The Elson Readers Part 44

THE WHITE-MAN'S FOOT

From his wanderings far to eastward, From the regions of the morning, From the s.h.i.+ning land of Wabun, Homeward now returned Iagoo, The great traveler, the great boaster, Full of new and strange adventures, Marvels many and many wonders.

And the people of the village Listened to him as he told them Of his marvelous adventures; Laughing answered him in this wise: "Ugh, it is indeed Iagoo!

No one else beholds such wonders!"

He had seen, he said, a water Bigger than the Big-Sea-Water, Broader than the Gitche Gumee, Bitter so that none could drink it!

At each other looked the warriors, Looked the women at each other, Smiled, and said, "it cannot be so!

Kaw!" they said, "it cannot be so!"

O'er it, said he, o'er this water

Came a great canoe with pinions, A canoe with wings came flying, Bigger than a grove of pine-trees, Taller than the tallest tree-tops!

And the old men and the women Looked and t.i.ttered at each other; "Kaw!" they said, "we don't believe it!"

From its mouth, he said, to greet him, Came Waywa.s.simo, the lightning, Came the thunder, Annemeekee!

And the warriors and the women Laughed aloud at poor Iagoo; "Kaw!" they said, "what tales you tell us!"

In it, said he, came a people, In the great canoe with pinions Came, he said, a hundred warriors; Painted white were all their faces, And with hair their chins were covered!

And the warriors and the women Laughed and shouted in derision, Like the ravens on the tree-tops, Like the crows upon the hemlocks.

"Kaw!" they said, "what lies you tell us.

Do not think that we believe them!"

Only Hiawatha laughed not, But he gravely spake and answered To their jeering and their jesting: "True is all Iagoo tells us; I have seen it in a vision,

Seen the great canoe with pinions, Seen the people with white faces, Seen the coming of this bearded People of the wooden vessel From the regions of the morning, From the s.h.i.+ning land of Wabun.

Gitche Manito, the Mighty, The Great Spirit, the Creator, Sends them hither on his errand, Sends them to us with his message.

Wheresoe'er they tread, beneath them Swarms the stinging fly, the Ahmo, Swarms the bee, the honey-maker;.

Wheresoe'er they tread, beneath them Springs a flower unknown among us, Springs the White-man's foot in blossom.

"Let us welcome, then, the strangers, Hail them as our friends and brothers, And the heart's right hand of friends.h.i.+p Give them when they come to see us.

Gitche Manito, the Mighty, Said this to me in my vision.

"I beheld, too, in that vision, All the secrets of the future, Of the distant days that shall be.

I beheld the westward marches Of the unknown, crowded nations.

All the land was full of people, Restless, struggling, toiling, striving, Speaking many tongues, yet feeling But one heart-beat in their bosoms.

In the woodlands rang their axes, Smoked their towns in all the valleys, Over all the lakes and rivers Rushed their great canoes of thunder.

"Then a darker, drearier vision Pa.s.sed before me, vague and cloud-like.

I beheld our nations scattered, All forgetful of my counsels, Weakened, warring with each other; Saw the remnants of our people Sweeping westward, wild and woeful, Like the cloud-rack of a tempest, Like the withered leaves of autumn!"

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Discussion. 1. Read lines that tell Iagoo's story of adventures. 2.

Where do you think he had seen these things? 3. What was the "bitter"

water Iagoo told about? 4. What were the "lightning" and the "thunder"

that came from the "canoe with pinions"? 5. Why was his story laughed at as false by the Indians? 6. How did Hiawatha know it was all true?

7. How did Hiawatha say they should receive the White Man when he came? 8. What secrets came to Hiawatha in the vision? 9. What "darker vision" did he see? 10. Has Hiawatha's vision come true? 11. What do you think of Hiawatha's character? 12. Which of all the stories in this poem do you like best? 13. Give the reason for your answer. 14.

You no doubt enjoyed reading this poem; can you tell why? 15. Read "A Forward Look," and tell why you think Longfellow was a real author.

16. You will enjoy reading Eastman's Indian Legends Retold. 17. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: t.i.ttered; hither; counsels. 18.

p.r.o.nounce: pinions; derision; vision; regions; vague; warring.

Phrases for Study

regions of the morning, distant days that shall be, s.h.i.+ning land of Wabun, unknown, crowded nations, canoe with pinions, feeling but one heart-beat, painted white, sweeping westward, heart's right hand of friends.h.i.+p, cloud-rack of a tempest.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), a native of Salem, Ma.s.sachusetts, had the distinction of being born on the Fourth of July. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in the cla.s.s with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

When a mere boy, Nathaniel was crippled by an accident in playing ball. This led him to a life of quiet and to the companions.h.i.+p of books. His vivid imagination made him fond of inventing stories for the entertainment of his friends. When he began to think of a career it was quite natural that he should turn to literature, and that in looking about him for material he should-choose his subjects-as Irving did-from those stirring scenes of which he had an intimate, almost personal, knowledge many of them of his native town, Salem.

Hawthorne pictured New England as Irving did New Amsterdam. He popularized New England history in the form of stories for children, one of which, Grandfather's Chair, contains "The Boston Tea Party." He wrote a book, The House of the Seven Gables, about the house in which he lived for many years. Soon after he wrote this tale, he wrote The Wonder-Book, a volume of stories about Greek G.o.ds and heroes, from which "The Paradise of Children" and "The Golden Touch" are taken.

Perhaps the best known of all Hawthorne's works is the volume called Twice-Told Tales. In this book he collected a large number of legends about colonial life in New England and retold them in such a way as to give us one of the best pictures of early American life that we have.

Some of them deal with actual events; others are based on legendary matter. But all of them do for early New England life what Longfellow's Hiawatha does for the Indian legends: they preserve the stories and also the spirit of early times. Like Longfellow, Hawthorne was a lover of romance and of the early history of our country. He w wrote in prose, not verse, but is prose is as careful and artistic as Longfellow's verse.

THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN

PANDORA AND THE GREAT BOX

Long, long ago, when this old world was in its tender infancy, there was a child named Epimetheus who never had either father or mother; and that he might not be lonely, another child, fatherless and motherless like himself, was sent from a far country to live with him and be his playfellow and helpmate. Her name was Pandora.

The first thing that Pandora saw when she entered the cottage where Epimetheus dwelt was a great box. And almost the first question which she put to him, after crossing the threshold, was this:

"Epimetheus, what have you in that box?"

"My dear little Pandora," answered Epimetheus, "that is a secret, and you must be kind enough not to ask any questions about it. The box was left here to be kept safely, and I do not myself know what it contains."

"But who gave it to you?" asked Pandora. "And where did it come from?"

"That is a secret, too," replied Epimetheus.

"How provoking!" exclaimed Pandora, pouting her lip. "I wish the great ugly box were out of the way!"

"O come, don't think of it any more," cried Epimetheus. "Let us run out of doors, and have some nice play with the other children."

It is thousands of years since Epimetheus and Pandora were alive; and the world nowadays is a very different sort of thing from what it was in their time. Then, everybody was a child. They needed no fathers and mothers to take care of the children; because there was no danger or trouble of any kind, and there were no clothes to be mended, and there was always plenty to eat and drink.