |
| Pugasaing, the Bowl and Counters, | 65 |
| Kuntassoo, the Game of Plum-stones. | |
| Though the warriors called him Faint-Heart, | |
| Called him coward, Shaugodaya, | |
| Idler, gambler, Yenadizze, | |
| Little heeded he their jesting, | 70 |
| Little cared he for their insults, | |
| For the women and the maidens | |
| Loved the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis. | |
| He was dressed in shirt of doeskin, | |
| White and soft, and fringed with ermine, | 75 |
| All inwrought with beads of wampum; | |
| He was dressed in deer-skin leggings, | |
| Fringed with hedgehog quills and ermine, | |
| And in moccasins of buck-skin, | |
| Thick with quills and beads embroidered. | 80 |
| On his head were plumes of swan’s down, | |
| On his heels were tails of foxes, | |
| In one hand a fan of feathers, | |
| And a pipe was in the other. | |
| Barred with streaks of red and yellow, | 85 |
| Streaks of blue and bright vermilion, | |
| Shone the face of Pau-Puk-Keewis. | |
| From his forehead fell his tresses, | |
| Smooth, and parted like a woman’s, | |
| Shining bright with oil, and plaited, | 90 |
| Hung with braids of scented grasses, | |
| As among the guests assembled, | |
| To the sound of flutes and singing, | |
| To the sound of drums and voices, | |
| Rose the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis, | 95 |
| And began his mystic dances. | |
| First he danced a solemn measure, | |
| Very slow in step and gesture, | |
| In and out among the pine-trees, | |
| Through the shadows and the sunshine, | 100 |
| Treading softly like a panther. | |
| Then more swiftly and still swifter, | |
| Whirling, spinning round in circles, | |
| Leaping o’er the guests assembled, | |
| Eddying round and round the wigwam, | 105 |
| Till the leaves went whirling with him, | |
| Till the dust and wind together | |
| Swept in eddies round about him. | |
| Then along the sandy margin | |
| Of the lake, the Big-Sea-Water, | 110 |
| On he sped with frenzied gestures, | |
| Stamped upon the sand, and tossed it | |
| Wildly in the air around him; | |
| Till the wind became a whirlwind, | |
| Till the sand was blown and sifted | 115 |
| Like great snowdrifts o’er the landscape, | |
| Heaping all the shores with Sand Dunes, | |
| Sand Hills of the Nagow Wudjoo! | |
| Thus the merry Pau-Puk-Keewis | |
| Danced his Beggar’s Dance to please them, | 120 |
| And, returning, sat down laughing | |
| There among the guests assembled, | |
| Sat and fanned himself serenely | |
| With his fan of turkey-feathers. | |
| Then they said to Chibiabos, | 125 |
| To the friend of Hiawatha, | |
| To the sweetest of all singers, | |
| To the best of all musicians, | |
| “Sing to us, O Chibiabos! | |
| Songs of love and songs of longing, | 130 |
| That the feast may be more joyous, | |
| That the time may pass more gayly, | |
| And our guests be more contented!” | |
| And the gentle Chibiabos | |
| Sang in accents sweet and tender, | 135 |
| Sang in tones of deep emotion, | |
| Songs of love and songs of longing; | |
| Looking still at Hiawatha, | |
| Looking at fair Laughing Water, | |
| Sang he softly, sang in this wise: | 140 |
| “Onaway! Awake, beloved! | |
| Thou the wild-flower of the forest! | |
| Thou the wild-bird of the prairie! | |
| Thou with eyes so soft and fawn-like! | |
| “If thou only lookest at me, | 145 |
| I am happy, I am happy, | |
| As the lilies of the prairie, | |
| When they feel the dew upon them! | |
| “Sweet thy breath is as the fragrance | |
| Of the wild-flowers in the morning, | 150 |
| As their fragrance is at evening, | |
| In the Moon when leaves are falling. | |
| “Does not all the blood within me | |
| Leap to meet thee, leap to meet thee, | |
| As the springs to meet the sunshine, | 155 |
| In the Moon when nights are brightest? | |
| “Onaway! my heart sings to thee, | |
| Sings with joy when thou art near me, | |
| As the sighing, singing branches | |
| In the pleasant Moon of Strawberries! | 160 |
| “When thou art not pleased, beloved, | |
| Then my heart is sad and darkened, | |
| As the shining river darkens | |
| When the clouds drop shadows on it! | |
| “When thou smilest, my beloved, | 165 |
| Then my troubled heart is brightened, | |
| As in sunshine gleam the ripples | |
| That the cold wind makes in rivers. | |
| “Smiles the earth, and smile the waters, | |
| Smile the cloudless skies above us, | 170 |
| But I lose the way of smiling | |
| When thou art no longer near me! | |
| “I myself, myself! behold me! | |
| Blood of my beating heart, behold me! | |
| Oh awake, awake, beloved! | 175 |
| Onaway! awake, beloved!” | |
| Thus the gentle Chibiabos | |
| Sang his song of love and longing; | |
| And Iagoo, the great boaster, | |
| He the marvellous story-teller, | 180 |
| He the friend of old Nokomis, | |
| Jealous of the sweet musician, | |
| Jealous of the applause they gave him, | |
| Saw in all the eyes around him, | |
| Saw in all their looks and gestures, | 185 |
| That the wedding guests assembled | |
| Longed to hear his pleasant stories, | |
| His immeasurable falsehoods. | |
| Very boastful was Iagoo; | |
| Never heard he an adventure | 190 |
| But himself had met a greater; | |
| Never any deed of daring | |
| But himself had done a bolder; | |
| Never any marvellous story | |
| But himself could tell a stranger. | 195 |
| Would you listen to his boasting, | |
| Would you only give him credence, | |
| No one ever shot an arrow | |
| Half so far and high as he had; | |
| Ever caught so many fishes, | 200 |
| Ever killed so many reindeer, | |
| Ever trapped so many beaver! | |
| None could run so fast as he could, | |
| None could dive so deep as he could, | |
| None could swim so far as he could; | 205 |
| None had made so many journeys, | |
| None had seen so many wonders, | |
| As this wonderful Iagoo, | |
| As this marvellous story-teller! | |
| Thus his name became a by-word | 210 |
| And a jest among the people; | |
| And whene’er a boastful hunter | |
| Praised his own address too highly, | |
| Or a warrior, home returning, | |
| Talked too much of his achievements, | 215 |
| All his hearers cried, “Iagoo! | |
| Here’s Iagoo come among us!” | |
| He it was who carved the cradle | |
| Of the little Hiawatha, | |
| Carved its framework out of linden, | 220 |
| Bound it strong with reindeer sinews; | |
| He it was who taught him later | |
| How to make his bows and arrows, | |
| How to make the bows of ash-tree, | |
| And the arrows of the oak-tree. | 225 |
| So among the guests assembled | |
| At my Hiawatha’s wedding | |
| Sat Iagoo, old and ugly, | |
| Sat the marvellous story-teller. | |
| And they said, “O good Iagoo, | 230 |
| Tell us now a tale of wonder, | |
| Tell us of some strange adventure, | |
| That the feast may be more joyous, | |
| That the time may pass more gayly, | |
| And our guests be more contented!” | 235 |
| And Iagoo answered straightway, | |
| “You shall hear a tale of wonder, | |
| You shall hear the strange adventures | |
| Of Osseo, the Magician, | |
| From the Evening Star descended.” | 240 |
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