The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems Part 21

And thrice had she covered her head and rejected the handsome Tamdoka. [T]

[T] Tah-mdo-kah, literally, the buck-deer.

'Twas Summer. The merry-voiced birds trilled and warbled in woodland and meadow; And abroad on the prairies the herds cropped the gra.s.s in the land of the lilies,-- And sweet was the odor of rose wide-wafted from hillside and heather; In the leaf-shaded lap of repose lay the bright, blue-eyed babes of the summer; And low was the murmur of brooks, and low was the laugh of the _Ha-Ha_; [76]

And asleep in the eddies and nooks lay the broods of _maga_ [60]and the mallard.

'Twas the moon of _Wasunpa_. [71]

The band lay at rest in the tees at _Ka-tha-ga_, And abroad o'er the beautiful land walked the spirits of Peace and of Plenty-- Twin sisters, with bountiful hand wide scattering wild-rice and the lilies.

_An-pe-tu-wee_[70] walked in the west-- to his lodge in the far-away mountains, And the war-eagle flew to her nest in the oak on the Isle of the Spirit.[U]

And now at the end of the day, by the sh.o.r.e of the Beautiful Island,[V]

A score of fair maidens and gay made joy in the midst of the waters.

Half-robed in their dark, flowing hair, and limbed like the fair Aphrodite, They played in the waters, and there they dived and they swam like the beavers, Loud-laughing like loons on the lake when the moon is a round s.h.i.+eld of silver, And the songs of the whippowils wake on the sh.o.r.e in the midst of the maples.

But hark!--on the river a song,-- strange voices commingled in chorus; On the current a boat swept along with DuLuth and his hardy companions; To the stroke of their paddles they sung, and this the refrain that they chanted:

"Dans mon chemin j'ai rencontre Deux cavaliers bien montes.

Lon, lon, laridon daine, Lon, lon, laridon da."

"Deux cavaliers bien montes; L'un a cheval, et l'autre a pied.

Lon, lon, laridon daine, Lon, lon, laridon da."[W]

[U] The Dakotas say that for many years in olden times war-eagles made their nests in oak trees on Spirit-island--_Wanagi-wita_, just below the Falls till frightened away by the advent of white men.

[V] The Dakotas called Nicollet Island _Wi-ta Waste_--the Beautiful Island.

[W] A part of one of the favorite songs of the French _voyageurs_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARRIVAL OF DULUTH AT KATHAGA]

Like the red, dappled deer in the glade alarmed by the footsteps of hunters, Discovered, disordered, dismayed, the nude nymphs fled forth from the waters, And scampered away to the shade, and peered from the screen of the lindens.

A bold and adventuresome man was DuLuth, and a dauntless in danger, And straight to _Kathaga_ he ran, and boldly advanced to the warriors, Now gathering, a cloud on the strand, and gazing amazed on the strangers; And straightway he offered his hand unto Wazi-kute, the _Itancan_.[X]

To the Lodge of the Stranger were led DuLuth and his hardy companions; Robes of beaver and bison were spread, and the Peace-pipe[23] was smoked with the Frenchman.

[X] Head-chief

There was dancing and feasting at night, and joy at the presents he lavished.

All the maidens were wild with delight with the flaming red robes and the ribbons, With the beads and the trinkets untold, and the fair, bearded face of the giver; And glad were they all to behold the friends from the Land of the Sunrise.

But one stood apart from the rest-- the queenly and silent Winona, Intently regarding the guest-- hardly heeding the robes and the ribbons, Whom the White Chief beholding admired, and straightway he spread on her shoulders A lily-red robe and attired with necklet and ribbons the maiden.

The red lilies bloomed in her face, and her glad eyes gave thanks to the giver, And forth from her _teepee_ apace she brought him the robe and the missal Of the father--poor Rene Menard; and related the tale of the "Black Robe."

She spoke of the sacred regard he inspired in the hearts of Dakotas; That she buried his bones with her kin, in the mound by the Cave of the Council; That she treasured and wrapt in the skin of the red-deer his robe and his prayer book-- "Till his brothers should come from the East-- from the land of the far _Hochelaga_, To smoke with the braves at the feast, on the sh.o.r.es of the Loud-laughing Waters. [16]

For the 'Black Robe' spake much of his youth and his friends in the Land of the Sunrise; It was then as a dream; now in truth I behold them, and not in a vision."

But more spake her blushes, I ween, and her eyes full of language unspoken, As she turned with the grace of a queen and carried her gifts to the _teepee_.

Far away from his beautiful France-- from his home in the city of Lyons, A n.o.ble youth full of romance, with a Norman heart big with adventure, In the new world a wanderer, by chance DuLuth sought the wild Huron forests.

But afar by the vale of the Rhone, the winding and musical river, And the vine-covered hills of the Saone, the heart of the wanderer lingered,-- 'Mid the vineyards and mulberry trees, and the fair fields of corn and of clover That rippled and waved in the breeze, while the honey-bees hummed in the blossoms.

For there, where th' impetuous Rhone, leaping down from the Switzerland mountains, And the silver-lipped, soft-flowing Saone, meeting, kiss and commingle together, Down winding by vineyards and leas, by the orchards of fig-trees and olives, To the island-gemmed, sapphire-blue seas of the glorious Greeks and the Romans; Aye, there, on the vine-covered sh.o.r.e, 'mid the mulberry-trees and the olives, Dwelt his blue-eyed and beautiful Flore, with her hair like a wheat-field at harvest, All rippled and tossed by the breeze, and her cheeks like the glow of the morning, Far away o'er the emerald seas, as the sun lifts his brow from the billows, Or the red-clover fields when the bees, singing sip the sweet cups of the blossoms.

Wherever he wandered-- alone in the heart of the wild Huron forests, Or cruising the rivers unknown to the land of the Crees or Dakotas-- His heart lingered still on the Rhone, 'mid the mulberry trees and the vineyards, Fast-fettered and bound by the zone that girdled the robes of his darling.

Till the red Harvest Moon[71] he remained in the vale of the swift Mississippi.

The esteem of the warriors he gained, and the love of the dark-eyed Winona.

He joined in the sports and the chase; with the hunters he followed the bison, And swift were his feet in the race when the red elk they ran on the prairies.

At the Game of the Plum-stones[77] he played, and he won from the skillfulest players; A feast to _Wa'tanka_[78] he made, and he danced at the feast of _Heyoka_.[16]

With the flash and the roar of his gun he astonished the fearless Dakotas; They called it the "_Maza Wakan_"-- the mighty, mysterious metal.

"'Tis a brother," they said, "of the fire in the talons of dreadful Wakinyan,'[32]

When he flaps his huge wings in his ire, and shoots his red shafts at _Unktehee_."[69]

The _Itancan_,[74] tall Wazi-kute, appointed a day for the races.

From the red stake that stood by his _tee_, on the southerly side of the _Ha-ha_, O'er the crest of the hills and the dunes and the billowy breadth of the prairie, To a stake at the Lake of the Loons[79]-- a league and return--was the distance.

They gathered from near and afar, to the races and dancing and feasting; Five hundred tall warriors were there from _Kapoza_[6] and far-off _Keoza_;[8]

_Remnica_[Y] too, furnished a share of the legions that thronged to the races, And a bountiful feast was prepared by the diligent hands of the women, And gaily the mult.i.tudes fared in the generous _tees_ of _Kathaga_.

The chief of the mystical clan appointed a feast to _Unktehee_-- The mystic "_Wacipee Wakan_"[Z]-- at the end of the day and the races.

A band of sworn brothers are they, and the secrets of each one are sacred, And death to the lips that betray is the doom of the swarthy avengers, And the son of tall _Wazi-kute_ was the chief of the mystical order.

[Y] p.r.o.nounced Ray-mne-chah--The village of the Mountains, situate where Red Wing now stands.

[Z] Sacred Dance--The Medicine-dance--See description _infra._

THE FOOT RACES.

On an arm of an oak hangs the prize for the swiftest and strongest of runners-- A blanket as red as the skies, when the flames sweep the plains in October.

And beside it a strong, polished bow, and a quiver of iron-tipped arrows, Which _Kapoza's_ tall chief will bestow on the fleet-footed second that follows.

A score of swift runners are there from the several bands of the nation, And now for the race they prepare, and among them fleet-footed Tamdoka.

With the oil of the buck and the bear their sinewy limbs are annointed, For fleet are the feet of the deer and strong are the limbs of the bruin.

Hark!--the shouts and the braying of drums, and the Babel of tongues and confusion!

From his _teepee_ the tall chieftain comes, and DuLuth brings a prize for the runners-- A keen hunting-knife from the Seine, horn-handled and mounted with silver.

The runners are ranged on the plain, and the Chief waves a flag as a signal, And away like the gray wolves they fly-- like the wolves on the trail of the red-deer; O'er the hills and the prairie they vie, and strain their strong limbs to the utmost, While high on the hills hangs a cloud of warriors and maidens and mothers, To see the swift-runners, and loud are the cheers and the shouts of the warriors.

Now swift from the lake they return o'er the emerald hills of the prairies; Like grey-hounds they pant and they yearn, and the leader of all is Tamdoka.

At his heels flies _Hu-pa-hu,_[AA]

the fleet--the pride of the band of _Kaoza_,-- A warrior with eagle-winged feet, but his prize is the bow and the quiver.

Tamdoka first reaches the post, and his are the knife and the blanket, By the mighty acclaim of the host and award of the chief and the judges.

Then proud was the tall warrior's stride, and haughty his look and demeanor; He boasted aloud in his pride, and he scoffed at the rest of the runners.

"Behold me, for I am a man![AB]

my feet are as swift as the West-wind.

With the c.o.o.ns and the beavers I ran; but where is the elk or the _cabri?_[80]

Come!--where is the hunter will dare match his feet with the feet of Tamdoka?

Let him think of _Tate_[AC] and beware, ere he stake his last robe on the trial."

"_Oho! Ho! Ho-heca!_"[AD] they jeered, for they liked not the boast of the boaster; But to match him no warrior appeared, for his feet wore the wings of the west-wind.

[AA] The wings.

[AB] A favorite boast of the Dakota braves.

[AC] The wind.

[AD] About equivalent to Oho!--Aha!--fudge!