{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_67172/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_67172","id":"gutenberg_67172","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67172","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mythology -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"A GUIDE TO MYTHOLOGY\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Automedon and the Horses of Achilles. _H. Regnault._]\n\n\n\n\n                                    A\n                           GUIDE TO MYTHOLOGY\n\n                                   BY\n                             HELEN A. CLARKE\n        _Author of \u201cAncient Myth in Modern Poets,\u201d \u201cLongfellow\u2019s\n                    Country,\u201d \u201cHawthorne\u2019s Country,\u201d\n                     \u201cThe Poets\u2019 New England,\u201d Etc._\n\n                             [Illustration]\n\n                         GARDEN CITY    NEW YORK\n                        DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY\n                                  1918\n\n                           COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY\n                        DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY\n                 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF\n                   TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES,\n                       INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN\n\n\n\n\nTo\n\nMY LITTLE FRIEND\n\nKATHARINE CORFIELD NEWBOLD\n\n\n\n\nPREFATORY NOTE\n\n\nIt is a pleasure to express my thanks to publishers and authors for\ncourteous permission given me to include in this book stories from their\ncollections. To Houghton, Mifflin & Co., the publishers of \u201cAlgonquin\nLegends,\u201d by J. G. Leland, and of Bryant\u2019s translation of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d;\nto J. B. Lippincott Co., the publishers of \u201cGods and Heroes of Old\nJapan,\u201d by Violet M. Pasteur, and of \u201cOld Deccan Days,\u201d by Mary Frere;\nto A. Wessels Co., the publishers and to Mr. W. W. Canfield, the author\nof \u201cLegends of the Iroquois\u201d; to Ginn & Co., the publishers of \u201cClassic\nMyths in English Literature,\u201d based on Bulfinch\u2019s \u201cAge of Fable,\u201d by\nCharles Mills Gayley; to Macmillan & Co., publishers of \u201cTheocritus,\nBion, and Moschus, Done into English Prose,\u201d by A. Lang; to Scott,\nForesman & Co., publishers of \u201cNorse Mythology,\u201d by Melville B. Anderson.\nOther collections, out of print, as far as I know\u2014the original publishers\nno longer being in existence, from which I have taken stories, are:\n\u201cIndian Fairy Tales Based on Schoolcraft,\u201d by Cornelius Mathews, and\n\u201cIndian Myths,\u201d by Ellen R. Emerson; also from the following English\npublications: \u201cPolynesian Myths,\u201d by Sir George Grey; \u201cRussian Stories,\u201d\nby Ralston.\n\nI am also deeply indebted, as every one who studies mythology must be, to\nthe following works, among others in various branches of the subject: Max\nM\u00fcller\u2019s \u201cChips from a German Workshop,\u201d Cox\u2019s \u201cMythology of the Aryan\nRaces,\u201d John Fiske\u2019s \u201cMyths and Mythmakers,\u201d Frazer\u2019s \u201cGolden Bough,\u201d\nHartland\u2019s \u201cMyth of Perseus,\u201d Clodd\u2019s \u201cChildhood of Religions,\u201d Andrew\nLang\u2019s \u201cCustom and Myth,\u201d Tyler\u2019s \u201cPrimitive Culture,\u201d Mills\u2019s \u201cTree of\nMythology,\u201d Chamberlain\u2019s \u201cThe Child and Childhood in Folk Thought,\u201d De\nGubernatis\u2019s \u201cZoological Mythology,\u201d Dr. Brinton\u2019s \u201cAmerican Hero Myths,\u201d\n\u201cMyths of the New World,\u201d as well as to many collections of folk-tales.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMy aim in this book on Mythology for young readers has been to give them\nsolid knowledge on the subject, as far as it is advisable to go with\nimmature minds, based upon the most recent investigations of scholars,\nand to select the myths used in illustration of the plan, with a view to\ngiving them interesting stories to read, which will, almost unconsciously\nto themselves, lay a firm foundation for the fascinating study of\nComparative Mythology, should they wish to go more deeply into it in the\nfuture.\n\nThere is much talk nowadays as to the authenticity of the records of\nsavage myths. Much of this talk seems to me futile, for a myth is not\na fixed entity. Each successive narrator is almost sure to vary and\nembellish somewhat the material that comes to him, according to his\nown inventive fancy. If, therefore, a savage myth recorded by a white\nman retains the chief characteristics of the savage myth, in spite of\nsome fanciful turns given it by him, to the degree, say, that a story of\nOvid\u2019s retains those of a Greek myth, it is to all intents and purposes\na savage myth, and the embellishments may be disregarded, as Ovid\u2019s are\nwhen we are considering Greek Mythology. I have, therefore, included in\nthis volume those versions of the myths that seemed most readable and\nattractive, provided the primitive attitude of mind and customs were\nfully emphasized.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                      PAGE\n\n      I.\u2014WHAT IS A MYTH?                                                19\n\n     II.\u2014ANIMALS IN PRIMITIVE MYTHS                                     40\n\n        _STORIES_: How the muskrat made the world (_Indians of\n        British Columbia_).\u2014How a kite helped to make the world\n        (_Philippine Island_).\u2014How Maui fished up the earth\n        (_Polynesian_).\u2014The origin of the robin (_Odjibwa_,\n        Cornelius Mathews, based on Schoolcraft).\u2014The origin of the\n        hare (_Aino_, B. F. Chamberlain).\u2014How the mole became blind\n        (_North American Indian_, Mill\u2019s \u201cTree of Mythology\u201d).\u2014The\n        boy and the wolves (_North American Indian_, Ellen R.\n        Emerson, \u201cIndian Legends\u201d).\u2014How Wasbashas, the snail,\n        became a man (_North American Indian_, Emerson).\u2014The\n        amazing adventures of Master Rabbit (_Algonquin_, Leland\u2019s\n        \u201cAlgonquin Legends\u201d).\u2014The story of Manabozho (_Iroquois_,\n        Mathews-Schoolcraft).\u2014How Glooskap made his uncle, the\n        turtle, into a great man (_Mic-Mac_ and _Passamaquoddy_,\n        Leland).\u2014Punchkin (_Hindoo_, M. Frere\u2019s \u201cOld Deccan Days\u201d).\n\n    III.\u2014ANIMALS IN CULTURE MYTHS                                      131\n\n        _STORIES_: Hymn to Indra (_Hindoo_, \u201cRig Veda\u201d).\u2014The\n        Four apes (_Egyptian_, Book of the Dead).\u2014Story of the\n        Midgard serpent and Fenris, the wolf (_Norse_, Melville B.\n        Anderson\u2019s, \u201cNorse Mythology,\u201d based on the Eddas).\u2014The\n        story of Apollo and Pha\u00ebton (_Greek_, Gayley, based on\n        Bulfinch).\u2014The story of Odysseus and the oxen of the sun\n        (_Greek_, paraphrase from Bryant\u2019s \u201cOdyssey\u201d).\u2014The story of\n        Ath\u0113ne and Arachne (_Greek_, Gayley-Bulfinch).\n\n     IV.\u2014TREE AND PLANT MYTHS                                          165\n\n        _STORIES_: Ygdrasil, the Norse world tree.\u2014Story of the\n        Aino who fell asleep at the foot of a pine tree.\u2014Wunzh,\n        the father of Indian corn (_North American Indian_,\n        Mathews-Schoolcraft).\u2014Leelinau, the Lost Daughter (_North\n        American Indian_, Mathews-Schoolcraft).\u2014Birth of the\n        arbutus (_Iroquois_, W. B. Canfield\u2019s \u201cLegends of the\n        Iroquois\u201d).\u2014Song at the beginning (_Ancient Mexican_,\n        Brinton\u2019s \u201cMyths of the New World\u201d).\u2014Flower song (_Ancient\n        Mexican_, Brinton\u2019s \u201cMyths of the New World\u201d).\u2014The story of\n        Erisichthon (_Greek_, Bulfinch\u2019s \u201cAge of Fable\u201d).\u2014Story of\n        Pan and Syrinx (_Greek_, Gayley-Bulfinch).\u2014Story of Pomona\n        and Vertumnus (_Roman_, Gayley-Bulfinch).\u2014Myth of Osiris\n        and Isis (Bulfinch).\u2014Story of Adonis (_Greek_, extracts\n        from Lang\u2019s \u201cLament for Adonis,\u201d by Bion).\n\n      V.\u2014MYTHS OF THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS                             207\n\n        _STORIES_: Story of the making of the sun, moon, and stars\n        (_Navajo_, Emerson).\u2014Story of the conquering of the sun\n        (_North American Indian_, Emerson).\u2014Hymn to the sun (_North\n        American Indian_, Emerson).\u2014Hymn to S\u00fbrya (_Hindoo_, \u201cRig\n        Veda\u201d).\u2014The worship of the sun and the dream of Onawutaquto\n        (_North American Indian_, Emerson).\u2014The witch and the sun\u2019s\n        sister (_Russian_, Ralston\u2019s \u201cRussian Folk-Tales\u201d).\u2014The\n        making of the mirror (_Japanese_, Violet M. Pasteur,\n        \u201cGods and Heroes of Old Japan\u201d).\u2014The death of Balder the\n        Good (_Norse_, Anderson-Eddas).\u2014Battle of Ra and Anapef\n        (_Egyptian_, Book of the Dead).\u2014Story of Ph\u0153bus Apollo\n        (_Greek_, Gayley-Bulfinch).\u2014Story of Artemis and Orion\n        (_Greek_, Gayley-Bulfinch).\u2014Story of the child and the star\n        (_Iowa Indian_, Emerson).\u2014Osseo, the son of the evening\n        star (_North American Indian_, Mathews-Schoolcraft).\u2014The\n        wandering star (_Chippewa_, Emerson).\u2014The daughters of the\n        stars (_North American Indian_, Mathews-Schoolcraft).\n\n     VI.\u2014MYTHS OF THE SKY AND AIR                                      269\n\n        _STORIES_: How a hunter visited the thunder spirits\n        who dwell in Mount Katahdin (_Passamaquoddy_,\n        Leland).\u2014The thunder and lightning men (_Passamaquoddy_,\n        Leland).\u2014How Glooskap bound Wuchowsen, the great\n        wind bird (_Passamaquoddy_, Leland).\u2014The wonderful\n        exploits of Paup-puk-keewiss (_North American Indian_,\n        Mathews-Schoolcraft).\u2014The story of Odin\u2019s sword and\n        Sigmund (_Norse_, Anderson-Eddas).\u2014How Thor conquered the\n        stone giant (_Norse_, Anderson-Eddas).\u2014How Zeus came to\n        be king of gods (_Greek_).\u2014Hymn to the dawn (_Hindoo_,\n        \u201cRig Veda\u201d).\u2014The lover\u2019s vision of the happy land\n        (_North American Indian_, Emerson).\u2014The message-bearers\n        (_Iroquois_, Canfield).\u2014The way of the gods (_Japanese_,\n        Violet M. Pasteur).\n\n    VII.\u2014MOTHER-MYTHS AND CHILD-MYTHS                                  336\n\n        _STORIES_: Malayan story of the sun and moon.\u2014Hymn to\n        the mother of the gods (_Mexican Indian_, Brinton\u2019s \u201cRig\n        Veda Americanus\u201d).\u2014Hymn to Cihuacoatl (_Mexican Indian_,\n        Brinton).\u2014The children of heaven and earth (Sir George\n        Grey, \u201cPolynesian Mythology\u201d).\u2014Story of Demeter (_Greek_,\n        from Hymn to Demeter, Callimachus).\u2014The story of Demeter\n        and Persephone (_Greek_, Gayley-Bulfinch, drawn from Ovid\n        and Apollodorus).\u2014Legend of Tu-tok-a-nu-la (_Indian_,\n        Emerson).\u2014Nezhik-e-wa-wa-sun, or the lone lightning\n        (_Odjibwa_, Emerson).\u2014Wasis, the baby (_Penobscot_,\n        Leland).\u2014Ojeeg Annung, or the summer-maker (_Indian_,\n        Emerson).\u2014The legend of Maui (_Polynesian_, Grey).\u2014The\n        infant Heracles (_Greek_, paraphrased from Lang\u2019s\n        translation of the Idyls of Theocritus).\u2014The infant Hermes\n        (_Greek_, paraphrased from Shelley\u2019s translation of the\n        Homeric Hymn to Mercury).\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                                                               FACING PAGE\n\n    Automedon and the Horses of Achilles         _Regnault_  _Frontispiece_\n\n    A Reading from Homer                      _Alma-Tadema_             38\n\n    Zeus                                     _From Pompeii_            140\n\n    Ath\u0113ne                             _Glyptothek, Munich_            162\n\n    Apollo with the Lyre               _Glyptothek, Munich_            232\n\n    Diana or Artemis the Huntress              _Versailles_            240\n\n    Diana or Artemis                            _Correggio_            248\n\n    Aurora                                     _Guido Reni_            270\n\n    The Flying Mercury or Hermes      _Giovanni di Bologna_            316\n\n    Ath\u0113ne: Brandisher of the Spear         _Capitol, Rome_            320\n\n    Demeter or Ceres                          _The Vatican_            340\n\n    The Infant Hercules                            _Louvre_            384\n\n\n\n\nA GUIDE TO MYTHOLOGY\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nWHAT IS A MYTH?\n\n\nWhat is a myth? This looks like a simple question, and one that ought\nto be easy to answer. Yet it is one which has puzzled for centuries the\nheads of many learned men, who in their attempts to give a satisfactory\nanswer to the question, have written whole libraries of profound books\non the subject. It would seem almost hopeless for us to try and find an\nanswer, if it were not that we live in the Twentieth Century, which is\nlike a great hilltop towering above all the past centuries; and from this\nheight we are able to look down and see right into the minds of all these\nlearned and distinguished men, and understand why they found the answer\nto this question so difficult.\n\nLet us try to imagine all the myths which have come into existence since\nthe beginning of the world shut up in a huge round castle in the midst\nof a wide plain, and all these learned men like knights of the Middle\nAges besieging the castle to find out the secrets that are locked up\nwithin it. They come, galloping up on horseback from every quarter of\nthe plain\u2014North, East, South, West\u2014carrying long spears with which they\nbatter away at the castle until they succeed in making a hole through the\nwall. Then each of these knights of learning becomes so intent upon what\nhe sees in the castle through the hole that he, himself, has made that he\nis entirely unaware of what the other knights see through the holes they\nhave made. Then they all go off and write their learned books, telling\nwhat they have seen, and when they come to read each other\u2019s books, of\ncourse, they have terrible battles\u2014all of words fortunately\u2014in their\nattempts to settle who is right, and each one contends that he has seen\nall there is to be seen through his own particular little spear hole.\nBut we, upon the hilltop can perceive that every one of the knights saw\nsomething about myths which was true, and the way to find the answer we\nwant is to piece together all the fractions of truth which each man saw\ninto a whole truth, or something near a whole truth, for, you know, the\nwhole truth about anything is so immense that it is almost if not quite\nimpossible to find it all out.\n\nFor example, it would not be possible for me to tell you in this one\nshort chapter all the secrets which all the knights of learning saw as\nthey looked into the castle; but I shall tell you a few of them, for it\nwill help you to understand more intelligently what a myth really is.\n\nThe first knight to be seen galloping out of a very far-distant past is\nthe Greek Theognis of Rhegium. He lived six hundred years B.C., but even\nas long ago as that there had come to be such an immense number of myths\nin Greece, that their existence was already a cause for much wonder. He\ncarried a spear, called \u201callegory,\u201d and when he battered into the castle,\nthe only truth he could see was that all myths were allegories. According\nto him the Greek mythical gods, Apollo, Helios, and Hephaestos, were fire\nunder different aspects: Hera was the air; Posidon, the water; Artemis,\nthe moon, and so on. Other learned Greeks followed in his footsteps\nand saw much the same things. For example, three hundred years later,\nAristotle said that myths were the attempt of the world before his time\nto express _philosophical_ speculations, and Plutarch four hundred and\nsixty years later said that myths were _metaphysical_ statements in\ndisguise. That is, they all thought that myths had been invented to stand\nas symbols of objects in nature or of ideas which men had expressed.\n\nNow, if we look again, we shall see another Greek knight galloping out\nof the past whose name was Euhemeros. He was a historian, a philosopher,\nand a traveller, and he lived about three hundred years B.C. He was the\nfriend of the King of Macedon, who sent him off on missions to various\ncountries. The spear he carried was called \u201chistory,\u201d and the way he came\nto decide that myths were historical accounts of real persons is told in\nthe following little story. Once when he was off on his travels, after\nsailing about for several days, he arrived in the Indian Ocean, where he\nfound a group of islands the most important of which was Panchaia. The\ninhabitants of this island were distinguished for their piety and honored\nthe gods by the most magnificent sacrifices and offerings of gold and\nsilver. Among the wonderful works of art in this island was an immensely\ntall column on the top of which was a temple to Jupiter Triumphant. This\nwas supposed to have been erected by Jupiter himself, when, an earthly\nmonarch, he marched through the country victorious. Inside this temple\nwas a column upon which were recorded the doings of Jupiter and of his\nfather and grandfather, Kronos and Uranos.\n\nThis story, itself, is so evidently a myth that it does not amount to\nanything as a proof of the historical theory. Nevertheless there have\nbeen many to adopt this belief.\n\nOther knights of learning, both ancient and modern, have carried lances\nwith the sounding name, \u201cnatural phenomena.\u201d When they look into\nthe castle they see myths as personifications of natural phenomena.\nEverything that we see happening in nature comes under the head of\nnatural phenomena. The rising and setting of the sun, the moon and\nthe stars each day, the clouds that drift across the sky, storms and\nwhirlwinds, the lightning flash and the loud roar of the thunder, as well\nas the gentle rain, the tinkling of waterfalls, and the light morning\nbreezes. When all these objects and events in nature are talked about\nas if they had the same powers as human beings, they are said to be\npersonified. Here is a very pretty example of a myth in which the dawn is\npersonified. It is taken from one of the most ancient books in the world,\nthe \u201cRig Veda,\u201d about which you will hear more later.\n\n    \u201cThe lovely Dawn arousing man goes before the sun preparing\n    practicable paths, riding in a spacious chariot, expanding\n    everywhere, she diffuses light at the commencement of the days.\u201d\n\nAmong the ancient knights of learning who thought that all myths were\nstarted in this way was the great Thucydides; and Cicero also believed\nthat the exalted beings in mythology who were worshipped as gods were\nin reality personifications of the objects in nature which struck the\nimagination of primitive mankind.\n\nThere are also many modern knights of learning who hold the same view,\namong the most distinguished of whom is the English scholar, Max M\u00fcller.\nAbout him and his followers Sir George Cox and John Fiske, the American\nhistorian and thinker, you will one day know more if you continue your\nstudies in mythology. When Max M\u00fcller came to write his learned books\nupon what he saw in the castle of myths, he supported his learning upon\nmany interesting facts which he had discovered when he was studying the\nlanguages of different races.\n\nIn comparing the ancient Greek language with the ancient language of\nIndia, the Sanskrit, he found out that they were often very much alike.\nThis drove him to the conclusion that they must both be descended from\nsome still older language. He noticed also remarkable resemblances\nbetween the myths of Greece and those of India, of which there were\nlarge numbers collected in the old books in Sanskrit and other Indian\nlanguages. Then he made up his mind that the ancient race of people who\nspoke the old language from which Greek and Sanskrit were descended must\nhave had a great fondness for inventing myths, and that these myths had\nbeen handed down from generation to generation. Finally, many of the\ndescendants of this ancient race went to live in India, while others went\nto live in Greece, and that was the reason the languages and the myths of\nthese two peoples were so much alike in many ways. The original home of\nthis ancient myth-making race has been thought to be Central Asia, and\nthe race is known in history as the Aryan race. But Max M\u00fcller and others\nwho agreed with him were so intoxicated with their new discoveries that\nthey were constantly in danger of making fanciful comparisons between the\nwords of the two languages, and building upon these fanciful comparisons\nexplanations of myths, even more mythical than the myths themselves.\nIn fact they not only saw in one direction like the other knights, but\nthey used a huge magnifying glass that tinted every thing with unnatural\nrainbow colors such as you have seen when looking through an opera glass.\n\nI will speak of three others only of the many modern knights of\nlearning who have seen some of the truth:\u2014E. B. Tylor, Andrew Lang, and\nJames G. Frazer. The first of these tells especially about some very\ncurious beliefs possessed by primitive men. These beliefs colored their\nimagination no matter what kind of myths they might invent. One of them\nwas that a spirit, separate from their ordinary life lived inside of\ntheir bodies; another that all things in nature had life like themselves,\nand also spirits dwelling within them like the spirits within themselves.\nThis was thought to be true of trees and stones as well as of birds and\nanimals. The second, Andrew Lang, considers that myths are stories which\ntell about the manners and customs of ancient or savage people, and the\nthird, James G. Frazer, sees in the worship of the spirits of vegetation,\nthe corn, the trees and so on the origin of most myths. Very long and\nvery profound are the arguments with which each supports his particular\npoint of view, and many are the illustrations drawn from the myths of all\nlands with which each illuminates his argument, but, like the rest of the\nknights, each sees so much in his own truth that he is more or less blind\nto all that others see.\n\nNow that I have tried to give you this glimpse at the various\nexplanations of myths proposed from the most ancient times to the\npresent, I think we shall be a little better prepared to find out an\nanswer for ourselves that will be satisfactory.\n\nSuppose we take the top off the castle in which we imagined the myths\nand the secrets of their origin to be locked up, and look down upon them\nfrom our hilltop, using as an aid to our vision all the light that comes\nin through the numerous breaks in the castle made by the lances of the\nknights. What will the wonderful treasures revealed to us be like? They\nwill not be like jewels, all polished and placed in regular shining rows,\nfor myths were never fashioned as a jeweler would fashion his stones\u2014all\nat once\u2014into perfectly finished and beautiful shapes. No!\u2014the imaginary\ncontents of our castle which will best stand as a symbol or picture of\nall the myths of the whole world in all their wonderful variety will be\nan immense forest of almost countless kinds of trees. Under the trees\nthere are many sorts of plants and flowers; and if we look closer we\nshall see that some of these trees and plants are ugly in shape, some\nare even decaying, but there are many most lovely to behold, and a few\nof the trees tower up above the others and are profusely decorated with\nmany shining ornaments, making them look like Christmas trees. You will\nsee at once that by using this symbol to stand for all the myths of the\nwhole world I want to point out and make clear to you the important fact\nthat myths were not made all at once as the jeweler polishes his stones,\nbut they grew up gradually from small beginnings, like oaks from acorns,\nor pines from pine cones\u2014and the soil in which they grew was the minds of\nprimitive men ages and ages ago.\n\nSometimes the trees of one land will look exceedingly like those in\nanother land\u2014in fact, being the same sort of trees, but differing\nsomewhat in shape. Then the smaller plants and flowers are the symbols\nfor many kinds of little mythical stories about every thing that you can\nthink of, or rather that primitive man could think of, for he didn\u2019t know\nabout trolleys and telephones and automobiles, and so there are not any\nmyths about such things as these. And the Christmas trees are the myths\nwhich have been enlarged and glorified by having myths from other lands\nadded to them.\n\nNow the point comes up, how did all this vast forest of myths which\ncovers the whole world arise, for the forest symbolizes, remember, only\nthe forms oral or written in which the myths of the world have come to\nus. To answer this, we must now try to imagine behind all this wonderful\ngrowth of myth, on the one hand, the mind of mankind, and on the other\nhand all the objects of external nature. And besides we must think of\nmankind as it was untold ages ago in the real childhood of the world.\nIn those far off days when the first men used to roam about the world\ngetting their food by hunting, with nothing but caves or tents to live\nin, man\u2019s consciousness of himself was not even as strong as that of a\nsmall child to-day. Still, he had implanted in him the power of observing\nwhatever went on before him, and a constant curiosity to know the cause\nor the \u201creason why\u201d of every thing he saw. Above all he had a vivid\nimagination. He could \u201cmake believe\u201d about the things he saw far better\nthan children do in their games to-day, and that is how he came to\ninvent explanations of most of the things he saw about him. Here, for\nexample, is a little story invented by the Hottentots to explain two\nthings which they had observed, the spots on the moon, and the way in\nwhich the upper lip of a hare is split.\n\n    \u201cThe moon sent an insect to men saying, \u2018Go thou to men and\n    tell them, as I die and dying live, so ye shall also die and\n    dying live.\u2019 The insect started with his message, but while\n    on the way was overtaken by the hare who asked him upon what\n    errand he was bound. The insect answered that he had been sent\n    by the moon to tell men that as she dies and dying lives so\n    also shall they die and dying live! The hare said, \u2018As thou\n    art an awkward runner, let me go.\u2019 With these words he ran off\n    and when he reached men he said, \u2018I am sent by the moon to\n    tell you, as I die and dying perish, in the same manner shall\n    ye also die and come wholly to an end.\u2019 Then the hare returned\n    to the moon and told her what he had said to men. The moon\n    reproached him angrily, saying, \u2018Darest thou tell the people a\n    thing which I have not said?\u2019 With these words she took up a\n    hatchet to split his head, missing that the hatchet fell upon\n    the upper lip and made a deep gash. Maddened by such treatment,\n    the hare flew at the moon and scratched her face which are the\n    dark spots which we now see on the moon.\u201d\n\nYou see these primitive Hottentots treat every thing in nature as if\nit were alive just as we learned from Tylor. They really did not know\nwhat a great difference there is between a human being and an animal or\nbetween animals and plants or even plants and stones. All of the objects\nin nature being endowed with life, they might speak and act just like\nhuman beings. But it was only the very wisest of human beings who could\nunderstand this language that the animals and plants and other objects in\nnature might speak.\n\nOn this account all nature seemed very mysterious to primitive man, and\nhe therefore was ready to worship almost any object that caught his\nattention.\n\nThen the strange feeling he had that another spirit quite detached from\nhis ordinary life lived inside his body, made him imagine queer things\nabout this spirit; for one thing, that it might leave his body and go off\non independent journeys in the form of a bird or an animal, or even that\nit might be stowed away for safe keeping in some animal or other object,\nlike the famous story of the Norse giant whose heart, which is equivalent\nto his true life, is far away in an egg that is in a church that is on an\nisland that lies in a lake. In many stories belonging to this primitive\ntime, a man\u2019s luck often stands for his life and is bound up in some\nobject outside of himself as in this story of the Algonquin Indians,\nwhich reflects all the strange notions I have spoken of as well as giving\nan explanation of the appearance of the sheldrake duck. It is the story\nof how one of the Partridge\u2019s wives became a sheldrake duck, and why her\nfeet and feathers are red.\n\n    \u201cThere was once a hunter who lived in the woods. He had a\n    brother or spirit who was so small that he kept him in a box,\n    and when he went forth he closed this very carefully, for fear\n    lest an evil spirit should get him.\n\n    \u201cOne day this hunter, returning, saw a very beautiful girl\n    sitting on a rock by a river, making a moccasin. And being in\n    a canoe he paddled up softly and silently to capture her; but\n    she, seeing him coming, jumped into the water and disappeared.\n    On returning to her mother, who lived at the bottom of the\n    river, she was told to go back to the hunter and be his wife;\n    \u2018for now,\u2019 said the mother, \u2018you belong to that man.\u2019\n\n    \u201cThe hunter\u2019s name was Mitchihess, the Partridge. When she came\n    to his lodge he was absent. So she arranged every thing for his\n    return, making a bed of boughs. At night he came back with one\n    beaver. This he divided; cooked one half for supper and laid by\n    the other half. In the morning when she awoke he was gone, and\n    the other half of the beaver had also disappeared. That night\n    he returned with another beaver, and the same thing took place\n    again. Then she resolved to spy and find out what all this\n    meant.\n\n    \u201cSo she lay down and went to sleep with one eye open. Then he\n    quietly rose and cooked the half of the beaver, and taking a\n    key unlocked a box, and took out a little red dwarf and fed\n    him. Replacing the elf, he locked him up again, and lay down to\n    sleep. And the small creature had eaten the whole half beaver.\n    But ere he put him in his box he washed him and combed his\n    hair, which seemed to delight him.\n\n    \u201cThe next morning, when her husband had gone for the day, the\n    wife sought for the key, and having found it opened the box\n    and called to the little fellow to come out. This he refused\n    to do for a long time, though she promised to wash and comb\n    him. Being at length persuaded, he peeped out, when she pulled\n    him forth. But whenever she touched him her hands became red,\n    though of this she took no heed, thinking she could wash it off\n    at will. But lo! while combing him, there entered a hideous\n    being, an awful devil, who caught the small elf from her and\n    ran away.\n\n    \u201cThen she was terribly frightened. And trying to wash her\n    hands, the red stain remained. When her husband returned that\n    night he had no game; when he saw the red stain he knew all\n    that had happened; when he knew what had happened he seized\n    his bow to beat her; when she saw him seize his bow to beat\n    her she ran down to the river and jumped in to escape death at\n    his hands, though it should be by drowning. But as she fell\n    into the water she became a sheldrake duck. And to this day the\n    marks of the red stain are to be seen on her feet and feathers.\u201d\n\nYou will observe a very strange custom alluded to in this story, and\nthat is the way in which the hunter is described as capturing the maiden\nfor his wife instead of gently trying to persuade her to be his wife.\nThis shows that it is a very far-back myth, for there are many other\nstories to prove that savages learned to be much more gentle in their\nways toward women even before men became altogether civilized.\n\nHow primitive men came to have such peculiar beliefs we cannot say\npositively. Some people have thought that perhaps their dreams made them\nthink that there was a spirit inside of them separate from their ordinary\nlife, while the sounds and movements in nature, such as the singing of a\nwaterfall, the rustling of leaves, or the sound which stones would give\nout when knocked together, would seem to the uneducated mind of early\nmankind, to be signs of life like his own.\n\nAnother very early belief is that in magic and sorcery. Primitive man\nused to imagine that he could make it rain by imitating the thunder,\nwhich he did by shaking dried seeds about in a gourd. Magic is really\nthe producing of any desired effect or event by means which are quite\noutside of the laws of nature. As the primitive savage did not know any\nthing about the laws of nature, laws which have taken ages for men to\ndiscover and all of which are not even yet discovered, he revelled in the\ninvention of means by which he thought he might accomplish the things he\nwould like to do. Sometimes he asked spirits to help him, and if what\nhe wanted to do was evil, he would ask aid of evil spirits. There are\ncountless myths in which magic plays a part, examples of which you will\nsee as you read the stories given in the following chapters.\n\nSince in the time most remote men depended upon animals almost entirely\nfor their food, it is probable that animals were the objects that made\nthe most vivid impressions on them, and, therefore, that stories of\nanimals belong to this most primitive stage.\n\nAt this time, too, it is likely that the worship of animals arose, for\nalmost every tribe of savages had a sacred animal which, except in rare\ninstances, it was never allowed to kill and from which it often imagined\nitself descended.\n\nAfter many ages, mankind began to till the ground, and to raise grain\nand vegetables, then plants and trees were more especially observed by\nthem, and the mythical stories have, in consequence, more about plants\nand trees in them; and, as they had sacred animals, they had also sacred\ntrees or plants, and worshipped them or imagined themselves descended\nfrom them.\n\nThen as men progressed in their powers of observation they saw natural\nphenomena more and more. The succession of night and day impressed itself\nupon them, they took note of the motions of the sun, the moon and the\nstars, clouds caught their attention, storms filled them with awe and\nfear as the lightning flashed and the thunder roared and rattled in its\nmight. The wind laughed in summer breezes or howled in wintry blasts and\nthey noticed it, and as soon as their attention was fully aroused to all\nthese wonders of nature, they began to think of them, as not only endowed\nwith powers like their own, but as living beings. First, they frequently\npersonified nature as animals, then as human beings, and as they had\nworshipped sacred animals and sacred plants and sacred trees, now they\nworshipped these gods of nature; and as they invented tales about the\nanimals and the trees, so they invented tales about these gods of nature.\nAs one would expect, the stories about animals and trees would often be\nmingled with the new stories of the nature gods, and sometimes changed so\nthat one would hardly recognize them. And then, again, a story told about\na nature god in one part of the world would, on account of the early\nwanderings of the human race from one land to another, be added as an\nornament to a story told in another part of the world, like the ornaments\non the Christmas trees in the castle.\n\nAgain, whole myths would be transported, and as they reached different\ncountries they would be changed somewhat so that they would reflect the\nmanners or the knowledge of that particular country. A strange thing,\nhowever, about many myths is that those in one part of the world are so\nmuch like those in another part of the world that it would seem as if\nthey must have been invented by the same people. Not only are there myths\nin India and Greece which are very much alike, but there are myths in\nScandinavia and North America and South America that strongly resemble\neach other and those of Greece and India.\n\nWhy this should be the case is another point about which learned men have\nhad many opinions. Some of them have thought that the whole human race\nmust once have lived in one particular spot on the globe, and that from\nthere large numbers wandered forth to seek new homes in all the other\ncountries on the globe, taking with them the myths which they had in\ncommon when they all lived together. It has never been settled just where\nthat particular spot was, and probably it never will be. Perhaps it was\nin Central Asia, perhaps it was in the southern part of Spain, perhaps\nin Norway and Sweden, perhaps in the island of Atlantis, in the Southern\nSeas, which a legend says was submerged ages and ages ago. All of these\nplaces have been suggested as the original home of the whole human race,\nand very good arguments have been brought forward to prove the truth of\nevery one of these suggestions.\n\nSince it does not seem possible to find out the truth about this, there\nare other people who dismiss the idea altogether. They think that man and\nnature being a good deal alike in whatever part of the world you find\nthem, it is highly probable that myths might resemble each other very\nstrikingly and yet be invented independently by people living in lands\nfar apart, while the differences would be due largely to climate.\n\nNow if we try to think of centuries of time going by until in many\ncountries primitive man is no longer primitive but begins to be more\ncivilized, we shall find that certain groups of myths became crystallized\ninto complete religious systems, such as existed in Egypt, Assyria,\nIndia, Greece, Persia, and many other countries. By this time the human\nrace had attained to a much greater degree of self-consciousness. Men\nwere beginning to understand both themselves and nature better, and they\noften could see the true causes for the events of nature going on about\nthem. The next step was for them to begin to observe very carefully the\nsystems of religious myths which had been handed down to them by their\nforefathers. Upon these they used their imaginative faculty, as man had\nearlier used it upon nature itself, with the result that they attached\nnew meanings and gave fresh explanations of myths which had originally\nstarted as simple personifications of nature. In Greece, for example,\nApollo, who was originally a personification of the sun, came to be\nregarded as the God of Music and Poetry; Ath\u0113ne, who was originally the\nDawn, became the Goddess of Wisdom; Hermes, originally the Wind, became\nthe God of Eloquence and the leader of spirits. This is the way myths\ngradually grew to have philosophical or metaphysical meanings\u2014that is,\nto stand as symbols of the deepest and most far-reaching thoughts of\nwhich the mind of man at that time was capable. Many of those thoughts\nare so profound and so wonderful that one needs to have a great deal of\nknowledge to understand them. All that interests you now is to know that\nthere are such thoughts and that some day you will want to know more\nabout them.\n\nWhile some myths were thus raised to religious systems, there were many\nwhich remained in the form of legends and stories. In the course of\nmany generations, these stories were told over again and again so that\nmany changes crept into them and many additions were made. Sometimes\nthe effect of these changes was to make a story cruder, sometimes the\ncomplexity of a story was increased, and sometimes it became more\ninteresting and beautiful. Stories which have been changed or added to by\nthe people in this way are called _variants_ of the same story.\n\nOwing to these facts mythology has been divided into two great sections.\nThat which has risen to the dignity of a religion is called culture-lore,\nand that which has remained always in the form of stories and legends is\ncalled folk-lore. The first reflects the learning, wisdom and manners\nof the more intelligent portions of humanity, who developed in advance\nof the others; and the second the beliefs and customs of the less\nintelligent.\n\nYou are probably wondering by this time how all this vast array of myths\nhas come down to us from the long ago past. Much of it has been preserved\nin ancient books like the \u201cRig Veda\u201d in India, which is thought to be\nabout four thousand years old, the \u201cIliad\u201d and \u201cOdyssey\u201d of Homer in\nGreece, about three thousand years old and many others. These books\nexisted in manuscript for many hundreds of years. Since the invention of\nprinting, large numbers of them have been printed and translated into\nmodern languages. Knowledge of ancient myths has also been obtained from\nmonuments and the inscriptions upon them, from paintings on vases and\nfrom statues.\n\nThe folk-lore has for the most part been preserved orally in the\nstories of the common people, and has been handed down from generation\nto generation and finally taken down in writing by some one especially\ninterested in collecting the stories, while the myths of the most\nprimitive men are preserved in the survivals of them among the races\nstill remaining uncivilized in various parts of the globe. These have\nbeen for several centuries taken down from the mouths of the people, or\nobserved in their customs and recorded by students. Among these less\ncivilized races there are besides crude monuments, and even crude forms\nof writing by means of which primitive men have recorded their own myths.\n\nYou will realize by this time what an extensive and wonderful forest this\nforest of myths is which we imagine ourselves looking down upon from\nour hilltop, and after having taken this bird\u2019s-eye view of the whole\nforest, you will be the better able to enjoy going down into the forest\nand making little journeys in different directions and becoming better\nacquainted with some of the most beautiful of the myths as you will in\nthe following chapters. And now, moreover, you will have no difficulty in\nunderstanding me when I answer the question, \u201cWhat is a myth?\u201d by saying:\n\n_A myth is any imaginative explanation or interpretation by man of\nhimself or of the objects and events in nature outside of himself,\nincluding their appearance, their effects and the still greater mystery\nof their causes. It may exist in many forms from the simple myth of\nexplanation to the complicated systems of religious myths in which the\nobjects of nature are regarded as gods in human form. The chief thing\nto be remembered about myths is that they are not true, though they may\ncontain some elements of truth; another, that though not actually true\nthey seemed to be true to the people who made them._\n\n[Illustration: A Reading from Homer. _L. Alma-Tadema._]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nANIMALS IN PRIMITIVE MYTHS\n\n\nThe stories now to be told belong to that very early time in human life,\nwhen, as we learned in the last chapter, men regarded every thing in\nnature as if it were gifted with life like themselves. The strange ideas\nto which this belief gave rise are, of course, reflected in their myths.\nMany of the stories have in them animals and plants which talk, while the\ntransformation of men into animals or animals into men or even gods into\nanimals, when animals are not actually worshipped is frequent.\n\nThe most curious of all these beliefs is that mankind is descended\nfrom animals, all the more curious because some modern scientific men\nhave, as every one knows, tried to prove very much the same thing. The\nmodern scientist, however, does not have any especial reverence for\nthe antediluvian ape from which he supposes he may have evolved, while\nthe primitive savage regarded with awe and reverence the animals from\nwhich he thought himself descended. Groups of savages called clans\u2014all\ntracing their descent from the same animal, considered that animal to\nbe especially their friend. They would not kill it or eat it, except in\na few instances when it was killed for the purposes of sacrifice. Many\ndifferent animals were regarded as ancestral animals, and became the sign\nor totem, as it was called, of the tribe. Among totem animals may be\nmentioned the following in Australia: Opossum, Swan, Duck, Fish. Most of\nthe Australian tribes declare that the family started by a transformation\nof these animals into mankind. The North American Indians have a great\nvariety of totem animals: Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron,\nHawk, Crane, Duck, Loon, Turkey, Muskrat, Pike, Catfish, Carp, and so on.\n\nIt was an easy step for the savage from the belief in his own descent\nfrom some animal to a belief in the sacredness and mystery of animals,\nnaturally leading to the worship of them. The Indians of Peru, for\nexample, regarded the dog as their most exalted deity. They set up the\nimage of a dog in their temples. They were also in the habit of choosing\na live dog as a representation of their deity. They worshipped this and\noffered sacrifices to it, and when it was well fattened up they ate it\nwith solemn religious ceremonies. This is one of the cases where the\nsacred animal was eaten. Serpent worship is one of the most wide-spread\nforms of animal worship, an example of which is found among the Zulus\nto whom certain species are sacred because they are supposed to be the\nincarnations of ancestral spirits.\n\nAnother form which the sacred animal took was that of a supernatural\nbeing not only concerned in the origin of men but who had a part to play\nin the origin of the whole world.\n\nIn a large number of these myths, the water already existed and, also\nof course, the remarkable animal who brought to pass such wonders. The\nanimal was sometimes very humble as in the story told by the Indians of\nBritish Columbia of the creation of the world.\n\n\nHOW A MUSKRAT MADE THE WORLD\n\nIn the beginning nothing existed but water and a muskrat. As the little\nanimal kept diving down to the bottom of the water in search of food,\nhis mouth became frequently filled with mud. This he spat out and so\ngradually formed by alluvial deposit, an island, which grew and grew\nuntil it finally became large enough to be the earth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe natives of the Philippine Islands tell this story of the creation of\nthe world.\n\n\nHOW THE KITE HELPED TO MAKE THE WORLD\n\nThe world at first consisted only of sky and water and between these two\nthere flew a kite. The kite became weary of flying about, and finding\nno place to rest; so he set the water at variance with the sky. Then,\nin order to keep the water within bounds and so that it should not get\nuppermost, the sky loaded the water with a number of islands in which\nthe kite might settle and leave them at peace. Now, it happened that\nfloating about in the water was a large cane with two joints which was\nat length thrown up by the waves at the feet of the kite as it stood on\nthe shore of one of the islands. The kite split open the cane with its\nbill, and behold, a man came out of one joint and a woman out of the\nother. They were soon after married by the consent of their god, Bathala\nMeycapal, and from them are descended the different nations of the world.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn some stories, a fish instead of a bird or an animal is the maker of\nthe earth, while there is an interesting Polynesian myth in which the\nearth itself was a fish and was fished up out of the waters with a fish\nhook. The person who accomplished this remarkable feat was the youngest\nof the Maui brothers, and the flower of the family, by all accounts. We\nshall hear of him again in the chapter on child myths.\n\n\nHOW MAUI FISHED UP THE EARTH\n\nThe youngest Maui was always very badly treated by his elder brothers.\nThey were in the habit of going off and leaving him alone at home with\nnothing to do and nobody to play with. Their treatment of him at meals\nwas even more shocking. They would devour the best of every thing\nthemselves, and toss him a bone or offal to eat.\n\nFinally, little Maui plucks up courage to assert himself, and the next\ntime his brothers go a-fishing, he takes his place in the boat and\ninsists on going, too. \u201cWhere is your hook,\u201d ask the two brothers. \u201cOh\nthis will do,\u201d says little Maui, taking out his ancestor\u2019s jawbone. This\nhe throws overboard for his fish-hook, but on trying to pull it in again\nhe finds it very heavy. By hauling away at it, however, he at last lifts\nit, and finds it has brought up the land from the bottom of the deep.\nThis land proved to be an extraordinary combination of an enormous fish\nand an island with houses and men and animals on it.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe world supporting tortoise is a familiar mythological friend, believed\nin by Asia, and holding an important place in the mythology of the North\nAmerican Indian, where a turtle, the lonely inhabitant of the waste of\nwaters, dived to the depths for the earth.\n\nEven so humble an insect as the grasshopper figures in the Bushman\u2019s\nstory of the creation of the world. Insignificant as the grasshopper\nappears to us, to the Bushman he appeared a great creature, called Cagn,\nwith truly omnipotent powers, for he undertook the work of creation\nwithout even the usual raw material of water. He simply gave orders and\ncaused all things to appear and to be made,\u2014sun, moon, stars, wind,\nmountains, animals.\n\nIn many of the primitive stories, magic is the means by which the most\nwonderful effects are produced. It was believed that a magician could\nbring about any effect he desired by the mere use of his will, and often\nwithout any visible symbol of magic power. Sometimes, however, magic\nwands were used, and sometimes ceremonies were performed for the purpose\nof producing magical results. On the other hand magical prodigies such\nas the changing of shape from man to animal often occur without the\nintervention of any magician.\n\nWhatever may have been the origin of this belief, it is certain that it\nwas just as sincerely believed in as a theory of the universe by early\nmankind as the doctrine of an endless, persistent energy, always working\nfrom cause to effect has been believed in by the nineteenth century\nscientist.\n\nVery fanciful stories have clustered about the idea that the spirit might\nbe detached from the body, and placed somewhere far away, as you will see\nwhen you read the story of \u201cPunchkin.\u201d\n\nSo firmly was this idea fixed in the savage mind that, it seems probable,\nhis worship of animals, even in the earliest stages of life was really\na worship of the spirit within the animal, rather than of the animal\nitself, and from this phase he passed on to the worship of a great spirit\nthat might manifest itself in many forms. This was the belief of many of\nthe North American Indian tribes. The Great Spirit, above all the lesser\ngods, is frequently referred to in their stories.\n\nOf the following stories the first three, are examples of a very large\nclass of early myths, which attempt to account for the origin or\npeculiarities of animals. Curiosity having been awakened, the savage\ntries to explain what he sees and often invents pretty and even elaborate\nmyths in his effort to find a truth beyond his knowledge.\n\nIn the \u201cOrigin of the Robin,\u201d a custom observed among Indians is referred\nto in the young man\u2019s fast. Instead of college commencements, with\nBaccalaureate sermons, and valedictories, the young Indian boy or maiden\nwas made to observe a solitary fast afar from the parental wigwam, and\nwhile suffering the pangs of hunger and loneliness, it was believed that\nthe Great Spirit or a guardian spirit would reveal to him his future.\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE ROBIN\n\n(_From the Odjibwa_)\n\nAn old man had an only son, named Opeechee, who had come to that age\nwhich is thought to be most proper to make the long and final fast which\nis to secure through life a guardian genius or spirit. The father was\nambitious that his son should surpass all others in whatever was deemed\nwisest and greatest among his people. To accomplish his wish, he thought\nit necessary that the young Opeechee should fast a much longer time than\nany of those renowned for their power of wisdom, whose fame he coveted.\n\nHe therefore directed his son to prepare with great ceremony for the\nevent. After Opeechee had been several times in the sweating-lodge and\nbath, which were to prepare and purify him for communion with his good\nspirit, his father ordered him to lie down upon a clean mat in a little\nlodge expressly provided for him. He enjoined upon him at the same time\nto endure his fast like a man, and promised that at the expiration of\ntwelve days he should receive food and the blessing of his father.\n\nThe lad carefully observed the command, and lay with his face covered,\ncalmly awaiting the approach of the spirit which was to decide his good\nor evil fortune for all the days of his life.\n\nEvery morning his father came to the door of the little lodge and\nencouraged him to persevere, dwelling at length on the vast honor and\nrenown that must ever attend him, should he accomplish the full term of\ntrial allotted to him.\n\nTo these glowing words of promise and glory the boy never replied, but\nhe lay without the least sign of discontent or murmuring until the ninth\nday, when he addressed his father as follows:\n\n\u201cMy father, my dreams forebode evil. May I break my fast now, and at a\nmore favorable time make a new fast?\u201d\n\nThe father answered:\n\n\u201cMy son, you know not what you ask. If you get up now all your glory will\ndepart. Wait patiently a little longer. You have but three days more,\nand your term will be completed. You know it is for your own good, and I\nencourage you to persevere. Shall not your aged father live to see you a\nstar among the chieftains and the beloved of battle?\u201d\n\nThe son assented; and covering himself more closely, that he might shut\nout the light which prompted him to complain, he lay till the eleventh\nday, when he repeated his request.\n\nThe father addressed Opeechee as he had the other day, and promised that\nhe would himself prepare his first meal, and bring it to him by the dawn\nof the morning.\n\nThe son moaned, and the father added:\n\n\u201cWill you bring shame upon your father when his sun is falling in the\nWest?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not shame you, my father,\u201d replied Opeechee; and he lay so still\nand motionless that you could only know that he was living by the gentle\nheaving of his breast.\n\nAt the spring of the day, the next morning, the father, delighted at\nhaving gained his end, prepared a repast for his son, and hastened to\nset it before him. On coming to the door of the little lodge, he was\nsurprised to hear his son talking to himself.\n\nHe held his ear down to listen, and, looking through a small opening, he\nwas yet more astonished when he beheld his son painted with vermilion\nover all his breast, and in the act of finishing his work by laying on\nthe paint as far back on his shoulders as he could reach with his hands,\nsaying at the same time, to himself: \u201cMy father has destroyed my fortune\nas a man. He would not listen to my requests. He has urged me beyond my\ntender strength. He will be the loser. I shall be forever happy in my\nnew state, for I have been obedient to my parent. He alone will be the\nsufferer, for my guardian spirit is a just one. Though not propitious to\nme in the manner I desired, he has shown me pity in another way\u2014he has\ngiven me another shape; and now I must go.\u201d\n\nAt this moment the old man broke in exclaiming:\n\n\u201cMy son! I pray you leave me not!\u201d\n\nBut the young man with the quickness of a bird flew to the top of the\nlodge and perched himself on the highest pole, having been changed into a\nbeautiful robin red-breast. He looked down upon his father with pity, and\naddressed him as follows:\n\n\u201cRegret not, my father, the change you behold. I shall be happier in my\npresent state than I could have been as a man. I shall always be the\nfriend of men, and keep near their dwellings. I shall ever be contented;\nand although I could not gratify your wishes as a warrior, it will be\nmy daily aim to make you amends for it as a harbinger of peace and joy.\nI shall cheer you by my songs, and strive to inspire in others the joy\nand lightsomeness of heart I feel in my present state. This will be some\ncompensation to you for the loss of glory you expected. I am now free\nfrom the cares and pains of human life. My food is furnished by the\nmountains and fields, and my pathway of life is in the bright air.\u201d\n\nThen, stretching himself on his toes, as if delighted with the gift of\nwings, Opeechee caroled one of his sweetest songs, and flew away into a\nneighboring wood.\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE HARE\n\n(_From the Aino_)\n\nSuddenly, there was a large house on the top of a mountain, wherein were\nsix people beautifully arrayed, but constantly quarreling. Whence they\ncame was unknown. Thereupon Okikurumi came and said: \u201cOh! you bad hares!\nyou wicked hares! Who does not know your origin? The children in the sky\nwere pelting each other with snow balls, and the snow balls fell into the\nworld of men. As it would be a pity to waste anything that falls from the\nsky, the snow balls were turned into hares, and those hares are you. You\nwho dwell in this world which belongs to me, should not quarrel. What is\nthat you are making such a noise about?\u201d\n\nWith these words, Okikurumi seized a fire-brand, and beat each of the six\nwith it in turn. Thereupon all the hares ran away. This is the origin of\nthe hare and for this reason the body of the hare is white because made\nof snow, while its ears, which are the place where it was charred by the\nfire-brand,\u2014are black.\n\n\nHOW THE MOLE BECAME BLIND\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nOnce a squirrel was being chased by an Indian, and in order to escape,\nthe squirrel ran all the way up a tree into the sky. The Indian set a\nsnare for the squirrel at the top of the tree and then came down, but\nhe found the next day that the sun was caught in the snare, and this\nbrought on night. He saw at once how much harm he had caused, and being\nan Indian of very good intentions he was anxious to do what he could to\nremedy the mischief. So he sent up great numbers of animals in the hope\nthat they might cut the noose and release the sun, but the intense heat\nburned them all to ashes. At length the slow mole succeeded; he burrowed\nunder the road in the sky till he reached the place of the sun, gnawed in\ntwain the cords, and released the captive. But the sun\u2019s flash put his\neyes out and this is the reason why the mole is blind. The effect of the\nburning is still to be seen on the nose and the teeth of the mole, for\nthey are brown as if burnt. From that time on, however, the gait of the\nsun has been more deliberate and slow.\n\n\nTHE BOY AND THE WOLVES; OR, THE BROKEN PROMISE\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nIn the depths of a solitary forest a hunter had built his lodge, for he\nwas weary of the companionship of the people of his tribe; their habits\nof deceit and cruelty had turned his heart from them. With his family,\nhis wife and three children, he had selected a home in the solitude of\nthe forest. Years passed by while he peacefully enjoyed the quiet of\nhis home, or the more attractive pleasures of the chase, in which he\nwas joined by his eldest son. At length his peaceful enjoyments were\ninterrupted: sickness entered the solitary lodge, and the hunter was\nprostrated upon his couch never more to rise.\n\nAs death drew near, he addressed his family in these words: \u201cYou,\u201d said\nhe turning to his wife, \u201cyou, who have been the companion of my life,\nshall join me in the Isle of the Blessed. You have not long to suffer.\nBut oh, my children!\u201d and he turned his eyes affectionately upon them,\n\u201cyou have just commenced life; and, mark me, unkindness, ingratitude,\nand every wickedness is before you. I left my tribe and kindred to come\nto this unfrequented place, because of the evils of which I have just\nwarned you. I have contented myself with the company of your mother and\nyourselves, for I was solicitous that you might be kept from bad example;\nand I shall die contented if you, my children, promise to cherish each\nother, and not to forsake your youngest brother.\u201d\n\nExhausted with speaking, the dying hunter closed his eyes for a few\nmoments, and then, rousing himself with great effort, he took the hand\nof his two eldest children and said: \u201cMy daughter, never forsake your\nyoungest brother. My son, never forsake your youngest brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever! never!\u201d responded both; and the hunter sank back upon his pallet\nand soon expired.\n\nHis wife, according to his predictions, followed him after the brief\nexpiration of eight months; but in her last moments she reminded the two\nchildren of the promise made their father. During the winter following\ntheir mother\u2019s death, the two elder children were exceedingly thoughtful\nin regard to their brother, who was a mere child and very delicate\nand sickly; but when the winter had passed away, the young man became\nrestless, and at length determined to break his promise to his father,\nand seek the village of his father\u2019s tribe.\n\nHe communicated this determination to his sister, who replied: \u201cMy\nbrother, I cannot wonder at your desire, as we are not prohibited the\nsociety of our fellow-men; but we were told to cherish each other, and\nprotect our little brother. If we follow our own inclinations, we may\nforget him.\u201d\n\nTo this the young man made no reply, but, taking his bow and arrows, left\nthe lodge and never returned. Several moons passed after his departure,\nduring which the girl tenderly watched over her little brother; but at\nlength the solitude of her life became unendurable, and she began to\nmeditate escaping from the care of her brother, and leaving him alone in\nhis helplessness. She gathered into the lodge a large amount of food, and\nthen said to her brother, \u201cMy brother, do not leave the lodge; I go to\nseek our brother, and shall soon return.\u201d\n\nThen she went in search of the village of her tribe, where she hoped\nto find her elder brother. When she reached the village, she was so\ndelighted with the novelty of society and the pleasure of seeing others\nof her own age that she entirely forgot her little brother. She found her\nelder brother nicely settled in life, he having married very happily;\nand, on receiving a proposal of marriage herself, abandoned all thought\nof returning to the solitary lodge in the forest, accepting a home in the\nvillage with the young man who became her husband.\n\nAs soon as the little brother had eaten all the food collected by his\nsister, he went into the woods and picked berries and dug up roots. That\nsatisfied his hunger as long as the weather was mild; but, when the\nwinter drew on, he was obliged to wander about in very great distress for\nwant of food. He often passed his nights in the clefts and hollows of old\ntrees, and was glad to eat the refuse-meat left by the wolves; and he\nbecame so fearless of those animals that he would sit by them while they\ndevoured their prey, and the animals themselves were so accustomed to him\nthat they seemed pleased with his presence, and always left some of their\nfood for him. Thus the little boy lived on through the winter, succored\nfrom hunger by the wild beasts of the woods.\n\nWhen the winter had passed away and the ice had melted from the Great\nLake, he followed the wolves to its open shore. It happened one day that\nhis elder brother was fishing in his canoe on the lake, and, hearing the\ncry of a child, hastened to the shore, where at a short distance from him\nhe discovered his little brother, who was singing plaintively these lines:\n\n    Nesia, Nesia, shug wuh, gushuh!\n    Ne mien gun-iew! Ne mien gun-iew!\n\n    My brother, my brother!\n    I am turning into a wolf!\n    I am turning into a wolf!\n\nAt the termination of his song, he howled like a wolf; and the elder,\napproaching him, was startled at seeing that the little fellow had indeed\nhalf turned into a wolf, when, running hastily forward, he shouted, \u201cMy\nbrother, my little brother, come to me!\u201d But the boy fled from him, while\nhe continued to sing: \u201cI am turning into a wolf!\u2014Ne mien gun-iew! Ne mien\ngun-iew!\u201d Filled with anguish and remorse, the elder brother continued to\ncry, \u201cMy brother, my little brother, come to me!\u201d But the more eagerly he\ncalled, the more rapidly his brother fled from him, while he became more\nand more like a wolf, until, with a prolonged howl, his whole body was\ntransformed, when he bounded swiftly away into the depths of the forest.\n\nThe elder brother, in the deepest sorrow, now returned to his village,\nwhere with his sister he lamented the dreadful fate of his brother until\nthe end of his life.\n\n\nHOW WASBASHAS, THE SNAIL, BECAME A MAN\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nUpon the banks of the Missouri River there once lived a snail, in great\nenjoyment; for he found plenty of food, and was never in want of anything\nthat a snail could desire. At length, however, disaster reached him.\nThe waters of the river overflowed its banks; and, although the little\ncreature clung to a log with all his strength,\u2014hoping thereby to remain\nsafe upon the shore,\u2014the rising flood carried both him and the log away,\nand they floated helplessly many days, until the waters subsided, when\nthe poor snail was left upon a strange shore that was covered with the\nriver\u2019s slime, where, as the sun arose, the heat was so intense that he\nwas irrecoverably fixed in the mud. Oppressed with the heat and drought,\nand famishing for want of nourishment, in despair he resigned himself\nto his fate and prepared to die. But suddenly new feelings arose, and a\nrenewed vigor entered his frame. His shell burst open; his head gradually\narose above the ground; his lower extremities assumed the character\nof feet and legs; arms extended from his sides, and their extremities\ndivided into fingers; and, thus beneath the influence of the shining sun,\nhe became a tall and noble-looking man. For a while he was stupefied\nwith the change; he had no energy, no distinct thoughts; but by degrees\nhis brain assumed its activity, and returning recollection induced him\nto travel back to his native shore. Naked and ignorant, and almost\nperishing with hunger, he walked along. He saw beasts and birds enticing\nto the appetite; but, not knowing how to kill them, his hunger was left\nunappeased.\n\nAt last he became so weak that he laid himself down upon the ground in\ndespair, thinking that he must die. He had not been lying thus very long,\nwhen he heard a voice calling him by name, \u201cWasbashas, Wasbashas!\u201d He\nlooked up, and before him beheld the Great Spirit sitting upon a white\nanimal. And the eyes of the Spirit were like stars; the hair of his head\nshone like the sun. Trembling from head to foot, Wasbashas bowed his\nhead. He could not look upon him. Again the voice spoke, in a mild tone,\n\u201cWasbashas, why art thou terrified?\u201d \u201cI tremble,\u201d replied Wasbashas,\n\u201cbecause I stand before him who raised me from the ground. I am faint;\nI have eaten nothing since I was left a little shell upon the shore.\u201d\nThe Great Spirit then lifted up his hands, displaying in them a bow and\narrows; and telling Wasbashas to look at him, he put an arrow to the\nstring of the bow, and sent it into the air, striking a beautiful bird,\nthat dropped dead upon the ground. A deer then coming in sight, he placed\nanother arrow to the string, and pierced it through and through. \u201cThere,\u201d\nsaid the Great Spirit, \u201cis your food, and these are your arms,\u201d\u2014handing\nhim the bow and arrows. The beneficent Being then instructed him how\nto remove the skin of the deer, and prepare it for a garment. \u201cYou are\nnaked,\u201d said he, \u201cand must be clothed; for although it is now warm, the\nskies will change, and bring rains and snow and cold winds.\u201d Having said\nthis, he also imparted the gift of fire, and instructed him how to roast\nthe flesh of the deer and bird. He then placed a collar of wampum around\nhis neck. \u201cThis,\u201d said he, \u201cis your title of authority over all the\nbeasts.\u201d Having done this, the Great Spirit arose in the air and vanished\nfrom sight. Wasbashas refreshed himself with the food, and afterward\npursued his way to his native land. Having walked a long distance, he\nseated himself on the banks of a river, and meditated on what had\ntranspired, when a large beaver arose up from the channel and addressed\nhim. \u201cWho art thou?\u201d said the beaver, \u201cthat comest here to disturb my\nancient reign?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a man,\u201d he replied. \u201cI was once a creeping shell; but who art\nthou?\u201d \u201cI am king of the nation of beavers,\u201d was answered; \u201cI lead my\npeople up and down this stream. We are a busy people, and the river is my\ndominion.\u201d\n\n\u201cI must divide it with you,\u201d said Wasbashas; \u201cthe Great Spirit has placed\nme at the head of beasts and birds, fishes and fowls, and has provided me\nwith the power of maintaining my rights;\u201d and then he exhibited the gifts\nof the Great Spirit, the bow and arrows and the wampum.\n\n\u201cCome, come,\u201d said the beaver in a modified tone, \u201cI perceive we are\nbrothers; walk with me to my lodge, and refresh yourself after your\njourney.\u201d So saying he conducted Wasbashas, who had accepted the\ninvitation with great alacrity, to a beautiful large village, where he\nwas entertained in the chief\u2019s lodge, which was built in a cone shape;\nand, as the floor was covered with pine mats, it had a very delightful\nappearance to the eyes of Wasbashas.\n\nAfter they had seated themselves, the chief bade his wife and daughter\nprepare for them the choicest food in their possession. Meanwhile he\nentertained his guest by informing him how they constructed their lodges,\nand described their manner of cutting down trees with their teeth,\nand felling them across streams so as to dam up the water; and also\ninstructed him in the method of finishing the dams with leaves and clay.\nWith this wise conversation the chief beguiled the time, and also gained\nthe respect of Wasbashas. His wife and daughter now entered, bringing in\nfresh peeled poplar and willow and sassafras and elder-bark, which was\nthe most choice food known to them. Of this Wasbashas made a semblance\nof tasting, while his entertainer devoured a large amount with great\nenjoyment. The daughter of the chief now attracted the eyes of Wasbashas.\nHer modest deportment and cleanly attire, her assiduous attention to\nthe commands of her father, heightened very much her charms, which in\nthe estimation of the guest were very great; and the longer Wasbashas\ngazed upon the maiden, the more deeply he was enamoured, until at length\nhe formed the resolution to seek her in marriage; upon which, with\npersuasive words, he spoke to the chief, begging him to allow his suit.\nThe chief gladly assented; and as the daughter had formed a favourable\nopinion of the suitor, a marriage was consummated\u2014but not without a feast\nto which beavers and friendly animals were invited. From this union of\nthe snail and beaver the Osage tribe has its origin.\n\n\nTHE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF MASTER RABBIT WITH THE OTTER AND THE WOODPECKER\nGIRLS\n\nALSO A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS CHASE, IN WHICH HE FOOLED LUSIFEE, THE\nWILD CAT\n\n(_Algonquin_)\n\n\nI. HOW MASTER RABBIT SOUGHT TO RIVAL KEEOONY, THE OTTER\n\nOf old times, _Mahtigwess_, the Rabbit, who is called in the Micmac\ntongue _Ableegumooch_, lived with his grandmother, waiting for better\ntimes; and truly he found it a hard matter in midwinter, when ice was\non the river and snow was on the plain, to provide even for his small\nhousehold. And running through the forest one day he found a lonely\nwigwam, and he that dwelt therein was _Keeoony_, the Otter. The lodge\nwas on the bank of a river, and a smooth road of ice slanted from the\ndoor down to the water. And the Otter made him welcome, and directed his\nhousekeeper to get ready to cook; saying which, he took the hooks on\nwhich he was wont to string fish when he had them, and went to fetch a\nmess for dinner. Placing himself on the top of the slide, he coasted in\nand under the water, and then came out with a great bunch of eels, which\nwere soon cooked, and on which they dined.\n\n\u201cBy my life,\u201d thought Master Rabbit, \u201cbut that is an easy way of getting\na living! Truly these fishing-folk have fine fare, and cheap! Cannot I,\nwho am so clever, do as well as this mere Otter? Of course I can. Why\nnot?\u201d Thereupon he grew so confident of himself as to invite the Otter to\ndine with him\u2014_adamadusk ketkewop_\u2014on the third day after that, and so\nwent home.\n\n\u201cCome on!\u201d he said to his grandmother the next morning; \u201clet us remove\nour wigwam down to the lake.\u201d So they removed; and he selected a site\nsuch as the Otter had chosen for his home, and the weather being cold he\nmade a road of ice, of a coast, down from his door to the water, and all\nwas well. Then the guest came at the time set, and Rabbit, calling his\ngrandmother, bade her get ready to cook a dinner. \u201cBut what am I to cook,\ngrandson?\u201d inquired the old dame.\n\n\u201cTruly I will see to that,\u201d said he, and made him a _nabogun_, or stick\nto string eels. Then going to the ice path, he tried to slide like one\nskilled in the art, but indeed with little luck, for he went first to the\nright side, then to the left, and so hitched and jumped till he came to\nthe water, where he went in with a bob backwards. And this bad beginning\nhad no better ending, since of all swimmers and divers the Rabbit is the\nvery worst, and this one was no better than his brothers. The water was\ncold, he lost his breath, he struggled, and was well-nigh drowned.\n\n\u201cBut what on earth ails the fellow?\u201d said the Otter to the grandmother,\nwho was looking on in amazement.\n\n\u201cWell, he has seen somebody do something, and is trying to do likewise,\u201d\nreplied the old lady.\n\n\u201cHo! come out of that now,\u201d cried the Otter, \u201cand hand me your\n_nabogun_!\u201d And the poor Rabbit, shivering with cold, and almost frozen,\ncame from the water and limped into the lodge. And there he required much\nnursing from his grandmother, while the Otter, plunging into the stream,\nsoon returned with a load of fish. But, disgusted at the Rabbit for\nattempting what he could not perform, he threw them down as a gift, and\nwent home without tasting the meal.\n\n\nII. HOW MAHTIGWESS, THE RABBIT, DINED WITH THE WOODPECKER GIRLS, AND WAS\nAGAIN HUMBLED BY TRYING TO RIVAL THEM.\n\nNow Master Rabbit, though disappointed, was not discouraged, for this\none virtue he had, that he never gave up. And wandering one day in\nthe wilderness, he found a wigwam well filled with young women, all\nwearing red head-dresses; and no wonder, for they were Woodpeckers. Now,\nMaster Rabbit was a well-bred Indian, who made himself as a melody to\nall voices, and so he was cheerfully bidden to bide to dinner, which\nhe did. Then one of the red-polled pretty girls, taking a _woltes_, or\nwooden dish, lightly climbed a tree, so that she seemed to run; and\nwhile ascending, stopping here and there and tapping now and then, took\nfrom this place and that many of those insects called by the Indians\n_apchel-moal-timpkawal_, or rice, because they so much resemble it. And\nnote that this rice is a dainty dish for those who like it. And when it\nwas boiled, and they had dined, Master Rabbit again reflected, \u201cLa! how\neasily some folks live! What is to hinder me from doing the same? Ho, you\ngirls! come over and dine with me the day after to-morrow!\u201d\n\nAnd having accepted this invitation, all the guests came on the day set,\nwhen Master Rabbit undertook to play woodpecker. So having taken the head\nof an eel-spear and fastened it to his nose to make a bill, he climbed\nas well as he could\u2014and bad was the best\u2014up a tree, and tried to get\nhis harvest of rice. Truly he got none; only in this did he succeed in\nresembling a Woodpecker, that he had a red poll; for his pate was all\ntorn and bleeding, bruised by the fishing-point. And the pretty birds all\nlooked and laughed, and wondered what the Rabbit was about.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said his grandmother, \u201cI suppose he is trying again to do something\nwhich he has seen some one do. \u2019Tis just like him.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, come down there!\u201d cried Miss Woodpecker, as well as she could for\nlaughing. \u201cGive me your dish!\u201d And having got it she scampered up the\ntrunk, and soon brought down a dinner. But it was long ere Master Rabbit\nheard the last of it from these gay tree-tappers.\n\n\nIII. RELATING HOW THE RABBIT BECAME WISE BY BEING ORIGINAL, AND OF THE\nTERRIBLE TRICKS WHICH HE BY MAGIC PLAYED LOUP-CERVIER.\n\nThere are men who are bad at copying, yet are good originals, and of this\nkind was Master Rabbit, who, when he gave up trying to do as others did,\nsucceeded very well. And, having found out his foible, he applied himself\nto become able in good earnest, and studied _m\u2019t\u00e9oulin_, or magic, so\nseverely that in time he grew to be an awful conjurer, so that he could\nraise ghosts, crops, storms, or devils whenever he wanted them. For\nhe had perseverance, and out of this may come anything, if it be only\nbrought into the right road.\n\nNow it came to pass that Master Rabbit got into great trouble. The\nrecords of the Micmacs say that it was from his stealing a string of fish\nfrom the Otter, who pursued him; but the Passamaquoddies declare that he\nwas innocent of this evil deed, probably because they make great account\nof him as their ancestor and as the father of the Wabanaki. Howbeit, this\nis the way in which they tell the tale.\n\nNow the Rabbit is the natural prey of the Loup-Cervier, or Lusifee, who\nis a kind of wild-cat, none being more obstinate. And this Wild-Cat once\nwent hunting with a gang of wolves, and they got nothing. Then Wild-Cat,\nwho had made them great promises and acted as chief, became angry, and,\nthinking of the Rabbit, promised them that this time they should indeed\nget their dinner. So he took them to Rabbit\u2019s wigwam; but he was out, and\nthe Wolves, being vexed and starved, reviled Wild-Cat, and then rushed\noff howling through the woods.\n\nNow I think that the Rabbit is _m\u2019t\u00e9oulin_. Yes, he must be, for when\nWild-Cat started to hunt him alone, he determined with all his soul not\nto be caught, and made himself as magical as he could. So he picked up a\nhandful of chips, and threw one as far as possible, then jumped to it\u2014for\nhe had a charm for a long jump; and then threw another, and so on, for a\ngreat distance. This was to make no tracks, and when he thought he had\ngot out of scent and sight and sound he scampered away like the wind.\n\nNow, as I said, when the wolves got to Master Rabbit\u2019s house and found\nnothing, they smelt about and left Wild-Cat, who swore by his tail that\nhe would catch Rabbit, if he had to hunt forever and run himself to\ndeath. So, taking the house for a center, he kept going round and round\nit, all the time a little further, and so more around and still further.\nThen at last having found the track, he went in hot haste after Mr.\nRabbit. And both ran hard, till, night coming on, Rabbit, to protect\nhimself, had only just time _to trample down the snow a little, and stick\nup a spruce twig on end and sit on it_. But when Wild-Cat came up he\nfound there a fine wigwam, and put his head in. All that he saw was an\nold man of very grave and dignified appearance, whose hair was gray, and\nwhose majestic (_sogmoye_) appearance was heightened by a pair of long\nand venerable ears. And of him Wild-Cat asked in a gasping hurry if he\nhad seen a Rabbit running that way.\n\n\u201cRabbits!\u201d replied the old man. \u201cWhy, of course, I have seen many.\nThey abound in the woods about here. I see dozens of them every day.\u201d\nWith this he said kindly to Wild-Cat that he had better tarry with him\nfor a time. \u201cI am an old man,\u201d he remarked with solemnity\u2014\u201can old man,\nliving alone, and a respectable guest, like you, sir, comes to me like a\nblessing.\u201d And the Cat, greatly impressed, remained. After a good supper\nhe lay down by the fire, and, having run all day, was at once asleep,\nand made but one nap of it till morning. But how astonished, and oh, how\nmiserable he was, when he awoke, to find himself on the open heath in the\nsnow and almost starved! The wind blew as if it had a keen will to kill\nhim; it seemed to go all through his body. Then he saw that he had been\na fool and cheated by magic, and in a rage swore again by his teeth, as\nwell as his tail, that the Rabbit should die. There was no hut now, only\nthe trampled snow and a spruce twig, and yet out of this little, Rabbit\nhad conjured up so great a delusion.\n\nThen he ran again all day. And when night came, Master Rabbit, having a\nlittle more time than before, again trampled down the snow, but for a\ngreater space, and strewed many branches all about, for now a huge effort\nwas to be made. And when Wild-Cat got there he found a great Indian\nvillage, with crowds of people going to and fro. The first building he\nsaw was a church, in which service was being held. And he, entering,\nsaid hastily to the first person he saw, \u201cHa! ho! have you seen a Rabbit\nrunning by here?\u201d\n\n\u201cHush\u2014sh, sh!\u201d replied the man. \u201cYou must wait till meeting is over\nbefore asking such questions.\u201d Then a young man beckoned to him to come\nin, and he listened till the end to a long sermon on the wickedness of\nbeing vindictive and rapacious; and the preacher was a gray ancient, and\nhis ears stood up over his little cap like the two handles of a pitcher,\nyet for all that the Wild-Cat\u2019s heart was not moved one whit. And when it\nwas all at an end he said to the obliging young man, \u201cBut _have_ you seen\na Rabbit running by?\u201d\n\n\u201cRabbits! Rab-bits!\u201d replied the young man. \u201cWhy, there are hundreds\nracing about in the cedar swamps near this place, and you can have as\nmany as you want.\u201d \u201cAh!\u201d replied Wild-Cat, \u201cbut they are not what I\nseek. Mine is an entirely different kind.\u201d The other said that he knew\nof no sort save the wild wood-rabbits, but that perhaps their Governor,\nor Chief, who was very wise, could tell him all about them. Then the\nGovernor, or Sagamore, came up. Like the preacher, he was very remarkable\nand gray, with the long locks standing up one on either side of his head.\nAnd he invited the stranger to his house, where his two very beautiful\ndaughters cooked him a fine supper. And when he wished to retire they\nbrought out blankets and a beautiful _white bear\u2019s skin_, and made up a\nbed for him by the fire. Truly, his eyes were closed as soon as he lay\ndown, but when he awoke there had been a great change. For now he was in\na wet cedar swamp, the wind blowing ten times worse than ever, and his\nsupper and sleep had done him little good, for they were all a delusion.\nAll around him were rabbits\u2019 tracks and broken twigs, but nothing more.\n\nYet he sprang up, more enraged than ever, and swearing more terribly by\nhis tail, teeth, and claws that he would be revenged. So he ran on all\nday, and at night, when he came to another large village, he was so weary\nthat he could just gasp, \u201cHave\u2014you\u2014seen a Rab\u2014bit run this way?\u201d With\nmuch concern and kindness they all asked him what was the matter. So he\ntold them all this story, and they pitied him very much; yea, one gray\nold man\u2014and this was the Chief\u2014with two beautiful daughters, shed tears\nand comforted him, and advised him to stay with them. So they took him to\na large hall, where there was a great fire burning in the middle thereof.\nAnd over it hung two pots with soup and meat, and two Indians stood by\nand gave food to all the people. And he had his share with the rest, and\nall feasted gayly.\n\nNow, when they had done eating, the old Governor, who was very gray,\nand from either side of whose head rose two very venerable, long white\nfeathers, rose to welcome the stranger, and in a long speech said it was,\nindeed, the custom of their village to entertain guests, but that they\nexpected from them a song. Then Wild-Cat, who was vain of his voice,\nuplifted it in vengeance against the Rabbits:\n\n    Oh, how I hate them!\n    How I despise them!\n    How I laugh at them!\n    May I scalp them all!\n\nThen he said that he thought the Governor should sing. And to this the\nChief consented, but declared that all who were present should bow their\nheads while seated, and shut their eyes, which they did. Then Chief\nRabbit, at one bound, cleared the heads of his guests, and drawing his\n_timheyen_, or tomahawk, as he jumped, gave Wild-Cat a wound which cut\ndeeply into his head and only fell short of killing him by entirely\nstunning him. When he recovered, he was again in snow, slush and filth,\nmore starved than ever, his head bleeding from a dreadful blow, and he\nhimself almost dead. Yet, with all that, the Indian devil was stronger in\nhim than ever, for every new disgrace did but bring more resolve to be\nrevenged, and he swore it by his tail, claws, teeth, and eyes.\n\nSo he tottered along, though he could hardly walk; nor could he,\nindeed, go very far that day. And when almost broken down with pain and\nweariness, he came about noon to two good wigwams. Looking into one, he\nsaw a gray-haired old man, and in the other a young girl, apparently his\ndaughter. And they received him kindly, and listened to his story, saying\nit was very sad, the old man declaring that he must really remain there,\nand that he would get him a doctor, since, unless he were well cared for\nat once, he would die. Then he went forth as if in great concern, leaving\nhis daughter to nurse the weary, wounded stranger.\n\nNow, when the doctor came, he, too, was an old gray man, with a\nscalp-lock strangely divided like two horns. But the Wild-Cat had become\na little suspicious, having been so often deceived, for much abuse will\ncease to amuse even the most innocent; and truly he was none of these.\nAnd, looking grimly at the Doctor, he said: \u201cI was asking if any Rabbits\nare here, and truly you look very much like one yourself. How did you\nget that split nose?\u201d \u201cOh, that is very simple,\u201d replied the old man.\n\u201cOnce I was hammering wampum beads, and the stone on which I beat them\nbroke in halves, and one piece flew up, and, as you see, split my nose.\u201d\n\u201cBut,\u201d persisted the Wild-Cat, \u201cwhy are the soles of your feet so yellow,\neven like a Rabbit\u2019s?\u201d \u201cAh, that is because I have been preparing some\ntobacco, and I had to hold it down with my feet, for, truly, I needed\nboth my hands to work with. So the tobacco stained them yellow.\u201d Then the\nWild-Cat suspected no more, and the Doctor put salve on his wound, so\nthat he felt much better.\n\nBut oh, the wretchedness of the awaking in the morning! For then Wild-Cat\nfound himself indeed in the extreme of misery. His head was swollen and\naching to an incredible degree, and the horrible wound, which was gaping\nwide, had been stuffed with hemlock needles and pine splinters, and this\nwas the cool salve which the Doctor had applied. And then he swore by all\nhis body and soul that he would slay the next being he met, Rabbit or\nIndian. Verily this time he would be utterly revenged.\n\nNow Mahtigwess, the Rabbit, had almost come to an end of his _m\u2019t\u00e9oulin_,\nor wizard power, for that time, yet he had still enough left for one\nmore great effort. And, coming to a lake, he picked up a very large chip,\nand, having seamed it with sorcery and magnified it by magic, threw it\ninto the water, where it at once seemed to be a great ship, such as white\nmen build. And when the Wild-Cat came up he saw it, with sails spread\nand flags flying, and the captain stood so stately on the deck, with\nfolded arms, and he was a fine, gray-haired, dignified man, with a cocked\nhat, the two points of which were like grand and stately horns. But the\nWild-Cat had sworn, and he was mindful of his great oath; so he cried,\n\u201cYou cannot escape me this time, Rabbit! I have you now!\u201d Saying this\nhe plunged in, and tried to swim to the ship. And the captain, seeing a\nWild-Cat in the water, being engaged in musket drill, ordered his men to\nfire at it, which they did with a bang! Now this was caused by a party\nof night-hawks overhead, who swooped down with a sudden cry like a shot;\nat least it seemed so to Wild-Cat, who, deceived and appalled by this\nvolley, deeming that he had verily made a mistake this time, turned tail\nand swam ashore into the dark old forest, where, if he is not dead, he is\nrunning still.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the following two stories, the two most celebrated heroes of American\nIndian Mythology figure. The first is known as Manabozho among the\nAlgonquin Indians and as Hiawatha among the Iroquois. Although he appears\nmost often in the form of a man in Indian legends, he seems at times to\nbe endowed with divine attributes. According to the ordinary account of\nhim[1] he is regarded as the messenger of the Great Spirit, sent down\nto mankind, in the character of a wise man or prophet. But he has all\nthe attributes of humanity as well as the power of performing miraculous\ndeeds. He adapts himself perfectly to their manners and customs and\nideas. He marries, builds a lodge, hunts and fishes, goes to war, has\nhis triumphs and his failures like other Indians. Whatever man could do\nin strength or wisdom he could do, but when he encounters situations\nrequiring more than human strength, his miraculous powers come into\nplay. He is provided with a magic canoe which goes where it is bid. He\ncould leap over extensive regions of country like an _ignis fatuus_. He\nappears suddenly like a god, or wanders over weary wastes of country a\npoor and starving hunter. His voice is at one moment deep and sonorous\nas a thunder-clap, and at another clothed with the softness of feminine\nsupplication. He could transform himself into any animal he pleased. He\noften conversed with animals, fowls, reptiles, and fishes. He deemed\nhimself related to them, and always in speaking to them called them \u201cmy\nbrother,\u201d and one of his greatest resources when finding himself hard\npressed was to change himself into their shapes.\n\nHe could conquer Manitoes, no matter what their evil power might\nbe. Manitoes in Indian stories are not unlike fairies in their\ncharacteristics. They were of all imaginary kinds, grades, powers,\nsometimes benign, sometimes malicious, but Manabozho was a personage\nstrong enough in his necromantic powers to baffle the most malicious,\nbeat the stoutest, and overreach the most cunning. He was not, however,\nthe wholly benevolent being we might expect he would be with all these\ngreat gifts; he was unfortunately ambitious, vainglorious, and deceitful,\nand at times not much better himself than a wicked Manito. But what could\nbe expected of a son of the West Wind, for his father was Ningabiun, the\nWest Wind, and you will find that mythical beings which personify the\nwind are always of a tricksy disposition just as the wind itself is. As a\ngod he was often spoken of as the great white Hare.\n\nThe Algonquin hero, Glooskap,[2] is equally interesting, and of a more\ntruly heroic disposition than Manabozho. The name of this divinity,\nGlooskap, means a liar, because it is said that when he left the earth\nfor the land of spirits he promised to return and he has never done so.\nMany and wonderful are the tales told of Glooskap, but he is never silly,\nor cruel, or fantastic like Manabozho. Any one who goes to Nova Scotia,\nto-day, may see the grand Cape Blomidon, where Glooskap lived. It juts\nout between the Bay of Fundy and the Basin of Minas. Its foundations are\nof red sandstone and far up toward the sky it is crowned with granite\nbattlements. Sometimes the waters of the Basin of Minas gently wash\nagainst the base of this gigantic cape and sometimes one could walk a\nmile or two from the cape to reach the water. Twice a day this happens as\nthe tide comes up and recedes. Truly, it is a magical land, and Blomidon\nis a noble home, well befitting the great Indian divinity whose head\nrises to the stars, and who could slay a giant enemy with a mere tap of\nhis bow. We shall meet with both of these heroes again later.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF MANABOZHO\n\n(_Iroquois_)\n\nTo begin at the beginning, Manabozho, while yet a youngster, was living\nwith his grandmother, near the edge of a wide prairie. It was on this\nprairie that he first saw animals and birds of every kind; he also there\nmade first acquaintance with thunder and lightning; he would sit by the\nhour watching the clouds as they rolled, and musing on the shades of\nlight and darkness as the day rose and fell.\n\nFor a stripling, Manabozho was uncommonly wide-awake. Every new sight he\nbeheld in the heavens was a subject of remark; every new animal or bird,\nan object of deep interest; and every sound that came from the bosom of\nnature, was like a new lesson which he was expected to learn. He often\ntrembled at what he heard and saw.\n\nTo the scene of the wide open prairie his grandmother sent him at an\nearly age to watch. The first sound he heard was that of the owl, at\nwhich he was greatly terrified, and, quickly descending the tree he had\nclimbed, he ran with alarm to the lodge. \u201cNoko! noko! grandmother!\u201d he\ncried. \u201cI have heard a monedo.\u201d\n\nShe laughed at his fears, and asked him what kind of noise his reverence\nmade. He answered, \u201cIt makes a noise like this: ko-ko-ko-ho.\u201d\n\nHis grandmother told him he was young and foolish; that what he heard was\nonly a bird which derived its name from the peculiar noise it made.\n\nHe returned to the prairie and continued his watch. As he stood there\nlooking at the clouds, he thought to himself, \u201cIt is singular that I am\nso simple and my grandmother so wise; and that I have neither father nor\nmother. I have never heard a word about them. I must ask and find out.\u201d\n\nHe went home and sat down, silent and dejected. Finding that this did\nnot attract the notice of his grandmother, he began a loud lamentation,\nwhich he kept increasing, louder and louder, till it shook the lodge, and\nnearly deafened the old grandmother. She at length said, \u201cManabozho, what\nis the matter with you? You are making a great deal of noise.\u201d\n\nManabozho started off again with his doleful hubbub; but succeeded in\njerking out between his big sobs, \u201cI haven\u2019t got any father nor mother; I\nhaven\u2019t;\u201d and he set out again lamenting more boisterously than ever.\n\nKnowing that he was of a wicked and revengeful temper, his grandmother\ndreaded to tell him the story of his parentage; as she knew he would\nmake trouble of it.\n\nManabozho renewed his cries, and managed to throw out, for a third or\nfourth time, his sorrowful lament that he was a poor unfortunate, who had\nno parents and no relations.\n\nShe at last said to him, \u201cYes, you have a father and three brothers\nliving. Your mother is dead. She was taken for a wife by your father, the\nWest, without the consent of her parents. Your brothers are the North,\nEast, and South; and being older than yourself, your father has given\nthem great power with the winds, according to their names. You are the\nyoungest of his children. I have nursed you from your infancy; for your\nmother, owing to the ill-treatment of your father, died when you were an\ninfant. I have no relations beside you this side of the planet in which\nI was born, and from which I was precipitated by female jealousy. Your\nmother was my only child, and you are my only hope.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad my father is living,\u201d said Manabozho. \u201cI shall set out in the\nmorning to visit him.\u201d\n\nHis grandmother would have discouraged him; saying it was a long distance\nto the place where his father, Ningabiun, or the West, lived.\n\nThis information seemed rather to please than to disconcert Manabozho;\nfor by this time he had grown to such a size and strength that he had\nbeen compelled to leave the narrow shelter of his grandmother\u2019s lodge and\nto live out of doors. He was so tall that, if he had been so disposed, he\ncould have snapped off the heads of the birds roosting in the topmost\nbranches of the highest trees, as he stood up, without being at the\ntrouble to climb. And if he had at any time taken a fancy to one of the\nsame trees for a walking stick, he would have had no more to do than to\npluck it up with his thumb and finger, and strip down the leaves and\ntwigs with the palm of his hand.\n\nBidding good-by to his venerable old grandmother, who pulled a very long\nface over his departure, Manabozho set out at great headway, for he was\nable to stride from one side of a prairie to the other at a single step.\n\nHe found his father on a high mountain-ground, far in the west. His\nfather espied his approach at a great distance, and bounded down the\nmountain-side several miles to give him welcome, and, side-by-side,\napparently delighted with each other, they reached in two or three of\ntheir giant paces the lodge of the West, which stood high up near the\nclouds.\n\nThey spent some days in talking with each other\u2014for these two great\npersons did nothing on a small scale, and a whole day to deliver a\nsingle sentence, such was the immensity of their discourse, was quite an\nordinary affair.\n\nOne evening Manabozho asked his father what he was most afraid of on\nearth.\n\nHe replied\u2014\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut is there nothing you dread, here\u2014nothing that would hurt you if you\ntook too much of it? Come, tell me.\u201d\n\nManabozho was very urgent; at last his father said:\n\n\u201cYes, there is a black stone to be found a couple of hundred miles from\nhere, over that way,\u201d pointing as he spoke. \u201cIt is the only thing earthly\nthat I am afraid of, for if it should happen to hit me on any part of my\nbody it would hurt me very much.\u201d\n\nThe West made this important circumstance known to Manabozho in the\nstrictest confidence.\n\n\u201cNow, you will not tell any one, Manabozho, that the black stone is bad\nmedicine for your father, will you?\u201d he added. \u201cYou are a good son, and I\nknow will keep it to yourself. Now tell me, my darling boy, is there not\nsomething that you don\u2019t like?\u201d\n\nManabozho answered promptly\u2014\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\nHis father, who was of a very steady and persevering temper, put the same\nquestion to him seventeen times, and each time Manabozho made the same\nanswer\u2014\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\nBut the West insisted\u2014\u201cThere must be something you are afraid of.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I will tell you,\u201d says Manabozho, \u201cwhat it is.\u201d\n\nHe made an effort to speak, but it seemed to be too much for him.\n\n\u201cOut with it,\u201d said Ningabiun, or the West, fetching Manabozho such a\nblow on the back as shook the mountain with its echo.\n\n\u201cJe-ee, je-ee\u2014it is,\u201d said Manabozho, apparently in great pain. \u201cYeo,\nyeo! I cannot name it, I tremble so.\u201d\n\nThe West told him to banish his fears, and to speak up; no one would hurt\nhim.\n\nManabozho began again, and he would have gone over the same make-believe\nof anguish, had not his father, whose strength he knew was more than a\nmatch for his own, threatened to pitch him into a river about five miles\noff. At last he cried out:\n\n\u201cFather, since you will know, it is the root of the bulrush.\u201d\n\nHe who could with perfect ease spin a sentence a whole day long, seemed\nto be exhausted by the effort of pronouncing that one word, \u201cbulrush.\u201d\n\nSome time after, Manabozho observed:\n\n\u201cI will get some of the black rock, merely to see how it looks.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the father, \u201cI will also get a little of the bulrush-root,\nto learn how it tastes.\u201d\n\nThey were both double-dealing with each other, and in their hearts\ngetting ready for some desperate work.\n\nThey had no sooner separated for the evening than Manabozho was striding\noff the couple of hundred miles necessary to bring him to the place where\nblack rock was to be procured, while down the other side of the mountain\nhurried Ningabiun.\n\nAt the break of day they each appeared at the great level on the\nmountain-top, Manabozho with twenty loads, at least, of the black stone,\non one side, and on the other the West, with a whole meadow of bulrush in\nhis arms.\n\nManabozho was the first to strike\u2014hurling a great piece of the black\nrock, which struck the West directly between the eyes, who returned the\nfavor with a blow of bulrush, that rung over the shoulders of Manabozho,\nfar and wide, like the whip-thong of the lightning among the clouds.\n\nAnd now either rallied, and Manabozho poured in a tempest of black\nrock, while Ningabiun discharged a shower of bulrush. Blow upon blow,\nthwack upon thwack\u2014they fought hand to hand until black rock and bulrush\nwere all gone. Then they betook themselves to hurling crags at each\nother, cudgeling with huge oak-trees, and defying each other from one\nmountain-top to another; while at times they shot enormous boulders\nof granite across at each other\u2019s heads, as though they had been mere\njack-stones. The battle, which had commenced on the mountains, had\nextended far west. The West was forced to give ground. Manabozho pressing\non, drove him across rivers and mountains, ridges and lakes, till at last\nhe got him to the very brink of the world.\n\n\u201cHold!\u201d cried the West. \u201cMy son, you know my power, and although I allow\nthat I am now fairly out of breath, it is impossible to kill me. Stop\nwhere you are, and I will also portion you out with as much power as your\nbrothers. The four quarters of the globe are already occupied, but you\ncan go and do a great deal of good to the people of the earth, which is\nbeset with serpents, beasts, and monsters, who make great havoc of human\nlife. Go and do good, and if you put forth half the strength you have\nto-day you will acquire a name that will last forever. When you have\nfinished your work I will have a place provided for you. You will then go\nand sit with your brother, Kabinocca, in the North.\u201d\n\nManabozho gave his father his hand upon this agreement. And parting from\nhim, he returned to his own grounds, where he lay for some time sore of\nhis wounds.\n\nThese being, however, greatly allayed, and soon after cured by his\ngrandmother\u2019s skill in medicines, Manabozho, as big and sturdy as ever,\nwas ripe for new adventures. He set his thoughts immediately upon a war\nexcursion against the Pearl Feather, a wicked old Manito, living on the\nother side of the great lake, who had killed his grandfather. He began\nhis preparations by making huge bows and arrows without number; but he\nhad no heads for his shafts. At last Noko told him that an old man, who\nlived at some distance, could furnish him with such as he needed. He\nsent her to get some. She soon returned with her wrapper full. Manabozho\ntold her that he had not enough, and sent her again. She came back with\nas many more. He thought to himself, \u201cI must find out the way of making\nthese heads.\u201d\n\nInstead of directly asking how it was done, he preferred\u2014just like\nManabozho\u2014to deceive his grandmother to come at the knowledge he desired,\nby a trick. \u201cNoko,\u201d said he, \u201cwhile I take my drum and rattle, and sing\nmy war-songs, do you go and try to get me some larger heads, for these\nyou have brought me are all of the same size. Go and see whether the old\nman is not willing to make some a little larger.\u201d\n\nHe followed her at a distance as she went, having left his drum at the\nlodge, with a great bird tied at the top, whose fluttering should keep\nup the drumbeat, the same as if he were tarrying at home. He saw the old\nworkman busy, and learned how he prepared the heads; he also beheld the\nold man\u2019s daughter, who was very beautiful; and Manabozho now discovered\nfor the first time that he had a heart of his own, and the sigh he heaved\npassed through the arrow-maker\u2019s lodge like a gale of wind.\n\n\u201cHow it blows!\u201d said the old man.\n\n\u201cIt must be from the south,\u201d said the daughter; \u201cfor it is very fragrant.\u201d\n\nManabozho slipped away, and in two strides he was at home, shouting forth\nhis songs as though he had never left the lodge. He had just time to free\nthe bird which had been beating the drum, when his grandmother came in\nand delivered to him the big arrow-heads.\n\nIn the evening the grandmother said, \u201cMy son, you ought to fast before\nyou go to war, as your brothers do, to find out whether you will be\nsuccessful or not.\u201d\n\nHe said he had no objection; and having privately stored away, in a shady\nplace in the forest, two or three dozen juicy bears, a moose, and twenty\nstrings of the tenderest birds, he would retire from the lodge so far as\nto be entirely out of view of his grandmother, fall to and enjoy himself\nheartily, and at nightfall, having just despatched a dozen birds and\nhalf a bear or so, he would return, tottering and woe-begone, as if quite\nfamished, so as to move deeply the sympathies of his wise old granddame.\n\nThe place of his fast had been chosen by Noko, and she had told him it\nmust be so far as to be beyond the sound of her voice or it would be\nunlucky.\n\nAfter a time Manabozho, who was always spying out mischief, said to\nhimself, \u201cI must find out why my grandmother is so anxious to have me\nfast at this spot.\u201d\n\nThe next day he went but a short distance. She cried out, \u201cA little\nfurther off;\u201d but he came nearer to the lodge, the rogue that he was, and\ncried out in a low, counterfeited voice, to make it appear that he was\ngoing away instead of approaching. He had now got so near that he could\nsee all that passed in the lodge.\n\nHe had not been long in ambush when an old magician crept into the lodge.\nThis old magician had very long hair, which hung across his shoulders and\ndown his back, like a bush or foot-mat. They commenced talking about him,\nand in doing so, they put their two old heads so very close together that\nManabozho was satisfied they were kissing each other. He was indignant\nthat any one should take such a liberty with his venerable grandmother,\nand to mark his sense of the outrage, he touched the bushy hair of the\nold magician with a live coal which he had blown upon. The old magician\nhad not time to kiss the old grandmother more than once again before he\nfelt the flame; and jumping out into the air, it burned only the fiercer,\nand he ran, blazing like a fire-ball, across the prairie.\n\nManabozho who had, meanwhile, stolen off to his fasting place, cried out,\nin a heart-broken tone, and as if on the very point of starvation, \u201cNoko!\nNoko! is it time for me to come home?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she cried. And when he came in she asked him, \u201cDid you see\nanything?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing,\u201d he answered, with an air of childish candor; looking as much\nlike a big simpleton as he could. The grandmother looked at him very\nclosely and said no more.\n\nManabozho finished his term of fasting; in the course of which he slyly\ndespatched twenty fat bears, six dozen birds, and two fine moose; sung\nhis war-song, and embarked in his canoe, fully prepared for war. Beside\nweapons of battle, he had stowed in a large supply of oil.\n\nHe travelled rapidly night and day, for he had only to will or speak,\nand the canoe went. At length he arrived in sight of the fiery serpents.\nHe paused to view them; he observed that they were some distance apart,\nand that the flames which they constantly belched forth reached across\nthe pass. He gave them a good morning, and began talking with them in a\nvery friendly way; but they answered, \u201cWe know you, Manabozho; you cannot\npass.\u201d\n\nHe was not, however, to be put off so easily. Turning his canoe as if\nabout to go back, he suddenly cried out with a loud and terrified voice:\n\n\u201cWhat is that behind you?\u201d\n\nThe serpents, thrown off their guard, instantly turned their heads, and\nhe in a moment glided past them.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he, quietly, after he had got by, \u201chow do you like my\nmovement?\u201d\n\nHe then took up his bow and arrows, and with deliberate aim shot every\none of them, easily, for the serpents were fixed to one spot, and could\nnot even turn round. They were of an enormous length, and of a bright\ncolor.\n\nHaving thus escaped the sentinel serpents, Manabozho pushed on in his\ncanoe until he came to a part of the lake called Pitch-water, as whatever\ntouched it was sure to stick fast. But Manabozho was prepared with his\noil, and rubbing his canoe freely from end to end, he slipped through\nwith ease, and he was the first person who had ever succeeded in passing\nthrough the Pitch-water.\n\n\u201cThere is nothing like a little oil to help one through pitch-water,\u201d\nsaid Manabozho to himself.\n\nNow in view of land, he could see the lodge of the Shining Manito, high\nupon a distant hill.\n\nPutting his clubs and arrows in order, just at the dawn of day Manabozho\nbegan his attack, yelling and shouting, and beating his drum, and calling\nout in triple voices:\n\n\u201cSurround him! surround him! run up! run up!\u201d making it appear that he\nhad many followers.\n\n\u201cIt was you that killed my grandfather,\u201d and shot off a whole forest of\narrows.\n\nThe Pearl Feather appeared on the height, blazing like the sun, and paid\nback the discharges of Manabozho with a tempest of bolts, which rattled\nlike the hail.\n\nAll day long the fight was kept up, and Manabozho had fired all of his\narrows but three, without effect; for the Shining Manito was clothed\nin pure wampum. It was only by immense leaps to right and left that\nManabozho could save his head from the sturdy blows which fell about him\non every side, like pine-trees, from the hands of the Manito. He was\nbadly bruised, and at his very wit\u2019s end, when a large woodpecker flew\npast and lit on a tree. It was a bird he had known on the prairie, near\nhis grandmother\u2019s lodge.\n\n\u201cManabozho,\u201d called out the woodpecker, \u201cyour enemy has a weak point;\nshoot at the lock of hair on the crown of his head.\u201d\n\nHe shot his first arrow and only drew blood in a few drops. The Manito\nmade one or two unsteady steps, but recovered himself. He began to\nparley, but Manabozho, now that he had discovered a way to reach him, was\nin no humor to trifle, and he let slip another arrow, which brought the\nShining Manito to his knees. And now, having the crown of his head within\ngood range, Manabozho sent in his third arrow, which laid the Manito out\nupon the ground, stark dead.\n\nManabozho lifted up a huge war-cry, beat his drum, took the scalp of the\nManito as his trophy, and calling the woodpecker to come and receive a\nreward for the timely hint he had given him, he rubbed the blood of\nthe Shining Manito on the woodpecker\u2019s head, the feathers of which are\nred to this day. Full of his victory, Manabozho returned home, beating\nhis war-drum furiously, and shouting aloud his songs of triumph. His\ngrandmother was on the shore ready to welcome him with the war-dance,\nwhich she performed with wonderful skill for one so far advanced in years.\n\nThe heart of Manabozho swelled within him. He was fairly on fire, and\nan unconquerable desire for further adventures seized upon him. He had\ndestroyed the powerful Pearl Feather, killed his serpents, and escaped\nall his wiles and charms. He had prevailed in a great land fight, his\nnext trophy should be from the water.\n\nHe tried his prowess as a fisherman, and with such success that he\ncaptured a fish so monstrous in size and so rich in fat that with the\noil Manabozho was able to form a small lake. To this, being generously\ndisposed, and having a cunning purpose of his own to answer, he invited\nall the birds and beasts of his acquaintance; and he made the order in\nwhich they partook of the banquet the measure of their fatness for all\ntime to come. As fast as they arrived he told them to plunge in and help\nthemselves.\n\nThe first to make his appearance was the bear, who took a long and steady\ndraught; then came the deer, the opossum, and such others of the family\nas are noted for their comfortable case. The moose and bison were slack\nin their cups, and the partridge, always lean in flesh, looked on till\nthe supply was nearly gone. There was not a drop left by the time the\nhare and the martin appeared on the shore of the lake, and they are, in\nconsequence, the slenderest of all creatures.\n\nWhen this ceremony was over, Manabozho suggested to his friends, the\nassembled birds and animals, that the occasion was proper for a little\nmerry-making; and taking up his drum, he cried out:\n\n\u201cNew songs from the South; come, brothers, dance!\u201d\n\nHe directed them, to make the sport more mirthful, that they should shut\ntheir eyes and pass round him in a circle. Again he beat his drum and\ncried out:\n\n\u201cNew songs from the South; come, brothers, dance!\u201d\n\nThey all fell in and commenced their rounds. Whenever Manabozho, as he\nstood in the circle, saw a fat fowl which he fancied, pass by him, he\nadroitly wrung its neck and slipped it in his girdle, at the same time\nbeating his drum and singing at the top of his lungs, to drown the noise\nof the fluttering, and crying out in a tone of admiration:\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the way, my brothers; that\u2019s the way!\u201d\n\nAt last a small duck, of the diver family, thinking there was something\nwrong, opened one eye and saw what Manabozho was doing. Giving a spring,\nand crying:\n\n\u201cHa-ha-a! Manabozho is killing us!\u201d he made for the water.\n\nManabozho, quite vexed that the creature should have played the spy upon\nhis house-keeping, followed him, and just as the diver duck was plunging\ninto the water, gave him a kick, which is the reason that the diver\u2019s\ntail-feathers are few, his back flattened, and his legs straightened out,\nso that when he comes on land he makes a poor figure in walking.\n\nMeantime, the other birds, having no ambition to be thrust into\nManabozho\u2019s girdle, flew off, and the animals scampered into the woods.\n\nManabozho stretching himself at ease in the shade along the side of the\nprairie, thought what he should do next. He concluded that he would\ntravel and see new countries; and having once made up his mind, in less\nthan three days, such was his length of limb and the immensity of his\nstride, he had walked over the entire continent, looked into every lodge\nby the way, and with such nicety of observation, that he was able to\ninform his good old grandmother what each family had for a dinner at a\ngiven hour.\n\nBy way of relief to these grand doings, Manabozho was disposed to vary\nhis experiences by bestowing a little time upon the sports of the woods.\nHe had heard reported great feats in hunting, and he had a desire to\ntry his power in that way. Besides that, it was a slight consideration\nthat he had devoured all the game within reach of the lodge; and so, one\nevening, as he was walking along the shore of the great lake, weary and\nhungry, he encountered a great magician in the form of an old wolf, with\nsix young ones, coming toward him.\n\nThe wolf no sooner caught sight of him than he told his whelps, who were\nclose about his side, to keep out of the way of Manabozho; \u201cFor I know,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cthat it is that mischievous fellow whom we see yonder.\u201d\n\nThe young wolves were in the act of running on, when Manabozho cried out,\n\u201cMy grandchildren, where are you going? Stop and I will go with you. I\nwish to have a little chat with your excellent father.\u201d\n\nSaying which he advanced and greeted the old wolf, expressing himself as\ndelighted at seeing him looking so well. \u201cWhither do you journey?\u201d he\nasked.\n\n\u201cWe are looking for a good hunting ground to pass the winter,\u201d the old\nwolf answered. \u201cWhat brings you here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was looking for you,\u201d said Manabozho. \u201cFor I have a passion for the\nchase, brother. I always admired your family; are you willing to change\nme into a wolf?\u201d\n\nThe wolf gave him a favorable answer, and he was forthwith changed into a\nwolf.\n\n\u201cWell, that will do,\u201d said Manabozho; then looking at his tail, he added,\n\u201cOh! could you oblige me by making my tail a little longer and more\nbushy?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d said the wolf; and he gave Manabozho such a length and\nspread of tail, that it was constantly getting between his legs, and it\nwas so heavy that it was as much as he could do to find strength to carry\nit. But having asked for it, he was ashamed to say a word; and they all\nstarted off in company, dashing up a ravine.\n\nAfter getting into the woods for some distance, they fell in with the\ntracks of moose. The young ones scampered off in pursuit, the old wolf\nand Manabozho following at their leisure.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the old wolf, by way of opening discourse, \u201cwho do you think\nis the fastest of the boys? Can you tell by the jumps they take?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d he replied, \u201cthe one that takes such long jumps, he is the fastest\nto be sure.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa! ha! you are mistaken,\u201d said the old wolf. \u201cHe makes a good start,\nbut he will be the first to tire out; this one, who appears to be behind,\nwill be the one to kill the game.\u201d\n\nBy this time they had come to the spot where the boys had started in\nchase. One had dropped what seemed to be a small medicine-sack, which he\ncarried for the use of the hunting party.\n\n\u201cTake that, Manabozho,\u201d said the old wolf.\n\n\u201cEsa,\u201d he replied, \u201cwhat will I do with a dirty dog-skin?\u201d\n\nThe old wolf took it up; it was a beautiful robe.\n\n\u201cOh, I will carry it now,\u201d cried Manabozho.\n\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d said the old wolf, who had exerted his magical powers, \u201cit is a\nrobe of pearls. Come along!\u201d And away sped the old wolf at a great rate\nof speed.\n\n\u201cNot so fast,\u201d called Manabozho after him; and then he added to himself\nas he panted after, \u201cOh, this tail!\u201d\n\nComing to a place where the moose had lain down, they saw that the young\nwolves had made a fresh start after their prey.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said the old wolf, \u201cthis moose is poor. I know by the tracks; for\nI can always tell whether they are fat or not.\u201d\n\nA little further on, one of the young wolves, in dashing at the moose,\nhad broken a tooth on a tree.\n\n\u201cManabozho,\u201d said the old wolf, \u201cone of your grandchildren has shot at\nthe game. Take his arrow; there it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied Manabozho; \u201cwhat will I do with a dirty dog\u2019s tooth?\u201d\n\nThe old wolf took it up, and behold it was a beautiful silver arrow.\n\nWhen they at last overtook them, they found that the youngsters had\nkilled a very fat moose. Manabozho was very hungry; but the old wolf just\nthen again exerted his magical powers, and Manabozho saw nothing but the\nbones picked quite clean. He thought to himself, \u201cJust as I expected;\ndirty, greedy fellows. If it had not been for this log at my back, I\nshould have been in time to have got a mouthful:\u201d and he cursed the bushy\ntail which he carried, to the bottom of his heart. He, however, sat down\nwithout saying a word.\n\nAt length the old wolf spoke to one of the young ones, saying:\n\n\u201cGive some meat to your grandfather.\u201d\n\nOne of them obeyed, and coming near to Manabozho, he presented him the\nother end of his own bushy tail, which was nicely seasoned with burs,\ngathered in the course of the hunt.\n\nManabozho jumped up and called out:\n\n\u201cYou dog, now that your stomach is full, do you think I am going to eat\nyou to get at my dinner? Get you gone into some other place.\u201d\n\nSaying which Manabozho, in his anger, walked off by himself.\n\n\u201cCome back, brother,\u201d cried the wolf. \u201cYou are losing your eyes.\u201d\n\nManabozho turned back.\n\n\u201cYou do the child injustice. Look there!\u201d and behold, a heap of fresh,\nruddy meat, was lying on the spot, already prepared.\n\nManabozho, at the view of so much good provision, put on a smiling face.\n\n\u201cIn amazement,\u201d he said; \u201chow fine the meat is!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the old wolf, \u201cit is always so with us; we know our work,\nand always get the best. It is not a long tail that makes the hunter.\u201d\n\nManabozho bit his lip.\n\nThey now fixed their winter quarters. The youngsters went out in search\nof game, and they soon brought in a large supply. One day, during the\nabsence of the young hunters, the old wolf amused himself in cracking the\nlarge bones of a moose.\n\n\u201cManabozho,\u201d said he, \u201ccover your head with the robe, and do not look at\nme while I am busy with these bones, for a piece may fly in your eye.\u201d\n\nHe did as he was bid; but looking through a rent that was in the robe, he\nsaw what the other was about. Just at that moment a piece flew off and\nhit him on the eye. He cried out:\n\n\u201cTyau, why do you strike me, you old dog?\u201d\n\nThe wolf answered, \u201cYou must have been looking at me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d retorted Manabozho, \u201cwhy should I want to look at you?\u201d\n\n\u201cManabozho,\u201d said the old wolf, \u201cyou must have been looking or you would\nnot have got hurt.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d he replied again, \u201cI was not. I will repay the saucy wolf this\nmischief,\u201d he thought to himself.\n\nSo the next day, taking up a bone to obtain the marrow, he said to the\nwolf:\n\n\u201cBrother, cover your head and do not look at me, for I very much fear a\npiece may fly in your eye.\u201d\n\nThe wolf did so; and Manabozho, taking the large leg-bone of the moose,\nfirst looking to see if the wolf was well covered, hit him a blow with\nall his might. The wolf jumped up, cried out, and fell prostrate from the\neffects of the blow.\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said he, when he came to a little and was able to sit up, \u201cwhy do\nyou strike me so?\u201d\n\n\u201cStrike you?\u201d said Manabozho, with well-feigned surprise; \u201cno; you must\nhave been looking at me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered the wolf, \u201cI say I have not.\u201d\n\nBut Manabozho insisted, and as the old wolf was no great master of tricky\nargument, he was obliged to give it up.\n\nShortly after this the old wolf suggested to Manabozho that he should go\nout and try his luck in hunting by himself.\n\nWhen he chose to put his mind upon it he was quite expert, and this time\nhe succeeded in killing a fine fat moose, which he thought he would take\naside slyly, and devour alone, having prepared to tell the old wolf a\npretty story on his return, to account for his failure to bring anything\nwith him.\n\nHe was very hungry, and he sat down to eat; but as he never could go to\nwork in a straightforward way, he immediately fell into great doubts as\nto the proper point at which to begin.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cI do not know where to commence. At the head? No.\nPeople will laugh, and say, \u2018He ate him backward.\u2019\u201d\n\nHe went to the side. \u201cNo,\u201d said he, \u201cthey will say I ate him sideways.\u201d\n\nHe then went to the hind-quarter. \u201cNo, that will not do either; they will\nsay I ate him forward. I will begin here, say what they will.\u201d\n\nHe took a delicate piece from the small of the back, and was just on the\npoint of putting it to his mouth, when a tree close by made a creaking\nnoise. He seemed vexed at the sound. He raised the morsel to his mouth\nthe second time, when the tree creaked again.\n\n\u201cWhy\u201d, he exclaimed, \u201cI cannot eat when I hear such a noise. Stop, stop!\u201d\nhe said to the tree. He put it down, exclaiming, \u201cI cannot eat with such\na noise;\u201d and starting away he climbed the tree, and was pulling at the\nlimb which had offended him, when his fore paw was caught between the\nbranches so that he could not free himself.\n\nWhile thus held fast, he saw a pack of wolves advancing through the wood\nin the direction of his meat. He suspected them to be the old wolf and\nhis cubs, but night was coming on and he could not make them out.\n\n\u201cGo the other way, go the other way!\u201d he cried out; \u201cwhat would you come\nto get here?\u201d\n\nThe wolves stopped for a while and talked among themselves, and said:\n\n\u201cManabozho must have something there, or he would not tell us to go\nanother way.\u201d\n\n\u201cI begin to know him,\u201d said an old wolf, \u201cand all his tricks. Let us go\nforward and see.\u201d\n\nThey came on, and finding the moose, they soon made away with it.\nManabozho looked wistfully on to see them eat till they were fully\nsatisfied, when they scampered off in high spirits.\n\nA heavy blast of wind opened the branches and released Manabozho, who\nfound that the wolves had left nothing but the bare bones. He made for\nhome, where, when he related his mishap, the old wolf, taking him by the\nfore paw, condoled with him deeply on his ill-luck. A tear even started\nto his eye as he added:\n\n\u201cMy brother, this should teach us not to meddle with points of ceremony\nwhen we have good meat to eat.\u201d\n\nThe winter having by this time drawn fairly to a close, on a bright\nmorning in the early spring the old wolf addressed Manabozho: \u201cMy\nbrother, I am obliged to leave you; and although I have sometimes been\nmerry at your expense, I will show that I care for your comfort. I shall\nleave one of the boys behind me to be your hunter, and to keep you\ncompany through the long summer afternoons.\u201d\n\nThe old wolf galloped off with his five young ones; and as they\ndisappeared from view, Manabozho was disenchanted in a moment, and\nreturned to his mortal shape.\n\nAlthough he had been sometimes vexed and imposed upon, he had,\naltogether, passed a pleasant winter with the cunning old wolf, and\nnow that he was gone, Manabozho was downcast and low in spirit. But\nas the days grew brighter he recovered by degrees his air of cheerful\nconfidence, and was ready to try his hand upon any new adventure that\nmight occur to him. The old spirit of mischief was still alive within him.\n\nThe young wolf who had been left with him was a good hunter, and never\nfailed to keep the lodge well supplied with meat. One day Manabozho\naddressed him as follows:\n\n\u201cMy grandson, I had a dream last night, and it does not portend good. It\nis of the large lake which lies in that direction. You must be careful\nalways to go across it, whether the ice seem strong or not. Never go\naround it, for there are enemies on the further shore who lie in wait for\nyou. The ice is always safe.\u201d\n\nNow Manabozho knew well that the ice was thinning every day under the\nwarm sun, but he could not stay himself from playing a trick upon the\nyoung wolf.\n\nIn the evening when he came to the lake, after a long day\u2019s travel in\nquest of game, the young wolf, confiding in his grandfather, said,\n\u201cHwooh! the ice does look thin, but Nesho says it is sound;\u201d and he\ntrotted upon the glassy plain.\n\nHe had not got half way across when the ice snapped, and with a\nmournful cry the young wolf fell in and he was immediately seized by\nthe water-serpents who knew that it was Manabozho\u2019s grandson, and were\nthirsting for revenge upon him for the death of their relations in the\nwar upon Pearl Feather.\n\nManabozho heard the young wolf\u2019s cry as he sat in his lodge; he knew what\nhad happened; and, from that moment, he was deprived of the greater part\nof his magical power.\n\nHe returned, scarcely more than an ordinary mortal, to his former place\nof dwelling, whence his grandmother had departed no one knew whither.\nHe married the arrow-maker\u2019s daughter, and became the father of several\nchildren, and very poor. He was scarcely able to procure the means of\nliving. His lodge was pitched in a remote part of the country, where he\ncould get no game. It was winter, and he had not the common comforts of\nlife. He said to his wife one day, \u201cI will go out walking and see if I\ncannot find some lodges.\u201d\n\nAfter walking some time he saw a lodge at a distance. The children were\nplaying at the door. When they saw him approaching they ran in and told\ntheir parents that Manabozho was coming.\n\nIt was the residence of the large red-headed woodpecker. He came to the\ndoor and asked Manabozho to enter. This invitation was promptly accepted.\n\nAfter some time, the woodpecker, who was a magician, said to his wife:\n\n\u201cHave you nothing to give Manabozho? He must be hungry.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe ought not to go without his supper,\u201d said the woodpecker. \u201cI will see\nwhat I can do.\u201d\n\nIn the center of the lodge stood a large tamarack-tree. Upon this the\nwoodpecker flew, and commenced going up, turning his head on each side\nof the tree, and every now and then driving in his bill. At last he\npulled something out of the tree and threw it down; when, behold, a fine\nfat raccoon lay on the ground. He drew out six or seven more. He then\ndescended, and told his wife to prepare them.\n\n\u201cManabozho,\u201d he said, \u201cthis is the only thing we eat; what else can we\ngive you?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is very good,\u201d replied Manabozho.\n\nThey smoked their pipes and conversed with each other.\n\nAfter eating, Manabozho got ready to go home; when the woodpecker said to\nhis wife, \u201cGive him the other raccoons to take home for his children.\u201d\n\nIn the act of leaving the lodge, Manabozho, on purpose, dropped one of\nhis mittens, which was soon after observed on the ground.\n\n\u201cRun,\u201d said the woodpecker to his eldest son, \u201cand give it to him; but\nmind that you do not give it into his hand; throw it at him, for there is\nno knowing him, he acts so curiously.\u201d\n\nThe boy did as he was directed.\n\n\u201cGrandfather,\u201d said he to Manabozho, as he came up to him, \u201cyou have left\none of your mittens; here it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he said, affecting to be ignorant of the circumstance, \u201cit is so;\nbut don\u2019t throw it, you will soil it on the snow.\u201d\n\nThe lad, however, threw it, and was about to return, when Manabozho cried\nout, \u201cBakah! Bakah! stop\u2014stop; is that all you eat? Do you eat nothing\nelse with your raccoon? Tell me!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that is all,\u201d answered the young woodpecker; \u201cwe have nothing else.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell your father,\u201d continued Manabozho, \u201cto come and visit me, and\nlet him bring a sack. I will give him what he shall eat with his\nraccoon-meat.\u201d\n\nWhen the young one returned and reported this message to his father, the\nold woodpecker turned up his nose at the invitation. \u201cI wonder,\u201d he said,\n\u201cwhat he thinks he has got, poor fellow!\u201d\n\nHe was bound, however, to answer the proffer of hospitality, and he went\naccordingly, taking along a cedar-sack, to pay a visit to Manabozho.\n\nManabozho received the old red-headed woodpecker with great ceremony.\nHe had stood at the door awaiting his arrival, and as soon as he came in\nsight Manabozho commenced, while he was yet far off, bowing and opening\nwide his arms, in token of welcome; all of which the woodpecker returned\nin due form, by ducking his bill, and hopping to right and left, upon the\nground, extending his wings to their full length and fluttering them back\nto his breast.\n\nWhen the woodpecker at last reached the lodge, Manabozho made various\nremarks upon the weather, the appearance of the country, and especially\non the scarcity of game.\n\n\u201cBut we,\u201d he added, \u201cwe always have enough. Come in, and you shall not go\naway hungry, my noble bird!\u201d\n\nManabozho had always prided himself on being able to give as good as he\nhad received; and to be up with the woodpecker, he had shifted his lodge\nso as to enclose a large dry tamarack-tree.\n\n\u201cWhat can I give you,\u201d said he to the woodpecker; \u201cbut as we eat so shall\nyou eat.\u201d\n\nWith this he hopped forward, and, jumping on the tamarack-tree, he\nattempted to climb it just as he had seen the woodpecker do in his own\nlodge. He turned his head first on one side, then on the other, in the\nmanner of the bird, meanwhile striving to go up, and as often slipping\ndown. Ever and anon he would strike the tree with his nose, as if it had\nbeen a bill, and draw back, but he pulled out no raccoons; and he dashed\nhis nose so often against the trunk that at last the blood began to\nflow, and he tumbled down senseless upon the ground.\n\nThe woodpecker started up with his drum and rattle to restore him, and by\nbeating them violently he succeeded in bringing him to.\n\nAs soon as he came to his senses, Manabozho began to lay the blame of his\nfailure upon his wife, saying to his guest:\n\n\u201cNemesho, it is this woman-relation of yours\u2014she is the cause of my not\nsucceeding. She has made me a worthless fellow. Before I took her I also\ncould get raccoons.\u201d\n\nThe woodpecker said nothing, but flying on the tree he drew out several\nfine raccoons.\n\n\u201cHere,\u201d said he, \u201cthis is the way we do!\u201d and left him in disdain,\ncarrying his bill high in the air, and stepping over the door-sill as if\nit were not worthy to be touched by his toes.\n\nAfter this visit, Manabozho was sitting in the lodge one day with his\nhead down. He heard the wind whistling round it, and thought that by\nattentively listening he could hear the voice of some one speaking to\nhim. It seemed to say to him:\n\n\u201cGreat chief, why are you sorrowful? Am not I your friend\u2014your guardian\nspirit?\u201d\n\nManabozho immediately took up his rattle, and without rising from the\nground where he was sitting, began to sing the chant which has at every\nclose the refrain of, \u201cWha lay le aw.\u201d\n\nWhen he had dwelt for a long time on this peculiar chant, which he had\nbeen used to sing in all his times of trouble, he laid his rattle aside\nand determined to fast. For this purpose he went to a cave which faced\nthe setting sun, and built a very small fire, near which he lay down,\nfirst telling his wife that neither she nor the children must come near\nhim till he had finished his fast.\n\nAt the end of seven days he came back to the lodge, pale and thin,\nlooking like a spirit himself, and as if he had seen spirits. His wife\nhad in the meantime dug through the snow and got a few of the plants\ncalled truffles. These she boiled and set before him, and this was all\nthe food they had or seemed likely to obtain.\n\nWhen he had finished his light repast, Manabozho took up his station in\nthe door to see what would happen. As he stood thus, holding in his hand\nhis large bow, with a quiver well filled with arrows, a deer glided past\nalong the far edge of the prairie but it was miles away, and no shaft\nthat Manabozho could shoot would be able to touch it.\n\nPresently a cry came down the air, and looking up he beheld a great\nflight of birds, but they were so far up in the sky that he would have\nlost his arrows in a vain attempt among the clouds.\n\nStill he stood watchful, and confident that some turn of luck was about\nto occur, when there came near to the lodge two hunters, who bore between\nthem, on poles upon their shoulders, a bear, and it was so fine and fat\na bear that it was as much as the two hunters could do with all their\nstrength to carry it.\n\nAs they came to the lodge-door, one of the hunters asked if Manabozho\nlived thereabout.\n\n\u201cHe is here,\u201d answered Manabozho.\n\n\u201cI have often heard of you,\u201d said the first hunter, \u201cand I was curious to\nsee you. But you have lost your magical power. Do you know whether any of\nit is left?\u201d\n\nManabozho answered that he was himself in the dark on the subject.\n\n\u201cSuppose you make a trial,\u201d said the hunter.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do?\u201d asked Manabozho.\n\n\u201cThere is my friend,\u201d said the hunter, pointing to his companion, \u201cwho\nwith me owns this bear which we are carrying home. Suppose you see if you\ncan change him into a piece of rock.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Manabozho; and he had scarcely spoken before the other\nhunter became a rock.\n\n\u201cNow change him back again,\u201d said the first hunter.\n\n\u201cThat I can\u2019t do,\u201d Manabozho answered; \u201cthere my power ends.\u201d\n\nThe hunter looked at the rock with a bewildered face.\n\n\u201cWhat shall I do?\u201d he asked. \u201cThis bear I can never carry alone, and it\nwas agreed between my friend there and myself that we should not divide\nit till we reached home. Can\u2019t you change my friend back, Manabozho?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would like to oblige you,\u201d answered Manabozho, \u201cbut it is utterly out\nof my power.\u201d\n\nWith this, looking again at the rock with a sad and bewildered face, and\nthen casting a sorrowful glance at the bear, which lay by the door of the\nlodge, the hunter took his leave, bewailing bitterly at heart the loss of\nhis friend and his bear.\n\nHe was scarcely out of sight when Manabozho sent the children to get red\nwillow sticks. Of these he cut off as many pieces of equal length as\nwould serve to invite his friends among the beasts and birds to a feast.\nA red stick was sent to each one, not forgetting the woodpecker and his\nfamily.\n\nWhen they arrived they were astonished to see such an abundance of meat\nprepared for them at such a time of scarcity. Manabozho understood their\nglance, and was proud of a chance to make such a display.\n\n\u201cAkewazi,\u201d he said to the oldest of the party, \u201cthe weather is very\ncold, and the snow lasts a long time; we can kill nothing now but small\nsquirrels, and they are all black; and I have sent for you to help me eat\nsome of them.\u201d\n\nThe woodpecker was the first to try a mouthful of the bear\u2019s meat, but he\nhad no sooner begun to taste it than it changed into a dry powder, and\nset him coughing. It appeared as bitter as ashes.\n\nThe moose was affected in the same way, and it brought on such a dry\ncough as to shake every bone in his body.\n\nOne by one, each in turn joined the company of coughers, except Manabozho\nand his family, to whom the bear\u2019s meat proved very savory.\n\nBut the visitors had too high a sense of what was due to decorum and\ngood manners to say anything. The meat looked very fine, and being keenly\nset and strongly tempted by its promising look, they thought they would\ntry more of it. The more they ate the faster they coughed, and the louder\nbecame the uproar, until Manabozho, exerting the magical gift which he\nfound he retained, changed them all into squirrels; and to this day\nthe squirrel suffers from the same dry cough which was brought on by\nattempting to sup off of Manabozho\u2019s ashen bear\u2019s meat.\n\nAnd ever after this transformation, when Manabozho lacked provisions for\nhis family, he would hunt the squirrel, a supply of which never failed\nhim, so that he was always sure to have a number of his friends present\nin this shape at the banquet.\n\nThe rock into which he changed the hunter, and so became possessed of\nthe bear, and thus laid the foundations of his good fortune, ever after\nremained by his lodge-door, and it was called the Game-Bag of Manabozho,\nthe Mischief-Maker.\n\n\nHOW GLOOSKAP MADE HIS UNCLE MIKCHICH THE TURTLE INTO A GREAT MAN, AND GOT\nHIM A WIFE. OF TURTLES\u2019 EGGS, AND HOW GLOOSKAP VANQUISHED A SORCERER BY\nSMOKING TOBACCO.\n\n(_Micmac and Passamaquoddy_)\n\nNow when Glooskap left Uktukamkw, or Newfoundland, it was in a canoe, and\nhe came to Piktook (M. for Pictou), which means the bubbling up of air,\nbecause there is much bubbling in the water near that place. And here\nthere was an Indian village, and in that place the Master met with a man\nwhom he loved all his life.\n\nAnd this was not because this man, whose name in Micmac is Mikchich and\nin Passamaquoddy Chick-we-notchk, meaning the Turtle, was great, or well\nfavored, or rich. For truly he was none of these, being very poor and\nlazy, no longer young, and not very clever or wise in any way. It is\nsaid that he was indeed Glooskap\u2019s uncle, but others think that this was\nby adoption. However, this old fellow bore all his wants with such good\nnature that the Master, taking him in great affection, resolved to make\nof him a mighty man. Which came to pass, and that in a strange manner, as\nwe shall see.\n\nFor coming to Piktook, where there were above a hundred wigwams,\nGlooskap, being a very handsome, stately man, with the manner of a great\nchief, was much admired, and that not a little by all the women, so that\nevery one wished to have him in the house. Yet he gave them all the\ngo-by, and dwelt with his old uncle, in whose quaint ways and old time\nstories he took great delight. And there was to be a great feast with\ngames, but Glooskap did not care to go, either as a guest or a performer\nin the play.\n\nStill he inquired of Mikchich if he would not take part in it, telling\nhim that all the maidens would be there, and asking him why he had never\nmarried, and saying that he should not live alone. Then the uncle said,\n\u201cPoor and old and plain am I; I have not even garments fit for a feast;\nbetter were it for me to smoke my pipe at home.\u201d \u201cTruly, if that be all,\nuncle,\u201d replied Glooskap, \u201cI trow I can turn tailor and fit you to a\nturn; and have no care as to your outside or your face, for to him who\nknows how, \u2019tis as easy to make a man over as a suit of clothes.\u201d \u201cYes;\nbut, nephew,\u201d said Mikchich, \u201chow say you as to making over the inside of\na mortal?\u201d \u201cBy the great Beaver!\u201d answered the Master, \u201cthat is something\nharder to do, else I were not so long at work in this world. But before\nI leave this town I shall do that also for you; and as for this present\nsport, do but put on my belt.\u201d And when he had done that, Mikchich became\nso young and handsome that no man or woman ever saw the like. And then\nGlooskap dressed him in his own best clothes, and promised him that\nto the end of his days, whenever he should be a man, he would be the\ncomeliest of men; and because he was patient and tough, he should, as an\nanimal, become the hardest to kill of all creatures on the face of the\nearth, as it came to pass.\n\nSo Mikchich went to the feast. Now the chief of Piktook had three\nbeautiful daughters, and the youngest was the loveliest in the land. And\non her he cast his eyes, and returning said, \u201cI have seen one whom I\nwant.\u201d Now all the young men in Piktook desired this girl, and would kill\nany one who would win her.\n\nSo the next day Glooskap, taking a bunch of _wawbap_ (P., wampum), went\nto the chief and proposed for Mikchich, and the mother at once said\n\u201cYes.\u201d So the girl made up a bed of fresh twigs and covered it with a\ngreat white bear-skin, and went to Mikchich, and they returned and had\ndried meat for supper. So they were married.\n\nNow Turtle seemed to be very lazy, and when others hunted he lounged\nat home. One day his young wife said to him that if this went on thus\nthey must soon starve. So he put on his snow-shoes and went forth, and\nshe followed him to see what he would do. And he had not gone far ere\nhe tripped and fell down, and the girl, returning, told her mother that\nhe was worthless. But the mother said, \u201cHe will do something yet. Be\npatient.\u201d\n\nOne day it came to pass that Glooskap said to Mikchich, \u201cTo-morrow there\nwill be a great game at ball, and you must play. But because you have\nmade yourself enemies of all the young men here, they will seek to slay\nyou, by crowding altogether and trampling upon you. And when they do this\nit will be by your father-in-law\u2019s lodge, and to escape them I give you\nthe power to jump high over it. This you may do twice, but the third time\nwill be terrible for you, and yet it must be.\u201d\n\nAll this happened as he foretold; for the young men indeed tried to take\nhis life, and to escape them Mikchich jumped over the lodge, so that he\nseemed like a bird flying. But the third time he did this he was caught\non the top of the tent-poles, and hung there dangling in the smoke which\nrose from below.\n\nThen Glooskap, who was seated in the tent, said, \u201cUncle, I will now make\nyou the _sogmo_, or great chief of the Tortoises, and you shall bear up\na great nation.\u201d Then he smoked Mikchich so long that his skin became a\nhard shell, and the marks of the smoke may be seen thereon to this day.\nAnd removing his entrails he destroyed them, so that but one short one\nwas left. And he cried aloud, \u201c_Milooks!_ (M.) My nephew, you will kill\nme!\u201d But the nephew replied, \u201cNot so. I am giving you great life. From\nthis time you may roll through a flame and never feel it, and live on\nland or in the water. And though your head be cut off, it will live for\nnine days, and your heart, even, shall beat as long when taken from your\nbody.\u201d So Mikchich rejoiced greatly.\n\nAnd this came betimes, for he soon had need of it all. For the next day\nall the men went on a hunt, and the Master warned him that they would\nseek to slay him. Now the young men went on before, and Turtle lingered\nbehind; but all at once he made a magic flight far over their heads,\nunseen, and deep in the forest he slew a moose. Then he drew this to the\nsnow-shoe track or road, and when his foes came up there he sat upon the\nmoose, smoking, and waiting for them. Now Glooskap had told them that\nthey would see some one come out ahead of them all that day, and when\nthis came to pass they were more angered in their hearts than ever.\n\nSo they plotted to kill Turtle, and his nephew, who was about to leave,\ntold him how it would be. \u201cFirst of all, they will build a mighty fire\nand throw you in it. But do thou, O uncle, go cheerfully, for by my power\nthou wilt in no wise suffer. Then they will speak of drowning, but thou\nmust beg and pray that this may not be; and then they will the more seek\nto do so, and thou shalt fight them to the bitter end, and yet it shall\nbe.\u201d\n\nAnd as he said, so it came to pass; and Mikchich, being of good cheer,\nbade farewell to his nephew. And they seized him and threw him into a\ngreat fire, but he turned over and went to sleep in it, being very lazy;\nand when the fire had burnt out he awoke, and called for more wood,\nbecause it was a cold night.\n\nThen they seized him yet again, and spoke of drowning. But, hearing this,\nhe, as if he were in mortal dread, begged them not to do this thing. And\nhe said they might cut him to pieces, or burn him, as they would, but\nnot to throw him into the water. Therefore they resolved to do so, and\ndragged him on. Then he screamed horribly and fought lustily, and tore\nup trees and roots and rocks like a madman; but they took him into a\ncanoe and paddled out into the middle of the lake (or to the sea), and,\nthrowing him in, watched him sink as he vanished far down below. So they\nthought him dead, and returned rejoicing.\n\nNow the next day at noon there was a hot sunshine, and something was seen\nbasking on a great rock, about a mile out in the lake. So two young men\ntook a canoe and went forth to see what this might be. And when they came\nto the edge of the rock, which was about a foot high, there lay Mikchich\nsunning himself; but seeing them coming to take him, he only said,\n\u201cGood-by,\u201d and rolled over plump into the water, where he is living to\nthis day. In memory whereof all turtles, when they see any one coming,\ntip tilt themselves over into the water at once.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the following Hindoo story of \u201cPunchkin\u201d you will see the expression\nof the primitive notion that the life of a person may be bound up in some\nexternal object. Invention runs riot in the attempts to make this object\nas inaccessible as possible. There is the Norse story of the \u201cGiant who\nhad no Heart in his Body,\u201d who finally tells the lovely princess he\nkeeps in bondage that \u201cFar, far away in a lake lies an island; on that\nisland stands a church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a\nduck; in that duck there is an egg; and in that egg there lies my heart,\nyou darling.\u201d The hero, of course, goes and finds the giant\u2019s heart,\nand so kills him, and rescues the princess. There is also the story of\nthe little Hindoo princess, called Sodawa Bai, whose soul was in the\nbeautiful golden necklace she was born with around her neck, and who died\nwhen another princess who hated her finally took it off.\n\n\nPUNCHKIN\n\n(_A Hindoo Story_)\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Rajah who had seven beautiful daughters.\nThey were all good girls; but the youngest, named Balna, was more clever\nthan the rest. The Rajah\u2019s wife died when they were quite little\nchildren, so these seven poor princesses were left with no mother to take\ncare of them.\n\nThe Rajah\u2019s daughters took it by turns to cook their father\u2019s dinner\nevery day, whilst he was absent deliberating with his ministers on the\naffairs of the nation.\n\nAbout this time the Purdan died, leaving a widow and one daughter; and\nevery day, when the seven princesses were preparing their father\u2019s\ndinner, the Purdan\u2019s widow and daughter would come and beg for a little\nfire from the hearth. Then Balna used to say to her sisters, \u201cSend that\nwoman away; send her away. Let her get the fire at her own house. What\ndoes she want with ours? If we allow her to come here we shall suffer\nfor it some day.\u201d But the other sisters would answer, \u201cBe quiet, Balna;\nwhy must you always be quarrelling with this poor woman? Let her take\nsome fire if she likes.\u201d Then the Purdan\u2019s widow used to go to the hearth\nand take a few sticks from it; and, whilst no one was looking, she would\nquickly throw some mud into the midst of the dishes which were being\nprepared for the Rajah\u2019s dinner.\n\nNow the Rajah was very fond of his daughters. Ever since their mother\u2019s\ndeath they had cooked his dinner with their own hands, in order to avoid\nthe danger of his being poisoned by his enemies. So, when he found\nthe mud mixed up with his dinner, he thought it must arise from their\ncarelessness, as it appeared improbable that any one should have put mud\nthere on purpose; but being very kind, he did not like to reprove them\nfor it, although this spoiling of the curry was repeated many successive\ndays.\n\nAt last, one day, he determined to hide and watch his daughters cooking\nand see how it all happened; so he went into the next room, and watched\nthem through a hole in the wall.\n\nThere he saw his seven daughters carefully washing the rice and preparing\nthe curry, and as each dish was completed they put it by the fire ready\nto be cooked. Next he noticed the Purdan\u2019s widow come to the door, and\nbeg for a few sticks from the fire to cook her dinner with. Balna turned\nto her, angrily, and said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you keep fuel in your own house and\nnot come here every day and take ours? Sisters, don\u2019t give this woman any\nmore; let her buy it for herself.\u201d\n\nThen the eldest sister answered, \u201cBalna, let the poor woman take the wood\nand the fire; she does us no harm.\u201d But Balna replied, \u201cIf you let her\ncome here so often, maybe she will do us some harm, and make us sorry for\nit, some day.\u201d\n\nThe Rajah then saw the Purdan\u2019s widow go to the place where all his\ndinner was nicely prepared, and, as she took the wood, she threw a little\nmud into each of the dishes.\n\nAt this he was very angry, and sent to have the woman seized and brought\nbefore him. But when the widow came, she told him that she had played\nthis trick because she wanted to gain an audience with him; and she spoke\nso cleverly, and pleased him so well with her cunning words, that instead\nof punishing her the Rajah married her, and made her his Ranee, and she\nand her daughter came to live in the palace.\n\nThe new Ranee hated the seven poor princesses, and wanted to get them, if\npossible, out of the way, in order that her daughter might have all their\nriches and live in the palace as princess in their place; and instead of\nbeing grateful to them for their kindness to her, she did all she could\nto make them miserable. She gave them nothing but bread to eat, and very\nlittle of that, and very little water to drink; so these seven poor\nlittle princesses, who had been accustomed to have everything comfortable\nabout them, and good food and good clothes all their lives long, were\nvery miserable and unhappy; and they used to go out every day and sit by\ntheir dead mother\u2019s tomb and cry; and used to say, \u201cOh mother, mother,\ncannot you see your poor children, how unhappy we are, and how we are\nstarved by our cruel step-mother?\u201d\n\nOne day, whilst they were sobbing and crying, lo and behold! a beautiful\npomelo tree grew up out of the grave, covered with fresh ripe pomeloes,\nand the children satisfied their hunger by eating some of the fruit; and\nevery day after this, instead of trying to eat the nasty dinner their\nstep-mother provided for them, they used to go out to their mother\u2019s\ngrave and eat the pomeloes which grew there on the beautiful tree.\n\nThen the Ranee said to her daughter, \u201cI cannot tell how it is; every day\nthose seven girls say they don\u2019t want any dinner, and won\u2019t eat any, and\nyet they never grow thin nor look ill; they look better than you do. I\ncannot tell how it is;\u201d and she bade her watch the seven princesses and\nsee if any one gave them anything to eat.\n\nSo next day, when the princesses went to their mother\u2019s grave, and were\neating the beautiful pomeloes, the Purdan\u2019s daughter followed them and\nsaw them gathering the fruit.\n\nThen Balna said to her sisters, \u201cDo you see that girl watching us? Let us\ndrive her away or hide the pomeloes, else she will go and tell her mother\nall about it, and that will be very bad for us.\u201d\n\nBut the other sisters said, \u201cOh, no, do not be unkind, Balna. The girl\nwould never be so cruel as to tell her mother. Let us rather invite her\nto come and have some of the fruit;\u201d and calling her to them, they gave\nher one of the pomeloes.\n\nNo sooner had she eaten it, however, than the Purdan\u2019s daughter went home\nand said to her mother, \u201cI do not wonder the seven princesses will not\neat the nasty dinner you prepare for them, for by their mother\u2019s grave\nthere grows a beautiful pomelo tree, and they go there every day and eat\nthe pomeloes. I ate one, and it was the nicest I have ever tasted.\u201d\n\nThe cruel Ranee was much vexed at hearing this, and all next day she\nstayed in her room, and told the Rajah that she had a very bad headache.\nThe Rajah at hearing this was deeply grieved, and said to his wife,\n\u201cWhat can I do for you?\u201d She answered, \u201cThere is only one thing that\nwill make my headache well. By your dead wife\u2019s tomb there grows a fine\npomelo tree; you must bring that here, and boil it, root and branch, and\nput a little of the water in which it has been boiled on my forehead,\nand that will cure my headache.\u201d So the Rajah sent his servants, and had\nthe beautiful pomelo tree pulled up by the roots, and did as the Ranee\ndesired; and when some of the water in which it had been boiled was put\non her forehead she said her headache was gone and she felt quite well.\n\nNext day, when the seven princesses went as usual to the grave of their\nmother, the pomelo tree had disappeared. Then they all began to cry very\nbitterly.\n\nNow there was by the Ranee\u2019s tomb a small tank, and as they were crying\nthey saw that the tank was filled with a rich, cream-like substance,\nwhich quickly hardened into a thick white cake. At seeing this all the\nprincesses were very glad, and they ate some of the cake, and liked it;\nand next day the same thing happened, and so it went on for many days.\nEvery morning the princesses went to their mother\u2019s grave, and found\nthe little tank filled with nourishing, cream-like cake. Then the cruel\nstep-mother said to her daughter, \u201cI cannot tell how it is; I have had\nthe pomelo tree which used to grow by the Ranee\u2019s grave destroyed, and\nyet the princesses grow no thinner, nor look more sad, though they never\neat the dinner I give them. I cannot tell how it is!\u201d\n\nAnd her daughter said, \u201cI will watch.\u201d\n\nNext day, while the princesses were eating the cream cake, who should\ncome by but their step-mother\u2019s daughter. Balna saw her first, and said,\n\u201cSee, sisters, there comes that girl again. Let us sit round the edge of\nthe tank, and not allow her to see it; for if we give her some of our\ncake she will go and tell her mother, and that will be very unfortunate\nfor us.\u201d\n\nThe other sisters, however, thought Balna unnecessarily suspicious, and\ninstead of following her advice they gave the Purdan\u2019s daughter some of\nthe cake, and she went home and told her mother all about it.\n\nThe Ranee, on hearing how well the princesses fared, was exceedingly\nangry, and sent her servants to pull down the dead Ranee\u2019s tomb and fill\nthe little tank with the ruins. And not content with this, she next day\npretended to be very, very ill\u2014in fact, at the point of death; and when\nthe Rajah was much grieved, and asked her whether it was in his power\nto procure her any remedy, she said to him, \u201cOnly one thing can save my\nlife, but I know you will not do it.\u201d He replied, \u201cYes, whatever it is,\nI will do it.\u201d She then said, \u201cTo save my life, you must kill the seven\ndaughters of your first wife, and put some of their blood on my forehead\nand on the palms of my hands, and their death will be my life.\u201d At these\nwords the Rajah was very sorrowful; but because he feared to break his\nword, he went out with a heavy heart to find his daughters.\n\nHe found them crying by the ruins of their mother\u2019s grave.\n\nThen, feeling he could not kill them, the Rajah spoke kindly to them, and\ntold them to come out into the jungle with him; and there he made a fire\nand cooked some rice, and gave it to them. But in the afternoon, it being\nvery hot, the seven princesses all fell asleep, and when he saw they\nwere fast asleep the Rajah, their father, stole away and left them (for\nhe feared his wife), saying to himself, \u201cIt is better my poor daughters\nshould die here than be killed by their step-mother.\u201d\n\nHe then shot a deer, and returning home, put some of the blood on the\nforehead and hands of the Ranee, and she thought then that he had really\nkilled the princesses and said she felt quite well.\n\nMeantime the seven princesses awoke, and when they found themselves all\nalone in the thick jungle they were much frightened, and began to call\nout as loud as they could, in hopes of making their father hear; but he\nwas by that time far away, and would not have been able to hear them,\neven had their voices been as loud as thunder.\n\nIt so happened that this very day the seven young sons of a neighboring\nRajah chanced to be hunting in the same jungle, and as they were\nreturning home after the day\u2019s sport was over, the youngest prince said\nto his brothers: \u201cStop, I think I hear some one crying and calling out.\nDo you not hear voices? Let us go in the direction of the sound, and try\nand find out what it is.\u201d\n\nSo the seven princes rode through the wood until they came to the place\nwhere the seven princesses sat crying and wringing their hands. At the\nsight of them the young princes were very much astonished, and still more\nso on learning their story; and they settled that each should take one of\nthese poor forlorn ladies home with him and marry her.\n\nSo the first and eldest prince took the eldest princess home with him and\nmarried her.\n\nAnd the second took the second;\n\nAnd the third took the third;\n\nAnd the fourth took the fourth;\n\nAnd the fifth took the fifth;\n\nAnd the sixth took the sixth;\n\nAnd the seventh, and handsomest of all, took the beautiful Balna.\n\nAnd when they got to their own land there was great rejoicing throughout\nthe kingdom at the marriage of the seven young princes to seven such\nbeautiful princesses.\n\nAbout a year after this Balna had a little son, and his uncles and aunts\nwere so fond of the boy that it was as if he had seven fathers and seven\nmothers. None of the other princes or princesses had any children, so the\nson of the seventh prince and Balna was acknowledged their heir by all\nthe rest.\n\nThey had thus lived very happily for some time, when one fine day the\nseventh prince (Balna\u2019s husband) said he would go out hunting, and away\nhe went; and they waited long for him, but he never came back.\n\nThen his six brothers said they would go and see what had become of him;\nand they went away, but they also did not return.\n\nAnd the seven princesses grieved very much, for they felt sure their kind\nhusbands must have been killed.\n\nOne day, not long after this had happened, as Balna was rocking her\nbaby\u2019s cradle, and whilst her sisters were working in the room below,\nthere came to the palace door a man in a long black dress, who said that\nhe was a Fakir, and came to beg. The servants said to him, \u201cYou cannot go\ninto the palace\u2014the Rajah\u2019s sons have all gone away; we think they must\nbe dead, and their widows cannot be interrupted by your begging.\u201d But he\nsaid, \u201cI am a holy man; you must let me in.\u201d Then the stupid servants let\nhim walk through the palace, but they did not know that this man was no\nFakir, but a wicked magician named Punchkin.\n\nPunchkin Fakir wandered through the palace, and saw many beautiful things\nthere, till at last he reached the room where Balna sat singing beside\nher little boy\u2019s cradle. The magician thought her more beautiful than all\nthe other beautiful things he had seen, insomuch that he asked her to go\nhome with him and to marry him. But she said, \u201cMy husband, I fear, is\ndead, but my little boy is still quite young; I will stay here and teach\nhim to grow up a clever man, and when he is grown up he shall go out\ninto the world, and try and learn tidings of his father. Heaven forbid\nthat I should ever leave him or marry you.\u201d At these words the magician\nwas very angry, and turned her into a little black dog, and led her away,\nsaying, \u201cSince you will not come with me of your own free will, I will\nmake you.\u201d So the poor princess was dragged away, without any power of\neffecting an escape, or of letting her sisters know what had become of\nher. As Punchkin passed through the palace gate the servants said to him,\n\u201cWhere did you get that pretty little dog?\u201d And he answered, \u201cOne of the\nprincesses gave it to me as a present.\u201d At hearing which they let him go\nwithout further questioning.\n\nSoon after this the six elder princesses heard the little baby, their\nnephew, begin to cry, and when they went upstairs they were much\nsurprised to find him all alone, and Balna nowhere to be seen. Then they\nquestioned the servants, and when they heard of the Fakir and the little\nblack dog they guessed what had happened, and sent in every direction\nseeking them, but neither the Fakir nor the dog was to be found. What\ncould six poor women do? They had to give up all hopes of ever seeing\ntheir kind husbands and their sister and her husband again, and they\ndevoted themselves thenceforward to teaching and taking care of their\nlittle nephew.\n\nThus time went on, till Balna\u2019s son was fourteen years old. Then one\nday his aunts told him the history of the family; and no sooner did he\nhear it than he was seized with a great desire to go in search of his\nfather and mother and uncles, and bring them home again if he could find\nthem alive. His aunts, on learning his determination, were much alarmed\nand tried to dissuade him, saying, \u201cWe have lost our husbands, and our\nsister and her husband, and you are now our sole hope; if you go away,\nwhat shall we do?\u201d But he replied, \u201cI pray you not to be discouraged; I\nshall return soon, and, if it is possible, bring my father and mother and\nuncles with me.\u201d So he set out on his travels, but for some months he\ncould learn nothing to help him in his search.\n\nAt last, after he had journeyed many hundreds of weary miles, and become\nalmost hopeless of ever being able to hear anything further of his\nparents, he one day came to a country which seemed full of stones and\nrocks and trees, and there he saw a large palace with a high tower; hard\nby which was a Malee\u2019s little house.\n\nAs he was looking about, the Malee\u2019s wife saw him, and ran out of the\nhouse and said, \u201cMy dear boy, who are you that dare venture to this\ndangerous place?\u201d And he answered, \u201cI am a Rajah\u2019s son, and I come in\nsearch of my father and my uncles and my mother whom a wicked enchanter\nbewitched.\u201d Then the Malee\u2019s wife said, \u201cThis country and this palace\nbelong to a great enchanter; he is all-powerful, and if any one\ndispleases him, he can turn them into stones and trees. All the rocks and\ntrees you see here were living people once, and the magician turned them\nto what they now are. Some time ago a Rajah\u2019s son came here, and shortly\nafterward came his six brothers, and they were all turned into stones and\ntrees; and these are not the only unfortunate ones, for up in that tower\nlives a beautiful princess, whom the magician has kept prisoner there for\ntwelve years, because she hates him and will not marry him.\u201d\n\nThen the little prince thought, \u201cThese must be my parents and my uncles.\nI have found what I seek at last.\u201d So he told his story to the Malee\u2019s\nwife, and begged her to help him to remain in that place a while, and\ninquire further concerning the unhappy people she mentioned; and she\npromised to befriend him, and advised his disguising himself, lest the\nmagician should see him, and turn him likewise into stone. To this\nthe prince agreed. So the Malee\u2019s wife dressed him up in a saree, and\npretended that he was her daughter.\n\nOne day, not long after this, as the magician was walking in his garden,\nhe saw the little girl (as he thought) playing about, and he asked her\nwho she was. She told him she was the Malee\u2019s daughter, and the magician\nsaid, \u201cYou are a pretty little girl, and to-morrow you shall take a\npresent of flowers from me to the beautiful lady who lives in the tower.\u201d\n\nThe young prince was much delighted at hearing this, and after some\nconsultation with the Malee\u2019s wife, he settled that it would be more safe\nfor him to retain his disguise, and trust to the chance of a favorable\nopportunity for establishing some communication with his mother, if it\nwere indeed she.\n\nNow it happened that at Balna\u2019s marriage her husband had given her a\nsmall gold ring on which her name was engraved, and she put it on her\nlittle son\u2019s finger when he was a baby, and afterward when he was older,\nhis aunts had had it enlarged for him, so that he was still able to wear\nit. The Malee\u2019s wife advised him to fasten the well-known treasure to one\nof the bouquets he presented to his mother, and trust to her recognizing\nit. This was not to be done without difficulty, as such a strict watch\nwas kept over the poor princess (for fear of her ever establishing\ncommunication with her friends) that though the supposed Malee\u2019s daughter\nwas permitted to take her flowers every day, the magician or one of his\nslaves was always in the room at the same time. At last one day, however,\nopportunity favored him and when no one was looking the boy tied the ring\nto a nosegay and threw it at Balna\u2019s feet. The ring fell with a clang on\nthe floor, and Balna, looking to see what made the strange sound, found\nthe little ring tied to the flowers. On recognizing it, she at once\nbelieved the story her son told her of his long search, and begged him to\nadvise her as to what she had better do; at the same time entreating him\non no account to endanger his life by trying to rescue her. She told him\nthat for twelve long years the magician had kept her shut up in the tower\nbecause she refused to marry him, and she was so closely guarded that she\nsaw no hope of release.\n\nNow Balna\u2019s son was a bright, clever boy; so he said, \u201cDo not fear, dear\nmother; the first thing to do is to discover how far the magician\u2019s power\nextends, in order that we may be able to liberate my father and uncles,\nwhom he has imprisoned in the form of rocks and trees. You have spoken to\nhim angrily for twelve long years; do you now rather speak kindly. Tell\nhim you have given up all hopes of again seeing the husband you have so\nlong mourned, and say you are willing to marry him. Then endeavor to find\nout what his power consists in, and whether he is immortal or can be put\nto death.\u201d\n\nBalna determined to take her son\u2019s advice; and the next day sent for\nPunchkin and spoke to him as had been suggested.\n\nThe magician, greatly delighted, begged her to allow the wedding to take\nplace as soon as possible.\n\nBut she told him that before she married him he must allow her a little\nmore time in which she might make his acquaintance, and that, after being\nenemies so long, their friendship could but strengthen by degrees. \u201cAnd\ndo tell me,\u201d she said, \u201care you quite immortal? Can death never touch\nyou? And are you too great an enchanter ever to feel human suffering?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you ask?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d she replied, \u201cif I am to be your wife I would fain know all\nabout you, in order, if any calamity threatens you, to overcome, or, if\npossible, to avert it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true,\u201d he said, \u201cthat I am not as others. Far, far away, hundreds\nof thousands of miles from this, there lies a desolate country covered\nwith thick jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of palm\ntrees, and in the center of the circle stand six chattees full of water,\npiled one above another; below the sixth chattee is a small cage which\ncontains a little green parrot; on the life of the parrot depends my\nlife, and if the parrot is killed I must die. It is, however,\u201d he added,\n\u201cimpossible that the parrot should sustain any injury, both on account of\nthe inaccessibility of the country and because, by my appointment, many\nthousand evil genii surround the palm trees, and kill all who approach\nthe place.\u201d\n\nBalna told her son what Punchkin had said, but, at the same time,\nimplored him to give up all idea of getting the parrot.\n\nThe prince, however, replied, \u201cMother, unless I can get hold of that\nparrot you and my father and uncles cannot be liberated: be not afraid,\nI will shortly return. Do you, meantime, keep the magician in good\nhumor\u2014still putting off your marriage with him on various pretexts; and\nbefore he finds out the cause of delay I will return.\u201d So saying he went\naway.\n\nMany, many weary miles did he travel, till at last he came to a thick\njungle, and being very tired, sat down under a tree and fell asleep.\nHe was awakened by a soft rustling sound, and, looking about him, saw\na large serpent which was making its way to an eagle\u2019s nest built in\nthe tree under which he lay, and in the nest were two young eagles. The\nprince, seeing the danger of the young birds, drew his sword and killed\nthe serpent; at the same moment a rushing sound was heard in the air, and\nthe two old eagles, who had been out hunting for food for their young\nones, returned. They quickly saw the dead serpent and the young prince\nstanding over it; and the old mother eagle said to him, \u201cDear boy, for\nmany years all our young have been devoured by that cruel serpent: you\nhave now saved the lives of our children; whenever you are in need,\ntherefore, send to us and we will help you; and as for these little\neagles, take them, and let them be your servants.\u201d\n\nAt this the prince was very glad, and the two eaglets crossed their\nwings, on which he mounted; and they carried him far, far away over the\nthick jungles until he came to the place where grew the circle of palm\ntrees in the midst of which stood the six chattees full of water. It was\nthe middle of the day. All around the trees were the genii fast asleep;\nnevertheless, there were such countless thousands of them that it would\nhave been quite impossible for any one to walk through their ranks to the\nplace. Down swooped the strong-winged eaglets\u2014down jumped the prince; in\nan instant he had overthrown the six chattees full of water, and seized\nthe little green parrot, which he rolled up in his cloak; while, as he\nmounted again into the air, all the genii below awoke, and, finding\ntheir treasure gone, set up a wild and melancholy howl.\n\nAway, away flew the little eagles till they came to their home in the\ngreat tree; then the prince said to the old eagles, \u201cTake back your\nlittle ones; they have done me good service; if ever again I stand in\nneed of help I shall not fail to come to you.\u201d He then continued his\njourney on foot till he arrived once more at the magician\u2019s palace, where\nhe sat down at the door and began playing with the parrot. The magician\nsaw him, and came to him quickly and said, \u201cMy boy, where did you get\nthat parrot? Give it to me, I pray you.\u201d But the prince answered, \u201cOh,\nno, I cannot give away my parrot; it is a great pet of mine; I have had\nit many years.\u201d Then the magician said, \u201cIf it is an old favorite, I can\nunderstand you not caring to give it away; but come, what will you sell\nit for?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d replied the prince, \u201cI will not sell my parrot.\u201d\n\nThen the magician got frightened and said, \u201cAnything, anything; name what\nprice you will, and it shall be yours.\u201d \u201cThen,\u201d the prince answered, \u201cI\nwill that you liberate the Rajah\u2019s seven sons whom you turned into rocks\nand trees.\u201d \u201cIt is done as you desire,\u201d said the magician, \u201conly give\nme my parrot\u201d (and with that, by a stroke of his wand, Balna\u2019s husband\nand his brothers resumed their natural shapes). \u201cNow give me my parrot,\u201d\nrepeated Punchkin. \u201cNot so fast, my master,\u201d rejoined the prince; \u201cI must\nfirst beg that you restore to life all whom you have thus imprisoned.\u201d\n\nThe magician immediately waved his wand again; and whilst he cried in an\nimploring voice, \u201cGive me my parrot!\u201d the whole garden became suddenly\nalive: where rocks and stones and trees had been before, stood Rajahs and\nPunts and Sirdars, and mighty men on prancing horses, and jewelled pages\nand troops of armed attendants.\n\n\u201cGive me my parrot!\u201d cried Punchkin. Then the boy took hold of the parrot\nand tore off one of its wings; and as he did so the magician\u2019s right arm\nfell off.\n\nPunchkin then stretched out his left arm, crying \u201cGive me my parrot!\u201d The\nprince pulled off the parrot\u2019s second wing, and the magician\u2019s left arm\ntumbled off.\n\n\u201cGive me my parrot!\u201d cried he, and fell on his knees. The prince pulled\noff the parrot\u2019s right leg\u2014the magician\u2019s right leg fell off; the prince\npulled off the parrot\u2019s left leg\u2014down fell the magician\u2019s left.\n\nNothing remained of him save the limbless body and the head; but still\nhe rolled his eyes, and cried, \u201cGive me my parrot!\u201d \u201cTake your parrot,\nthen,\u201d cried the boy, and with that he wrung the bird\u2019s neck and threw\nit at the magician; and as he did so, Punchkin\u2019s head twisted round, and\nwith a fearful groan he died!\n\nThen they let Balna out of the tower; and she, her son, and the seven\nprinces went to their own country, and lived very happily ever afterward.\nAnd as to the rest of the world, every one went to his own house.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nANIMALS IN CULTURE MYTHS\n\n\nAll the stories so far have reflected primitive man\u2019s way of thinking and\nacting. Passing now to more developed phases of life, we are confronted\nin myths by such an array of animals\u2014definite personifications of natural\nphenomena\u2014that no possible ark would hold these cosmical monsters.\n\nNow if we imagine ourselves off for a hunt for some of these animals\nin the mythology of people no longer primitive but with a considerable\ndegree of culture, we shall find ourselves rewarded to the full in the\nmyths of India. The ancient Hindoo revels in animal cosmic myths. The\nsky seems to be in his imagination one vast pasture land for cows and\nbulls, though frequently it is turned into a battle-ground because of\nthe incursions of an evil serpent who has a predilection for carrying\noff cows. These tremendous dramas in the imaginative sky of the Hindoo\nare a magnified reflection of the state of affairs existing upon the\nearth. Cosmic cattle would be expected to be more glorious than mundane\ncattle, yet we see through these myths how important the cow was to the\nexistence of the Hindoo.[3] To increase the number of cows, to render\nthem fruitful in milk and prolific in calves, to have them well looked\nafter, is the dream, the ideal of the ancient Hindoo. His worst enemy,\ntherefore, is he that robs him of his cows, while his best friend would\nbe he who rescues the cows from the robber.\n\nThe dewy moon, the dawn, the watery cloud, in fact, the entire vault of\nheaven which gives the benignant and quickening rain as cows give their\nmilk, are all personified as the beneficent Cow of Abundance.\n\nThe great and awful ruler of all these cows is the God Indra, who rides\nin a car to which are harnessed magnificent bay steeds. Sometimes he is\ncalled a Bull and sometimes he is said to roar like a Bull.\n\nFrom the hymns of the \u201cRig Veda,\u201d probably three or four thousand years\nold, many of which were written in honor of Indra, may be gathered the\ncharacteristics of Indra and these remarkable cattle. In her cloudy\naspects, this cow of the sky was called the spotted one, and was said\nto be the mother of the storm winds or Maruts, while Indra, who hides\nhimself in thunder-clouds is the Bull of Bulls, invincible son of a\ncow that bellows like the Maruts. This terrible creature bellows and\nshows his strength as he sharpens his horns, who is able of himself to\noverthrow all peoples. His horns are the lightning, and he is sometimes\nsaid to have a thousand of them. With all these animals prancing about in\nthe sky, there is a fine opportunity for brilliant onslaughts upon the\nenemy who steals the cows. Indra with his thunder-bolts and the Maruts\nwith their winds are the leaders on one side, while in the hostile camp\nwill be found a horrid monster called by different names, such as Valas,\nVritras, Cushnas, meaning the enemy, black one, thief, serpent, wolf, or\nwild boar. This awful being generally seems to throw down the gauntlet\nby stealing the cows of Indra and imprisoning them in a dark and dismal\ncavern in the clouds. Then an exciting battle follows; Indra bellows,\nthe thunder-bolt bellows, the Maruts bellow, and ascend the rock, now\nby their own efforts making the sonorous stone, the rock mountain fall;\nnow, with the iron edge of their rolling chariots violently splitting the\nmountain; then the valiant hero, Indra, beloved by the gods, moves the\nstone; he hears the cows, by aid of the Maruts he finds the cows hidden\nin the cavern. Furnished with an arm of stone he opens the grotto of\nValas, who keeps the cows; he vanquishes, kills or pursues the thieves in\nbattle. We may see this battle every time there is a thunder-storm, the\nlightning often leaps between the clouds, and the thunder roars before\nthe rain falls, but when there comes the heavy downpour of rain, the\nancient Hindoo would compare it to the refreshing milk of the cows which\nhave been rescued by Indra.\n\nHorses are also important animals in Hindoo myths. The Asvins, who gallop\nacross the sky from morning till night, are sometimes called the sons of\nthe Sun and the Dawn and sometimes they are called the steeds of Indra.\nThey are described in the hymns of the \u201cRig Veda\u201d as full of life, having\neyes like the sun, drawing the chariot with the golden yoke, the two most\nrapid ones, who carry Indra as every day they carry the sun. They are as\ntwo rays of the sun, which illumine the sky with manes the color of a\npeacock, bridled sixty times, beneficent, winged, indefatigable, resolute\ndestroyers of enemies.\n\nThe Hindoo deities all have animals on which they ride, called Vahans\nor Vehicles; thus, Indra sometimes rides an elephant, Siva, a bull,\nDurga, a tiger, and so on. These all share in the honors of worship\naccorded to their riders. These vehicles of the gods were probably once\nimpersonations of the gods themselves, or animals into which they changed\nthemselves as they do in the primitive myths with which we are already\nfamiliar.\n\nThe cow does not seem to have been a Vahan for any of the gods. She was\ntoo much of a goddess in her own right, shown by the fact that she was\nregularly worshipped every year with great ceremony.\n\nEgypt, however, was the land where animals received the greatest\nreverence. We find there a complete arch\u00e6ological museum of mythological\nanimals. Cats and dogs, mice and crocodiles, birds and insects\u2014all were\nworshipped. So sacred did the Egyptians consider animals in general that\nit was a capital crime if any of them were killed. Should an Ibis or a\nHawk be even accidentally killed, the unfortunate person who happened to\ndo it was put to death by the multitude without form of law. Even if a\ncat died, everybody in the house cut off his eyebrows. Nothing, not even\nthe direst extremes of famine, could tempt an Egyptian to eat a sacred\nanimal. They would rather devour each other than this.\n\nBut of all the animals, the ox kind received the highest honors. Bulls\nwere occasionally sacrificed, but cows never. They were sacred to Isis,\nthe Moon Goddess. There were special individuals of the species, however,\nwho were looked upon with the utmost veneration. They were called Apis\nand Mnevis. Apis was a black bull, but had a white star on his forehead,\nthe figure of an eagle on his back, a crescent on his right side, with a\nknot under his tongue, resembling the Scarabeus or sacred beetle. Apis is\ndescribed as living twenty-five years, when he jumped into a well or into\nthe river Nile. Upon the discovery of a new Apis the Egyptians celebrated\na joyful festival.\n\nAccording to an ancient account, as soon as a report had been spread\nabroad that the Egyptian god had been brought to light, certain sacred\nscribes, who were well versed in the mystic marks, which they had learned\nby tradition, approached the divine calf. They fed it during four months\nwith milk, in a house that fronted the rising sun. After this the sacred\nscribes carried him in a vessel prepared for the purpose to Memphis,\nwhere he had a convenient and delightful abode, with pleasure grounds\nand ample space for salubrious exercise. Companions were provided for\nhim. He drank from a well or fountain of clean water.\n\nDances and festivities and joyful assemblies were held in honor of this\nanimal at the rising of the Nile, and the man from whose flock the\ndivine beast sprang was the happiest of mortals and was looked upon with\nadmiration by all the people. According to some, Apis was dedicated\nto Isis or the Moon. Next to Apis the highest honors were paid to the\nsacred bull of Heliopolis, called Mnevis. This bull was black and was\ndedicated to Osiris. He was kept in a stable in the Temple of the Sun\nand was worshipped as a god. The warring principle in nature, Typhon,\nwas identified with various hideous animals, such as the crocodile and\nhippopotamus. The most sacred of beetles was the Scarabeus, the symbol\neither of the sun or immortality. Even the higher gods were frequently\nrepresented as animals, or in part animals, while to those gods imaged\nin human form, like Osiris and Isis, animals were sacred. There was also\nan important bird, which was itself mythical, called the Ph\u0153nix. This\nwonderful bird was said to rise from time to time out of its own ashes.\n\nAnimals occupy a somewhat different position in Norse mythology. They are\nalso survivals, very likely, from an earlier stage of life when animals\nwere worshipped, but when we meet with them in the Norse myths they have\nbecome symbols of the various ideas of mankind in regard to the mind and\nspirit, and no longer appear simply as personifications of the events of\nnature like Indra and the cows in Hindoo mythology.\n\nThe Norse gods appear galloping into view on their wonderful steeds\nacross the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, from Heaven to Earth. Their names are\nvery significant: Odin rides Sleipner; Heimdal, Goldtop. The other horses\nare Glad (Bright), Gyller (Gilder), Gler (the Shining One), Skeidbrimer\n(Fleetfoot), Silfrintop (Silvertop), Siner (Sinews), Gisl (the Sunbeam),\nFalhofner (Palehoof), Letfet (Lightfoot).\n\nThor, the thunderer, unlike Indra, who often drove two bay steeds, had\nno horse upon which to ride over the rainbow bridge. He would destroy it\nwith his thunder-bolts, so he had to wade through three rivers every day\nin order to reach the council of the gods. Odin\u2019s horse, Sleipner, is the\nmost wonderful\u2014a genuine cosmic animal, with eight legs that symbolize\nthe eight winds of heaven.\n\nThe maiden Sol drove two gentle and beautiful steeds which were harnessed\nto the car of the sun. She drove in great haste, for she as well as her\nbrother, who watches over the moon, are pursued by two wolves, by which\nis probably meant eclipses of the sun and moon. Day and Night also drive\nround the sky after each other. Night first with his steed Rine-fax.\nEvery morning, as he ends his course, Rine-fax bedews the earth with the\nfoam from his bit. Then Day follows with her steed, Shining-fax, from\nwhose mane all the sky and earth glisten. The god Frey rides on a boar\nnamed Golden-bristle, and his sister, Freyja, the goddess of love, is\ndrawn by two cats.\n\nThe Midgard serpent or the worm which supported the earth with its tail\nin its mouth, is another most interesting mythical animal, whose story\nwill be found in this chapter.\n\nFinally, there is a Norse cow, still more remarkable than the Hindoo cow.\nShe was made of frozen vapor, and four rivers of milk ran from her and\nfed the giant Yiner, or the earth. It is easy to recognize these rivers\nof milk as mountain streams of melted snow. This poor cow had only rime\nstones to live on, which she licked because of the salt. After she had\nlicked them for some time, two magical, godlike beings sprang out of the\nstones and became the parents of Odin. The name of this strange cow was\nAudhumbla.\n\nIn the Norse Heaven, Valhalla, there are two more strange animals. The\nfood of the Gods of Valhalla, Mead, is supplied by the milk of a she-goat\nwho feeds upon the leaves of an extraordinary tree. Upon this same tree\nfeeds a stag, and from his antlers fall so many drops of dew that water\nis supplied to thirty-six rivers, twelve of which flow to the abodes of\nthe gods, twelve to the abodes of men, and twelve to Niflheim.\n\nFenris, the wolf, is another important animal who typifies evil.\n\nTurning now to Greek mythology, we find that animals, on the whole,\nplay a subordinate part. Animals are sacrificed to the gods of Greece,\nbut they are not often worshipped. Many of the gods have more than one\nanimal sacred to them or sacrificed to them in their worship, and very\nlikely some of these animals, as in Indian mythology, were originally\nworshipped. When the ideas of early mankind once began to develop it\nwould soon occur to them that human beings would be better impersonations\nfor their gods than animals, yet the animals, once having been sacred, it\nwould be very difficult to banish them altogether, hence they remained in\nthe more developed myths as animals sacred to gods in human form. Greek\nmyths, too, abound in transformations into animal form, Zeus (Roman name\nJupiter or Jove), the ruling god of heaven and earth, being especially\ngiven to appearing on earth in the form of some animal. Gods of the\nearth and sea were also often represented as half man, half animal, the\nmost famous of these being Pan, the god of the woods, who was half man,\nhalf goat, and the mermaids, who had the bodies of women with fishes\u2019\ntails. Though not so prominent as in India, the sky is the pasture land\nfor flocks and herds in Greece, as you will see illustrated in the story\nof Odysseus\u2019s meeting with them. There are animals, also, which talk,\nlike the celebrated steeds of Achilles, described in the \u201cIliad.\u201d In one\nplace they are pictured as weeping when they saw the Greek hero Patroclus\nslain. As Pope translates this affecting scene:\n\n                            \u201cAlong their face\n    The big round drops cours\u2019d down with silent pace\n    Conglobing on the dust. Their manes that late\n    Circled their arched necks and waved in state\n    Trailed on the dust beneath the yoke, were spread,\n    And prone to earth was hung their languid head.\u201d\n\nBut even more marvellous was the time when Xanthus broke into speech and\nwarned his master of his approaching doom. It is quite in the manner of\nan animal in a savage myth, but in the days of Homer\u2019s \u201cIliad\u201d thought\nhad advanced so far among the Greeks that the speech of this horse was\nnot regarded as a perfectly natural event as it would be in a savage\nmyth. It was Juno, the goddess, who willed that Xanthus should break\neternal silence and portentous speak. Achilles addresses his horses, and\nXanthus answers:\n\n    \u201cXanthus and Balius! of Podarges\u2019 strain;\n    (Unless ye boast that heavenly race in vain)\n    Be swift, be mindful of the load ye bear\n    And learn to make your master more your care:\n    Through falling squadrons bear my slaughtering sword,\n    Nor, as ye left Patroclus, leave your lord.\u201d\n    The generous Xanthus, as the words he said,\n    Seemed sensible of woe, and droop\u2019d his head:\n    Trembling he stood before the golden wain,\n    And bow\u2019d to dust the honors of his mane;\n    When, strange to tell! (so Juno will\u2019d) he broke\n    Eternal silence, and portentous spoke:\n    \u201cAchilles! yes! this day at least we bear\n    Thy rage in safety through the files of war:\n    But come it will, the fatal time must come,\n    Not ours the fault, but God decrees thy doom.\n    Not through our crime, or slowness in the course,\n    Tell thy Patroclus, but by heavenly force:\n    The bright far-shooting god who gilds the day\n    (Confess\u2019d we saw him) tore his arms away.\n    No: could our swiftness o\u2019er the winds prevail,\n    Or beat the pinions of the western gale,\n    All were in vain: the fates thy death demand,\n    Due to a mortal and immortal hand.\u2019\n    Then ceas\u2019d forever, by the Furies tied,\n    This fateful voice. Th\u2019 intrepid chief replied\n    With unabated rage: \u2018So let it be!\n    Portents and prodigies are lost on me.\u2019\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Zeus. _From Pompeii._]\n\nIn Pegasus, the winged steed of the Nine Muses, we have what might be\ncalled the prize horse of all mythology. The old Greek writer Hesiod says\nhe was born near the springs of Ocean. And he, indeed, winging his flight\naway, left Earth, the mother of flocks, and came to the immortals; in\nJove\u2019s house he dwells, bearing to counsellor Jove thunder and lightning.\nThis looks very much as if he began life as a personification of a\nnatural phenomenon, like the Hindoo Asvins and the Norse Sleipner. But he\nwas destined to a more glorious career than any of them. The goddess of\nwisdom, Ath\u0113ne, caught him and tamed him, and he became the symbol of the\nimagination in its highest flights into the region of poetic aspiration\nand inspiration, a fitting climax to an idea, going back to the very\nfountains of the imagination which bubbled up in that early stage of life\nwhen animals as well as men were thought to be endowed with spirit.\n\nIn the two hymns following, one from the most ancient of Hindoo books,\nthe \u201cRig Veda,\u201d and one from a still more ancient Egyptian book called\n\u201cThe Book of the Dead,\u201d there is quite a contrast, though they both\nrepresent myths in the highly developed religious form of hymns or songs\nto the gods. The Hindoo song sings the praises of Indra, while the\nEgyptian song is a prayer. R\u0101, who is mentioned, was the God of the Sun\nin Egypt.\n\nInstead of driving steeds as many other sun-gods did, he was said to ride\nin a boat. But according to this hymn, there were four sacred apes in the\nboat, to whom the ancient Egyptians offered prayers as they did to the\nsacred bulls Apis and Mnevis.\n\n\nHYMNS TO INDRA\n\n(_From the \u201cRig Veda\u201d_)\n\n    I will declare the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he achieved,\n         the thunder-wielder.\n    He slew the dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels\n         of the mountain torrents.\n    He slew the dragon lying on the mountain; his heavenly bolt of thunder\n         Twashtar fashioned.\n    Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending the waters glided downward\n         to the ocean.\n    Impetuous as a bull, he chose the Soma, and quaffed in threefold\n         sacrifice the juices.\n    Maghavan grasped the thunder for his weapon, and smote to death this\n         first born of the dragons.\n    When, Indra, thou hadst slain the dragon\u2019s first born, and overcome\n         the charms of the enchanters,\n    Then, giving life to sun and dawn and heaven, thou foundest not one\n         foe to stand against thee.\n    Indra with his own great and deadly thunder smote into pieces Vritra\n         worst of Vritras.\n    ...\n    They who pervaded earth\u2019s extremest limit subdued not with their\n         charms the wealth-bestower:\n    Indra, the bull, made his ally the thunder, and with its light milked\n         cows from out the darkness.\n    The waters flowed according to their nature; he mid the navigable\n         streams waxed mighty.\n    Then, Indra, with his spirit concentrated, smote him forever with\n         his strongest weapon.\n    Indra broke through Il\u00eebisa\u2019s strong castles, and Sushna with his\n         horn he cut to pieces:\n    Thou, Maghavan, for all his might and swiftness, slewest thy fighting\n         foeman with thy thunder.\n    Fierce on his enemies fell Indra\u2019s weapon: with his sharp horn he\n         rent their towns in pieces.\n    He with his thunderbolt dealt blows on Vritra, and conquered,\n         executing all his purpose.\n\n\nTHE FOUR APES\n\n(_From the \u201cBook of the Dead\u201d_)\n\n\u201cHail, ye four apes, who sit in the bows of the boat of R\u0101, who convey\nright and truth to Neb-er-tchu, who sit in judgment on my misery and on\nmy strength, who make the gods to rest contented by means of the flame of\nyour mouths, who offer holy offerings to the gods and sepulchral meals\nto the Khus who live upon right and truth, and who feed upon right and\ntruth of heart, who are without deceit and fraud and to whom wickedness\nis an abomination, do ye away with my evil deeds, and put ye away my sin\nwhich deserved stripes upon earth, and destroy ye any evil whatsoever\nthat belongeth unto me, and let there be no obstacle whatsoever on my\npart toward you. O, grant ye I may make my way through the underworld.\nO, grant that there may be given to me cakes and ale and sweetmeats, even\nas they are given to the living Khus.\u201d\n\nThe four apes make answer, saying, \u201cCome then, for we have done away\nwith thy wickedness, and we have put away thy sin, along with the sin\ndeserving of stripes which thou didst commit upon earth, and we have\ndestroyed all the evil which belonged to thee upon earth. There shall be\ngiven unto thee cakes and ale and sweetmeats, and thou shalt come forth\nand thou shalt enter in at thy desire, even as do those Khus who are\nfavored of the god, and thou shalt be proclaimed each day in the horizon.\u201d\n\n\nSTORY OF THE MIDGARD SERPENT AND FENRIS THE WOLF\n\n(_From the Norse Eddas_)\n\nThis huge beast was one of the children of Loke, a troublesome,\nmischievous giant, who forced himself upon the society of the gods. His\ndelight was to get them into all sorts of difficulties, and then by his\ncunning, wit and skill to extricate them. The gods knew that as the\nMidgard serpent grew larger he would bring untold troubles upon gods and\nmen. So Odin thought the best way to dispose of him would be to throw\nhim into the deep ocean which surrounds the earth. He did so, but the\nserpent has grown to such an enormous size, that holding his tail in his\nmouth, he encircles the whole earth. One time the god Thor went with his\nservant Loke to the land of the giants. After some adventures they came\nto a city, standing in the middle of a plain. It was so lofty that they\nwere obliged to bend their necks quite back on their shoulders in order\nto see the top of it. On arriving, they entered the city, and seeing a\nlarge palace before them with the door wide open, they went in and found\na number of men of prodigious stature sitting on benches in the hall.\nGoing further they came before the king, Utgard-Loke, whom they saluted\nwith great respect. The king, regarding them with a scornful smile,\nsaid, \u201cIf I do not mistake me, that stripling yonder must be the god\nThor.\u201d Utgard-Loke then asked Thor and his companions in what feats they\nexcelled, for he said, \u201cNo one is permitted to remain here who does not,\nin some feat or other, excel all other men.\u201d Various feats of strength\nwere tried, then Utgard-Loke said, \u201cWe have a very trifling game here.\nIt consists merely in lifting my cat from the ground; nor should I have\ndared to mention such a feat to the great Thor if I had not already\nobserved that thou art by no means what we took thee for.\u201d\n\nAs he finished a large gray cat sprang on the hall floor. Thor put his\nhand under the cat, and did his utmost to raise him from the floor, but\nthe cat, bending his back, had, notwithstanding all Thor\u2019s efforts, only\none of his feet lifted up, seeing which Thor made no further attempt.\n\n\u201cThis trial has turned out,\u201d said Utgard-Loke, \u201cjust as I imagined it\nwould. The cat is large, but Thor is little in comparison with our men.\u201d\n\nThe next morning, at break of day, Thor and his companions dressed\nthemselves and prepared for their departure. Utgard-Loke ordered a table\nto be set for them, on which there was no lack of victuals or drink.\nAfter the repast, Utgard-Loke led them to the gate of the city, and on\nparting asked Thor how he thought his journey had turned out, and whether\nhe had met with any men stronger than himself. Thor told him that he\ncould not deny but that he had brought great shame on himself. \u201cAnd what\ngrieves me most,\u201d he added, \u201cis that thou wilt call me a person of little\nworth.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said Utgard-Loke, \u201cit behooves me to tell thee the truth, now\nthou art out of the city, which so long as I live and have my way thou\nshalt never enter again. And, by my troth, had I known beforehand that\nthou hadst so much strength in thee, and wouldst have brought me so near\nto a great mishap, I would not have suffered thee to enter this time.\nKnow then that I have all along deceived thee by my illusions.\u201d He then\ncomplimented Thor upon each feat he had performed, and as for the cat,\nhe said, \u201cThou hast indeed performed a wonderful feat by lifting up the\ncat, and to tell thee the truth, when we saw that one of his paws was off\nthe floor we were all of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest for a\ncat was in reality the Midgard serpent that encompasseth the earth, and\nhe was so stretched by thee that he was barely long enough to enclose it\nbetween his head and tail.\u201d\n\nThe wolf Fenris was also one of Loke\u2019s children, and gave the gods a\ngreat deal of trouble until they succeeded in chaining him. He broke\nthe strongest fetters as if they were made of cobwebs. Finally the gods\nsent a messenger to the mountain spirits, who made for them the chain\ncalled Gleipnir. It was fashioned of various things: the noise made by\nthe footfall of a cat, the roots of stones, the breath of fishes, the\nnerves of bears, and the spittle of birds. When finished it was as smooth\nand soft as a silken string. But when the gods asked the wolf to suffer\nhimself to be bound with this apparently slight ribbon he suspected\ntheir design, fearing that it was made by enchantment. He therefore only\nconsented to be bound with it on condition that one of the gods put his\nhand in his (Fenris\u2019s) mouth as a pledge that the band was to be removed\nagain. Tyr alone had sufficient courage to do this. But when the wolf\nfound that he could not break his fetters and that the gods would not\nrelease him, he bit off Tyr\u2019s hand. Tyr, consequently, has ever since\nremained one-handed.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF APOLLO AND PHA\u00cbTON\n\n(_Greek: After Ovid_)\n\nPha\u00ebton was the son of Apollo and the earthly nymph Clymene. One day\nEpaphus, the son of Zeus and Io, scoffed at the idea of Pha\u00ebton\u2019s being\nthe son of a god. Pha\u00ebton complained of the insult to his mother,\nClymene. She sent him to Ph\u0153bus Apollo to ask for himself whether he\nhad not been truly informed concerning his parentage. Gladly Pha\u00ebton\ntravelled toward the regions of the sunrise, and gained at last the\npalace of the Sun. He approached his father\u2019s presence, but stopped at\na distance, for the light was more than he could bear. Ph\u0153bus Apollo,\narrayed in purple, sat on a throne that glittered with diamonds. Beside\nhim stood the Day, the Month, the Year, the Hours and the Seasons.\nSurrounded by these attendants, the Sun beheld the youth dazzled with\nthe novelty and splendor of the scene, and inquired the purpose of his\nerrand. The youth replied, \u201cOh, light of the boundless world, Ph\u0153bus, my\nfather\u2014give me some proof, I beseech thee, by which I may be known as\nthine!\u201d He ceased. His father, laying aside the beams that shone around\nhis head, bade him approach, embraced him, and swore by the river Styx\nthat whatever proof he might ask should be granted. Pha\u00ebton immediately\nasked to be permitted for one day to drive the chariot of the Sun. The\nfather repented of his promise, and tried to dissuade the boy by telling\nhim the perils of the undertaking. \u201cNone but myself,\u201d he said, \u201cmay drive\nthe flaming car of day. Not even Zeus, whose terrible right arm hurls\nthe thunder-bolts. The first part of the way is steep, and such as the\nhorses when fresh in the morning can hardly climb; the middle part is\nhigh up in the heavens, whence I myself can scarcely, without alarm,\nlook down and behold the earth and sea stretched beneath me. The last\npart of the road descends rapidly and requires most careful driving.\nTethys, who is waiting to receive me, often trembles for me lest I should\nfall headlong. Add to this that the heaven is all the time turning round\nand carrying the stars with it. Couldst thou keep thy course, while the\nsphere revolved beneath thee? The road, also, is through the midst of\nfrightful monsters. Thou must pass by the horns of the Bull, in front of\nthe Archer, and near the Lion\u2019s jaws, and where the Scorpion stretches\nits arms in one direction and the Crab in another. Nor wilt thou find it\neasy to guide these horses, with their breasts full of fire that they\nbreathe forth from their mouths and nostrils. Beware, my son, lest I be\nthe donor of a fatal gift; recall the request while yet thou canst.\u201d He\nended; but the youth rejected admonition, and held to his demand. So,\nhaving resisted as long as he might, Ph\u0153bus at last led the way to where\nstood the lofty chariot.\n\nIt was of gold, the gift of Vulcan: the axle of gold, the pole and wheels\nof gold, the spokes of silver. Along the seat were rows of chrysolites\nand diamonds reflecting the brightness of the sun. While the daring youth\ngazed in admiration, the Dawn threw open the purple doors of the east,\nand showed the pathway strewn with roses. The stars withdrew, marshalled\nby the Day Star, which last of all retired also. The father when he saw\nthe earth beginning to glow and the moon preparing to retire, ordered\nthe Hours to harness up the horses. They led forth from the lofty stalls\nthe steeds full fed with ambrosia, and attached the reins. Then the\nfather, smearing the face of his son with a powerful unguent, made him\ncapable of enduring the brightness of the flame. He set the rays on the\nlad\u2019s head, and, with a foreboding sigh, told him to spare the whip and\nhold tight the reins; not to take the straight road between the five\ncircles, but to turn off to the left; to keep within the limit of the\nmiddle zone, and avoid the northern and the southern alike; finally, to\nkeep in the well-worn ruts, and to drive neither too high nor too low,\nfor the middle course was safest and best.\n\nForthwith the agile youth sprang into the chariot, stood erect and\ngrasped the reins with delight, pouring out thanks to his reluctant\nparent. But the steeds soon perceived that the load they drew was lighter\nthan usual; and as a ship without ballast is tossed hither and thither on\nthe sea, the chariot, without its accustomed weight, was dashed about as\nif empty. The horses rushed headlong and left the travelled road. Then\nfor the first time the Great and Little Bears were scorched with heat,\nand would fain, if it were possible, have plunged into the water; and the\nserpent which lies coiled round the north pole, torpid and harmless, grew\nwarm, and with warmth felt its rage revive. Bo\u00f6tes, they say, fled away\nthough encumbered with his plough and unused to rapid motion.\n\nWhen hapless Pha\u00ebton looked down upon the earth, now spreading in vast\nextent beneath him, he grew pale, and his knees shook with terror. He\nlost his self-command, and knew not whether to draw tight the reins or\nthrow them loose; he forgot the names of the horses. But when he beheld\nthe monstrous forms scattered over the surface of heaven\u2014the Scorpion\nextending two great arms, his tail, and his crooked claws over the space\nof two signs of the Zodiac\u2014when the boy beheld him, reeking with poison\nand menacing with fangs, his courage failed, and the reins fell from\nhis hands. The horses, unrestrained, went off into unknown regions of\nthe sky, in among the stars, hurling the chariot over pathless places,\nnow up in high heaven, now down almost to the earth. The Moon saw with\nastonishment her brother\u2019s chariot running beneath her own. The clouds\nbegan to smoke, the forest-clad mountains burned\u2014Athos and Taurus and\nTimolus and \u0152ti; Ida, once celebrated for fountains; the Muses\u2019 Mountain,\nHelicon and H\u00e6mus; \u00c6tna, with fires within and without, and Parnassus,\nwith his two peaks, and Rhodope, forced at last to part with his snowy\ncrown. The cold climate was no protection to Scythia; Caucasus burned,\nand Ossa and Pindus, and, greater than both, Olympus,\u2014the Alps high in\nair, and the Apennines crowned with clouds.\n\nPha\u00ebton beheld the world on fire, and felt the heat intolerable. Then,\ntoo, it is said, the people of Ethiopia became black because the blood\nwas called by the heat so suddenly to the surface; and the Libyan Desert\nwas dried up to the condition in which it remains to this day. The\nnymphs of the fountains, with dishevelled hair, mourned their waters,\nnor were the rivers safe beneath their banks; Tana\u00efs smoked, and Ca\u00efcus,\nXanthus and M\u00e6ander; Babylonian Euphrates and Ganges, Tagus with golden\nsands, and Ca\u00ffster where the swans resort. Nile fled away and hid his\nhead in the desert, and there it still remains, concealed. Where he\nused to discharge his waters through seven mouths into the sea, seven\ndry channels alone remained. The earth cracked open and through the\nchinks light broke into Tartarus, and frightened the king of shadows and\nhis queen. The sea shrank up. Even Nereus and his wife Doris, with the\nNere\u00efds, their daughters, sought the deepest caves for refuge.\n\nThrice Neptune essayed to raise his head above the surface, and thrice he\nwas driven back by the heat. Earth, surrounded as she was by waters, yet\nwith head and shoulders bare, screening her face with her hand, looked\nup to heaven, and with husky voice prayed Zeus, if it were his will that\nshe should perish by fire, to end her agony at once by his thunderbolts,\nor else to consider his own heaven, how both the poles were smoking that\nsustained his palace, and that all must fall if they were destroyed.\n\nEarth, overcome with heat and thirst, could say no more. Then Zeus,\ncalling the gods to witness that all was lost unless some speedy remedy\nwere applied, thundered, brandished a lightning-bolt in his right hand,\nlaunched it against the charioteer, and struck him at the same moment\nfrom his seat and from existence. Pha\u00ebton with his hair on fire, fell\nheadlong like a shooting star which marks the heavens with its brightness\nas it falls, and Eridanus, the great river, received him and cooled his\nburning frame. His sisters, the Heliades, as they lamented his fate, were\nturned into poplar trees, on the banks of the river, and their tears,\nwhich continued to flow, became amber as they dropped into the stream.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ODYSSEUS AND THE OXEN OF THE SUN\n\n(_Greek: From the \u201cOdyssey\u201d_)\n\nWhen Odysseus (called also Ulysses) one of the heroes of the Trojan war,\nwas returning to his home in Ithaca, he had many adventures and suffered\nmany hardships which caused him to be years making the voyage from Troy\nto Ithaca. One of these adventures was his visit to the Isle of the Sun,\nabout which he had been warned by the goddess Circ\u00e8. Odysseus himself\ntells how the ship in which he and his comrades were embarked entered the\ngreat deep and reached the Isle \u00c6acea, where the Morning, child of Dawn,\nabides and holds her dances, and the Sun goes up from the earth. There\nthey landed, and drew their galley up on the beach. After disembarking,\nthey all lay down to sleep beside the sea and waited for the holy Moon to\nrise.\n\nAs soon as Circ\u00e8, for this was the island where this goddess dwelt,\nheard that Odysseus and his comrades were there, she quickly attired\nherself and came down to the beach with her maids who followed, bringing\nbread and store of meats and generous wines. Then the wise goddess,\nstanding in their midst, spake to them and said, \u201cTake food and wine, and\nhold a feast to-day, and with the dawn of morning you shall sail away. I\nwill show you the way, and point out to you all its dangers, so that you\nmay not come to any harm through following false counsels, either on the\nland or on the water.\u201d The confiding minds of Odysseus and his men were\neasily swayed by her counsels. So all that day they sat and banqueted\nupon the abundant meats and generous wines. And when the sun went down\nand darkness came, the crew lay down to sleep beside the moorings of the\nship, and Circ\u00e8, taking the hand of Odysseus, led him apart, made him sit\ndown, and sitting before him made him tell all that he had seen.\n\nThen she addressed him, saying, \u201cThus far all is well; now needfully\nattend to what I say, and may some deity help you to remember it.\u201d She\ntold him first about the Sirens\u2019 haunt, which it would be difficult for\nhim to pass, and then about the horrible rocks where Scylla and Charybdis\ndwelt, giving him instructions how to meet these dangers; then continuing\nshe said, \u201cIn your voyage you will reach the Isle Trinacria, where in\npastures belonging to the Sun many beeves and fatling sheep of his are\nfed\u2014seven herds of oxen, and as many flocks of sheep, and fifty in each\nflock and herd. They never increase and they never die, and they are\ntended by two shepherdesses, goddesses with redundant locks. One is named\nLampetia, the other Pha\u00ebthusa. If your desire be to return to Ithaca,\nyour home, only leave these flocks and herds unharmed, and you and all\nyour men will return, though after many toils. But if you rashly harm\nthem, I foretell destruction to your ship and all its crew; and if you\nshould escape, yet your return will be late and in sorrow, with all your\ncomrades lost.\u201d\n\nAs she finished speaking, the Morning on her golden throne looked forth;\nthe glorious goddess went her way into the isle, and Odysseus went to his\nship and bade the men embark and cast the hawsers loose. Straightway they\nall went on board, and duly manned the benches, smiting the hoary waters\nwith their oars. Then Circ\u00e8, amber-haired, the mighty goddess of the\nmusical voice, sent a fair wind behind the dark-prowed ship, which gayly\nbore them company and filled the sails.\n\nOdysseus then told the crew all that Circ\u00e8, the amber-haired, had said to\nhim. He warns them of the dangers to come, and how they may be escaped,\nfirst the Sirens, and the rocks where Scylla and Charybdis dwelt. They\nescaped these dangers, and approached the pleasant island of the Sun,\nwhere the oxen with broad, beautiful foreheads were grazing, and flocks\nof sheep, the fatlings of the god who makes the round of heaven. While\nyet at sea, Odysseus heard from his ship the lowing of the herds in\nthe stables and the bleating of the flocks, and when he heard them he\nimmediately thought of the words the blind seer, Tiresias of Thebes, had\nsaid to him, and those of Circ\u00e8, by whom he had often been warned to shun\nthe island of the god whose light is sweet to all. Then with a sorrowing\nheart he said to his companions, \u201cMy comrades, sufferers as you are,\nlisten to me, and I shall disclose the oracles which lately Tiresias and\nCirc\u00e8 gave me. The goddess earnestly admonished me not to approach the\nisland of the Sun, whose light is sweet to all, for there she said some\ngreat misfortune lay in wait for us. Now let us speed the ship and pass\nthe isle.\u201d\n\nThe hearts of the men were broken by this speech, and one of them,\nEurylochus, bitterly replied, \u201cHow austere you are, Odysseus. You are\nexceedingly strong and no labor tires your limbs; they must be made\nof iron, since by your will you deny to us, overcome with toil and\nsleeplessness, the chance to tread the land again, and make a generous\nbanquet in that island amid the waters. You would have us sail into the\nswiftly coming night, and stray far from the island, through the misty\nsea. By night the mighty winds spring up that make a wreck of ships; and\nhow can one escape destruction, should a sudden hurricane rise from the\nsouth or the hard-blowing west, causing a ship to founder in the dark in\nspite of all the sovereign gods? Let us obey the dark-browed Night, and\ntake our evening meal, remaining close beside our gallant bark, and go\non board again when morning breaks, and enter the wide sea.\u201d The others\nall approved, and Odysseus knew at once that some god was meditating\nevil against them, and he replied, \u201cEurylochus, you force me to your will\nsince I am only one. Now all of you, bind yourselves to me firmly, by an\noath, that if you here shall meet a herd of beeves or flock of sheep,\nyou will not dare to slay a single ox or sheep, but feed contented on\nthe stores that Circ\u00e8 gave.\u201d The crew swore as Odysseus asked, and when\nthe solemn oath was taken they brought the galley to land and moored it\nin a winding creek, beside a fountain of sweet water. They then stepped\nfrom the deck and made ready their evening meal. They ate and drank until\ntheir thirst and hunger were appeased, and then they thought of those\nwhom Scylla had snatched from the galley\u2019s deck and devoured, and wept\nuntil sleep stole softly over them amid their tears. Now came the third\npart of the night; the stars were sinking, when the cloud-compeller,\nJove, sent forth a violent wind with eddying gusts, and covered both\nthe earth and the sky with clouds, and darkness fell from heaven. When\nmorning came, the rosy-fingered daughter of the Dawn, they drew the ship\ninto a spacious bay. The home of the nymphs was there, and there they saw\nthe smooth fair places where they danced. Then Odysseus called a council\nof his men and said to them, \u201cMy friends, in our good ship are food and\ndrink; we must abstain from these beeves, lest we be made to suffer,\nfor these herds and these fair flocks are sacred to a dreaded god, the\nSun\u2014the all-beholding and all-hearing Sun.\u201d All were swayed full easily\nby what he said. Now for an entire month the gales blew from the south,\nand after that no wind save east and south. As long as they had the bread\nand wine Circ\u00e8 had given them, the men spared the beeves, moved by the\nlove of life. But when the stores on board the galley were consumed, they\nroamed the island in their need, and sought for prey. They snared with\nbaited hooks the fish and birds\u2014whatever came to hand\u2014till they were\ngaunt with famine.\n\nMeanwhile, Odysseus withdrew apart within the isle to supplicate the\ngods, hoping one of them might reveal the way of his return. As he\nstrayed into the land apart from all the rest, he found a sheltered nook\nwhere no wind came, and prayed with washed hands to all the gods who\ndwelt in heaven. At last he fell into a soft slumber. But Eurylochus, in\nthe meantime, was beguiling the men with fatal counsels.\n\n\u201cHear, my companions, sufferers as you are, the words that I shall speak.\nAll modes of death are hateful to the wretched race of men; but this of\nhunger, thus to meet our fate, is the most fearful. Let us drive apart\nthe best of all the oxen of the Sun, and sacrifice them to the immortal\nones, who dwell in the broad heaven. And if we come to Ithaca, our\ncountry, we will there build to the Sun, whose path is o\u2019er our heads,\na sumptuous temple, and endow its shrine with many gifts and rare. But\nif it be his will, approved by all the other gods, to sink our bark in\nanger, for the sake of these high-horned oxen, I should choose sooner\nto gasp my life away amid the billows of the deep, than pine to death by\nfamine in this melancholy isle.\u201d\n\nThe crew approved of this, and now from the neighboring herd they drove\nthe best of all the beeves; for near the dark-prowed ship the fair\nbroad-fronted herd with crooked horns was feeding. The crew stood round\nthe victims and, offering their petitions to the gods, held tender oak\nleaves in their hands, just plucked from a tall tree, for in the good\nship\u2019s hold there was left no more white barley. When they had prayed,\nand slain and dressed the beeves, they hewed away the thighs and covered\nthem with double folds of skin, and laid raw slices over these. They\nhad no wine to pour in sacrifice upon the burning flesh, so they poured\nwater instead, and roasted all the entrails thus. When the thighs were\nthoroughly consumed, the entrails tasted, all the rest was carved into\nsmall portions, and transfixed with spits.\n\nJust at this moment Odysseus awoke, and hurrying to the shore and his\ngood ship, he perceived the savory steam from the burnt offering, and\nsorrowfully, then, he called upon the ever-living gods:\u2014\u201cO Father Jove,\nand all ye blessed gods, who live forever, \u2019twas a cruel sleep in which\nye lulled me to my grievous harm. My comrades here have done a fearful\nwrong.\u201d\n\nThen Lampetia, of the trailing robes, flew in haste to the Sun, who\njourneys round the earth, to tell him that the men had slain his beeves.\n\nIn anger then he thus addressed the gods:\n\n\u201cO Father Jove, and all ye blessed gods who never die, avenge the wrong\nI bear upon the comrades of Laertes\u2019 son, Odysseus, who have foully\nslain my beeves, in which I took delight whene\u2019er I rose into the starry\nheaven, and when again I sank from heaven to earth. If they make not\nlarge amends for this great wrong, I shall go down to Hades, there to\nshine among the dead.\u201d\n\nAnd cloud-compelling Zeus replied: \u201cStill shine, O Sun! among the\ndeathless gods and mortal men, upon the nourishing earth. Soon will I\ncleave with a white thunder-bolt their galley in the midst of a black\nsea.\u201d\n\nWhen Odysseus came to the ship beside the sea, he spoke to them all\nsternly, man after man, yet he could think of no redress. The beeves were\ndead, and now the gods amazed them with prodigies. The skins moved and\ncrawled, the flesh, both raw and roasted on the spits, lowed with the\nvoice of oxen. Six whole days the men feasted, taking from the herd the\nSun\u2019s best oxen. When Jove brought the seventh day, the tempest ceased;\nthe wind fell, and they straightway went on board. They set the mast\nupright, and, spreading the white sails, they ventured on the great wide\nsea again.\n\nWhen they had left the isle and there appeared no other land, but only\nsea and sky, the son of Saturn (Jove) caused a lurid cloud to gather o\u2019er\nthe galley, and to cast its darkness on the ship. Not long the ship ran\nonward, ere the furious west wind rose and blew a hurricane. A strong\nblast snapped both ropes that held the mast; the mast fell back; the\ntackle dropped entangled to the hold; the mast in falling on the galley\u2019s\nstem, dashed on the pilot\u2019s head and crushed the bones, and from the deck\nhe plunged like one who dives into the deep. His gallant spirit left the\nlimbs at once. Jove thundered from on high, and sent a thunder-bolt into\nthe ship, that, quaking with the fearful blow, and filled with stifling\nsulphur, shook the men off into the deep. They floated round the ship\nlike sea mews; Jupiter had cut them off from their return.\n\nOdysseus moved from place to place, still in the ship, until the\ntempest\u2019s force parted the sides and keel. The naked keel was swept\nbefore the waves. The mast had snapped just at the base, but round it was\na thong made of a bullock\u2019s hide. With this Odysseus bound the mast and\nkeel together. He took his seat upon them and the wild winds bore him on.\n\n\nSTORY OF ARACHNE AND ATH\u0112NE\n\n(_Greek: After Ovid_)\n\nThere was once a beautiful maiden, named Arachne, who was so accomplished\nin the arts of carding and spinning, of weaving and embroidery, that the\nnymphs themselves would leave their groves and fountains to come and gaze\nupon her work. It was not only beautiful when it was done, but beautiful\nalso in the doing. To watch her one would have said that Ath\u0113ne herself\nhad taught her. But this she denied, and could not bear to be thought\neven a pupil of a goddess. \u201cLet Ath\u0113ne try her skill with mine,\u201d she\nsaid; \u201cif beaten I will pay the penalty.\u201d\n\nAth\u0113ne heard this and was much displeased. Assuming the form of an old\nwoman, she appeared to Arachne, and kindly advised her to challenge\nher fellow mortals if she would, but at once to ask forgiveness of the\ngoddess. Arachne bade the old dame to keep her counsel for others. \u201cI am\nnot afraid of the goddess. Let her try her skill if she dare venture.\u201d\n\u201cShe comes,\u201d said Ath\u0113ne, and dropping her disguise stood confessed. The\nnymphs bent low in homage, and all the bystanders paid reverence. Arachne\nalone was unterrified. A sudden color dyed her cheeks, and then she grew\npale; but she stood to her resolve, and rushed on her fate. They proceed\nto the contest. Each takes her station and attaches the web to the beam.\nThen the slender shuttle is passed in and out among the threads. The reed\nwith its fine teeth strikes up the woof into its place, and compacts the\nweb. Wool of Tyrian dye is contrasted with that of other colors, shaded\noff into one another so adroitly that the joining deceives the eye. And\nthe effect is like the bow whose long arch tinges the heavens, formed\nby sunbeams reflected from the shower, in which, when the colors meet,\nthey seem as one, but at a little distance from the point of contact are\nwholly different.\n\n[Illustration: Ath\u0113ne. _Glyptothek, Munich._]\n\nAth\u0113ne wrought on her web the scene of her contest with Posidon. Twelve\nof the heavenly powers were represented, Zeus with august gravity sitting\nin the midst. Posidon, the ruler of the sea, held his trident, and\nappeared to have just smitten the earth, from which a horse had leaped\nforth. The bright-eyed goddess depicted herself with helmeted head, her\n\u00e6gis covering her breast, as when she had created the olive tree, with\nits berries and its dark green leaves. But the most astonishing example\nof her skill appeared in a butterfly, so beautiful that only a poet can\ndescribe it properly. Listen to the charming description of the poet\nSpenser:\n\n    Amongst these leaves she made a Butterfly,\n      With excellent device and wondrous slight;\n    Fluttering among the olives wantonly,\n      That seemed to live, so like it was in sight;\n    The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie,\n      The silken down with which his back is dight;\n    His broad outstretch\u00e8d horns, his hairy thighs,\n      His glorious colors, and his glistening eyes.\n    Which when Arachne saw, as overlaid\n      And master\u00e8d with workmanship so rare,\n    She stood astonished long, ne aught gainsaid;\n      And with fast fix\u00e8d eyes on her did stare.\n\nSuch was the central circle of Ath\u0113ne\u2019s web; and in the four corners were\nrepresented incidents illustrating the displeasure of the gods at such\npresumptuous mortals as had dared to contend with them. These were meant\nas warnings from Ath\u0113ne to her rival to give up the contest before it was\ntoo late.\n\nBut Arachne did not yield. She filled her web with subjects designedly\nchosen to exhibit the failings and errors of the gods, wonderfully well\ndone, but strongly marking her presumption and impiety. Ath\u0113ne could\nnot forbear to admire, yet was indignant at the insult. She struck the\nweb with her shuttle, and rent it in pieces; then, touching the forehead\nof Arachne, she made her realize her guilt. It was more than mortal\ncould bear; and forthwith Arachne hanged herself. \u201cLive, guilty woman,\u201d\nsaid Ath\u0113ne, \u201cbut that thou mayest preserve the memory of this lesson,\ncontinue to hang, both thou and thy descendants, to all future times.\u201d\nThen sprinkling her with the juices of aconite, the goddess transformed\nher into a spider, forever spinning the thread by which she is suspended.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTREE AND PLANT MYTHS\n\n\nTo primitive man, trees and plants seemed as mysterious as animals, and\nthere are many myths which tell of the descent of mankind from trees, and\nmany cases in which plants were totems instead of animals. Among various\nIndian tribes who had such a belief may be mentioned the Miztecs, who\ndeclared they were descended from two majestic trees that stood in the\ngorge of the mountain of Apiola. The Chiapanecas thought they sprang\nfrom the roots of a silk cotton tree. The Tamaraquas of South America\nhave a tradition that the human race sprang from the fruits of the date\npalm after the Mexican age of water. Passing half way round the world\nto the Damaras of South Africa we find still more remarkable qualities\nattributed to the first tree. \u201cIn the beginning,\u201d they say, \u201cthere was a\ntree, and out of this tree came Damaras, Bushmen (the wildest of South\nAfrican tribes), oxen and zebras. The Damaras lit a fire which frightened\naway the Bushmen and the zebras, but the oxen remained. Hence it is\nthat Bushmen and wild beasts live together in all sorts of inaccessible\nplaces, but the Damaras and oxen possess the land.\u201d\n\nEven in Greek mythology, the idea of descent from trees had not quite\ndied out, for we read in the \u201cOdyssey\u201d that Penelope says to Odysseus,\nwhile still in the disguise of a beggar, so that she does not recognize\nhim, \u201cNow, I pray, declare thy lineage, for thou surely art not sprung\nfrom the old fabulous oak nor from the rock.\u201d\n\nThe oak was regarded with very great reverence by the Greeks. They\ndeclared it to be the first tree that grew upon the earth, its acorns\nbeing the earliest food of man. There is an interesting story to the\neffect that the Deluge was due to quarrels between Zeus (Jupiter) and\nHera (Juno), and when the waters subsided an oaken statue emerged\nsupposed to be a symbol of peace between the king of gods and his consort.\n\nWhen the imagination begins to sprout a little more the savage invents\na story telling how the first men and animals were made out of trees by\nsome divinity. Thus Glooskap, the Algonquin divinity, made man in this\nway: \u201cHe took his bow and arrows and shot at trees, the basket tree,\nthe ash. Then Indians came out of the bark of the ash trees.\u201d In Norse\nmythology there is a similar legend, according to which there were no\nintelligent men on earth until there came three mighty and benevolent\ngods to the world. Men had no sense, nor blood, nor motive powers, nor\ngoodly color. Odin gave spirit, Haemir gave sense, and Lodur gave blood\nby bestowing it upon the senseless ashes and elms.\n\nThe worship of trees is told of in stories from one end of the world to\nthe other.\n\nThe Ainos of Japan have a story that \u201cat the beginning of the world the\nground was so hot that the creatures called men even got their feet\nburnt. For this reason no tree or herb could grow. The only herb that\ngrew at that time was the mugwort. Of trees the only ones were the oak\nand pine. For this reason these two trees are the oldest among trees.\nThis being so, these two trees are divine; they are trees which human\nbeings worship.\u201d\n\nThey also believe in a mystic pine tree made of metal which grew at the\nhead of the world, against which the swords of the gods broke and bent\nwhere they attacked it. The Japanese god, Izanagi, repels the eight\nthunder gods in the infernal regions by throwing at them the three fruits\nof the peach tree that grew at the entrance of the level pass of the dark\nworld.\n\nThere is also a Chinese peach tree of the gods which grows near the\npalace of Si Wang Mu, the West Queen Mother. Its fruit of immortality\nripens once in thirteen thousand years and gives three thousand years of\nlife to the eater. Tung Fang So stole three and lived nine thousand years.\n\nThe Hindoos have more than one marvellous mythical tree. According to\nthe \u201cRig Veda,\u201d the god Brahma himself was a tree and all the other\ngods are considered branches of the divine parent stem. There is also\na supernatural tree sacred to Buddha. This cloud tree is the tree of\nknowledge and wisdom and is covered with divine flowers. It glows and\nsparkles with the brilliance of all manner of precious stones. The root,\nthe trunk, the branches, and the leaves are formed of gems of the most\nglorious description. It grows in soil pure and delightfully even to\nwhich the rich verdure of grass imparts the tints of a peacock\u2019s neck.\nThis tree receives the homage of the gods. The arm of Maya, the mother of\nBuddha, when she stretches it forth to grasp the bough which bends toward\nher shines as the lightning illumines the sky. Beneath this tree Buddha,\nat whose birth a flash of light pierced through all the world, sat down\nwith the firm resolve not to rise until he had attained the knowledge\nwhich maketh free. Then the tempter Mara advanced with his demoniacal\nforces. Encircling the sacred tree, hosts of demons assailed Buddha with\nfiery darts, amid the whirl of hurricanes, darkness and the downpour of\nfloods of water, to drive him from the tree.\n\nBuddha, however, maintained his position unmoved and at length the demons\nwere compelled to fly.\n\nStill another marvellous tree is that of the Persians. It is called the\nHaoma. It is the sacred vine of the Zoroastrians, which produces the\nprimal drink of immortality, after which it is named. It is the first\nof all trees, planted in heaven by Ormuzd in the fountain of life. Near\nthis tree grows another, called the \u201cimpassive\u201d or \u201cinviolable,\u201d which\nbears the seeds of every kind of vegetable life. Both these trees are\nsituated in a lake and guarded by ten fish, who keep a ceaseless watch\nupon a lizard sent by the evil power, Ahriman, to destroy the sacred\nHaoma. The inviolable tree is also known both as the eagle\u2019s and the\nowl\u2019s tree. Either one or the other of these birds sits perched upon the\ntop. The moment he rises from the tree a thousand branches shoot forth;\nwhen he settles again, he breaks a thousand branches, and causes their\nseed to fall. Another bird, his constant companion, picks up these seeds\nand carries them to where the god Tistar draws water, which he then rains\ndown upon the earth with the seeds it contains.\n\n\nYGDRASIL: THE NORSE WORLD TREE\n\nThe chief of all the great mythical trees is the Norse World Tree, an ash\ntree called \u201cYgdrasil.\u201d One of the stems of this tree springs from the\ncentral primordial abyss, from the subterranean source of matter, runs\nup through the earth which it supports, and issuing out of the celestial\nmountain in the world\u2019s center, called Asgard, spreads its branches\nover the entire universe. These widespread branches are the ethereal or\ncelestial regions, their leaves the clouds, their buds or fruits the\nstars. Four harts run across the branches of the tree and bite the buds.\nThese are the four cardinal winds. Perched upon the top branches is an\neagle and between his eyes sits a hawk. The eagle symbolizes the air and\nthe hawk the wind-still ether. A squirrel runs up and down the ash, and\nseeks to cause strife between the eagle and Nidh\u00f6gg, a monster which is\nconstantly gnawing the roots. The squirrel signifies hail and other\natmospheric phenomena. Nidh\u00f6gg and serpents which gnaw the roots of the\ntree are the volcanic agencies which are constantly seeking to destroy\nthe earth\u2019s foundation. Another stem springs from the holy Urdan-fountain\nwhere the gods sit in judgment. In this fountain swim two swans, the\nprogenitors of all the species. These are by some thought to typify the\nsun and the moon. Near the fountain dwell three maidens who fix the\nlifetime of all men, called Norns. Every day they draw water from the\nspring and with it sprinkle the ash Ygdrasil in order that its branches\nmay not rot and wither away. This water is so holy that everything placed\nin the spring becomes as white as the film within an egg-shell. The dew\nthat falls from the tree upon the earth men call honey-dew, and it is the\nfood of the bees. The third stem of the Ygdrasil takes its rise in the\ncold and cheerless regions of the North (the land of the Frost Giants),\nover the source of the ocean, which is typified by a spring called\nMirmir\u2019s Well, in which wisdom and wit lie hidden. Mirmir, the owner of\nthis spring, is full of wisdom because he drinks of the waters.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn this myth the whole universe is symbolized as a tree, and so we see\nhow the simple thoughts of the early savage about trees grow and expand\nuntil a great poet comes upon the earth and with his larger powers of\nimagination throws into a myth so much wonder and beauty that we can\nscarcely realize what a humble little beginning it had in the groping\nmind of a primitive savage.\n\nIn Greek mythology the woods are peopled with fauns and satyrs, dryads\nand hamadryads. The first were spirits or gods of the wood and were\nrepresented as goats with the heads of men. The principal of these was\nPan, already mentioned as an example of an animal myth. Since, however,\nhe is a personification of nature as a whole he partakes of the qualities\nof a plant myth, as do all the other gods of the wood.\n\nThe dryads and hamadryads sometimes appeared in the form of peasant\ngirls, or shepherdesses, or followers of the hunt, but it was thought\nthat they perished when certain trees which had been their abode died\nor were felled, and upon whose existence theirs depended. The Romans,\nwhose mythology is based for the most part upon the Greek mythology,\nexcept that their names for the gods were different, have some special\nplant gods of their own. Faunus was worshipped as a god of fields and\nshepherds, and the god Sylvanus presided over forest glades and ploughed\nfields. Then there was Flora, the goddess of flowers, and Pomona, the\ngoddess of fruit trees, and Vertumnus, the husband of Pomona, the\nguardian of fruit trees, gardens and vegetables.\n\nMany lovely stories are based upon this idea that the plant world is\nalso a living world, some of which you may read for yourselves in this\nchapter.\n\n\nSTORY OF THE AINO WHO FELL ASLEEP AT THE FOOT OF A PINE TREE\n\n(_Japanese_)\n\nThere was once a young Aino who fell asleep at the foot of a pine of\nextraordinary height. While asleep there appeared to him in a dream the\ngoddess of the tree. This pine was near the entrance of an immense cavern\nat the far end of which is a gleam of light, where there is an issue to\nanother world. He found this cavern by pursuing a bear, who turned out to\nbe a god, up a mountain of the underworld, until it took refuge in a hole\nin the ground which led into the cavern. When he awoke, he offered up\nthanks to the tree and set up divine symbols in its honor.\n\n\nWUNZH, THE FATHER OF INDIAN CORN\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nIn time past\u2014we cannot tell exactly how many, many years ago\u2014a poor\nIndian was living, with his wife and children, in a beautiful part of the\ncountry. He was not only poor, but he had the misfortune to be inexpert\nin procuring food for his family, and his children were all too young to\ngive him assistance.\n\nAlthough of a lowly condition and straitened in his circumstances, he\nwas a man of kind and contented disposition. He was always thankful to\nthe Great Spirit for everything he received. He even stood in the door\nof his lodge to bless the birds that flew past in the summer evenings;\nalthough, if he had been of a complaining temper, he might have repined\nthat they were not rather spread upon the table for his evening meal.\n\nThe same gracious and sweet disposition was inherited by his eldest son,\nwho had now arrived at the proper age to undertake the ceremony of the\nfast, to learn what kind of a spirit would be his guide and guardian\nthrough life.\n\nWunzh, for that was his name, had been an obedient boy from his\ninfancy\u2014pensive, thoughtful, and gentle\u2014so that he was beloved by the\nwhole family.\n\nAs soon as the first buds of spring appeared, and the delicious fragrance\nof the young year began to sweeten the air, his father, with the help\nof his younger brothers, built for Wunzh the customary little lodge, at\na retired spot at some distance from their own, where he would not be\ndisturbed during the solemn rite.\n\nTo prepare himself, Wunzh sought to clear his heart of every evil\nthought, and to think of nothing that was not good and beautiful and\nkindly.\n\nThat he might store his mind with pleasant ideas for his dreams, for the\nfirst few days he amused himself by walking in the woods and over the\nmountains, examining the early plants and flowers.\n\nAs he rambled far and wide, through the wild country, he felt a strong\ndesire to know how the plants and herbs and berries grew, without any\naid from man, and why it was that some kinds were good to eat, and that\nothers were possessed of medicinal or poisonous power.\n\nAfter he had become too languid to walk about, and confined himself\nstrictly to the lodge, he recalled these thoughts, and turning\nthem in his mind, he wished he could dream of something that would\nprove a benefit to his father and family, and to all others of his\nfellow-creatures.\n\n\u201cTrue,\u201d thought Wunzh, \u201cthe Great Spirit made all things, and it is to\nhim that we owe our lives. Could he not make it easier for us to get our\nfood than by hunting animals and taking fish? I must try to find this out\nin my visions.\u201d\n\nOn the third day Wunzh became weak and faint, and kept his bed. Suddenly\nhe fancied, as he lay thus, that a bright light came in at the lodge\ndoor, and ere he was aware he saw a handsome young man, with a complexion\nof the softest and purest white, coming down from the sky, and advancing\ntoward him.\n\nThe beautiful stranger was richly and gayly dressed, having on a great\nmany garments of green and yellow colors, but differing in their deeper\nor lighter shades. He had a plume of waving feathers on his head, and\nall his motions were graceful, and reminded Wunzh of the deep green of\nthe summer grass, and the clear amber of the summer sky, and the gentle\nblowing of the summer wind. Beautiful as the stranger was, he paused on a\nlittle mound of earth, just before the door of the lodge.\n\n\u201cI am sent to you, my friend,\u201d said this celestial visitor, in a voice\nmost soft and musical to listen to, \u201cI am sent to you by that Great\nSpirit who made all things in the sky and on the earth. He has seen\nand knows your motives in fasting. He sees that it is from a kind and\nbenevolent wish to do good to your people and to procure a benefit for\nthem; that you do not seek for strength in war, or the praise of the men\nof the bloody hand. I am sent to instruct you and to show you how you can\ndo your kindred good.\u201d\n\nHe then told the young man to arise, and to prepare to wrestle with him,\nas it was only by this means that he could hope to succeed in his wishes.\n\nWunzh knew how weak he was from fasting, but the voice of the stranger\nwas cheery, and put such a courage in his heart, that he promptly\nsprang up, determined to die rather than fail. Brave Wunzh! if you ever\naccomplish anything, it will be through the power of the resolve that\nspake within you at that moment.\n\nHe began the trial, and after a long-sustained struggle he was almost\noverpowered, when the beautiful stranger said:\n\n\u201cMy friend, it is enough for once, I will come again to try you;\u201d and\nsmiling on him, he returned through the air in the same direction in\nwhich he had come.\n\nThe next day, although he saw how sweetly the wild flowers bloomed upon\nthe slopes, and the birds warbled from the woodland, he longed to see the\ncelestial visitor, and to hear his voice.\n\nTo his great joy he reappeared at the same hour, toward the going down\nof the sun, and rechallenged Wunzh to a trial of strength.\n\nThe brave Wunzh felt that his strength of body was even less than on the\nday before, but the courage of his mind seemed to grow. Observing this,\nand how Wunzh put his whole heart in the struggle, the stranger again\nspoke to him in the words he used before, adding:\n\n\u201cTo-morrow will be your last trial. Be strong, my friend, for this is the\nonly way in which you can overcome me and obtain the boon you seek.\u201d\n\nThe light which shone after him as he left Wunzh was brighter than before.\n\nOn the third day he came again and renewed the struggle. Very faint\nin body was poor Wunzh, but he was stronger at heart than ever, and\ndetermined to prevail now or perish. He put forth his utmost powers,\nand after a contest more severe than either of the others, the stranger\nceased his efforts, and declared himself conquered.\n\nFor the first time he entered Wunzh\u2019s little fasting-lodge, and sitting\ndown beside the youth, he began to deliver his instructions to him and\nto inform him in what manner he should proceed to take advantage of his\nvictory.\n\n\u201cYou have won your desire of the Great Spirit,\u201d said the beautiful\nstranger. \u201cYou have wrestled manfully. To-morrow will be the seventh day\nof your fasting. Your father will give you food to strengthen you, and as\nit is the last day of trial you will prevail. I know this, and now tell\nyou what you must do to benefit your family and your people. To-morrow,\u201d\nhe repeated, \u201cI shall meet you and wrestle with you for the last time. As\nsoon as you have prevailed against me, you will strip off my garments and\nthrow me down, clean the earth of roots and weeds, make it soft, and bury\nme in the spot. When you have done this, leave my body in the earth, and\ndo not disturb it, but come at times to visit the place, to see whether\nI have come to life, and above all be careful never to let the grass or\nweeds grow upon my grave. Once a month cover me with fresh earth. If you\nfollow these my instructions you will accomplish your object of doing\ngood to your fellow-creatures by teaching them the knowledge I now teach\nyou.\u201d\n\nHe then shook Wunzh by the hand and disappeared, but he was gone so soon\nthat Wunzh could not tell what direction he took.\n\nIn the morning, Wunzh\u2019s father came to his lodge with some slight\nrefreshments, saying:\n\n\u201cMy son, you have fasted long enough. If the Great Spirit will favor you,\nhe will do it now. It is seven days since you have tasted food, and you\nmust not sacrifice your life. The Master of Life does not require that.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father,\u201d replied Wunzh, \u201cwait till the sun goes down. I have a\nparticular reason for extending my fast to that hour.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the old man, \u201cI shall wait till the hour arrives, and\nyou shall be inclined to eat.\u201d\n\nAt his usual hour of appearing, the beautiful sky-visitor returned, and\nthe trial of strength was renewed. Although he had not availed himself\nof his father\u2019s offer of food, Wunzh felt that new strength had been\ngiven him. His heart was mighty within him to achieve some great purpose.\nCourage within the bosom of the brave Wunzh was like the eagle that\nspreads his wings within the treetop for a great flight.\n\nHe grasped his angel challenger with supernatural strength, threw him\ndown, and, mindful of his own instructions, tore from him his beautiful\ngarments and plume, and finding him dead, he immediately buried him\non the spot, using all the precautions he had been told of, and very\nconfident was Wunzh, all the time, that his friend would again come to\nlife.\n\nWunzh now returned to his father\u2019s lodge, where he was warmly welcomed,\nfor as it had been appointed to him during the days of his fasting to\nwalk apart with Heaven, he was not permitted to see any human face save\nthat of his father, the representative to the little household upon earth\nof the Good Father who is in Heaven.\n\nWunzh partook sparingly of the meal that had been prepared for him, and\nonce more mingled in the cares and sports of the family. But he never\nfor a moment forgot the grave of his friend. He carefully visited it\nthroughout the spring, and weeded out the grass, and kept the ground in\na soft and pliant state; and sometimes, when the brave Wunzh thought of\nhis friend that was gone from his sight, he dropped a tear upon the earth\nwhere he lay.\n\nWatching and tending, and moistening the earth with his tears, it was\nnot long before Wunzh saw the tops of green plumes coming through the\nground; and the more faithful he was in obeying his instructions in\nkeeping the ground in order, and in cherishing the memory of his departed\nfriend, the faster they grew. He was, however, careful to conceal the\ncharge of the earth which he had from his father.\n\nDays and weeks had passed in this way; the summer was drawing toward a\nclose, when one day, after a long absence in hunting, Wunzh invited his\nfather to follow him to the quiet and lonesome spot of his former fast.\n\nThe little fasting-lodge had been removed, and the weeds kept from\ngrowing on the circle where it had stood; but in its place rose a tall\nand graceful plant, surmounted with nodding plumes and stately leaves\nand golden clusters. There was in its aspect and bearing the deep green\nof the summer grass, the clear amber of the summer sky, and the gentle\nblowing of the summer wind.\n\n\u201cIt is my friend!\u201d shouted Wunzh, \u201cit is the friend of all mankind. It\nis Mondawmin: it is our Indian Corn! We need no longer rely on hunting\nalone, for as long as this gift is cherished and taken care of, the\nground itself will give us a living.\u201d\n\nHe then pulled an ear.\n\n\u201cSee, my father,\u201d said he, \u201cthis is what I fasted for. The Great Spirit\nhas listened to my voice, and sent us something new, and henceforth our\npeople will not alone depend upon the chase or upon the waters.\u201d\n\nWunzh then communicated to his father the instructions given to him by\nthe stranger. He told him that the broad husks must be torn away, as he\nhad pulled off the garments in his wrestling, and having done this, he\ndirected him how the ear must be held before the fire till the outer skin\nbecame brown\u2014as the complexion of his angel friend had been tinted by the\nsun\u2014while all the milk was retained in the grain.\n\nThe whole family, in high spirits, and deeply grateful to the Merciful\nMaster who gave it, assisted in a feast on the newly grown ears of corn.\n\nSo came that mighty blessing into the world, and we owe all of those\nbeautiful fields of healthful grain to the dream of the brave boy Wunzh.\n\n\nLEELINAU, THE LOST DAUGHTER\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nLeelinau was the favorite daughter of a hunter who lived on the lake\nshore, near the base of the lofty highlands, called Kang Wudjoo.\n\nFrom her earliest youth she was observed to be thoughtful and retiring.\nShe passed much of her time in solitude, and seemed ever to prefer the\ncompanionship of her own shadow to the society of the lodge circle.\n\nWhenever she could leave her father\u2019s lodge she would fly to remote\nhaunts and recesses in the woods, or sit in lonely revery upon some high\npromontory of rock overlooking the lake. In such places she would often,\nwith her face turned upward, linger long in contemplation of the air, as\nif she were invoking her guardian spirit, and beseeching him to lighten\nher sadness.\n\nBut amid all the leafy haunts, none drew her steps toward it so often\nas a forest of pines on the open shore, called Manitowok, or the Sacred\nWood. It was one of those hallowed places which is the resort of the\nlittle wild men of the woods, and of the turtle spirits or fairies\nwhich delight in romantic scenes. Owing to this circumstance, its green\nretirement was seldom visited by Indians, who feared to fall under the\ninfluence of its mischievous inhabitants.\n\nAnd whenever they were compelled by stress of weather to make a landing\non this part of the coast, they never failed to leave an offering of\ntobacco, or some other token, to show that they desired to stand well\nwith the proprietors of the fairy ground.\n\nTo this sacred spot Leelinau had made her way at an early age, gathering\nstrange flowers and plants, which she would bring home to her parents,\nand relate to them all the haps and mishaps that had occurred in her\nrambles.\n\nAlthough they discountenanced her frequent visits to the place, they were\nnot able to restrain them, for she was of so gentle and delicate a temper\nthat they feared to thwart her.\n\nHer attachment to the fairy wood, therefore, grew with her years. If she\nwished to solicit her spirits to procure pleasant dreams, or any other\nmaiden favor, Leelinau repaired to the Manitowok. If her father remained\nabroad in the hunt later than usual, and it was feared that he had\nbeen overwhelmed by the tempest, or had met with some other mischance,\nLeelinau offered up her prayers for safety at the Manitowok. It was there\nthat she fasted, mused, and strolled.\n\nShe at length became so engrossed by the fairy pines that her parents\nbegan to suspect that some evil spirit had enticed her to its haunts, and\nhad cast upon her a charm which she had not the power to resist.\n\nThis belief was confirmed when, one day, her mother, who had secretly\nfollowed her, overheard her murmuring to some unknown and invisible\ncompanion appeals like these:\n\n\u201cSpirit of the dancing leaves!\u201d whispered Leelinau, \u201chear a throbbing\nheart in its sadness. Spirit of the foaming stream! visit thou my nightly\npillow, shedding over it silver dreams of mountain brook and pebbly\nrivulet. Spirit of the starry night! lead my footprints to the blushing\nmis-kodeed, or where the burning passion-flower shines with carmine hue.\nSpirit of the greenwood plume!\u201d she concluded, turning with passionate\ngaze to the beautiful young pines which stood waving their green beauty\nover her head, \u201cshed on me, on Leelinau the sad, thy leafy fragrance,\nsuch as spring unfolds from sweetest flowers, or hearts that to each\nother show their inmost grief. Spirits! hear, O hear a maiden\u2019s prayer!\u201d\n\nDay by day these strange communings with unseen beings drew away the\nheart of Leelinau more and more from the simple duties of the lodge, and\nshe walked among her people, melancholy and silent, like a spirit who had\nvisited them from another land.\n\nThe pastimes which engaged the frolic moments of her young companions,\npassed by her as little trivial pageants in which she had no concern.\n\nWhen the girls of the neighboring lodges assembled to play at the\nfavorite female game of pappus-e-ko-waun, or the block and string, before\nthe lodge-door, Leelinau would sit vacantly by, or enter so feebly into\nthe spirit of the play as to show that it was irksome to her.\n\nAgain, in the evening, when the young people formed a ring around the\nlodge, and the piepeend-jigun, or leather and bone, passed rapidly from\none to the other, she either handed it along without attempting to play,\nor if she took a part, it was with no effort to succeed.\n\nThe time of the corn gathering had come, and the young people of the\ntribe were assembled in the field, busy in plucking the ripened maize.\nOne of the girls, noted for her beauty, had found a red ear, and every\none congratulated her that a brave admirer was on his way to her father\u2019s\nlodge. She blushed, and hiding the trophy in her bosom, she thanked the\nGood Spirit that it was a red ear, and not a crooked, that she had found.\n\nPresently it chanced that one who was there among the young men espied\nin the hands of Leelinau, who had plucked it indifferently, one of the\ncrooked kind, and at once the word \u201cWa-ge-min!\u201d was shouted aloud\nthrough the field, and the whole circle was set in a roar.\n\n\u201cThe thief is in the corn-field!\u201d exclaimed the young man, Iagoo by name,\nand famous in the tribe for his mirthful powers of story-telling; \u201csee\nyou not the old man stooping as he enters the field? See you not signs\nthat he crouched as he crept in the dark? Is it not plain by this mark on\nthe stalk that he was heavily bent in his back? Old man, be nimble, or\nsome one will take thee while thou art taking the ear.\u201d\n\nThese questions Iagoo accompanied with the action of one bowed with age\nstealthily entering the corn-field. He went on:\n\n\u201cSee how he stoops as he breaks off the ear. Nushka! He seems for a\nmoment to tremble. Walker, be nimble! Hooh! It is plain the old man is\nthe thief.\u201d\n\nHe turned suddenly where she sat in the circle, pensively regarding the\ncrooked ear which she held in her hand, and exclaimed:\n\n\u201cLeelinau, the old man is thine!\u201d\n\nLaughter rang merrily through the corn-field, but Leelinau, casting down\nupon the ground the crooked ear of maize, walked pensively away.\n\nThe next morning the eldest son of a neighboring chief called at her\nfather\u2019s lodge. He was quite advanced in years; but he enjoyed such\nrenown in battle, and his name was so famous in the hunt, that the\nparents accepted him as a suitor for their daughter. They hoped that\nhis shining qualities would draw back the thoughts of Leelinau from that\nspirit-land whither she seemed to have wholly directed her affections.\n\nIt was this chief\u2019s son whom Iagoo had pictured as the corn-taker, but,\nwithout objecting to his age, or giving any other reason, Leelinau\nfirmly declined his proposals. The parents ascribed the young daughter\u2019s\nhesitancy to maiden fear, and paying no further heed to her refusal, a\nday was fixed for the marriage-visit to the lodge.\n\nThe warrior came to the lodge-door, and Leelinau refused to see him,\ninforming her parents, at the same time, that she would never consent to\nthe match.\n\nIt had been her custom to pass many of her hours in her favorite place of\nretirement, under a broad-topped young pine, whose leaves whispered in\nevery wind that blew; but most of all in that gentle murmur of the air at\nthe evening hour, dear to lovers, when the twilight steals on.\n\nThither she now repaired, and, while reclining pensively against the\nyoung pine tree, she fancied that she heard a voice addressing her. At\nfirst it was scarcely more than a sigh; presently it grew more clear, and\nshe heard it distinctly whisper:\n\n\u201cMaiden, think me not a tree, but thine own dear lover, glad to be with\nthee in my tall and blooming strength, with the bright green nodding\nplume that waves above thee. Thou art leaning on my breast, Leelinau;\nlean forever there and be at peace. Fly from men who are false and\ncruel, and quit the tumult of their dusty strife, for this quiet, lonely\nshade. Over thee I my arms will fling, fairer than the lodge\u2019s roof. I\nwill breathe a perfume like that of flowers over thy happy evening rest.\nIn my bark canoe I\u2019ll waft thee o\u2019er the waters of the sky-blue lake. I\nwill deck the folds of thy mantle with the sun\u2019s last rays. Come, and on\nthe mountain free rove a fairy bright with me!\u201d\n\nLeelinau drank in with eager ear these magical words. Her heart was\nfixed. No warrior\u2019s son should clasp her hand. She listened in the hope\nto hear the airy voice speak more; but it only repeated, \u201cAgain! again!\u201d\nand entirely ceased.\n\nOn the eve of the day fixed for her marriage, Leelinau decked herself in\nher best garments. She arranged her hair according to the fashion of her\ntribe, and put on all of her maiden ornaments in beautiful array. With a\nsmile, she presented herself before her parents.\n\n\u201cI am going,\u201d she said, \u201cto meet my little lover, the chieftain of the\nGreen Plume, who is waiting for me at the Spirit Grove.\u201d\n\nHer face was radiant with joy, and the parents, taking what she had said\nas her own fanciful way of expressing acquiescence in their plans, wished\nher good fortune in the happy meeting.\n\n\u201cI am going,\u201d she continued, addressing her mother as they left the\nlodge, \u201cI am going from one who has watched my infancy and guarded my\nyouth; who has given me medicine when I was sick, and prepared my food\nwhen I was well. I am going from a father who has ranged the forest to\nprocure the choicest skins for my dress, and kept his lodge supplied\nwith the best spoil of the chase. I am going from a lodge which has been\nmy shelter from the storms of winter, and my shield from the heats of\nsummer. Farewell, my parents, farewell!\u201d\n\nSo saying, she sped faster than any could follow her to the margin of the\nfairy wood, and in a moment was lost to sight.\n\nAs she had often thus withdrawn herself from the lodge, the parents were\nnot in fear, but confidently awaited her return. Hour chased hour, as\nthe clouds of evening rolled up in the west; darkness came on, but no\ndaughter returned. With torches they hastened to the wood, and although\nthey lit up every dark recess and leafy gloom, their search was in vain.\nLeelinau was nowhere to be seen. They called aloud, in lament, upon her\nname, but she answered not.\n\nSuns rose and set, but nevermore in their light did the bereaved parents\u2019\neyes behold the lost form of their beloved child. Their daughter was lost\nindeed. Whither she had vanished no mortal tongue could tell; although\nit chanced that a company of fishermen, who were spearing fish near the\nSpirit Grove, descried something that seemed to resemble a female figure\nstanding on the shore. As the evening was mild and the waters calm, they\ncautiously pulled their canoe toward land, but the slight ripple of their\noars excited alarm. The figure fled in haste, but they could recognize\nin the shape and dress as she ascended the bank, the lost daughter, and\nthey saw the green plumes of her fairy-lover waving over his forehead as\nhe glided lightly through the forest of young pines.\n\n\nBIRTH OF THE ARBUTUS\n\n(_Iroquois_)\n\nMany, many moons ago there lived an old man alone in his lodge beside a\nfrozen stream in the great forest beyond the wide waters of the northern\nlakes. His locks were long and white with age and frost. The fur of\nthe bear and cunning beaver covered his body, but none too warmly, for\nsnow and ice were everywhere. Over all the earth there was winter. The\nwinds came down the bleak mountain sides and wildly hurried through the\nbranches of the trees and bushes, looking for song birds that they might\nchill to the heart. Even the evil spirits shivered in the desolation and\nsought to dig for themselves sheltering caves in the deep snow and ice.\nLonely and halting, the old man went abroad in the forest, looking for\nthe broken branches that had fallen from the trees that he might keep\nalive the fire in his lodge. Few fagots could he find, and in despair he\nagain sought his lodge, where, hovering over the fading embers on his\nhearth, he cried in anguish to the Great Spirit that he might not perish.\n\nThen the wind moaned in the tree-tops, and circling through the forests\ncame back and blew aside the skin of the great bear hanging over his\nlodge-door, and, lo! a beautiful maiden entered. Her cheeks were red\nlike the leaves of wild roses; her eyes were large and glowed like the\neyes of the fawn at night; her hair was black as the wing of the crow,\nand so long that it brushed the ground as she walked; her hands were clad\nin willow buds; over her head was a crown of flowers; her mantle was\nwoven with sweet grasses and ferns, and her moccasins were white lilies,\nlaced and embroidered with the petals of honeysuckle. When she breathed,\nthe air of the lodge became warm, and the cold winds rushed back in\naffright.\n\nThe old man looked in wonder at his strange visitor, and then opened\nhis lips and said: \u201cMy daughter, thou art welcome to the poor shelter\nof my cheerless lodge. It is lonely and desolate, and the Great Spirit\nhas covered the fallen branches of the trees with his death-cloth that\nI may not find them and light again the fire of my lodge. Come sit thou\nhere and tell me who thou art that thou dost wander like the deer in\nthe forest. Tell me also of thy country and what people gave thee such\nbeauty and grace, and then I, the desolate Manito, will tell thee of my\nvictories till thou dost weary of my greatness.\u201d\n\nThe maiden smiled, and the sunlight streamed forth and shot its warmth\nthrough the roof of the lodge. The desolate Manito filled his pipe of\nfriendship, and when he had drawn of the fragrant tobacco, he said: \u201cWhen\nI, the Manito, blow the breath from my nostrils the waters of the river\nstand still, the great waves on the lakes rest, and the murmurings of the\nstreams die away in silence.\u201d\n\nThen the maiden said: \u201cThe Manito is great and strong and the waters\nknow the touch of his breath; but when I, the loved of the birds, smile,\nthe flowers spring up over all the forest and the plains are covered with\na carpet of green.\u201d\n\nThen said the Manito: \u201cI shake my locks, and lo! the earth is wrapped in\nthe death-cloth of snow.\u201d\n\nThen the maiden replied: \u201cI breathe into the air and the warm rains\ncome and the death-cloth vanishes like the darkness when the great fire\nawakens from its bed in the morning.\u201d\n\nThen the Manito said: \u201cWhen I walk about, the leaves die on the trees and\nfall to the ground; the birds desert their nests and fly away beyond the\nlakes; the animals bury themselves in holes in the earth or in caves in\nthe mountain side, and the winds wail the death-chant over all the land.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, great is the Manito,\u201d said the maiden, \u201cand his mighty name is\nfeared by all living things in the land. \u2018Great is the Manito,\u2019 says all\nthe world, and his fame has spread among the children of the Great Spirit\ntill they crouch with fear and say: \u2018Mighty and cruel is the Manito!\nTerrible is the Manito, and more cruel and cunning in his tortures than\nthe red men. His strength is greater than the strength of the giant trees\nof the forest, for does he not rend them with his mighty hands?\u2019 But when\nI, the gentle maiden, walk forth, the trees cover with many leaves the\nnakedness which thou, the great Manito, hath caused; the birds sing in\nthe branches and build again the nests from which thou drivest them; the\nanimals seek their mates and rear their young; the wind sings soft and\npleasant music to the ears of the red man, while his wives and pappooses\nsport in the warm sunshine near his wigwam.\u201d\n\nAs the maiden spoke the lodge grew warm and bright, but the boasting\nManito heeded it not, for his head drooped forward on his breast, and he\nslept.\n\nThen the maiden passed her hands above the Manito\u2019s head and he began to\ngrow small. The bluebirds came and filled the trees about the lodge, and\nsang, while the rivers lifted up their waters and boiled with freedom.\nStreams of water poured from the Manito\u2019s mouth, and the garments that\ncovered his shrunken and vanishing form turned into bright and glistening\nleaves.\n\nThen the maiden knelt upon the ground and took from her bosom most\nprecious and beautiful rose-white flowers. She hid them under the leaves\nall about her, and as she breathed with love upon them, said:\n\n\u201cI give to you, oh, precious jewels, all my virtues and my sweetest\nbreath, and men shall pluck thee with bowed head on bended knee.\u201d\n\nThen the maiden moved over the plains, the hills and the mountains. The\nbirds and the winds sang together in joyous chorus, while the flowers\nlifted up their heads and greeted her with fragrance.\n\nWherever she stepped, and nowhere else, grows the arbutus.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the two little poems following, by an ancient Mexican Indian, the poet\ncalls the songs he sings \u201cflowers,\u201d which he seems to think he gathers\nin some mysterious land of the spirit. The idea is a very beautiful one,\nworthy of any poet, and certainly shows that some, at least, of the\nIndians had reached a high plane of poetic fancy.\n\n\nSONG AT THE BEGINNING\n\n(_Ancient Mexican Indian_)\n\n1. I am wondering where I may gather some pretty, sweet flowers. Whom\nshall I ask? Suppose that I ask the brilliant humming-bird, the emerald\ntrembler; suppose that I ask the yellow butterfly; they will tell me they\nknow where bloom the pretty, sweet flowers, whether I may get them here\nin the laurel woods where dwell the tzinitzcan birds, or whether I may\ngather them in the flowery forests where the thanquehol lives. There they\nmay be plucked sparkling with dew, there they come forth in perfection.\nPerhaps there I shall see them if they have appeared; I shall place them\nin the folds of my garment, and with them I shall greet the children, I\nshall make glad the nobles.\n\n2. Truly as I walk along I hear the rocks as it were replying to the\nsweet songs of the flowers; truly the glittering, chattering water\nanswers; the bird-green fountain, there it sings, it dashes forth, it\nsings again; the mocking-bird answers; perhaps the coyol bird answers;\nand many sweet singing birds scatter their songs around like music. They\nbless the earth, pouring out their sweet voices.\n\n3. I said, I cried aloud: May I not cause you pain, ye beloved ones, who\nare seated to listen; may the brilliant humming-birds come soon. Whom\ndo we seek, O noble poet? I ask, I say: Where are the pretty, fragrant\nflowers with which I may make glad you, my noble compeers? Soon they will\nsing to me: \u201cHere we will make thee to see, thou singer, truly wherewith\nthou shalt make glad the nobles, thy companions.\u201d\n\n4. They led me within a valley to a fertile spot, a flowery spot, where\nthe dew spread out in glittering splendor, where I saw various lovely\nfragrant flowers, lovely odorous flowers, clothed with the dew, scattered\naround in rainbow glory. There they said to me: \u201cPluck the flowers,\nwhichever thou wishest, mayest thou the singer be glad, and give them to\nthy friends, to the nobles, that they may rejoice on the earth.\u201d\n\n5. So I gathered in the folds of my garment the various fragrant flowers,\ndelicate scented, delicious, and I said: May some of our people enter\nhere, may very many of us be here; and I thought I should go forth\nto announce to our friends that here all of us should rejoice in the\ndifferent lovely, odorous flowers, and that we should cull the various\nsweet songs with which we might rejoice our friends here on earth, and\nthe nobles in their grandeur and dignity.\n\n6. So I, the singer, gathered all the flowers to place them upon the\nnobles, to clothe them and put them in their hands, and soon I lifted\nmy voice in a worthy song glorifying the nobles before the face of the\nCause of All, where there is no servitude.\n\n7. Where shall one pluck them? Where gather the sweet flowers? And how\nshall I attain the flowery land, that fertile land, where there is no\nservitude nor affliction? If one purchases it here on earth, it is only\nthrough submission to the Cause of All; here on earth grief fills my soul\nas I recall where I, the singer, saw the flowery spot.\n\n8. And I said: Truly there is no good spot here on earth, truly in some\nother bourne there is gladness; for what good is this earth? Truly there\nis another life in the hereafter. There may I go, there the sweet birds\nsing, there may I learn to know those good flowers, those sweet flowers,\nthose delicious ones, which alone pleasurably, sweetly intoxicate, which\nalone pleasurably, sweetly intoxicate.\n\n\nFLOWER SONG\n\n(_Ancient Mexican Indian_)\n\n1. In the place of tears, I, the singer, watch my flowers; they are in\nmy hand; they intoxicate my soul and my song, as I walk alone with them,\nwith my sad soul among them.\n\n2. In this spot, where the herbage is like sweet ointment and green as\nthe turquoise and emerald, I think upon my song, holding the beauteous\nflowers in my hand, as I walk alone with them, with my sad soul among\nthem.\n\n3. In this spot of turquoise and emerald, I think upon beauteous songs,\nbeauteous flowers; let us rejoice now, dear friends and children, for\nlife is not long upon earth.\n\n4. I shall hasten forth, I shall go to the sweet songs, the sweet\nflowers, dear friends and children.\n\n5. O he! I cried aloud; O he! I rained down flowers as I left.\n\n6. Let us go forth anywhere; I, the singer, shall find and bring forth\nthe flowers; let us be glad while we live; listen to my song.\n\n7. I, the poet, cry out a song for a place of joy, a glorious song which\ndescends to Mictlan, and there turns about and comes forth again.\n\n8. I seek neither vestment nor riches, O children, but a song for a place\nof joy.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ERISICHTHON\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nErisichthon was a profane person and a despiser of the gods. On one\noccasion he presumed to violate with the axe a grove sacred to Ceres\n(Demeter). There stood in this grove a venerable oak, so large that it\nseemed a wood in itself, its ancient trunk towering aloft, whereon votive\ngarlands were often hung and inscriptions carved expressing the gratitude\nof suppliants to the nymph of the tree. Often had the dryads danced\nround it hand in hand. Its trunk measured fifteen cubits round, and it\novertopped the other trees as they overtopped the shrubbery. But for all\nthat, Erisichthon saw no reason why he should spare it, and he ordered\nhis servants to cut it down. When he saw them hesitate he snatched an\naxe from one, and thus impiously exclaimed, \u201cI care not whether it be a\ntree beloved of the goddess or not. Were it the goddess herself it should\ncome down, if it stood in my way.\u201d So saying, he lifted the axe, and\nthe oak seemed to shudder and utter a groan. When the first blow fell\nupon the trunk, blood flowed from the wound. All the bystanders were\nhorror-struck, and one of them ventured to remonstrate and hold back\nthe fatal axe. Erisichthon, with a scornful look, said to him, \u201cReceive\nthe reward of your piety,\u201d and turned against him the weapon which he\nhad held aside from the tree, gashed his body with many wounds, and cut\noff his head. Then from the midst of the oak came a voice: \u201cI who dwell\nin this tree am a nymph, beloved by Ceres, and, dying by your hands,\nforewarn you that punishment awaits you.\u201d He desisted not from his crime;\nand at last the tree, sundered by repeated blows and drawn by ropes, fell\nwith a crash, and prostrated a great part of the grove in its fall.\n\nThe dryads, in dismay at the loss of their companion, and at seeing\nthe pride of the forest laid low, went in a body to Ceres, all clad in\ngarments of mourning, and invoked punishment upon Erisichthon. She nodded\nher assent, and as she bowed her head, the grain ripe for harvest in the\nladen fields bowed also. She planned a punishment so dire that one would\npity him, if such a culprit as he could be pitied\u2014to deliver him over\nto Famine. As Ceres herself could not approach Famine, for the Fates\nhave ordained that these two goddesses shall never come together, she\ncalled on Oread from her mountain and spoke to her in these words: \u201cThere\nis a place in the farthest part of ice-clad Scythia, a sad and sterile\nregion without trees and without crops. Cold dwells there, and Fear,\nand Shuddering, and Famine. Go and tell the last to take possession of\nthe bowels of Erisichthon. Let not Abundance subdue her, nor the power\nof my gifts drive her away. Be not alarmed at the distance, for Famine\ndwells very far from Ceres, but take my chariot. The dragons are fleet\nand obey the rein, and will take you through the air in a short time.\u201d\nSo she gave her the reins, and she drove away and soon reached Scythia.\nOn arriving at Mount Caucasus she stopped the dragons and found Famine\nin a stony field, pulling up with teeth and claws the scanty herbage.\nHer hair was rough, her eyes sunk, her face pale, her lips blanched, her\njaws covered with dust, and her skin drawn tight, so as to show all her\nbones. As Oread saw her afar off (for she did not dare to come near), she\ndelivered the commands of Ceres; and though she stopped as short a time\nas possible, and kept her distance as well as she could, yet she began to\nfeel hungry, and turned the dragons\u2019 heads and drove back to Thessaly.\n\nFamine obeyed the commands of Ceres and sped through the air to the\ndwelling of Erisichthon, entered the bed-chamber of the guilty man, and\nfound him asleep. She enfolded him with her wings and breathed herself\ninto him, infusing her poison into his veins. Having discharged her task,\nshe hastened to leave the land of plenty and returned to her accustomed\nhaunts. Erisichthon still slept, and in his dreams craved food, and moved\nhis jaws as if eating. When he awoke his hunger was raging. Without a\nmoment\u2019s delay he would have food set before him, of whatever kind earth,\nsea, or air produces, and complained of hunger even while he ate. What\nwould have sufficed for a city or a nation was not enough for him. The\nmore he ate the more he craved.\n\nHis property rapidly diminished under the unceasing demands of his\nappetite, but his hunger continued unabated. At length he had spent all,\nand had only his daughter left, a daughter worthy of a better parent.\nHer, too, he sold. She scorned to be the slave of a purchaser, and, as\nshe stood by the sea-side, raised her hands in prayer to Neptune. He\nheard her prayer, and, though her new master was not far off, and had\nhis eyes on her a moment before, Neptune changed her form, and made her\nassume that of a fisherman busy at his occupation. Her master, looking\nfor her and seeing her in her altered form, addressed her and said:\n\u201cGood fisherman, whither went the maiden whom I saw just now, with hair\ndishevelled and in humble garb, standing about where you stand? Tell\nme truly, so may your luck be good, and not a fish nibble at your hook\nand get away.\u201d She perceived that her prayer was answered, and rejoiced\ninwardly at hearing herself inquired of about herself. She replied:\n\u201cPardon me, stranger, but I have been so intent upon my line that I have\nseen nothing else; but I wish I may never catch another fish if I believe\nany woman or other person except myself to have been hereabouts for some\ntime.\u201d He was deceived and went his way, thinking his slave had escaped.\nThen she resumed her own form. Her father was well pleased to find her\nstill with him, and the money, too, that he got by the sale of her; so he\nsold her again. But she was changed by the favor of Neptune as often as\nshe was sold\u2014now into a horse, now a bird, now an ox, and now a stag\u2014got\naway from her purchasers, and came home.\n\n\nPAN AND SYRINX\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nOnce there was a beautiful nymph of the woods whose name was Syrinx. She\nwas much admired by all the satyrs and spirits of the wood, but she was a\nfaithful worshipper of Artemis and did not respond to the attentions of\nany of her admirers. One day, however, Pan met her, and was so delighted\nwith her that he persistently wooed her with many compliments. Away she\nran from him without stopping to hear what he had to say, but on the\nbank of the river he overtook her. Then she called on her friends the\nwater-nymphs to help her. They heard her, and just as Pan was about to\nthrow his arms around her they changed her into a tuft of reeds. As\nhe breathed a sigh, the air sounded through the reeds and produced a\nplaintive melody. Pan, delighted with the music and with the novelty of\nthe experience, exclaimed, \u201cThus, then, at least, you shall be mine.\u201d So\nhe took some of the reeds, of unequal lengths, and placing them together\nside by side, he made an instrument and called it Syrinx, in honor of the\nnymph.\n\n\nPOMONA AND VERTUMNUS\n\n(_Roman_)\n\nPomona was a hamadryad who presided over fruit trees and especially\nover apple orchards. She had scorned the offers of love made her by Pan\nand other spirits of the woods, and also those of Vertumnus, the god of\ngardens and of the changing seasons. But, unwearied, he wooed her in as\nmany guises as his seasons themselves could assume. Now as a reaper, now\nas haymaker, now as ploughman, now as vine-dresser, now as apple picker,\nnow as fisherman, now as soldier, all to no avail.\n\nAt last he disguised himself as an old woman and came to her. He admired\nher fruit, especially the luxuriance of her grapes, and enlarged upon\nthe dependence of the luxuriant vine, close by, upon the elm to which\nit was clinging; advised Pomona, likewise, to choose some youth\u2014say,\nfor instance, the young Vertumnus\u2014about whom to twine her arms. Then he\ntold the melancholy tale of how the worthy Iphio, spurned by Anaxarete,\nhad hanged himself to her gate-post; and how the gods had turned the\nhard-hearted virgin to stone even as she gazed on her lover\u2019s funeral.\n\u201cConsider these things, dearest child,\u201d said the seeming old woman, \u201clay\naside thy scorn and thy delays, and accept a lover. So may neither the\nvernal frosts blight thy young fruits, nor furious winds scatter thy\nblossoms!\u201d\n\nWhen Vertumnus had thus spoken he dropped his disguise, and stood before\nPomona in his proper person, a comely youth. Pleased with such ardent\nwooing, Pomona consented and became his wife.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAlthough the god Osiris in Egyptian Mythology has been frequently\nidentified with the sun, there is no doubt that he was also regarded as a\ngod of vegetation. There is a representation of him in one of the great\ntemples in Egypt in which the dead body of Osiris is shown with stalks\nof corn springing from it, and a priest is watering the stalks from a\npitcher which he holds in his hands. The inscription which accompanies\nthis representation sets forth, \u201cThis is the form of him one may not\nname, Osiris of the Mysteries, who springs from the returning waters.\u201d\nHe is often spoken of, also, as \u201cThe one in the tree,\u201d \u201cThe solitary\none in the Acacia.\u201d The myth here related seems to be one of the death\nof vegetation, slain by the evil Typhon. This was caused in Egypt by\ndrought, while the springing up of vegetation was caused by the annual\noverflow of the Nile.\n\nA similar myth exists in Greece in which the god of vegetation, Adonis,\nis mourned by Aphrodite, also called Cypris and Cytherea (Roman Venus),\nwho loved him.\n\n\nMYTH OF OSIRIS AND ISIS\n\n(_Egyptian_)\n\nOsiris and Isis were at one time induced to descend to the earth to\nbestow gifts and blessings on its inhabitants. Isis showed them first the\nuse of wheat and barley, and Osiris made the instruments of agriculture\nand taught men the use of them, as well as how to harness the ox to the\nplough. He then gave men laws, the institution of marriage, a civil\norganization, and taught them how to worship the gods. After he had\nthus made the valley of the Nile a happy country, he assembled a host\nwith which he went to bestow his blessings upon the rest of the world.\nHe conquered the nations everywhere but only with music and eloquence.\nHis brother Typhon saw this, and sought during his absence to usurp\nhis throne. But Isis, who held the reins of government, frustrated his\nplans. Still more imbittered, he now resolved to kill his brother.\nHaving organized a conspiracy of seventy-two members, he went with them\nto the feast which was celebrated in honor of the king\u2019s return. He\nthen caused a box or chest to be brought in, which had been made to fit\nexactly the size of Osiris, and declared that he would give that chest\nof precious wood to whosoever could get into it. The rest tried in vain,\nbut no sooner was Osiris in it than Typhon and his companions closed\nthe lid and flung the chest into the Nile. When Isis heard of the cruel\nmurder she wept and mourned; and then, with her hair shorn, clothed in\nblack, and beating her breast, she sought diligently for the body of her\nhusband. In the search she was assisted by Anubis. They sought in vain\nfor some time; for when the chest, carried by the waves to the shores of\nByblos, had become entangled in the reeds that grew at the edge of the\nwater, the divine power that dwelt in the body of Osiris imparted such\nstrength to the shrub that it grew into a mighty tree, enclosing in its\ntrunk the coffin of the god. This tree, with its sacred deposit, was\nshortly after felled, and erected as a column in the palace of the King\nof Ph\u0153nicia. But at length, by the aid of Anubis and the sacred birds,\nIsis ascertained these facts, and then went to the royal city. There she\noffered herself at the palace as a servant, and, being admitted, threw\noff her disguise, and appeared as the goddess, surrounded with thunder\nand lightning. Striking the column with her wand, she caused it to split\nopen and give up the sacred coffin. This she seized, and returned with\nit, and concealed it in the depth of a forest; but Typhon discovered it,\nand cutting the body into fourteen pieces, scattered them hither and\nthither. After a tedious search, Isis found thirteen pieces, the fishes\nof the Nile having eaten the other. This she replaced by an imitation\nof sycamore wood, and buried the body at Phil\u00e6, which became ever after\nthe burying place of the nation, and the spot to which pilgrimages were\nmade from all parts of the country. A temple of surpassing magnificence\nwas also erected there in honor of the god, and at every place where\none of his limbs had been found minor temples and tombs were built in\ncommemoration of the event.\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF ADONIS[4]\n\n(_From Bion\u2019s Lament for Adonis_)\n\nLow on the hills is lying the lovely Adonis, and his thigh with the\nboar\u2019s tusk, his white thigh with the boar\u2019s tusk, is wounded, and sorrow\non Cypris he brings, as softly he breathes his life away.\n\nTo Cypris his kiss is dear, though he lives no longer, but Adonis knew\nnot that she kissed him whenas he died.\n\n_Woe, woe for Adonis, the Loves join in the lament!_\n\nA cruel, cruel wound on his thigh hath Adonis, but a deeper wound in her\nheart Cytherea bears. About him his dear hounds are loudly baying, and\nthe nymphs of the wild wood wail him; but Aphrodite with unbound locks\nthrough the glades goes wandering\u2014wretched, with hair unbraided, with\nfeet unsandalled, and the thorns as she passes wound her and pluck the\nblossom of her sacred blood. Shrill she wails as down the long woodlands\nshe is borne, lamenting her Assyrian lord, and again calling him and\nagain.\n\n_Woe, woe for Cytherea, the Loves join in the lament!_\n\n...\n\nNo more in the oak woods, Cypris, lament thy lord. It is no fair couch\nfor Adonis, the lonely bed of reeds!\n\nNow lay him down to sleep in his own soft coverlets, in a couch all of\ngold, that yearns for Adonis, though sad is he to look upon. Cast on him\ngarlands and blossoms: all things have perished in his death, yea, all\nthe flowers are faded. Sprinkle him with ointments of Syria, sprinkle him\nwith unguents of myrrh. Nay, perish all perfumes, for Adonis, who was thy\nperfume, hath perished.\n\nHe reclines, the delicate Adonis, in his raiment of purple, and around\nhim the Loves are weeping, and groaning aloud, clipping their locks for\nAdonis. And one upon his shafts, another on his bow is treading, and\none hath loosed the sandals of Adonis, and another hath broken his own\nfeathered quiver, and one in a golden vessel bears water, and another\nlaves the wound, and another from behind him with his wings is fanning\nAdonis.\n\n_Woe, woe for Cytherea, the Loves join in the lament!_\n\n...\n\nAnd woe, woe for Adonis, shrilly cry the Muses, neglecting P\u00e6an (Apollo),\nand they lament Adonis aloud, and songs they chant to him, but he does\nnot heed them, not that he is loath to hear, but that the Maiden of\nHades doth not let him go.\n\nCease, Cytherea, from thy lamentations, to-day refrain from thy dirges.\nThou must again bewail him, again must weep for him another year.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nMYTHS OF THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS\n\n\nWe come now to myths in which the Sun and the Moon, and other objects of\nnature, play the most important part. We find myths of this sort all over\nthe globe, some of them crude and simple, and some of them in the form of\nvery beautiful stories.\n\nThe Incas of Peru believed they were descended from the Sun, so with them\nthe Sun was their totem instead of an animal or a plant. But there came a\ntime when the Incas established a higher god than the Sun. They deposed\nthe Sun because it could move only in one part of the heavens and so must\nhave a ruler over it. So then to the question: \u201cWhat are the Sun, the\nMoon, and the Stars,\u201d they answered: \u201cThey are men and women. At evening\nthey swim in the waters, they go down from sight in the west. In the\nmorning the Sun cometh forth at Wau-bunong, the Place of Breaking Light.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Cherokee Indians, a number of beings were employed in\nconstructing the Sun, the first planet made. \u201cIt was the intention of\nthe Creator that men should live always, but the Sun, having surveyed\nthe land, and, finding an insufficiency for their support, changed this\ndesign, and arranged that they should die. The daughter of the Sun was\nthe first to suffer under this law. She was bitten by a serpent, and\ndied. Thereupon the Sun decreed that men should live always. At the same\ntime, he commissioned a few persons to take a box, and seek the spirit of\nhis daughter, and return with it encased therein. In no wise must the box\nbe opened. But the box was opened. Immortality fled. Men must die.\u201d\n\nThe Sun-God was not always able to carry everything before him, as the\nstory of his battle with the Hare-God shows, as well as the various\nstories about his being ensnared and his course regulated. In some\ncountries, the Sun is the husband of the Moon, in others the Moon is the\nhusband of the Sun. Again the Moon will be the sister of the Sun or the\nSun the sister of the Moon.\n\n\nTHE NAVAJO STORY OF THE MAKING OF THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS\n\nAt the beginning, when the people had all crept out of the aperture in\nthe cave in which they had previously lived, a council of wise men was\nheld to discuss the propriety of introducing more light upon the earth,\nwhich at that time was very small, being lit only by a twilight, like\nthat seen just at the breaking of dawn. Having deliberated some time, the\nwise men concluded to have a sun and moon, and a variety of stars placed\nabove the earth. They first made the heavens for them to be placed in;\nthen the old men of the Navajos commenced building a sun, which was done\nin a large house constructed for the purpose.\n\nTo the other tribes was confided the making of the moon and stars,\nwhich they soon accomplished; when it was decided to give the sun and\nmoon to the guidance of the two dumb Fluters, who had figured with\nsome importance as musicians in their former place of residence in the\ncave, and one of whom had accidentally conceived the plan of leaving\nthat place for their present more agreeable quarters. These two men,\nwho have carried the two heavenly bodies ever since, staggered at first\nwith their weight; and the one who carried the sun came near burning the\nearth by bearing it too near, before he had reached the aperture in the\nmountain through which he was to pass during the night. This misfortune,\nhowever, was prevented by the old men, who puffed the smoke of their\npipes toward it, which caused it to retire to a greater distance in the\nheavens. These men have been obliged to do this four times since the\ndumb man\u2014the Fluter\u2014has carried the sun in the heavens; for the earth\nhas grown very much larger than at the beginning, and consequently the\nsun would have to be removed, or the earth and all therein would perish\nin its heat. Now, after the sun and moon had taken their places, the\npeople commenced embroidering the stars upon the heavens the wise men had\nmade, in beautiful and varied patterns and images. Bears and fishes and\nall varieties of animals were being skilfully drawn, when in rushed a\nprairie wolf, roughly exclaiming: \u201cWhat folly is this? Why are you making\nall this fuss to make a bit of embroidery? Just stick the stars about\nthe sky anywhere;\u201d and, suiting the action to the word, the villainous\nwolf scattered a large pile all over the heavens. Thus it is that there\nis such confusion among the few images which the tasteful Navajos had so\ncarefully elaborated.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE CONQUERING OF THE SUN\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nOnce upon a time T\u00e4-vwotz, the Hare-God, was sitting with his family by\nthe camp-fire in the solemn woods, anxiously waiting for the return of\nT\u00e4-vi, the wayward Sun-God. Weary with long watching, the Hare-God fell\nasleep, and the Sun-God came so near that he scorched the shoulders of\nT\u00e4-vwotz. Foreseeing the vengeance which would be thus provoked, he fled\nback to his cave beneath the earth. T\u00e4-vwotz awoke in great wrath and\nspeedily determined to go and fight the Sun-God.\n\nAfter a long journey of many adventures the Hare-God came to the brink\nof the earth, and there watched long and patiently, till at last, the\nSun-God coming out, he shot an arrow in his face; but the fierce heat\nconsumed the arrow ere it had finished its course. Then other arrows were\nsped, till only one remained in his quiver; but this was the magical\narrow that never failed its mark. T\u00e4-vwotz, holding it in his hand,\nlifted the barb to his eye and baptized it in a divine tear; then the\narrow was sped and struck the Sun-God full in the face, and the sun was\nshivered into a thousand fragments, which fell to the earth and caused\na general conflagration. Then T\u00e4-vwotz, the Hare-God, fled before the\ndestruction he had wrought; and as he fled, the burning earth consumed\nhis feet, consumed his legs, consumed his body, his hands and arms. All\nwere consumed but the head alone, which rolled across valleys and over\nmountains, fleeing destruction from the burning earth, until at last,\nswollen with heat, the eyes of the god burst, and the tears gushed forth\nin a flood which spread over the earth and extinguished the fire. The\nSun-God was now conquered; and he appeared before a council of the gods\nto await sentence.\n\nIn that long council were established the days and nights, the seasons\nand years, with the length thereof, and the Sun-God was condemned to\ntravel across the firmament by the same trail every day.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnother view of the religion of the sun is shown in the Indian hymns to\nthe sun, as it is rising, at mid-day, and at sunset. After the Indian\nhymn, we shall find it interesting to go to the opposite side of the\nearth and see what a Hindoo hymn to the sun is like. It is less a prayer\nthan the Indian hymn, and, like the other Hindoo hymns, a song of praise.\n\n\nHYMN TO THE SUN\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nGreat Spirit! Master of our lives. Great Spirit! Master of things visible\nand invisible, and who daily makes them visible and invisible. Great\nSpirit! Master of every other spirit, good or bad, command the good to be\nfavorable unto us, and deter the bad from the commission of evil.\n\nO Grand Spirit! preserve the strength and courage of our warriors, and\naugment their numbers, that they may resist oppression from our enemies,\nand recover our country and the rights of our fathers.\n\nO Grand Spirit! preserve the lives of such of our old men as are inclined\nto give counsel to the young. Preserve our children and multiply their\nnumber, and let them be the comfort and support of declining age.\nPreserve our corn and our animals, and let no famine desolate the land.\nProtect our villages, guard our lives!\n\nO Great Spirit! when hidden in the west protect us from our enemies, who\nviolate the night and do evil when thou art not present. Good Spirit!\nmake known to us your pleasure by sending to us the Spirit of Dreams. Let\nthe Spirit of Dreams proclaim thy will in the night, and we will perform\nit in the day; and if it say the time of some be closed, send them,\nMaster of Life, to the great country of souls, where they may meet their\nfriends, and where thou art pleased to shine upon them with a bright,\nwarm and perpetual blaze!\n\nO Grand, O Great Spirit! hearken to the voice of the nations, hearken to\nall thy children, and remember us always, for we are descended from thee.\n\nCourage, nations, courage! the Great Spirit, now above our heads, will\nmake us vanquish our enemies; he will cover our fields with corn, and\nincrease the animals of our woods. He will see that the old be made\nhappy, and that the young augment. He will make the nations prosper, make\nthem rejoice, and make them put up their voice to him, while he rises\nand sets in their land, and while his heat and light can thus gloriously\nshine out.\n\nThe nations must prosper; they have been looked upon by the Great Spirit.\nWhat more can they wish? Is not that happiness enough? See, he retires,\ngreat and content, after having visited his children with light and\nuniversal good.\n\nO Grand Spirit! sleep not longer in the gloomy west, but return and call\nyour people to light and life\u2014to light and life\u2014to light and life.\n\n\nHYMN TO S\u00dbRYA, THE SUN\n\n(_From the \u201cRig Veda\u201d_)\n\n    His heralds bear him up aloft, the god who knoweth all that lives,\n    S\u00fbrya, that all may look on him.\n    The constellations pass away, like thieves, together with their beams,\n    Before the all-beholding Sun.\n\n    His herald rays are seen afar refulgent o\u2019er the world of men,\n    Like flames of fire that hum and blaze.\n    Swift and all beautiful art thou, O S\u00fbrya, maker of the light,\n    Illuming all the radiant realm\n    Thou goest to the hosts of the gods, thou comest hither to mankind,\n    Hither all light to be beheld.\n\n    Traversing sky and wide mid-air, thou makest with thy beams our days,\n    Sun, seeing all things that have birth.\n    Seven bay steeds harnessed to thy car bear thee, O thou far-seeing one,\n    God, S\u00fbrya, with the radiant hair.\n    S\u00fbrya hath yoked the pure bright seven, the daughters of the chariot;\n    With these, self-yoked, he goeth forth.\n    Looking upon the loftier light above the darkness we have come\n    To S\u00fbrya, god among the gods, the light that is most excellent.\n\n\nTHE WORSHIP OF THE SUN, AND THE DREAM OF ONAWUTAQUTO\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nOn the shores of Lake Huron there lived, a long time ago, an aged Odjibwa\nand his wife, who had an only son\u2014a very beautiful boy\u2014whose name was\nOnawutaquto, or He that catches Clouds. These parents were proud of their\nson, and anticipated the time when they should see him a celebrated\nwarrior. But when Onawutaquto arrived at the proper age, he was unwilling\nto submit to the fast prescribed to youths entering manhood, which\nvery much disturbed his parents, who denied him food at their lodge,\ngiving him only charcoal with which to blacken his face, according to\nthe custom. Finally he consented to their wishes, and left the lodge\nfor a place of solitude. The night came on and the youth slept. In his\ndream a beautiful woman came down from the clouds and stood by his side.\n\u201cOnawutaquto,\u201d said she, \u201cI am come for you; follow in my footsteps.\u201d The\nyoung man obeyed, and presently found himself ascending gradually above\nthe trees, where, passing through an orifice in the clouds, he perceived\nthat he had arrived upon a beautiful plain. Following his guide, he\nentered a splendidly furnished lodge, on one side of which there were\nbows and arrows, clubs and spears, and various warlike implements, tipped\nwith silver. On the other side were articles exclusively belonging to\nwomen, which were of the most elegant description.\n\nThis, the young man found, was the home of his fair guide, who,\nexhibiting to him a broad rich belt that she was embroidering with many\ncolors, said: \u201cLet me conceal you beneath this belt, for my brother is\ncoming, and I must hide you from him.\u201d Then, placing him in one corner\nof the lodge, she concealed him entirely with the belt. Presently her\nbrother came in. He was very richly dressed, and his whole person shone\nas if he had bright points of silver glittering all over his garments.\nWithout speaking, the brother took down from the wall a very richly\ncarved pipe, within which he placed a fragrant smoking mixture, and\nregaled himself. When he had finished he turned to his sister, saying:\n\u201cNemissa, my elder sister, when will you quit these practices? Do you\nforget that the Great Spirit has commanded that you should not take away\nthe children from below? Perhaps you suppose that you have effectually\nconcealed Onawutaquto, and I do not know of his presence. If you would\nnot offend me, send him immediately down to his parents.\u201d But Nemissa\nwas resolved to retain the young man, and the brother desisted from\nurging his request. Addressing the youth, he said: \u201cCome forth from your\nconcealment, and walk about and amuse yourself! You will become hungry\nif you remain there.\u201d He then presented him with a bow and arrow, and\na pipe of red stone elaborately ornamented. This was a signal that he\nconsented to the marriage of Nemissa to Onawutaquto, which immediately\ntook place. The young man found that the lodge, which was now his home,\nwas situated in the most delightful part of the plain; and all things\u2014the\nflowers and trees and birds\u2014were more beautiful than any on earth. The\nstreams ran more swiftly, and gleamed like silver. The animals were\nfull of enjoyment, while the birds wore feathers of gorgeous colors.\nOnawutaquto observed that the brother regularly left in the morning,\nreturning in the evening, when his sister would depart, remaining away a\nportion of the night. This aroused his curiosity, and, wishing to solve\nthe mystery of this singular habit, he sought and obtained consent to\naccompany the brother in one of his daily journeys. They travelled over\na smooth plain without boundaries, until Onawutaquto felt exceedingly\nfatigued and very much in need of food, and he asked his companion if\nthere were no game in that region. \u201cPatience, my brother,\u201d answered\nhe, \u201cwe shall soon reach the spot where I eat my dinner, and you will\nthen see in what way I am provided.\u201d After walking on a long time, they\ncame to a place which was spread over with very fine mats, where they\nsat down to rest. There was at this place a round aperture in the sky,\nlooking through which Onawutaquto discovered the earth, with its gleaming\nlakes and thick forests. In some places he could see the villages of the\nIndians, and in others he saw a war party stealing upon the camp of its\nenemy. In another place he saw feasting and dancing, where, on the green\nplain, young men were engaged at ball. Along the stream the women were\nemployed in gathering apukwa for mats. \u201cDo you see,\u201d said the brother,\n\u201cthat group of children playing beside a lodge? Observe that beautiful\nand active boy,\u201d said he, at the same time darting something at him from\nhis hand. The child immediately fell upon the ground, and was carried\ninto a lodge where the people gathered in crowds; when Onawutaquto heard\nthe Jossakeed, or priest, asking the child\u2019s life in the sheshegwam, or\n\u201csong of entreaty.\u201d To this entreaty the companion of Onawutaquto made\nanswer: \u201cSend me up the sacrifice of a white dog.\u201d Immediately a feast\nwas ordered by the parents of the child; the white dog was killed, his\ncarcass was roasted, and all the wise men and the Jossakeed of the\nvillage assembled to witness the ceremony. \u201cThere are many below,\u201d said\nthe brother to Onawutaquto, \u201cwhom you call Jossakeed, because of their\ngreat success in the medical science, but it is to me they owe their\nskill. When I have struck one of the people with sickness, the Jossakeed\ndirects them to look to me; and when they send me the offering I ask, I\nremove my hand from off them and they recover.\u201d The sacrifice was now\nparcelled out in dishes, when the master of the feast said: \u201cWe send this\nto thee, great Manito, thou that dwellest in the sun.\u201d And immediately\nthe roasted animal came up to the two residents of the sky. After\npartaking of this repast, they returned to the lodge by another way. It\nwas in this manner Onawutaquto lived for some time; but at last he became\nwearied of such a life, and, thinking of his friends he had left, one\nday he asked permission of his wife to return to the earth, to which,\nwith great reluctance and with many delays, she consented. \u201cSince you are\nbetter pleased,\u201d she said, \u201cwith the cares and the ills and the poverty\nof your earthly life than with the peaceful delights of the sky, go! I\ngive you permission, and I will guide your return; but remember, you\nare still my husband. I hold a chain in my hand by which I can draw you\nback whenever I will. Beware, therefore, how you venture to take a wife\namong the people below. Should you ever do so, it is then you shall feel\nthe full force of my displeasure.\u201d As she said this her eyes flashed and\nshe straightened herself up with a majestic air, and\u2014Onawutaquto awoke\nfrom his dream. He found himself where he had lain down to fast, and his\nmother told him he had been absent a year. The change from the beautiful\nrealms in which he had been living to the scenes of earthly existence\nwas at first distasteful. He became moody and abstracted. By degrees,\nhowever, these impressions wore away, and he regained his interest in\nterrestrial pursuits. Now, forgetting the admonition of his heavenly\nspouse, he married a beautiful woman of his tribe, but his bride died in\nfour days after their marriage. Although thus reminded, Onawutaquto soon\nmarried again; when one day he left his lodge for the purpose of hunting,\nand from that time never was seen by mortal eyes.\n\n\nTHE WITCH AND THE SUN\u2019S SISTER\n\n(_Russian_)\n\nIn a certain far-off country there once lived a king and queen. And they\nhad an only son, Prince Ivan, who was dumb from his birth. One day, when\nhe was twelve years old, he went into the stable to see a groom who was a\ngreat friend of his.\n\nThat groom always used to tell him tales (_skazki_), and on this occasion\nPrince Ivan went to him expecting to hear some stories (_skazochki_), but\nthat wasn\u2019t what he heard.\n\n\u201cPrince Ivan!\u201d said the groom, \u201cyour mother will soon have a daughter,\nand you a sister. She will be a terrible witch, and she will eat up her\nfather and her mother, and all their subjects. So go and ask your father\nfor the best horse he has\u2014as if you wanted a gallop\u2014and then, if you want\nto be out of harm\u2019s way, ride away whithersoever your eyes guide you.\u201d\n\nPrince Ivan ran off to his father and, for the first time in his life,\nbegan speaking to him.\n\nAt that the king was so delighted that he never thought of asking what he\nwanted a good steed for, but immediately ordered the very best horse he\nhad in his stud to be saddled for the prince.\n\nPrince Ivan mounted, and rode off without caring where he went. Long,\nlong did he ride.\n\nAt length he came to where two old women were sewing, and he begged them\nto let him live with them. But they said:\n\n\u201cGladly would we do so, Prince Ivan, only we have now but a short time\nto live. As soon as we have broken that trunkful of needles, and used up\nthat trunkful of thread, that instant will death arrive!\u201d\n\nPrince Ivan burst into tears and rode on. Long, long did he ride. At\nlength he came to where the giant Vertodub was, and he besought him,\nsaying: \u201cTake me to live with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cGladly would I have taken you, Prince Ivan,\u201d replied the giant, \u201cbut now\nI have very little longer to live. As soon as I have pulled up all these\ntrees by the roots, instantly will come my death!\u201d\n\nMore bitterly still did the prince weep as he rode farther and farther\non. By and by he came to where the giant Vertogor was, and made the same\nrequest to him, but he replied:\n\n\u201cGladly would I have taken you, Prince Ivan, but I myself have very\nlittle longer to live. I am set here, you know, to level mountains. The\nmoment I have settled matters with these you see remaining, then will my\ndeath come!\u201d\n\nPrince Ivan burst into a flood of bitter tears, and rode on still\nfarther. Long, long did he ride. At last he came to the dwelling of the\nSun\u2019s Sister. She received him into her house, gave him food and drink,\nand treated him just as if he had been her own son.\n\nThe prince now led an easy life. But it was all no use; he couldn\u2019t help\nbeing miserable. He longed so to know what was going on at home.\n\nHe often went to the top of a high mountain, and thence gazed at the\npalace in which he used to live, and he could see that it was all eaten\naway; nothing but the bare walls remained! Then he would sigh and weep.\nOnce when he returned after he had been thus looking and crying, the\nSun\u2019s Sister asked him:\n\n\u201cWhat makes your eyes so red to-day, Prince Ivan?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe wind has been blowing in them,\u201d said he.\n\nThe same thing happened the second time. Then the Sun\u2019s Sister ordered\nthe wind to stop blowing. Again, a third time did Prince Ivan come back\nwith a blubbered face. This time there was no help for it; he had to\nconfess everything, and then he took to entreating the Sun\u2019s Sister to\nlet him go, that he might satisfy himself about his old home. She would\nnot let him go, but he went on urgently entreating.\n\nSo at last he persuaded her, and she let him go away to find out about\nhis home. But first she provided him for the journey with a brush, a\ncomb, and two youth-giving apples. However old anyone might be, let him\neat one of these apples, he would grow young again in an instant.\n\nWell, Prince Ivan came to where Vertogor was. There was only just one\nmountain left! He took his brush and cast it down on the open plain.\nImmediately there rose out of the earth, goodness knows whence, high,\never so high mountains, their peaks touching the sky. And the number\nof them was such that there were more than the eye could see! Vertogor\nrejoiced greatly and blithely recommenced his work.\n\nAfter a time Prince Ivan came to where Vertodub was, and found that there\nwere only three trees remaining there. So he took the comb and flung it\non the open plain. Immediately from somewhere or other there came a sound\nof trees, and forth from the ground arose dense oak forests, each stem\nmore huge than the others! Vertodub was delighted, thanked the prince,\nand set to work uprooting the ancient oaks.\n\nBy and by Prince Ivan reached the old women, and gave each of them an\napple. They ate them, and straightway became young again. So they gave\nhim a handkerchief; you only had to wave it, and behind you lay a whole\nlake! At last Prince Ivan arrived at home. Out came running his sister to\nmeet him, and caressed him fondly.\n\n\u201cSit thee down, my brother!\u201d she said. \u201cPlay a tune on the lute while I\ngo and get dinner ready.\u201d\n\nThe prince sat down and strummed away on the lute (_gusli_).\n\nThen there crept a mouse out of a hole, and said to him in a human voice:\n\n\u201cSave yourself, Prince. Run away quick! your sister has gone to sharpen\nher teeth.\u201d\n\nPrince Ivan fled from the room, jumped upon his horse, and galloped away\nback. Meantime the mouse kept running over the strings of the lute. They\ntwanged, and the sister never guessed that her brother was off. When she\nhad sharpened her teeth she burst into the room. Lo and behold! not a\nsoul was there; nothing but the mouse bolting into his hole. The witch\nwaxed wroth, ground her teeth like anything, and set off in pursuit.\n\nPrince Ivan heard a loud noise and looked back. There was his sister\nchasing him. So he waved his handkerchief, and a deep lake lay behind\nhim. While the witch was swimming across the water, Prince Ivan got a\nlong way ahead. But on she came faster than ever; and now she was close\nat hand! Vertodub guessed that the prince was trying to escape from his\nsister. So he began tearing up oaks and strewing them across the road. A\nregular mountain did he pile up! there was no passing by for the witch!\nSo she set to work to clear the way. She gnawed, and gnawed, and at\nlength contrived by hard work to bore her way through; but by this time\nPrince Ivan was far ahead.\n\nOn she dashed in pursuit, chased and chased. Just a little more, and it\nwould be impossible for him to escape! But Vertogor spied the witch,\nlaid hold of the very highest of all the mountains, pitched it down all\nof a heap on the road, and flung another mountain right on top of it.\nWhile the witch was climbing and clambering, Prince Ivan rode and rode,\nand found himself a long way ahead. At last the witch got across the\nmountain, and once more set off in pursuit of her brother. By and by she\ncaught sight of him and exclaimed:\n\n\u201cYou sha\u2019n\u2019t get away from me this time!\u201d And now she is close, now she\nis just going to catch him!\n\nAt that very moment Prince Ivan dashed up to the abode of the Sun\u2019s\nSister and cried.\n\n\u201cSun, Sun! open the window!\u201d\n\nThe Sun\u2019s Sister opened the window, and the prince bounded through it,\nhorse and all.\n\nThen the witch began to ask that her brother might be given up to her for\npunishment. The Sun\u2019s Sister would not listen to her, nor would she give\nhim up. Then the witch said:\n\n\u201cLet Prince Ivan be weighed against me, to see which is the heavier. If I\nam, then I will eat him; but if he is, then let him kill me!\u201d\n\nThis was done. Prince Ivan was the first to get into one of the scales;\nthen the witch began to get into the other. But no sooner had she set\nfoot in it than up shot Prince Ivan in the air, and that with such force\nthat he flew right up into the sky, and into the house of the Sun\u2019s\nSister.\n\nBut as for the Witch-Snake, she remained down below on earth.\n\n\nTHE MAKING OF THE MIRROR\n\n(_Japanese_)\n\nNow, when Amaterasu, the Sun-Goddess, ascended into her kingdom, she\nreigned there peacefully in great glory; and the fair light of her beauty\nflooded the earth and the heavens.\n\nHer brother Susa-wo, at the time of his banishment to the under-world,\nbeheld her shining and said:\n\n\u201cI will go and bid farewell to my sister the Sun-Goddess, ere I depart!\u201d\n\nSo he mounted to heaven with such sudden violence that the rivers and\nmountains shook and groaned aloud, and every land and country quaked.\n\nAmaterasu was greatly alarmed and said: \u201cI know my brother desires to\ntake my kingdom from me!\u201d So she girt on her ten-span sword and her\nnine-span sword, and her necklace of five hundred jewels which she\ntwisted round her hair and arms, and she slung on her thousand-arrow\nquiver, and great high-sounding elbow-shield. Then she brandished her bow\nand stamped her feet into the hard ground till it fell away from her like\nrotten snow, and she stood valiantly, uttering a mighty cry of defiance.\n\nThen Susa-wo stood on the farther side of the Tranquil River of Heaven,\nwhich is the Milky Way, and answered her softly with fair words:\n\n\u201cO my sister! I am come hither with a pure heart to bid thee farewell.\nWhy dost thou put on a stern countenance? Let me but see thee once and\nspeak with thee, face to face, ere I depart.\u201d Then the heart of the\nSun-Goddess was softened, and she let him enter and cross the River of\nHeaven. But even here Susa-wo could not rest from his turbulent ways.\n\nNow, in her wisdom, Amaterasu would wonder how best to help and comfort\nmankind, and on a certain day she sent Susa-wo on a journey to find her\nsister, the Food-Goddess, as she had many things to inquire of her.\nWhen the Food-Goddess looked and saw Susa-wo descending toward her, she\nquickly prepared a great banquet in his honor, and by her miraculous\npower she produced from her mouth boiled rice and every kind of fish and\ngame. But Susa-wo, watching her, flew into a rage and cried out: \u201cThou\nart unclean! Dost thou offer me what comes from thy mouth?\u201d And he took\nout his sword and slew her.\n\nWhen Amaterasu heard this, she was very wroth with her brother, and sent\na second messenger to see if the Food-Goddess were really dead. And when\nhe found her, behold, a miracle! All things good for man were growing\nfrom her head and body. Millet and grass, mulberry trees with silkworms\non them, rice and wheat and large and small beans. The messenger took\nthem all and presented them to the Sun-Goddess, who rejoiced greatly and\ngave them to mankind, rice for the wet fields and other grains for the\ndry.\n\nAnd she planted the mulberry trees on the fragrant hills of heaven,\nand chewed the cocoons of the silkworms, and spun thread to weave silk\ngarments for the gods.\n\nNow, one day, while she was weaving with her maidens in the sacred hall,\nword was brought to her that her brother had trampled the rice fields and\npolluted her storehouses. And when she sought to excuse him he angered\nher yet more by his folly and violence. So Amaterasu covered her face,\nand in her grief and anger she hid herself from the sight of all men in a\nrocky cave, and closed the door.\n\nWhen her radiance was hidden, all the world was left in deep darkness and\nconfusion, the whole plain of heaven was obscured, and the Land of the\nReed-Plains darkened. Night and day were unknown, and neither in heaven\nnor earth was there any light at all. The sound of many voices rose and\nfell, like the swarming of bees, and everywhere was trouble and dismay.\n\nIn the midst of the gloom the eighty myriads of gods met together in\ncouncil, and their meeting-place was on the banks of the Milky Way of\nHeaven. And the Great Wise God, wiser than his fellows, who held in\nhis mind the thoughts and imaginings of all men, said softly: \u201cShe is\na woman, and surely will be curious. Let us show her something more\nbeautiful than herself!\u201d But as in all High Heaven nothing fairer could\nbe found, they made a mighty mirror, forged by the Blacksmith God from\nthe metals of heaven. Yet the gods were not satisfied, and commanded\nhim to make another. So with his anvil from the Milky Way, and bellows,\nfashioned from a single deer-skin, he forged a second and yet a third,\nand this last was perfect and flawless, in shape like the Sun.\n\nAnd they lit great fires outside the cave and hung the mirror there\non the branches of the sacred Sakaki tree, above it a necklace of\never-bright and glittering jewels, and below it some strips of fine-woven\ncloth. Then the Wise God took from his fellows six long bows and bound\nthem together, and placed them upright in the ground and gently brushed\nthe strings.\n\nAnd the fair Goddess Am\u00e9-no-Uzum\u00e9 was led forth to dance, her flowing\nsleeves bound up with the creeping plant Masaki, and her head-dress of\ntrailing Kadsura vine, gathered from the mountains of Heavenly Fragrance,\nand in her hands the branches of young bamboos hung with tiny bells.\nThese she waved rhythmically to and fro to the sound of her stepping, and\nas the humming of the bow-strings rose and fell, the eighty Myriad Gods\nsat around her and joyfully beat the measure.\n\nShe sang of the beauty of an unknown goddess, and as her body swayed in\ncadence, the great assembly of gods laughed aloud till the vault of\nheaven shook.\n\nThe Sun-Goddess wondered greatly at all this mirth and music, and said:\n\u201cHow is it that while the whole Plain of Heaven and the Land of the\nReed-Plains is darkened, Uzum\u00e9 sings and frolics, and the eighty Myriad\nGods do laugh?\u201d She peeped inquisitive out of the cave.\n\nUzum\u00e9 still sang of the beauty of the Unknown Goddess, and the words of\nthe first song were these:\n\n    Gods! from the cavern\u2019s gloom\n    Comes she majestical.\n    Shall not our hearts rejoice?\n    Mine is the victory!\n    Who can resist my charms?\n      Hail, Ever-Shining One!\n\nAnd wondering\u2014longing\u2014yet unwilling to venture forth, Amaterasu looked\nfrom the depths of the cave and listened to the strains, and heard\nthe gods make merry; till, opening wider the door, she stood upon the\nthreshold.\n\nTwo gods hastily held forward the mirror, and she saw, amazed, the vision\nof her own exceeding loveliness. Then the first flush of dawn appeared\nsuddenly in the east, there was a stir as of awakening birds, the\nmountain-tops blushed pink, and all the gods held their breath.\n\nShe stepped forward softly, still gazing entranced, while broad shafts\nof light shot upward in the sky, and her glory filled the air with rosy\nradiance. As she looked on her ineffable beauty, the Wise God, twisting\na rice-straw rope, stretched it across the mouth of the cave\u2014for never\nmore could she desire to hide her face from a sorrowing world.\n\nAnd thus with the sunshine came music and dancing, for the delight of men.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn Norse mythology, the story is told that the heavenly bodies were\nformed of the sparks from Muspelheim. The gods did not create them, but\nthey placed them in the heavens to give light to the world, and assigned\nthem a prescribed locality and motion. Mundilfare was the father of the\nsun and moon. He had two children, a son and a daughter, so lovely and\ngraceful that he called the boy Maane (Moon), and the girl Sol (Sun), and\nSol he gave in marriage to Glener (the Shining One).\n\nThe gods, however, were much incensed at the presumption of Mundilfare,\nso they took his two children and placed them in the heavens, where they\nlet Sol drive the horses of the Sun, while Maane guides the Moon and\nregulates its increasing and waning aspect.\n\nVery closely akin to a god of the Sun in Norse mythology is Balder the\nGood. He is the favorite of all the gods and of all men and nature. So\nfair and dazzling is he in form and features that rays of light seem to\nissue from him. Some idea of the beauty of his hair may be formed from\nthe fact that the whitest of all plants is called Balder\u2019s brow. Balder\nis described as the mildest, the wisest and the most eloquent of all the\ngods, yet such is his nature that the judgment he has pronounced can\nnever be altered. He dwells in the heavenly mansion called Breidablik,\nmeaning the broad-shining splendor, into which nothing unclean can enter.\nHe is, in fact, the God of Light. Some one says of him,[5] \u201cLight is\nthe best thing we have in the world; it is white and pure; it cannot\nbe wounded; no shock can disturb it; nothing in the world can kill it\nexcepting its own negative, darkness (H\u00f6der). Loke (Fire) is jealous\nof it; the pure light of heaven and the blaze of fire are each other\u2019s\nenemies. Balder does not fight, the mythology gives no exploits by him;\nhe only shines and dazzles, conferring blessings upon all, and this he\ncontinues to do steadfast and unchangeable, until darkness steals upon\nhim\u2014darkness that does not itself know what harm it is doing; and when\nBalder is dead, cries of lamentation are heard throughout all nature.\u201d\nHow his death occurred will be related in the story of him in this\nchapter.\n\nThe God of the Sun in Egypt was Ra, though Osiris is often called the God\nof the Sun; and probably was identified with the sun in some stage of the\nlong development of this myth, as already mentioned.\n\nLike Balder and other sun gods, Ra has his fight with the demon of\ndarkness in the under world, as described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus,\na translation of which is given in this chapter.\n\nIn Greek mythology there are two gods of the sun and two goddesses of\nthe moon.[6] The older ones were Helios and Selene, but they became\nidentified with the later celebrated pair, Ph\u0153bus Apollo and Artemis\nor Diana, as the Romans called her, the children of Zeus, the God of\nthe Sky, and Latona. Apollo was not only a god of the sun, who brought\nthe warm sun and the spring, but he was the healer, who warded off the\ndangers and diseases of summer and autumn. He had a temple at Delphi,\nwhere a priestess was wont to give forth oracles in regard to the future,\nsupposed to be revealed by Apollo. He was a founder of cities, a promoter\nof colonization, a giver of good laws, and, finally, he was the patron of\nmusic and poetry. To him were sacred the wolf, the roe, the mouse, the\nhe-goat, the ram, the dolphin, and the swan.\n\n[Illustration: Apollo with the Lyre. _Glyptothek, Munich._]\n\nAn ancient hymn by Callimachus (240 B.C.) describes him as follows:\n\n    \u201cHow hath the laurel shoot of Apollo heaved! How the whole of\n    the shrine! Afar, afar be ye, sinners. Now verily doth Ph\u0153bus\n    knock at the doors with beauteous foot. See you not? The Delian\n    palm has nodded in a pleasant fashion on a sudden, and the swan\n    sings sweetly on the air. Now of your own accord fall back, ye\n    bolts of the doors, and of yourselves, ye bars. For no longer\n    is the god afar off. Make ready, ye young men, for the song and\n    the choir. Not to every one doth Apollo manifest himself, but\n    to only the good. Whoso shall have seen him, great is he; small\n    that man who hath not seen him.\n\n    \u201cWe shall behold thee, O Fardarter! and shall be no more of\n    small account. Nor silent lyre, nor noiseless tread should the\n    servants of Ph\u0153bus have, when he sojourns among them. Listen\n    and keep holy silence at the song in honor of Apollo.\n\n    ...\n\n    \u201cGolden are both the garment and the clasp of Apollo, his lyre,\n    his Lyctian bow, and his quiver: golden, too, his sandals; for\n    Apollo is rich in gold, and has also many possessions.\n\n    ...\n\n    \u201cAnd indeed he is ever beauteous, ever young.\n\n    ...\n\n    \u201cGreat, too, in art is no one so much as Apollo.\n\n    \u201cTo Ph\u0153bus the care of the bow as well as of song is intrusted.\n\n    \u201cTo him, likewise, belong divinations and diviners: and from\n    Ph\u0153bus physicians have learned the art of delaying death.\n\n    ...\n\n    \u201cAnd following Ph\u0153bus men are wont to measure out cities. For\n    Ph\u0153bus ever delights in founding cities and Ph\u0153bus himself lays\n    their foundations.\u201d\n\nThe twin sister of Apollo, Artemis, is first of all the Goddess of the\nMoon. Its slender arc is her bow; its beams are her arrows, with which\nshe sends upon womenkind a painless death. She determined herself never\nto fall in love or marry, and so she imposed upon the nymphs she gathered\nabout her vows of perpetual maidenhood, and if any of them broke these\nvows she punished them severely and swiftly. Graceful in form and free\nof movement, equipped for the chase, and surrounded by a bevy of fair\ncompanions, the swift-rushing goddess was wont to scour hill, valley,\nforest, and plain. She was, however, not only huntress, but guardian\nof wild beasts, mistress of horses and kine and other domestic brutes.\nShe ruled marsh and mountain; her gleaming arrows smote sea as well as\nland. Springs and woodland brooks she favored, for in them she and her\nattendants were accustomed to bathe. She blessed with verdure the meadows\nand arable lands, and from them obtained a meed of thanks. When weary\nof the chase, she turned to music and dancing, for the lyre and flute\nand song were dear to her. Muses, graces, nymphs, and the fair goddesses\nthemselves thronged the rites of the chorus-leading queen. But ordinarily\na woodland chapel or a rustic altar sufficed for her worship. There the\nhunter laid his offering\u2014antlers, skin, or edible portions of the deer\nthat Artemis of the golden arrows had herself vouchsafed him.\n\nShe was mistress of the brute creation, protectress of youth, patron of\ntemperance in all things, guardian of civil right. The cypress tree was\nsacred to her; and her favorites were the bear, the boar, the dog, the\ngoat, and especially the hind.\n\nA pretty picture is given of Artemis in a hymn by Callimachus which\ndescribes how, when sitting yet a blooming child on the knees of her\nsire, she thus addressed him:\n\n    \u201c\u2018Grant me, kind father, to preserve eternal maidenhood, and\n    many names, that so Ph\u0153bus may not vie with me. And give me\n    arrows and bow. Grant it, sire! I ask not a quiver of thee, nor\n    a large bow: the cyclopes will forthwith forge me arrows, and\n    fashion a flexible bow. And I ask to be girt as far as the knee\n    with a tunic of colored border, that I may slay wild beasts.\n    And give me sixty ocean nymphs to form my chorus, all young and\n    of the same age. Give me likewise as attendants twenty Amnisian\n    nymphs, who may duly take care of my buskins, and, when I no\n    longer am shooting lynxes and stags, may tend my fleet dogs.\n    Give me all mountains, and assign to me any city, whichsoever\n    thou choosest. For \u2019twill be rare, when Artemis shall go down\n    into a city. On mountains will I dwell.\u2019\n\n    \u201cThus having spoken, the maiden wished to touch the beard of\n    her sire, and oft outstretched her hands to no purpose, until\n    at last she might touch it. Then her father assented with a\n    smile, and said as he fondled her: \u2018Have, child, whatever you\n    ask of your own choice; but other yet greater gifts will your\n    sire bestow. Thrice ten cities will I present to you, which\n    shall not learn to honor any other god, but thee alone, and\n    shall be called the cities of Artemis. And I will give thee\n    many cities to measure out in common with other gods, on the\n    continent and islands; in all shall be altars and sacred groves\n    of Artemis, and thou shalt be guardian over ways and harbors.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF BALDER THE GOOD\n\n(_From the Norse Eddas_)\n\nThis was an event which the asas deemed of great importance. Balder\nthe Good having been tormented by terrible dreams, indicating that his\nlife was in great peril, communicated them to the assembled gods, who,\nsorrow-stricken, resolved to conjure all things to avert from him the\nthreatened danger. Then Frigg exacted an oath from fire and water, from\niron and all other metals, as well as from stones, earths, diseases,\nbeasts, birds, poisons, and creeping things, that none of them would do\nany harm to Balder. Still Odin feared that the prosperity of the gods\nhad vanished. He saddled his steed Sleipner and rode down to Niflheim,\nwhere the dog from Hel met him; it was bloody on the breast and barked\na long time at Odin. Odin advanced; the earth trembled beneath him, and\nhe came to the high dwelling of Hel. East of the door he knew the grave\nof the vala was situated; thither he rode and sang magic songs (_kvao\ngaldra_), until she unwillingly stood up and asked who disturbed her\npeace, after she had been lying so long covered with snow and wet with\ndew. Odin called himself Vegtam, a son of Valtam, and asked for whom\nthe benches were strewn with rings and the couches were swimming in\ngold. She replied that the mead was brewed for Balder, but all the gods\nwould despair. When Odin asked further who should be Balder\u2019s bane, she\nanswered that H\u00f6der would hurl the famous branch and become the bane of\nOdin\u2019s son; but Rind should give birth to a son who, only one night old,\nshould wield a sword, and would neither wash his hands nor comb his hair\nbefore he had avenged his brother. But recognizing Odin by an enigmatical\nquestion, she said: \u201cYou are not Vegtam, as I believed, but you are Odin,\nthe old ruler.\u201d Odin replied: \u201cYou are no vala, but the mother of three\ngiants.\u201d Then the vala told Odin to ride home and boast of his journey,\nbut assured him that no one should again visit her thus before Loke\nshould be loosed from his chains and the ruin of the gods had come.\n\nWhen it had been made known that nothing in the world would harm Balder,\nit became a favorite pastime of the gods at their meetings to get Balder\nto stand up and serve them as a mark, some hurling darts at him, some\nstones, while others hewed at him with their swords and battle-axes; for\nwhatever they did none of them could harm him, and this was regarded\nby all as a great honor shown to Balder. But when Loke Laufeyarson\nbeheld the scene he was sorely vexed that Balder was not hurt. Assuming,\ntherefore, the guise of a woman he went to Fensal, the mansion of Frigg.\nThat goddess, seeing the pretended woman, inquired of her whether she\nknew what the gods were doing at their meetings. The woman (Loke)\nreplied that they were throwing darts and stones at Balder without being\nable to hurt him.\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said Frigg, \u201cneither metal nor wood can hurt Balder, for I have\nexacted an oath from all of them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d exclaimed the woman, \u201chave all things sworn to spare Balder?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll things,\u201d replied Frigg, \u201cexcept one little shrub that grows on the\neastern side of Valhal, and is called mistletoe, and which I thought too\nyoung and feeble to crave an oath from.\u201d\n\nAs soon as Loke heard this he went away, and, resuming his natural form,\npulled up the mistletoe and repaired to the place where the gods were\nassembled. There he found H\u00f6der standing far to one side without engaging\nin the sport on account of his blindness. Loke, going up to him, said:\n\u201cWhy do not you also throw something at Balder?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause I am blind,\u201d answered H\u00f6der, \u201cand cannot see where Balder is,\nand besides I have nothing to throw at him.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, then,\u201d said Loke, \u201cdo like the rest, and show honor to Balder by\nthrowing this twig at him, and I will direct your arm toward the place\nwhere he stands.\u201d\n\nH\u00f6der then took the mistletoe, and under the guidance of Loke darted it\nat Balder, who, pierced through and through, fell down lifeless. Surely\nnever was there witnessed, either among gods or men, a more atrocious\ndeed than this! When Balder fell the gods were struck speechless with\nhorror, and then they looked at each other; and all were of one mind to\nlay hands on him who had done the deed, but they were obliged to delay\ntheir vengeance out of respect for the sacred place (place of peace)\nwhere they were assembled. They at length gave vent to their grief by\nsuch loud lamentations that they were not able to express their grief to\none another. Odin, however, felt this misfortune most severely, because\nhe knew best how great was the mischief and the loss which the gods had\nsustained by the death of Balder. When the gods were a little composed,\nFrigg asked who among them wished to gain all her love and favor by\nriding to the lower world to try and find Balder, and offer a ransom to\nHel if she would permit Balder to return to Asgard; whereupon Hermod,\nsurnamed the Nimble, offered to undertake the journey. Odin\u2019s horse\nSleipner was then led forth and prepared for the journey; Hermod mounted\nhim and galloped hastily away.\n\nThe gods then took the dead body of Balder and carried it to the sea,\nwhere lay Balder\u2019s ship, _Ringhorn_, which was the largest of all ships.\nBut when they wanted to launch this ship, in order to make Balder\u2019s\nfuneral pile on it, they were unable to move it from the place. In this\npredicament they sent a messenger to Jotunheim for a certain giantess\nnamed Hyrroken (the smoking fire), who came riding on a wolf and had\ntwisted serpents for her reins. As soon as she alighted Odin ordered\nfour berserks to hold her steed, but they were obliged to throw the\nanimal down on the ground before they could manage it. Hyrroken then went\nto the prow of the ship, and with a single push set it afloat; but the\nmotion was so violent that fire sparkled from the underlaid rollers and\nthe whole world shook. Thor, enraged at the sight, grasped his mallet\nand would have broken the woman\u2019s skull had not the gods interceded for\nher. Balder\u2019s body was then carried to the funeral pile on board the\nship, and this ceremony had such an effect upon Balder\u2019s wife Nanna,\ndaughter of Nep, that her heart broke with grief, and her body was laid\nupon the same pile and burned with that of her husband. Thor stood beside\nthe pile and consecrated it with his hammer Mjolner. Before his feet\nsprang up a dwarf called Lit. Thor kicked him with his foot into the\nfire, so that he also was burned. There was a vast concourse of various\nkinds of people at Balder\u2019s funeral procession. First of all came Odin,\naccompanied by Frigg, the valkyries, and his ravens. Then came Frey in\nhis chariot, drawn by the boar Gullinburste (gold-brush), or Slidrugtanne\n(the sharp-toothed). Heimdal rode his horse Goldtop, and Freyja drove in\nher chariot drawn by cats. There were also a great number of frost giants\nand mountain giants present. Odin cast upon the funeral pile the famous\nring Draupner, which had been made for him by the dwarfs, and possessed\nthe property of producing every ninth night eight rings of equal weight.\nBalder\u2019s horse, fully caparisoned, was also laid upon the pile, and\nconsumed in the same flames with the body of his master.\n\n[Illustration: Diana or Artemis the Huntress. _Versailles._]\n\nMeanwhile Hermod was proceeding on his mission. Of him it is to be\nrelated that he rode nine days and as many nights through dark and deep\nvalleys\u2014so dark that he could not discern anything until he came to the\nriver Gjol and passed over the Gjallar bridge (bridge over the river\nGjol), which is covered with glittering gold. Modgud, the maiden who\nkept the bridge, asked him his name and parentage, and added that the\nday before five fylkes (kingdoms, bands) of dead men had ridden over the\nbridge; \u201cbut,\u201d she said, \u201cit did not shake as much beneath all of them\ntogether as it does under you alone, and you have not the complexion\nof the dead; why, then, do you ride here on your way to Hel?\u201d \u201cI ride\nto Hel,\u201d answered Hermod, \u201cto seek for Balder; have you perchance seen\nhim pass this way?\u201d She replied that Balder had ridden over the Gjallar\nbridge, and that the road to the abodes of death (to Hel) lay downward\nand toward the north.\n\nHermod then continued his journey until he came to the barred gates of\nHel. Then he alighted from his horse, drew the girths tighter, remounted\nhim, and clapped both spurs into him. The horse cleared the gate with\na tremendous leap without touching it. Hermod then rode forward to the\npalace, alighted and went in, where he found his brother Balder occupying\nthe most distinguished seat in the hall, and spent the night in his\ncompany. The next morning he entreated Hel (death) to let Balder ride\nhome with him, representing to her the sorrow which prevailed among the\ngods. Hel replied that it should now be tried whether Balder was so\nuniversally beloved as he was said to be; if, therefore, she added, all\nthings in the world, the living as well as the lifeless, will weep for\nhim, then he shall return to the gods, but if anything speak against him\nor refuse to weep, then Hel will keep him.\n\nAfter this Hermod rose up; Balder went with him out of the hall and gave\nhim the ring Draupner, to present as a keepsake to Odin. Nanna sent Frigg\na carpet, together with several other gifts, and to Fulla she sent a gold\nfinger-ring. Hermod then rode back to Asgard and related everything that\nhe had heard and witnessed.\n\nThe gods upon this dispatched messengers throughout all the world to\nbeseech everything to weep, in order that Balder might be delivered\nfrom the power of Hel. All things very willingly complied with the\nrequest\u2014man, animals, the earth, stones, trees, and all metals\u2014just as we\nsee things weep when they come out of the frost into the warm air. When\nthe messengers were returning, with the conviction that their mission had\nbeen quite successful, they found on their way home a giantess (ogress,\n_gygr_), who called herself Thok. They bade her also weep Balder out of\nthe dominion of Hel. But she answered:\n\n    Thok will weep\n    With dry tears\n    For Balder\u2019s death;\n    Neither in life nor in death\n    Gave he me gladness;\n    Let Hel keep what she has.\n\n\nBATTLE BETWEEN RA AND ANAPEF OR APEP IN THE UNDERWORLD\n\n(_Egyptian_)\n\nGet thee back, depart, retreat from me, O Anapef; withdraw, or thou\nshalt be drowned at the pool of Nu, at the place where thy father hath\nordered that thy slaughter be performed. Depart thou from the divine\nplace of birth of Ra, wherein is thy terror. I am Ra who dwelleth in his\nterror. Get thee back, Fiend, before the darts of his beams. Ra hath\noverthrown thy words, the gods have turned thy face backward, the Lynx\nhath torn open thy breast, the Scorpion hath cast fetters upon thee, and\nMaat hath sent forth thy destruction. Those who are in the ways have\noverthrown thee; fall down and depart, O Apep, thou Enemy of Ra! O thou\nthat passest over the region in the eastern part of heaven with the\nsound of the roaring thunder-cloud, O Ra, who openest the gates of the\nhorizon straightway on thy appearance, Apep hath sunk helpless under thy\ngashings. I have performed thy will, O Ra, I have performed thy will,\nI have done that which is fair, I have done that which is fair, I have\nlabored for the peace of Ra. I have made to advance thy fetters, O Ra,\nand Apep hath fallen through thy drawing them tight. The gods of the\nsouth and of the north, of the west and of the east, have fastened chains\nupon him, and they have fettered him with fetters; the god Rekes hath\noverthrown him and the god Hertit hath put him in chains. Ra setteth, Ra\nsetteth, Ra is strong at his setting. Apep hath fallen; Apep, the enemy\nof Ra, departeth. Greater is the punishment which hath been inflicted\non thee than the sting which is the Scorpion goddess, and mightily hath\nshe, whose course is everlasting, worked in upon thee, and with deadly\neffect. Thou shalt never enjoy the delights of love, thou shalt never\nfulfil thy desire, O Apep, thou Enemy of Ra! He maketh thee to go back,\nO thou who art hateful to Ra; he looketh upon thee, get thee back! He\npierceth thy head, he cutteth through thy face, he divideth thy head at\nthe two sides of the ways, and it is crushed in his land; thy bones are\nsmashed in pieces, thy members are hacked off thee, and the god Aker hath\ncondemned thee, O Apep, thou Enemy of Ra! Thy mariners are those who\nkeep the reckoning for thee, O Ra; as thou advancest and thou resteth\nthere within are the offerings made to thee. As thou advancest, as thou\nadvancest toward the House. Let not any baleful obstacle proceed from thy\nmouth against me when thou workest on my behalf. I am Set, who let loose\nthe storm-clouds and the thunder in the horizon of heaven.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF PH\u0152BUS APOLLO\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nSoon after his birth the Sun God spent a year among the Hyperboreans,\nwhere for six continuous months of the year there is sunshine and spring,\nsoft climate, profusion of herbs and flowers, and the very ecstasy of\nlife. During this delay the Delphians sang p\u00e6ans\u2014hymns of praise\u2014to\nApollo, and danced in chorus about the tripod, or three-legged stool,\nwhere the expectant priestess of Apollo had taken her seat. At last, when\nthe year was warm, came the god in his chariot drawn by swans\u2014heralded\nby songs of springtide, of nightingales and swallows and crickets. Then\nthe crystal fount of Castalia and the stream Cephissus overflowed their\nbounds, and mankind made grateful offerings to the god. But his advent\nwas not altogether peaceful. An enormous serpent (Python) had crept forth\nfrom the slime with which, after the flood, the earth was covered; and in\nthe caves of Mount Parnassus this terror of the people lurked. Him Apollo\nencountered, and after fearful combat slew with arrows, weapons which the\ngod of the silver bow had not before used against any but feeble animals.\nIn commemoration of this conquest, he instituted the Pythian games, in\nwhich the victor, in feats of strength, swiftness of foot, or in the\nchariot race, should be crowned with a wreath of beach leaves.\n\nIn his conflict with another monster of darkness, Apollo had the\nassistance of his sister Artemis (Diana). By their unerring, fiery darts\nthey subdued the giant Tityus, who not only had obstructed the peaceful\nways to the oracle of Delphi, but had ventured to insult the mother of\nthe twin deities.\n\nAnother event in the life of Apollo shows the fatal effect of his fiery\ndarts upon a young friend, Hyacinthus. The god of the silver bow was in\nthe habit of going with Hyacinthus when he went forth on his hunting\nand fishing expeditions, or upon tramps in the mountains. One day\nthey decided to play a game of quoits together. Apollo, heaving aloft\nthe discus with strength mingled with skill, sent it high and far.\nHyacinthus, excited with the sport and eager to make his throw, ran\nforward to seize the missile; but it bounded from the earth and struck\nhim in the forehead. He fainted and fell. The god, as pale as himself,\nraised him and tried all his art to staunch the wound and retain the\nflitting life, but in vain. As when one has broken the stem of a lily in\nthe garden it hangs its head and turns its flowers to the earth, so the\nhead of the dying boy, as if too heavy for his neck, fell over on his\nshoulder. \u201cThou diest, Hyacinth,\u201d said Ph\u0153bus, \u201crobbed of thy life by\nme. Would that I could die for thee! But since that may not be, my lyre\nshall celebrate thee, my song shall tell thy fate, and thou shalt become\na flower inscribed with my regret.\u201d While the golden god spoke, the blood\nwhich had flowed on the ground and stained the herbage ceased to be\nblood, and a flower of hue more beautiful than Tyrian purple sprang up,\nresembling in shape the lily. Ph\u0153bus then, to confer still greater honor,\nmarked the petals with his sorrow, inscribing \u201cAi! ai!\u201d upon them. The\nflower bears the name of Hyacinthus, and with returning spring revives\nthe memory of his fate.\n\nApollo was also a perfect magician in music. He helped Neptune, the God\nof the Sea, to build the walls of the ancient and far-famed city of Troy\nsimply by playing on his lyre.\n\nIt is said that upon one occasion Pan had the temerity to compare his\nmusic with that of Apollo, and to challenge the God of the Lyre to a\ntrial of skill. The challenge was accepted, and Tmolus, the Mountain\nGod, was chosen umpire. The Senior took his seat, and cleared away the\ntrees from his ears to listen. At a given signal, Pan blew on his pipes,\nand with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and his\nfaithful follower Midas, who happened to be present. Then Tmolus turned\nhis head toward the Sun God, and all his trees turned with him. Apollo\nrose, his brow wreathed with Parnassian laurel, while his robe of Tyrian\npurple swept the ground. In his left hand he held the lyre, and with his\nright hand struck the strings. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to the\nlyric god, and all but Midas acquiesced in the judgment. He dissented,\nand questioned the justice of the award, and Apollo promptly transformed\nhis depraved pair of ears into those of an ass.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ARTEMIS AND ORION\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nOrion, the son of Neptune, was a giant and a mighty hunter, whose prowess\nand manly favor gained for him the rare good-will of Artemis. It is\nrelated that he loved Merope, the daughter of \u0152nopion, king of Chios, and\nsought her in marriage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and brought\nthe spoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as \u0152nopion\nconstantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain possession of\nthe maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, made Orion\ndrunk, deprived him of his sight, and cast him out on the seashore.\nThe blinded hero, instructed by an oracle to seek the rays of morning,\nfollowed the sound of a Cyclop\u2019s hammer till he reached Lemnos, where\nVulcan, taking pity on him, gave him Cedalion, one of his men, to be his\nguide to the abode of the sun. Placing Cedalion on his shoulders, Orion\nproceeded to the east, and there meeting the Sun God, was restored to\nsight by his beam.\n\n[Illustration: Diana or Artemis. _Correggio._]\n\nAfter this he used to go hunting with Artemis, much to the displeasure of\nApollo, who did not like his sister to make such a friend of Orion. One\nday, therefore, observing Orion as he walked through the sea, with his\nhead just above water, Apollo pointed out the black object to his sister,\nand maintained that she could not hit it. The archer goddess discharged\na shaft with fatal aim; the waves rolled the dead body of Orion to the\nland. Then, bewailing with many tears the death of her friend, Artemis\nplaced him among the stars, where he appears as a giant, with a girdle,\nsword, lion\u2019s skin, and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the\nPleiades fly before him. In the beginning of winter, all through the\nnight, Orion follows the chase across the heavens, but with dawn he sinks\ntoward the waters of his father, Neptune. In the beginning of summer he\nmay be seen, with daybreak, in the eastern sky, till Artemis draws again\nher darts and slays him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe myths of the stars are almost as numerous as those of the sun and\nmoon, and exist everywhere. A very prevalent idea in regard to them is\nthat human beings are transformed into stars; for example, in Australia\nthey say that the god Pundjel made stars of all the good men and women\nafter the Deluge. In Greek mythology, the gods very frequently turned men\nand women into stars. Both in Australia and Greece the stars the Greeks\ncalled, and we know now as, Castor and Pollux were two young men. In\nthe first case they are said to be two hunters, in the second they were\ntwo brothers so famous for their brotherly love that Zeus, desiring to\nmake their memory immortal, placed them both among the stars. Sometimes\na human being or an animal is transformed into a whole constellation or\ngroup of stars. The story told about the constellations of the Great\nBear and the Little Bear in Greece is that once a nymph, Callisto,\nof the train of Artemis, who fell in love, was changed into a bear by\nJuno. One day long after she saw a youth hunting, and recognized him as\nher own son. She stopped and wanted to embrace him, but her son, not\nrecognizing her in her bear form, was on the point of transfixing her\nwhen Zeus arrested the crime, and, snatching away both of them, placed\nthem in the heavens as the Great Bear and the Little Bear. The story of\nOrion\u2019s translation into a constellation has already been given. Around\nthe group of stars called the Pleiades cluster many legends. Of this\ngroup of seven stars one is so dim that it seems entirely to disappear. A\nSouth Australian legend tells that the Pleiades were a queen and her six\nattendants. The Crow fell in love with the queen, who refused to be his\nwife. The Crow, however, found that the queen and her six maidens were\nin the habit of hunting for white, edible grubs in the bark of trees.\nThe Crow at once changed himself into a grub and hid in the bark of a\ntree. The six maidens sought to pick him out with their wooden hooks,\nbut he broke the points of all the hooks. Then came the queen with her\npretty bone hook; he let himself be drawn out, took the shape of a giant,\nand ran away with her. Ever since there have only been six stars and\nsix maidens in the Pleiades. According to a Greek myth, the Pleiades,\nwho still fly before Orion in the heavens, were daughters of Atlas and\nnymphs of the train of Artemis. One day they were pursued by the giant\nhunter Orion, and, being very much frightened, they prayed to the gods to\nchange their form. Zeus heard their prayers, changed them into pigeons,\nand placed them among the stars. Though their number was seven, only six\nstars are now visible, for it is said Electra left her place that she\nmight not behold the ruin of Troy, which had been founded by her son\nDardanus. The sight had such an effect on her sisters that they blanched,\nand have been pale ever since. But Electra became a comet. Her hair\nfloating wildly, she still ranges inconsolably the expanse of heaven.\n\nThe prettiest notion in regard to the stars is that they are the souls of\nthe dead. In Germany, for example, they thought that when a child died,\nGod made a new star.\n\nThe North American Indians are particularly fond of star myths, and they\nhave invented some charming star stories. According to them, stars might\ncome down and talk to men, after the manner of one whose story is given\nbelow. It came down and told a hunter where to find game.\n\nSome of the animal constellations among the stars are evidently\nmetamorphosed totems, for there is a widespread belief that these star\nanimals or men were the ancestors of the people, and that ages ago they\nhad been lifted up to heaven. The Milky Way is described by the Indians\nsometimes as the \u201cpath of spirits and the road of souls,\u201d sometimes as\nthe \u201croad of birds along which the souls of the good go flitting like\nbirds, to dwell at last in heaven in peace.\u201d\n\n\nSTORY OF THE CHILD AND THE STAR\n\n(_Iowa Indian_)\n\nMany years ago a child, when very young, observed a star in the heavens\nthat attracted him more than any others. As the child grew to manhood his\nattachment increased. His thoughts dwelt continually on this beauty of\nthe night. One day, while hunting, as he sat down, travel-worn and weary\nwith his ill-success, his beloved star appeared to him and comforted him\nwith encouraging words, and then conducted him to a place where he found\na great plenty and variety of game. From this time the young man showed a\nwonderful improvement in the art of hunting, and soon became celebrated\nin this pursuit.\n\n\nOSSEO, THE SON OF THE EVENING STAR\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nThere once lived an Indian in the north who had ten daughters, all of\nwhom grew up to womanhood. They were noted for their beauty, especially\nOweenee, the youngest, who was very independent in her way of thinking.\nShe was a great admirer of romantic places, and spent much of her time\nwith the flowers and winds and clouds in the open air. Though the flower\nwere homely, if it was fragrant\u2014though the wind were rough, if it was\nhealthful\u2014and though the cloud were dark, if it embosomed the fruitful\nrain, she knew how, in spite of appearances, to acknowledge the good\nqualities concealed from the eye. She paid very little attention to the\nmany handsome young men who came to her father\u2019s lodge for the purpose of\nseeing her.\n\nHer elder sisters were all sought in marriage, and one after the other\nthey went off to dwell in the lodges of their husbands; but Oweenee\nwas deaf to all proposals of the kind. At last she married an old man\ncalled Osseo, who was scarcely able to walk, and who was too poor to\nhave things like others. The only property he owned in the world was the\nwalking-staff which he carried in his hand. Though thus poor and homely,\nOsseo was a devout and good man; faithful in all his duties, and obedient\nin all things to the Good Spirit. Of course they jeered and laughed at\nOweenee on all sides, but she seemed to be quite happy, and said to them,\n\u201cIt is my choice and you will see in the end who has acted the wisest.\u201d\n\nThey made a special mock of the walking-staff, and scarcely an hour in\nthe day passed that they did not make some disparaging reference to it.\nAmong themselves they spoke of Osseo of the walking-staff, in derision,\nas the owner of the big woods, or the great timber-man.\n\n\u201cTrue,\u201d said Oweenee, \u201cit is but a simple stick; but as it supports the\nsteps of my husband, it is more precious to me than all the forests of\nthe north.\u201d\n\nA time came when the sisters, and their husbands, and their parents\nwere all invited to a feast. As the distance was considerable, they\ndoubted whether Osseo, so aged and feeble, would be able to undertake the\njourney; but in spite of their friendly doubts, he joined them, and set\nout with a good heart.\n\nAs they walked along the path they could not help pitying their young and\nhandsome sister who had such an unsuitable mate. She, however, smiled\nupon Osseo, and kept with him by the way the same as if he had been the\ncomeliest bridegroom in all the company. Osseo often stopped and gazed\nupward; but they could perceive nothing in the direction in which he\nlooked, unless it was the faint glimmering of the evening star. They\nheard him muttering to himself as they went along, and one of the elder\nsisters caught the words, \u201cPity me, my father!\u201d\n\n\u201cPoor old man,\u201d said she; \u201che is talking to his father. What a pity it is\nthat he would not fall and break his neck, that our sister might have a\nyoung husband.\u201d\n\nPresently, as they came to a great rock where Osseo had been used to\nbreathe his morning and his evening prayer, the star emitted a brighter\nray, which shone directly in his face. Osseo, with a sharp cry, fell\ntrembling to the earth, where the others would have left him; but his\ngood wife raised him up, and he sprang forward on the path, and with\nsteps light as the reindeer he led the party, no longer decrepit and\ninfirm, but a beautiful young man. On turning around to look for his\nwife, behold! she had become changed, at the same moment, into an aged\nand feeble woman, bent almost double, and walking with the staff which he\nhad cast aside.\n\nOsseo immediately joined her, and with looks of fondness and the\ntenderest regard, bestowed on her every endearing attention, and\nconstantly addressed her by the term of ne-ne-moosh-a, or my sweetheart.\n\nAs they walked along, whenever they were not gazing fondly in each\nother\u2019s face, they bent their looks on heaven, and a light, as if of\nfar-off stars, was in their eyes.\n\nOn arriving at the lodge of the hunter with whom they were to feast, they\nfound the banquet ready, and as soon as their entertainer had finished\nhis harangue\u2014in which he told them his feasting was in honor of the\nEvening or Woman\u2019s Star\u2014they began to partake of the portion dealt out,\naccording to age and character, to each one of the guests. The food was\nvery delicious, and they were all happy but Osseo, who looked at his\nwife, and then gazed upward, as if he was looking into the substance of\nthe sky. Sounds were soon heard, as if from far-off voices in the air,\nand they became plainer and plainer, till he could clearly distinguish\nsome of the words.\n\n\u201cMy son, my son,\u201d said the voice, \u201cI have seen your afflictions, and\npity your wants. I come to call you away from a scene that is stained\nwith blood and tears. The earth is full of sorrows. Wicked spirits, the\nenemies of mankind, walk abroad, and lie in wait to ensnare the children\nof the sky. Every night they are lifting their voices to the Power of\nEvil, and every day they make themselves busy in casting mischief in the\nhunter\u2019s path. You have long been their victim, but you shall be their\nvictim no more. The spell you were under is broken. Your evil genius is\novercome. I have cast him down by my superior strength, and it is this\nstrength I now exert for your happiness. Ascend, my son; ascend into the\nskies, and partake of the feast I have prepared for you in the stars, and\nbring with you those you love.\n\n\u201cThe food set before you is enchanted and blessed. Fear not to partake\nof it. It is endowed with magic power to give immortality to mortals,\nand to change men to spirits. Your bowls and kettles shall no longer be\nwood and earth. The one shall become silver and the other pure gold. They\nshall shine like fire, and glisten like the most beautiful scarlet. Every\nfemale shall also change her state and looks, and no longer be doomed to\nlaborious tasks. She shall put on the beauty of the starlight, and become\na shining bird of the air. She shall dance, and not work. She shall sing,\nand not cry.\n\n\u201cMy beams,\u201d continued the voice, \u201cshine faintly on your lodge, but they\nhave power to transform it into the lightness of the skies, and decorate\nit with the colors of the clouds. Come, Osseo, my son, and dwell no\nlonger on earth. Think strongly on my words, and look steadfastly at my\nbeams. My power is now at its height. Doubt not, delay not. It is the\nvoice of the Spirit of the Stars that calls you away to happiness and\ncelestial rest.\u201d\n\nThe words were intelligible to Osseo, but his companions thought them\nsome far-off sounds of music, or birds singing in the woods. Very soon\nthe lodge began to shake and tremble, and they felt it rising into the\nair. It was too late to run out, for they were already as high as the\ntops of the trees. Osseo looked around him as the lodge passed through\nthe topmost boughs, and behold! their wooden dishes were changed into\nshells of a scarlet color, the poles of the lodge to glittering rods of\nsilver, and the bark that covered them into the gorgeous wings of insects.\n\nA moment more and his brothers and sisters, and their parents and\nfriends, were transformed into birds of various plumage. Some were jays,\nsome partridges and pigeons, and others gay singing birds, who hopped\nabout, displaying their many-colored feathers, and singing songs of\ncheerful note.\n\nBut his wife, Oweenee, still kept her earthly garb, and exhibited all\nthe indications of extreme old age. He again cast his eyes in the\ndirection of the clouds, and uttered the peculiar cry which had given him\nthe victory at the rock. In a moment the youth and beauty of his wife\nreturned; her dingy garments assumed the shining appearance of green\nsilk, and her staff was changed into a silver feather.\n\nThe lodge again shook and trembled, for they were now passing through\nthe uppermost clouds, and they immediately after found themselves in the\nEvening Star, the residence of Osseo\u2019s father.\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d said the old man, \u201chang that cage of birds which you have\nbrought along in your hand at the door, and I will inform you why you and\nyour wife have been sent for.\u201d\n\nOsseo obeyed, and then took his seat in the lodge.\n\n\u201cPity was shown to you,\u201d resumed the King of the Star, \u201con account of\nthe contempt of your wife\u2019s sisters, who laughed at her ill fortune, and\nridiculed you while you were under the power of that wicked spirit whom\nyou overcame at the rock. That spirit lives in the next lodge, being the\nsmall star you see on the left of mine, and he has always felt envious\nof my family because we had greater power, and especially because we had\ncommitted to us the care of the female world. He failed in many attempts\nto destroy your brothers and sisters-in-law, but succeeded at last in\ntransforming yourself and your wife into decrepit old persons. You must\nbe careful and not let the light of his beams fall on you while you are\nhere, for therein lies the power of his enchantment. A ray of light is\nthe bow and arrow he uses.\u201d\n\nOsseo lived happy and contented in the parental lodge, and in due time\nhis wife presented him with a son, who grew up rapidly, and in the very\nlikeness of Osseo himself. He was very quick and ready in learning\neverything that was done in his grandfather\u2019s dominions, but he wished\nalso to learn the art of hunting, for he had heard that this was a\nfavorite pursuit below. To gratify him, his father made him a bow and\narrows, and he then let the birds out of the cage that he might practise\nin shooting. In this pastime he soon became expert, and the very first\nday he brought down a bird; but when he went to pick it up, to his\namazement it was a beautiful young woman, with the arrow sticking in her\nbreast. It was one of his younger aunts.\n\nThe moment her blood fell upon the surface of that pure and spotless\nplanet, the charm was dissolved. The boy immediately found himself\nsinking, although he was partly upheld by something like wings until he\npassed through the lower clouds, and he then suddenly dropped upon a\nhigh, breezy island in a large lake. He was pleased, on looking up, to\nsee all his aunts and uncles following him in the form of birds, and he\nsoon discovered the silver lodge, with his father and mother, descending,\nwith its waving tassels fluttering like so many insects\u2019 gilded wings.\nIt rested on the loftiest cliffs of the island, and there they fixed\ntheir residence. They all resumed their natural shapes, but they were\ndiminished to the size of fairies; and as a mark of homage to the King of\nthe Evening Star, they never failed on every pleasant evening during the\nsummer season to join hands and dance upon the top of the rocks. These\nrocks were quickly observed by the Indians to be covered, in moonlight\nevenings, with a larger sort of Ininees, or little men, and were called\nMish-in-e-mok-in-ok-ong, or Little Spirits, and the island is named from\nthem to this day.\n\nTheir shining lodge can be seen in the summer evenings, when the moon\nbeams strongly on the pinnacles of the rocks; and the fishermen who go\nnear those high cliffs at night have even heard the voices of the happy\nlittle dancers. And Osseo and his wife, as fondly attached to each other\nas ever, always lead the dance.\n\n\nTHE WANDERING STAR\n\n(_A Chippewa Legend_)\n\nA quarrel arose among the stars, when one of them was driven from its\nhome in the heavens, and descended to the earth. It wandered from one\npath to another, and was seen hovering over the campfires when the people\nwere preparing to sleep. Among all the people in the world, only one\ncould be found who was not afraid of this star, and this was a daughter\nof a Chippewa. She was not afraid of the star, but admired and loved it.\nWhen she awoke in the night she always beheld it, for the star loved the\nmaiden. In midsummer the young girl, on going into the woods for berries,\nlost her way, when a storm arose. Her cries for rescue were answered only\nby the frogs. A lonely night came, when she looked for her star in vain;\nthe storm overcast the sky, and at length caught her in its fury and bore\nher away. Many seasons passed, during which the star was seen, dimmed\nand wandering, in the sky. At length, one autumn, it disappeared. Then a\nhunter saw a small light hanging over the water within the marshland in\nwhich he was hunting. He returned to announce the strange sight. \u201cThat,\u201d\nsaid the old wise man, \u201cwas the star driven from heaven, now wandering in\nsearch of our lost maiden, our beautiful child of the Chippewas.\u201d\n\n\nTHE DAUGHTERS OF THE STARS\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nWaupee, or the White Hawk, lived in a remote part of the forest, where\nanimals abounded. Every day he returned from the chase with a large\nspoil, for he was one of the most skilful and lucky hunters of his tribe.\nHis form was like the cedar; the fire of youth beamed from his eye; there\nwas no forest too gloomy for him to penetrate, and no track made by bird\nor beast of any kind which he could not readily follow.\n\nOne day he had gone beyond any point which he had ever before visited.\nHe travelled through an open wood, which enabled him to see a great\ndistance. At length he beheld a light breaking through the foliage of\nthe distant trees, which made him sure that he was on the borders of a\nprairie. It was a wide plain, covered with long blue grass, and enamelled\nwith flowers of a thousand lovely tints.\n\nAfter walking for some time without a path, musing upon the open country,\nand enjoying the fragrant breeze, he suddenly came to a ring worn among\nthe grass and the flowers, as if it had been made by footsteps moving\nlightly round and round. But it was strange\u2014so strange as to cause the\nWhite Hawk to pause and gaze long and fixedly upon the ground\u2014there was\nno path which led to this flowery circle. There was not even a crushed\nleaf nor a broken twig, nor the least trace of a footstep, approaching or\nretiring, to be found. He thought he would hide himself and lie in wait\nto discover, if he could, what this strange circle meant.\n\nPresently he heard the faint sounds of music in the air. He looked up in\nthe direction they came from, and as the magic notes died away he saw\na small object, like a little summer cloud that approaches the earth,\nfloating down from above. At first it was very small, and seemed as if it\ncould have been blown away by the first breeze that came along; but it\nrapidly grew as he gazed upon it, and the music every moment came clearer\nand more sweetly to his ear. As it neared the earth it appeared as a\nbasket, and it was filled with twelve sisters, of the most lovely forms\nand enchanting beauty.\n\nAs soon as the basket touched the ground they leaped out, and began\nstraightway to dance, in the most joyous manner, around the magic\nring, striking, as they did so, a shining ball, which uttered the most\nravishing melodies, and kept time as they danced.\n\nThe White Hawk, from his concealment, entranced, gazed upon their\ngraceful forms and movements. He admired them all, but he was most\npleased with the youngest. He longed to be at her side, to embrace her,\nto call her his own; and unable to remain longer a silent admirer, he\nrushed out and endeavored to seize this twelfth beauty who so enchanted\nhim. But the sisters, with the quickness of birds, the moment they\ndescried the form of a man, leaped back into the basket, and were drawn\nup into the sky.\n\nLamenting his ill-luck, Waupee gazed longingly upon the fairy basket as\nit ascended and bore the lovely sisters from his view. \u201cThey are gone,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cand I shall see them no more.\u201d\n\nHe returned to his solitary lodge, but he found no relief to his mind. He\nwalked abroad, but to look at the sky, which had withdrawn from his sight\nthe only being he had ever loved, was painful to him now.\n\nThe next day, selecting the same hour, the White Hawk went back to the\nprairie, and took his station near the ring; in order to deceive the\nsisters, he assumed the form of an opossum, and sat among the grass as\nif he were there engaged in chewing the cud. He had not waited long when\nhe saw the cloudy basket descend, and heard the same sweet music falling\nas before. He crept slowly toward the ring; but the instant the sisters\ncaught sight of him they were startled, and sprang into their car. It\nrose a short distance when one of the elder sisters spoke.\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d she said, \u201cit has come to show us how the game is played by\nmortals.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d the youngest replied. \u201cQuick, let us ascend.\u201d\n\nAnd all joining in a chant, they rose out of sight.\n\nWaupee, casting off his disguise, walked sorrowfully back to his\nlodge\u2014but, ah! the night seemed very long to lonely White Hawk. His whole\nsoul was filled with the thought of the beautiful sister.\n\nBetimes, the next day, he returned to the haunted spot, hoping and\nfearing, and sighing as though his very soul would leave his body in its\nanguish. He reflected upon the plan he should follow to secure success.\nHe had already failed twice; to fail a third time would be fatal. Near by\nhe found an old stump, much covered with moss, and just then in use as\nthe residence of a number of mice, who had stopped there on a pilgrimage\nto some relatives on the other side of the prairie. The White Hawk was so\npleased with their tidy little forms that he thought he, too, would be\na mouse, especially as they were by no means formidable to look at, and\nwould not be at all likely to create alarm.\n\nHe accordingly, having first brought the stump and set it near the ring,\nwithout further notice became a mouse, and peeped and sported about, and\nkept his sharp little eyes busy with the others; but he did not forget\nto keep one eye up toward the sky, and one ear wide open in the same\ndirection.\n\nIt was not long before the sisters, at their customary hour, came down\nand resumed their sport.\n\n\u201cBut see,\u201d cried the younger sister, \u201cthat stump was not there before.\u201d\n\nShe ran off, frightened, toward the basket. Her sisters only smiled, and\ngathering round the old tree stump, they struck it, in jest, when out\nran the mice, and among them Waupee. They killed them all but one, which\nwas pursued by the younger sister. Just as she had raised a silver stick\nwhich she held in her hand to put an end to it, too, the form of the\nWhite Hawk arose, and he clasped his prize in his arms. The other eleven\nsprang to their basket, and were drawn up to the skies.\n\nWaupee exerted all his skill to please his bride and win her affections.\nHe wiped the tears from her eyes; he related his adventures in the\nchase; he dwelt upon the charms of life on the earth. He was constant\nin his attentions, keeping fondly by her side, and picking out the way\nfor her to walk as he led her gently toward his lodge. He felt his heart\nglow with joy as he entered it, and from that moment he was one of the\nhappiest of men.\n\nWinter and summer passed rapidly away, and as the spring drew near\nwith its balmy gales and its many-colored flowers, their happiness was\nincreased by the presence of a beautiful boy in their lodge. What more of\nearthly blessing was there for them to enjoy?\n\nWaupee\u2019s wife was a daughter of one of the stars, and as the scenes of\nearth began to pall upon her sight, she sighed to revisit her father. But\nshe was obliged to hide these feelings from her husband. She remembered\nthe charm that would carry her up, and while White Hawk was engaged in\nthe chase, she took occasion to construct a wicker basket, which she\nkept concealed. In the meantime she collected such rarities from the\nearth as she thought would please her father, as well as the most dainty\nkinds of food.\n\nOne day when Waupee was absent, and all was in readiness, she went out\nto the charmed ring, taking with her her little son. As they entered the\ncar she commenced her magical song, and the basket rose. The song was\nsad, and of a lowly and mournful cadence, and as it was wafted far away\nby the wind, it caught her husband\u2019s ear. It was a voice which he well\nknew, and he instantly ran to the prairie. Though he made breathless\nspeed, he could not reach the ring before his wife and child had ascended\nbeyond his reach. He lifted up his voice in loud appeals, but they were\nunavailing. The basket still went up. He watched it till it became a\nsmall speck, and finally it vanished in the sky. He then bent his head\ndown to the ground, and was miserable.\n\nThrough a long winter and a long summer Waupee bewailed his loss, but he\nfound no relief. The beautiful spirit had come and gone, and he should\nsee it no more!\n\nHe mourned his wife\u2019s loss sorely, but his son\u2019s still more; for the boy\nhad both the mother\u2019s beauty and the father\u2019s strength.\n\nIn the meantime his wife had reached her home in the stars, and in the\nblissful employments of her father\u2019s house she had almost forgotten that\nshe had left a husband upon the earth. But her son, as he grew up,\nresembled more and more his father, and every day he was restless and\nanxious to visit the scene of his birth. His grandfather said to his\ndaughter, one day:\n\n\u201cGo, my child, and take your son down to his father, and ask him to come\nup and live with us. But tell him to bring along a specimen of each kind\nof bird and animal he kills in the chase.\u201d\n\nShe accordingly took the boy and descended. The White Hawk, who was ever\nnear the enchanted spot, heard her voice as she came down the sky. His\nheart beat with impatience as he saw her form and that of his son, and\nthey were soon clasped in his arms.\n\nHe heard the message of the Star, and he began to hunt with the greatest\nactivity, that he might collect the presents with all dispatch. He\nspent whole nights, as well as days, in searching for every curious and\nbeautiful animal and bird. He only preserved a foot, a wing, or a tail of\neach.\n\nWhen all was ready, Waupee visited once more each favorite spot\u2014the\nhill-top whence he had been used to see the rising sun; the stream where\nhe had sported as a boy; the old lodge, now looking sad and solemn, which\nhe was to sit in no more; and, last of all, coming to the magic circle,\nhe gazed widely around him with tearful eyes, and, taking his wife and\nchild by the hand, they entered the car and were drawn up\u2014into a country\nfar beyond the flight of birds, or the power of mortal eye to pierce.\n\nGreat joy was manifested upon their arrival at the starry plains.\nThe Star Chief invited all his people to a feast; and when they had\nassembled, he proclaimed aloud that each one might continue as he was, an\ninhabitant of his own dominions, or select of the earthly gifts such as\nhe liked best. A very strange confusion immediately arose; not one but\nsprang forward. Some chose a foot, some a wing, some a tail, and some a\nclaw. Those who selected tails or claws were changed into animals, and\nran off; the others assumed the form of birds, and flew away. Waupee\nchose a white hawk\u2019s feather. His wife and son followed his example, and\neach one became a white hawk. He spread his wings, and, followed by his\nwife and son, descended with the other birds to the earth, where he is\nstill to be found, with the brightness of the starry plains in his eye\nand the freedom of the heavenly breezes in his wings.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nMYTHS OF THE SKY AND AIR\n\n\nThe sky and the air are identified with the highest conceptions of\ndivinity reached in the myths either of savage or more cultured races.\nThe Great Spirit of the North American Indians was the god of the sky.\nVaruna, the all-seeing, merciful god of the Hindoos, was the god of the\nvault of heaven. Zeus, the supreme god of the Greeks, was the sky god;\nalso Odin, the great god in Norse mythology (although above him was\na mysterious, unnameable god), Ormuzd in Persian mythology, Rangi in\nPolynesian, in Japan the Invisible Lord of the Middle Heaven. Closely\nrelated in power to the gods of the sky are the gods of wind or storm.\nSometimes the god of the sky is himself the wielder of the thunder, as\nin the case of Zeus, and sometimes there is a special god of storm or\nthunder, as the Indra of the Hindoos or the Thor of the Norsemen. In\nIndian myths, Manabozho often wielded the thunder and lightning, and he\nhas contests with another god of the air, Paup-puk-keewiss, the wind, a\npersonage full of mischief, as wind gods are apt to be, like the Greek\nHermes. The personification of wind and thunder as birds is very common,\nand many a quaint tale results from this mythical idea. The Sioux\nIndians believed in a god, Wah-keen-yan, in the form of a large bird,\nwhose flapping wings made the thunder. He lived in the far, far west, on\na mound rising from a mountain top. To his tent there are four openings,\nin which there are sentinels clothed in red down. At the east is a\nbutterfly, at the west a bear; a fawn is at the south, and a reindeer is\nat the north. He fashioned the first spear and tomahawk, and attempted\nto kill the offspring of Oan-tay-hee, his bitter enemy. If Oan-tay-hee\ncame near the surface of the earth, then Wah-keen-yan would fire a hot\nthunderbolt at him. Another of his enemies was Chaho-ter\u2019dah, the god of\nthe forest. It was said that the god of thunder often came racing along,\nhurling lightning at a tree, to kill the forest god, who, having been\nwarned, had taken refuge in the water. Then Chaho-ter\u2019dah would ascend\na tree and hurl his lightning at his adversary to bring him down to\nsubmission.\n\n[Illustration: Aurora. _Guido Reni._]\n\nAnother thunder bird is Sootooch, believed in by the natives of\nVancouver\u2019s Island. He is a mighty bird, dwelling aloft and far away,\nthe flap of whose wings makes the thunder, and his tongue is the forked\nlightning. There were once four of these birds in the land, and they fed\non whales. But the great deity Quawteaht, entering into a whale, enticed\none thunder bird after another to swoop down and seize him with its\ntalons. Then he would plunge to the bottom of the sea and drown it. Thus\nthree of them perished, but the last one spread his wings and flew to\nthe distant height, where he has since remained.\n\nThe Dakotahs say that thunder is a large bird flying through the air. Its\nbright tracks are seen in the air before you hear the clapping of its\nwings. The old bird begins the thunder, but its rumbling noise is caused\nby an immense quantity of young birds or thunders that do the mischief.\nThey are like the young, mischievous men that will not listen to good\ncounsel. The old Thunder is wise and good, and does not kill anybody nor\ndo any kind of mischief.\n\nThe chief god of the Brazilians is a large bird who sweeps over the\nheavens, watching his children and watering their crops. He warns them of\nhis presence by the mighty sound of his voice, the rushing of his wings,\nand the flash of his eye. This interesting bird is worshipped in a way\nbefitting his nature. A dry gourd is filled with pebbles and decked with\nfeathers and arrows, which is rattled vigorously to symbolize the drama\nof the storm. This curious implement has another element of interest in\nthe fact that it is one of the earliest forms of musical instrument.\n\nAn equally remarkable variety of bird is the wind bird, who wings his\nway through all mythologies in one form or another. Although the wind\nin Greece had risen to man\u2019s estate, it was still represented as having\nwings. Even the wind god Hermes, far removed as he is from the savage\nidea of the wind, could not get along without wings for his feet and\nhead. Zeus, also, has a raven for his messenger, and Odin has the ravens\nHugin and Munin, who fly every day over the whole world and report to him\non their return what they have seen. Besides, there is a Norse god of\nthe winds\u2014a giant who sits in the northern extremity of heaven, clad in\neagle\u2019s plumes. When he spreads out his wings for flight the winds arise\nfrom under them.\n\nThe thunder, however, like the wind, even among savages, is sometimes\npersonified as men, as in the following Algonquin stories:\n\n\nHOW A HUNTER VISITED THE THUNDER SPIRITS WHO DWELL IN MOUNT KATAHDIN\n\n(_Passamaquoddy_)\n\n_N\u2019karnayoo._ Of old times. Once an Indian went forth to hunt. And he\ndeparted from the east branch of the Penobscot, and came to the head of\nanother branch that leads into the east branch, and this he followed\neven to the foot of Mount Katahdin. And there he hunted many a day\nalone, and met none, till one morning in midwinter he found the track of\nsnowshoes. So he returned to his camp; but the next day he met with it\nagain in a far-distant place. And thus it was that, wherever he went,\nthis track came to him every day. Then noting this, as a sign to be\nobserved, he followed it, and it went up the mountain Katahdin, which,\nbeing interpreted, means \u201cthe great mountain,\u201d until at last it was lost\nin a hard snowshoe road made by many travellers. And since it was hard\nand even, he took off his _agahmook_ (P.), or snowshoes, and went ever\non and up with the road; and it was a strange path and strange was its\nending, for it stopped just before a high ledge, like an immense wall,\non a platform at its foot. And there were many signs there, as of many\npeople, yet he saw no one. And as he stayed it seemed to grow stranger\nand stranger. At last he heard a sound as of footsteps coming, yet within\nthe wall, when lo! a girl stepped directly out of the precipice upon the\nplatform. But though she was beautiful beyond belief, he was afraid.\nAnd to his every thought she answered in words, and that so sweetly\nand kindly and cleverly that he was soon without fear, though he saw\nthat she had powerful _m\u2019t\u00e9oulin_, or great magic power. And they being\nsoon pleased one with the other, and wanting each other, she bade him\naccompany her, and that by walking directly through the rock. \u201cHave no\nfear,\u201d said she, \u201cbut advance boldly!\u201d So he obeyed, and lo! the rock\nwas as the air, and it gave way as he went on. And ever as they went the\nmaiden talked to him, answering his thoughts, so that he spoke not aloud.\n\nAnd anon they came to a great cavern far within, and there was an old man\nseated by a fire, and the old man welcomed him. And he was very kindly\ntreated by the strange pair all day: in all his life he had never been\nso happy. Now as the night drew near, the old man said to his daughter,\n\u201cCan you hear aught of your brothers?\u201d Then she went out to the terrace,\nand, returning, said, \u201cNo.\u201d Then anon he asked her again, and she, going\nand returning as before, replied, \u201cNow I hear them coming.\u201d Then they\nlistened, when lo! there came, as at the door without, a crash of thunder\nwith a flash of lightning, and out of the light stepped two young men of\ngreat beauty, but like giants, stupendous and of awful mien. And, like\ntheir father, their eyebrows were of stone, while their cheeks were as\nrocks.\n\nAnd the hunter was told by their sister that when they went forth, which\nwas every few days, their father said to them: \u201cSons, arise! it is time\nnow for you to go forth over the world and save our friends. Go not too\nnear the trees, but if you see aught that is harmful to those whom we\nlove, strike, and spare not!\u201d Then when they went forth they flew on\nhigh, among the clouds: and thus it is that the Thunder and Lightning,\nwhose home is in the mighty Katahdin, are made. And when the thunder\nstrikes, the brothers are shooting at the enemies of their friends.\n\nNow when the day was done the hunter returned to his home, and when there\nfound he had been gone seven years. All this I have heard from the old\npeople who are dead and gone.\n\n\nTHE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING MEN\n\n(_Passamaquoddy_)\n\nThis is truly an old Indian story of old time. Once an Indian was whirled\nup by the roaring wind: he was taken up in a thunder-storm, and set down\nagain in the village of the Thunders. In after times he described them as\nvery like human beings: they used bows and arrows (_tah-bokque_), and had\nwings.\n\nBut these wings can be laid aside, and kept for use. And from time to\ntime their chief gives these Thunders orders to put them on, and tells\nthem where to go. He also tells them how long they are to be gone, and\nwarns them not to go too low, for it is sure death for them to be caught\nin the crotch of a tree.\n\nThe great chief of the Thunders, hearing of the stranger\u2019s arrival,\nsent for him, and received him very kindly, and told him that he would\ndo well to become one of them. To which the man being willing, the\nchief soon after called all his people together to see the ceremony of\n_thunderifying_ the Indian.\n\nThen they bade him go into a square thing, or box, and while in it he\nlost his senses and became a Thunder. Then they brought him a pair\nof wings, and he put them on. So he flew about like the rest of the\nThunders; he became quite like them, and followed all their ways. And he\nsaid that they always flew toward the _sou\u2019 n\u2019 snook_, or south, and that\nthe roar and crash of the thunder was the sound of their wings. Their\ngreat amusement is to play at ball across the sky. When they return they\ncarefully put away their wings for their next flight. There is a big bird\nin the south, and this they are always trying to kill, but never succeed\nin doing so.\n\nThey made long journeys, and always took him with them. So it went on\nfor a long time, but it came to pass that the Indian began to tire of\nhis strange friends. Then he told the chief that he wished to see his\nfamily on earth, and the sagamore listened to him and was very kind. Then\nhe called all his people together, and said that their brother from the\nother world was very lonesome, and wished to return. They were all very\nsorry indeed to lose him, but because they loved him they let him have\nhis own way, and decided to carry him back again. So bidding him close\nhis eyes till he should be on earth, they carried him down.\n\nThe Indians saw a great thunder-storm drawing near; they heard such\nthunder as they never knew before, and then something in the shape of a\nhuman being coming down with lightning; then they ran to the spot where\nhe sat, and it was their long-lost brother, who had been gone seven years.\n\nHe had been in the Thunder-world. He told them how he had been playing\nball with the Thunder-boys; yes, how he had been turned into a real\nThunder himself.\n\n\nHOW GLOOSKAP BOUND WUCHOWSEN, THE GREAT WIND-BIRD, AND MADE ALL THE\nWATERS IN ALL THE WORLD STAGNANT\n\n(_Passamaquoddy_)\n\nThe Indians believe in a great bird called by them _Wochowsen_ or\n_Wuchowsen_, meaning Wind-Blow or the Wind-Blower, who lives far to the\nNorth, and sits upon a great rock at the end of the sky. And it is\nbecause whenever he moves his wings the wind blows they of old times\ncalled him that.\n\nWhen Glooskap was among men he often went out in his canoe with bow and\narrows to kill sea-fowl. At one time it was every day very windy; it grew\nworse; at last it blew a tempest, and he could not go out at all. Then he\nsaid: \u201cWuchowsen, the Great Bird, has done this!\u201d\n\nHe went to find him; it was long ere he reached his abode. He found\nsitting on a high rock a large white Bird.\n\n\u201cGrandfather,\u201d said Glooskap, \u201cyou take no compassion on your _Koosesek_,\nyour grandchildren. You have caused this wind and storm; it is too much.\nBe easier with your wings!\u201d\n\nThe Giant Bird replied: \u201cI have been here since ancient times; in the\nearliest days, ere aught else spoke, I first moved my wings; mine was the\nfirst voice\u2014and I will ever move my wings as I will.\u201d\n\nThen Glooskap rose in his might; he rose to the clouds; he took the Great\nBird-giant Wuchowsen as though he were a duck, and tied both his wings,\nand threw him down into a chasm between deep rocks, and left him lying\nthere.\n\nThe Indians could now go out in their canoes all day long, for there\nwas a dead calm for many weeks and months. And with that all the waters\nbecame stagnant. They were so thick that Glooskap could not paddle his\ncanoe. Then he thought of the Great Bird, and went to see him.\n\nAs he had left him he found him, for Wuchowsen is immortal. So, raising\nhim, he put him on his rock again, and untied one of his wings. Since\nthen the winds have never been so terrible as in the old time.\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL EXPLOITS OF PAUP-PUK-KEEWISS\n\nA man of large stature found himself standing alone on a prairie. He\nthought to himself: \u201cHow came I here? Are there no beings on this earth\nbut myself? I must travel and see. I must walk till I find the abodes of\nmen.\u201d\n\nSo soon as his mind was made up he set out, he knew not whither, in\nsearch of habitations. He was a resolute fellow, and no difficulties\ncould turn him from his purpose: neither prairies, rivers, woods, nor\nstorms had the effect to daunt his courage or turn him back. After\ntravelling a long time he came to a wood, in which he saw decayed stumps\nof trees, as if they had been cut in ancient times, but no other trace\nof men. Pursuing his journey, he found more recent marks of the same\nkind; after this he came upon fresh traces of human beings; first their\nfootsteps, and then the wood they had felled, lying in heaps. Pushing on,\nhe emerged toward dusk from the forest, and beheld at a distance a large\nvillage of high lodges standing on rising ground.\n\n\u201cI am tired of this dog-trot,\u201d he said to himself. \u201cI will arrive there\non a run.\u201d\n\nHe started off with all his speed. On coming to the first lodge, without\nany especial exertion, he jumped over it, and found himself standing by\nthe door on the other side. Those within saw something pass over the\nopening in the roof, and then they heard a thump upon the ground. \u201cWhat\nis that?\u201d they all said, and one ran out to see and invited him in. He\nfound himself in company with an old chief and several men who were\nseated in the lodge. Meat was set before him, after which the old chief\nasked him whither he was going, and what was his name. He answered that\nhe was in search of adventures, and that his name was \u201cPaup-puk-keewiss.\u201d\n\nThey all opened their eyes upon the stranger with a broad stare.\n\n\u201cPaup-puk-keewiss!\u201d whispered one to another, and a general titter went\nround.\n\nThey invited him to stay with them, which he was inclined to do, for\nit was a pleasant village, but so small as constantly to embarrass\nPaup-puk-keewiss. He was in perpetual trouble; whenever he shook hands\nwith a stranger to whom he might be introduced, such was the abundance of\nhis strength, without meaning it, he wrung his arm off at the shoulder.\nOnce or twice, in mere sport, he cuffed the boys about the lodge by the\nside of the head, and they flew out of sight as though they had been shot\nfrom a bow; nor could they ever be found again, though they were searched\nfor in all the country round, far and wide. If Paup-puk-keewiss proposed\nto himself a short stroll in the morning, he was at once miles out of\ntown. When he entered a lodge, if he happened for a moment to forget\nhimself, he walked straight through the leathern, or wooden, or earthen\nwalls as if he had been merely passing through a bush. At his meals he\nbroke in pieces all the dishes, set them down as lightly as he would;\nand, putting a leg out of bed when he rose, it was a common thing for him\nto push off the top of the lodge.\n\nHe wanted more elbow-room, and after a short stay, in which, by the\naccidental letting go of his strength, he had nearly laid waste the\nwhole place, and filled it with demolished lodges and broken pottery\nand one-armed men, he made up his mind to go farther, taking with him\na young man who had formed a strong attachment for him, and who might\nserve him as his pipe-bearer; for Paup-puk-keewiss was a huge smoker,\nand vast clouds followed him wherever he went, so that people could say,\n\u201cPaup-puk-keewiss is coming!\u201d by the mighty smoke he raised.\n\nThey set out together, and when his companion was fatigued with walking,\nPaup-puk-keewiss would put him forward on his journey a mile or two by\ngiving him a cast in the air and lighting him in a soft place among\nthe trees, or in a cool spot in a water-pond, among the sedges and\nwater-lilies. At other times he would lighten the way by showing off\na few tricks, such as leaping over trees, and turning round on one\nleg till he made the dust fly; at which the pipe-bearer was mightily\npleased, although it sometimes happened that the character of these\ngambols frightened him. For Paup-puk-keewiss would, without the least\nhint of such an intention, jump into the air far ahead, and it would\ncost the little pipe-bearer half a day\u2019s hard travel to come up with\nhim; and then the dust Paup-puk-keewiss raised was often so thick and\nheavy as completely to bury the poor little pipe-bearer, and compel\nPaup-puk-keewiss to dig diligently and with might and main to get him out\nalive.\n\nOne day they came to a very large village, where they were well received.\nAfter staying in it some time (in the course of which Paup-puk-keewiss,\nin a fit of abstraction, walked straight through the sides of three\nlodges without stopping to look for the door), they were informed of a\nnumber of wicked spirits, who lived at a distance, and who made it a\npractice to kill all who came to their lodge. Attempts had been made to\ndestroy them, but they had always proved more than a match for such as\nhad come out against them.\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss determined to pay them a visit, although he was strongly\nadvised not to do so. The chief of the village warned him of the great\ndanger he would incur, but finding Paup-puk-keewiss resolved, he said:\n\n\u201cWell, if you will go, being my guest I will send twenty warriors to\nserve you.\u201d\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss thanked him for the offer, although he suggested that he\nthought he could get along without them, at which the little pipe-bearer\ngrinned, for his master had never shown in that village what he could\ndo, and the chief thought that he, Paup-puk-keewiss, would be likely to\nneed twenty warriors, at the least, to encounter the wicked spirits with\nany chance of success. Twenty young men made their appearance. They set\nforward, and after about a day\u2019s journey they descried the lodge of the\nManitoes.\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss placed his friend, Pipe-bearer, and the warriors near\nenough to see all that passed, while he went alone to the lodge.\n\nAs he entered, Paup-puk-keewiss saw five horrid-looking Manitoes in\nthe act of eating. It was the father and his four sons. They were\nreally hideous to look upon. Their eyes were swimming low in their\nheads, and they glared about as if they were half starved. They offered\nPaup-puk-keewiss something to eat, which he politely refused, for he had\na strong suspicion that it was the thigh-bone of a man.\n\n\u201cWhat have you come for?\u201d said the old one.\n\n\u201cNothing,\u201d answered Paup-puk-keewiss.\n\nThey all stared at him.\n\n\u201cDo you not wish to wrestle?\u201d they all asked.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Paup-puk-keewiss, \u201cI don\u2019t mind if I do take a turn.\u201d\n\nPipe-bearer, who stood near enough to overhear the conversation, grinned\nfrom ear to ear when he caught this remark. A hideous smile came over the\nfaces of the Manitoes.\n\n\u201cYou go,\u201d they said to the eldest brother.\n\nThe two got ready\u2014the Manito and Paup-puk-keewiss\u2014and they were soon\nclinched in each other\u2019s arms for a deadly throw. Paup-puk-keewiss knew\ntheir object\u2014his death; they wanted a taste of his body, and he was\ndetermined they should have it, perhaps in a different sense from that\nthey intended.\n\n\u201cHaw! haw!\u201d they cried, and soon the dust and dry leaves flew about as\nif driven by a strong wind. The Manito was strong, but Paup-puk-keewiss\nthought he could master him; and all at once, giving him a sly trip as\nthe wicked spirit was trying to finish his breakfast with a piece out\nof his shoulder, he sent the Manito headforemost against a stone, and,\ncalling aloud to the three others, he bade them come and take the body\naway.\n\nThe brothers now stepped forth in quick succession, but Paup-puk-keewiss,\nhaving got his blood up and limbered himself by exercise, soon dispatched\nthe three\u2014sending one this way, another that, and the third straight up\ninto the air so high that he never came down again.\n\nIt was time for the old Manito to be frightened, and dreadfully\nfrightened he got, and ran for his life, which was the very worst thing\nhe could have done; for Paup-puk-keewiss, of all his gifts of strength,\nwas most noted for his speed of foot. The old Manito set off, and for\nmere sport\u2019s sake Paup-puk-keewiss pursued him. Sometimes he was before\nthe wicked old spirit, sometimes he was flying over his head, and then\nhe would keep along at a steady trot just at his heels, till he had blown\nall the breath out of the old knave\u2019s body.\n\nMeantime his friend, Pipe-bearer, and the twenty young warriors cried out:\n\n\u201cHa, ha, ah! ha, ha, ah! Paup-puk-keewiss is driving him before him!\u201d\n\nThe Manito only turned his head now and then to look back. At length,\nwhen he was tired of the sport, to be rid of him, Paup-puk-keewiss, with\na gentle application of his foot, sent the wicked old Manito whirling\naway through the air, in which he made a great number of the most curious\nturnovers in the world, till he came to alight, when it so happened that\nhe fell astride of an old bull buffalo, grazing in a distant pasture, who\nstraightway set off with him at a long gallop, and the old Manito has not\nbeen heard of to this day.\n\nThe warriors and Pipe-bearer and Paup-puk-keewiss set to work and burned\ndown the lodge of the wicked spirits, and then when they came to look\nabout, they saw that the ground was strewn on all sides with human bones\nbleaching in the sun; these were the unhappy victims of the Manitoes.\nPaup-puk-keewiss then took three arrows from his girdle, and, after\nhaving performed a ceremony to the Great Spirit, he shot one into the\nair, crying: \u201cYou are lying down; rise up or you will be hit!\u201d\n\nThe bones all moved to one place. He shot the second arrow, repeating the\nsame words, when each bone drew toward its fellow-bone; the third arrow\nbrought forth to life the whole multitude of people who had been killed\nby the Manitoes. Paup-puk-keewiss conducted the crowd to the chief of the\nvillage, who had proved his friend, and gave them into his hands. The\nchief was there with his counsellors, to whom he spoke apart.\n\n\u201cWho is more worthy,\u201d said the chief to Paup-puk-keewiss, \u201cto rule than\nyou? _You_ alone can defend them.\u201d\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss thanked him, and told him that he was in search of more\nadventures. \u201cI have done some things,\u201d said Paup-puk-keewiss, rather\nboastfully, \u201cand I think I can do some more.\u201d\n\nThe chief still urged him, but he was eager to go, and, naming\nPipe-bearer to tarry and take his place, he set out again on his travels,\npromising that he would some time or other come back and see them.\n\n\u201cHo! ho! ho!\u201d they all cried. \u201cCome back again and see us!\u201d He renewed\nhis promise that he would, and then set out alone.\n\nAfter travelling some time he came to a great lake, and on looking about\nhe discovered a very large otter on an island. He thought to himself:\n\u201cHis skin will make me a fine pouch.\u201d And he immediately drew up at long\nshots and drove an arrow into his side. He waded into the lake, and with\nsome difficulty dragged him ashore, and up a hill overlooking the lake.\n\nAs soon as Paup-puk-keewiss got the otter into the sunshine where it was\nwarm, he skinned him, and threw the carcass some distance off, thinking\nthe war-eagle would come, and that he should have a chance to secure his\nfeathers as ornaments for the head; for Paup-puk-keewiss began to be\nproud, and was disposed to display himself.\n\nHe soon heard a rushing noise as of a loud wind, but could see nothing.\nPresently a large eagle dropped, as if from the air, upon the otter\u2019s\ncarcass. Paup-puk-keewiss drew his bow, and the arrow passed through\nunder both of his wings. The bird made a convulsive flight upward, with\nsuch force that the cumbrous body was borne up several feet from the\nground; but, with its claws deeply fixed, the heavy otter brought the\neagle back to the earth. Paup-puk-keewiss possessed himself of a handful\nof the prime feathers, crowned his head with the trophy, and set off in\nhigh spirits on the lookout for something new.\n\nAfter walking awhile, he came to a body of water which flooded the trees\non its banks\u2014it was a lake made by beavers. Taking his station on the\nraised dam where the stream escaped, he watched to see whether any of the\nbeavers would show themselves. A head presently peeped out of the water\nto see who it was that disturbed them.\n\n\u201cMy friend,\u201d said Paup-puk-keewiss, in his most persuasive manner, \u201ccould\nyou not oblige me by turning me into a beaver like yourself. Nothing\nwould please me so much as to make your acquaintance, I can assure you,\u201d\nfor Paup-puk-keewiss was curious to know how these watery creatures\nlived, and what kind of notions they had.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d replied the beaver, who was rather short-nosed and\nsurly. \u201cI will go and ask the others. Meanwhile stay where you are, if\nyou please.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo be sure,\u201d answered Paup-puk-keewiss, stealing down the bank several\npaces as soon as the beaver\u2019s back was turned.\n\nPresently there was a great splashing of the water, and all the beavers\nshowed their heads and looked warily to where he stood, to see if he was\narmed; but he had knowingly left his bow and arrows in a hollow tree at a\nshort distance.\n\nAfter a long conversation, which they conducted in a whisper so that\nPaup-puk-keewiss could not catch a word, strain his ears as he would,\nthey all advanced in a body toward the spot where he stood, the chief\napproaching the nearest, and lifting his head highest out of the water.\n\n\u201cCan you not,\u201d said Paup-puk-keewiss, noticing that they waited for him\nto speak first, \u201cturn me into a beaver? I wish to live among you.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered their chief; \u201clie down.\u201d And Paup-puk-keewiss in a moment\nfound himself a beaver, and was gliding into the water, when a thought\nseemed to strike him, and he paused at the edge of the lake. \u201cI am very\nsmall,\u201d he said to the beaver, in a sorrowful tone. \u201cYou must make me\nlarge,\u201d he said; for Paup-puk-keewiss was terribly ambitious, and wanted\nalways to be the first person in every company. \u201cLarger than any of you;\nin my present size it\u2019s hardly worth my while to go into the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes!\u201d said they. \u201cBy and by, when we get into the lodge, it shall\nbe done.\u201d\n\nThey all dived into the lake, and in passing great heaps of limbs and\nlogs at the bottom, he asked the use of them. They answered, \u201cIt is for\nour winter\u2019s provisions.\u201d\n\nWhen they all got into the lodge their number was about one hundred. The\nlodge was large and warm.\n\n\u201cNow we will make you large,\u201d said they. \u201cWill _that_ do?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he answered; for he found that he was ten times the size of the\nlargest.\n\n\u201cYou need not go out,\u201d said the others; \u201cwe will bring you food into the\nlodge, and you will be our chief.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d Paup-puk-keewiss answered. He thought, \u201cI will stay here and\ngrow fat at their expense.\u201d But, soon after, one ran into the lodge, out\nof breath, crying out, \u201cWe are visited by the Indians!\u201d\n\nAll huddled together in great fear. The water began to lower, for the\nhunters had broken down the dam, and they soon heard them on the roof of\nthe lodge, breaking it up. Out jumped all the beavers into the water, and\nso escaped.\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss tried to follow them, but, unfortunately, to gratify his\nambition they had made him so large that he could not creep out at the\nhole. He tried to call them back, but either they did not hear or would\nnot attend to him; he worried himself so much in searching for a door to\nlet him out that he looked like a great bladder, swollen and blistering\nin the sun, and the sweat stood out upon his forehead in knobs and huge\nbubbles.\n\nAlthough he heard and understood every word that the hunters spoke\u2014and\nsome of their expressions suggested terrible ideas\u2014he could not turn\nhimself back into a man. He had chosen to be a beaver, and a beaver\nhe must be. One of the hunters, a prying little man, with a single\nlock dangling over one eye, put his head in at the top of the lodge.\n\u201c_Ty-au!_\u201d cried he. \u201c_Tut ty-au!_ Me-shau-mik\u2014king of beavers\u2014is in.\u201d\nWhereupon the whole crowd of hunters began upon him with their clubs,\nand knocked his skull about until it was no harder than a morass in\nthe middle of summer. Paup-puk-keewiss thought as well as ever he did,\nalthough he was a beaver; and he felt that he was in a rather foolish\nscrape, inhabiting the carcass of a beaver.\n\nPresently seven or eight of the hunters hoisted his body upon long poles,\nand marched away home with him. As they went, he reflected in this\nmanner: \u201cWhat will become of me? My ghost or shadow will not die after\nthey get me to their lodges.\u201d\n\nInvitations were immediately sent out for a grand feast; but as soon as\nhis body got cold, his soul, being uncomfortable in a house without\nheat, flew off.\n\nHaving reassumed his mortal shape, Paup-puk-keewiss found himself\nstanding near a prairie. After walking a distance, he saw a herd of\nelk feeding. He admired their apparent ease and enjoyment of life, and\nthought there could be nothing more pleasant than the liberty of running\nabout and feeding on the prairies. He had been a water animal, and now\nhe wished to become a land animal, to learn what passed in an elk\u2019s head\nas he roved about. He asked them if they could not turn him into one of\nthemselves.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d they answered, after a pause. \u201cGet down on your hands and feet.\u201d\n\nHe obeyed their directions, and forthwith found himself to be an elk.\n\n\u201cI want big horns, big feet,\u201d said he; \u201cI wish to be very large,\u201d for all\nthe conceit and vainglory had not been knocked out of Paup-puk-keewiss,\neven by the sturdy thwacks of the hunters\u2019 clubs.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d they answered. \u201cThere,\u201d exerting their power, \u201care you big\nenough?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will do,\u201d he replied, for, looking into a lake hard by,\nPaup-puk-keewiss saw that he was very large. They spent their time in\ngrazing and running to and fro; but what astonished Paup-puk-keewiss,\nalthough he often lifted up his head and directed his eyes that way, he\ncould never see the stars, which he had so admired as a human being.\n\nBeing rather cold one day, Paup-puk-keewiss went into a thick wood for\nshelter, whither he was followed by most of the herd. They had not been\nlong there when some elks from behind passed the others like a strong\nwind, calling out:\n\n\u201cThe hunters are after us!\u201d\n\nAll took the alarm, and off they ran, Paup-puk-keewiss with the rest.\n\n\u201cKeep out on the plains,\u201d they said. But it was too late to profit by\nthis advice, for they had already got entangled in the thick woods.\nPaup-puk-keewiss soon scented the hunters, who were closely following his\ntrail, for they had left all the others and were making after him in full\ncry. He jumped furiously, dashed through the underwood, and broke down\nwhole groves of saplings in his flight. But this only made it the harder\nfor him to get on, such a huge and lusty elk was he by his own request.\n\nPresently, as he dashed past an open space, he felt an arrow in his side.\nThey could not well miss it, he presented so wide a mark to the shot. He\nbounded over trees under the smart, but the shafts clattered thicker and\nthicker at his ribs, and at last one entered his heart. He fell to the\nground, and heard the whoop of triumph sounded by the hunters. On coming\nup, they looked on the carcass with astonishment, and with their hands up\nto their mouths, exclaimed: \u201c_Ty-au! ty-au!_\u201d\n\nThere were about sixty in the party, who had come out on a special hunt,\nas one of their number had, the day before, observed his large tracks on\nthe plains. When they had skinned him his flesh grew cold and his spirit\ntook its flight from the dead body, and Paup-puk-keewiss found himself in\nhuman shape, with a bow and arrows.\n\nBut his passion for adventure was not yet cooled; for, on coming to\na large lake with a sandy beach, he saw a large flock of brant, and\nspeaking to them in the brant language, he requested them to make a brant\nof him.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d they replied at once, for the brant is a bird of a very obliging\ndisposition.\n\n\u201cBut I want to be very large,\u201d he said. There was no end to the ambition\nof Paup-puk-keewiss.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d they answered; and he soon found himself a large brant, all\nthe others standing gazing in astonishment at his great size.\n\n\u201cYou must fly as leader,\u201d they said.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Paup-puk-keewiss; \u201cI will fly behind.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d rejoined the brant. \u201cOne thing more we have to say to you\nBrother Paup-puk-keewiss\u201d (for he had told them his name); \u201cyou must be\ncareful, in flying, not to look down, for something may happen to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, it is so,\u201d said he; and soon the flock rose up into the air, for\nthey were bound north. They flew very fast\u2014he behind. One day, while\ngoing with a strong wind, and as swift as their wings could flap, as they\npassed over a large village the Indians raised a great shout on seeing\nthem, particularly on Paup-puk-keewiss\u2019s account, for his wings were\nbroader than two large mats. The village people made such a frightful\nnoise that he forgot what had been told him about looking down. They were\nnow scudding along as swift as arrows, and as soon as he brought his\nneck in and stretched it down to look at the shouters, his huge tail was\ncaught by the wind, and over and over he was blown. He tried to right\nhimself, but without success, for he had no sooner got out of one heavy\nair-current than he fell into another, which treated him even more rudely\nthan that he had escaped from. Down, down he went, making more turns than\nhe wished for, from a height of several miles.\n\nThe first moment he had to look about him, Paup-puk-keewiss, in the shape\nof a big brant, was aware that he was jammed into a large, hollow tree.\nTo get backward or forward was out of the question, and there, in spite\nof himself, was Paup-puk-keewiss forced to tarry till his brant life was\nended by starvation, when, his spirit being at liberty, he was once more\na human being.\n\nAs he journeyed on in search of further adventures, Paup-puk-keewiss\ncame to a lodge in which were two old men, with heads white from extreme\nage. They were very fine old men to look at. There was such sweetness\nand innocence in their features that Paup-puk-keewiss would have enjoyed\nhimself very much at their lodge if he had had no other entertainment\nthan such as the gazing upon the serene and happy faces of the two\ninnocent old men, with heads white from extreme age, afforded.\n\nThey treated him well, and he made known to them that he was going back\nto his village, his friends and people, whereupon the two white-headed\nold men very heartily wished him a good journey and abundance of comfort\nin seeing his friends once more. They even arose, old and infirm as they\nwere, and, tottering with exceeding difficulty to the door, were at great\npains to point out to him the exact course he should take; and they\ncalled his attention to the circumstance that it was much shorter and\nmore direct than he would have taken himself. Ah! what merry deceivers\nwere these two old men with very white heads.\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss, with blessings showered on him until he was fairly out\nof sight, set forth with good heart. He thought he heard loud laughter\nresounding after him in the direction of the lodge of the two old men;\nbut it could not have been the two old men, for they were certainly too\nold to laugh.\n\nHe walked briskly all day, and at night he had the satisfaction of\nreaching a lodge in all respects like that which he had left in the\nmorning. There were two fine old men, and his treatment was in every\nparticular the same, even down to the parting blessing and the laughter\nthat followed him as he went his way.\n\nAfter walking the third day, and coming to a lodge the same as before,\nhe was satisfied from the bearings of the course he had taken that he\nhad been journeying in a circle, and by a notch which he had cut in the\ndoor-post that these were the same two old men all along; and that,\ndespite their innocent faces and their very white heads, they had been\nplaying him a sorry trick.\n\n\u201cWho are you,\u201d said Paup-puk-keewiss, \u201cto treat me so? Come forth, I say!\u201d\n\nThey were compelled to obey his summons lest, in his anger, he should\ntake their lives, and they appeared on the outside of the lodge.\n\n\u201cWe must have a little trial of speed now,\u201d said Paup-puk-keewiss.\n\n\u201cA race?\u201d they asked. \u201cWe are very old; we cannot run.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will see,\u201d said Paup-puk-keewiss; whereupon he set them out upon the\nroad, and then he gave them a gentle push, which put them in motion. Then\nhe pushed them again\u2014harder\u2014harder\u2014until they got under fine headway,\nwhen he gave each of them an astounding shock with his foot, and off\nthey flew at a great rate, round and round the course; and such was the\nmagic virtue of the foot of Paup-puk-keewiss that no object once set\ngoing by it could by any possibility stop; so that, for aught we know to\nthe contrary, the two innocent, white-headed, merry old men are trotting\nwith all their might and main around the circle in which they beguiled\nPaup-puk-keewiss to this day.\n\nContinuing his journey, Paup-puk-keewiss, although his head was warm\nand buzzing with all sorts of schemes, did not know exactly what to do\nuntil he came to a big lake. He mounted a high hill to try and see to the\nother side, but he could not. He then made a canoe, and sailed forth.\nThe water was very clear\u2014a transparent blue\u2014and he saw that it abounded\nwith fish of a rare and delicate complexion. This circumstance inspired\nhim with a wish to return to his village, and to bring his people to live\nnear this beautiful lake.\n\nToward evening, coming to a woody island, he encamped and ate the fish he\nhad speared, and they proved to be as comforting to the stomach as they\nwere pleasing to the eye. The next day Paup-puk-keewiss returned to the\nmainland, and as he wandered along the shore he espied at a distance the\ncelebrated giant, Manabozho, who is a bitter enemy of Paup-puk-keewiss,\nand loses no opportunity to stop him on his journeyings and to thwart his\nplans.\n\nAt first it occurred to Paup-puk-keewiss to have a trial of wits with the\ngiant, but on second thoughts he said to himself: \u201cI am in a hurry now; I\nwill see him another time.\u201d\n\nWith no further mischief than raising a great whirlwind of dust, which\ncaused Manabozho to rub his eyes severely, Paup-puk-keewiss quietly\nslipped out of the way; and he made good speed withal, for in much less\ntime than you could count half the stars in the sky of a winter night, he\nhad reached home.\n\nHis return was welcomed with a great hubbub of feasting and songs; and he\nhad scarcely set foot in the village before he had invitations to take\npotluck at different lodges, which would have lasted him the rest of his\nnatural life. Pipe-bearer, who had some time before given up the cares\nof a ruler, and fallen back upon his native place, fairly danced with joy\nat the sight of Paup-puk-keewiss, who, not to be outdone, dandled him\naffectionately in his arms by casting him up and down in the air half a\nmile or so, till little Pipe-bearer had no breath left in his body to say\nthat he was happy to see Paup-puk-keewiss home again.\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss gave the village folks a lively account of his\nadventures, and when he came to the blue lake and the abundant fish,\nhe dwelt upon their charms with such effect that they agreed, with one\nvoice, that it must be a glorious place to live in, and if he would show\nthem the way they would shift camp and settle there at once.\n\nHe not only showed them the way, but, bringing his wonderful strength and\nspeed of foot to bear, in less than half a day he had transported the\nwhole village, with its children, women, tents, and implements of war, to\nthe new water-side.\n\nHere, for a time, Paup-puk-keewiss appeared to be content, until one\nday a message came for him in the shape of a bear, who said that their\nking wished to see him immediately at his village. Paup-puk-keewiss was\nready in an instant, and, mounting upon the messenger\u2019s back, off he ran.\nToward evening they climbed a high mountain, and came to a cave where the\nbear-king lived. He was a very large person, and, puffing with fat and a\nsense of his own importance, he made Paup-puk-keewiss welcome by inviting\nhim into his lodge.\n\nAs soon as it was proper, he spoke, and said that he had sent for him on\nhearing that he was the chief who was moving a large party toward his\nhunting-grounds.\n\n\u201cYou must know,\u201d said the bear-king with a terrible growl, \u201cthat you have\nno right there, and I wish you would leave the country with your party,\nor else the strongest force will take possession. Take notice.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied Paup-puk-keewiss, going toward the door, for he\nsuspected that the king of the bears was preparing to give him a hug, \u201cso\nbe it.\u201d\n\nHe wished to gain time and to consult his people, for he had seen, as he\ncame along, that the bears were gathering in great force on the side of\nthe mountain. He also made known to the bear-king that he would go back\nthat night, that his people might be put in immediate possession of his\nroyal behest.\n\nThe bear-king replied that Paup-puk-keewiss might do as he pleased, but\nthat one of his young men was at his command; and, jumping nimbly on his\nback, Paup-puk-keewiss rode home.\n\nHe assembled the people, and ordered the bear\u2019s head off, to be hung\noutside of the village, that the bear-spies, who were lurking in the\nneighborhood, might see it and carry the news to their chief.\n\nThe next morning, by break of day, Paup-puk-keewiss had all of his young\nwarriors under arms and ready for a fight. About the middle of the\nafternoon the bear war-party came in sight, led on by the pursy king, and\nmaking a tremendous noise. They advanced on their hind-legs, and made a\nvery imposing display of their teeth and eyeballs.\n\nThe bear-chief himself came forward, and, with a majestic wave of his\nright hand, said that he did not wish to shed the blood of the young\nwarriors, but that if Paup-puk-keewiss, who appeared to be the head of\nthe war-party, consented, they two would have a race, and the winner\nshould kill the losing chief, and all his young men should be servants to\nthe other.\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss agreed, of course\u2014how little Pipe-bearer, who stood by,\ngrinned as they came to terms!\u2014and they started to run before the whole\ncompany of warriors, who stood in a circle looking on.\n\nAt first there was a prospect that Paup-puk-keewiss would be badly\nbeaten; for, although he kept crowding the great fat bear-king till\nthe sweat trickled from his shaggy ears, he never seemed to be able to\npush past him. By and by, Paup-puk-keewiss, going through a number of\nthe most extraordinary maneuvers in the world, raised about the great\nfat bear-king such eddies and whirlwinds with the sand, and so danced\nabout before and after him, that he at last got fairly bewildered, and\ncried out for them to come and take him off. Out of sight before him in\nreaching the goal, Paup-puk-keewiss only waited for the bear-king to come\nup, when he drove an arrow straight through him and ordered them to take\nthe body away and make it ready for supper, as he was getting hungry.\n\nHe then directed all of the other bears to fall to and help prepare the\nfeast, for in fulfilment of the agreement they had become servants. With\nmany wry faces the bears, although bound to act becomingly in their new\ncharacter, according to the forfeit, served up the body of their late\nroyal master; and in doing this they fell, either by accident or design,\ninto many curious mistakes.\n\nWhen the feast came to be served up and they were summoned to be in\nattendance, one of them, a sprightly young fellow of an inquisitive turn\nof mind, was found upon the roof of the lodge, with his head half way\ndown the smoke-hole, with a view to learn what they were to have for\ndinner. Another, a middle-aged bear with very long arms, who was put in\ncharge of the children in the character of nurse, squeezed three or four\nof the most promising young pappooses to death, while the mothers were\noutside to look after the preparations; and another, when he should have\nbeen waiting at the back of his master, had climbed a shady tree and was\nindulging in his afternoon nap. And when, at last, the dinner was ready\nto be served, they came tumbling in with the dishes, heels over head, one\nafter the other, so that one half of the feast was spread upon the ground\nand the other half deposited out of doors, on the other side of the lodge.\n\nAfter a while, however, by strict discipline and threatening to cut off\ntheir provisions, the bear-servants were brought into tolerable control.\n\nYet Paup-puk-keewiss, with his ever-restless disposition, was uneasy;\nand, having done so many wonderful things, he resolved upon a strict and\nthorough reform in all the affairs of the village. To prevent future\ndifficulty he determined to adopt new regulations between the bears and\ntheir masters.\n\nWith this view, he issued an edict that henceforward the bears should eat\nat the first table, and that the Indians were to wait upon them; that\nin all public processions of an honorable character the bears should go\nfirst; and that when any fighting was to be done, the Indians should have\nthe privilege reserved of receiving the first shots. A special exemption\nwas made in behalf of Paup-puk-keewiss\u2019s favorite and confidential\nadviser, Pipe-bearer (who had been very busy in private recommending the\nnew order of things), who was to be allowed to sit at the head of the\nfeast, and to stay at home with the old women in the event of battle.\n\nHaving seen his orders strictly enforced, and the rights of the bears\nover the Indians fairly established, Paup-puk-keewiss fixed his mind upon\nfurther adventures. He determined to go abroad for a time, and having\nan old score to settle with Manabozho, he set out with a hope of soon\nfalling in with that famous giant. Paup-puk-keewiss was a blood relation\nof Dais Imid, or He of the Little Shell, and had heard of what had passed\nbetween that giant and his kinsman.\n\nAfter wandering a long time he came to the lodge of Manabozho, who was\nabsent. He thought he must play him a trick, and so he turned everything\nin the lodge upside down and killed his birds, of which there was an\nextraordinary attendance, for Manabozho is master of the fowls of the\nair, and this was the appointed morning for them to call and pay their\ncourt to him. Among the number was a raven, accounted the meanest of\nbirds, which Paup-puk-keewiss killed and hung up by the neck, to insult\nhim.\n\nHe then went on till he came to a very high point of rocks running out\ninto the lake, from the top of which he could see the country back as\nfar as the eye could reach. While sitting there, Manabozho\u2019s mountain\nchickens flew round and past him in great numbers. Out of mere spite to\ntheir master, Paup-puk-keewiss shot them by the score, for his arrows\nwere very sure and the birds very plenty, and he amused himself by\nthrowing the birds down the rocks. At length a wary bird cried out:\n\n\u201cPaup-puk-keewiss is killing us; go and tell our father.\u201d\n\nAway sped a delegation of the birds which were the quickest of wing, and\nManabozho soon made his appearance on the plain below. Paup-puk-keewiss,\nwho when he is in the wrong is no match for Manabozho, made his escape on\nthe other side. Manabozho, who had in two or three strides reached the\ntop of the mountain, cried out:\n\n\u201cYou are a rogue. The earth is not so large but I can get up to you.\u201d\n\nOff ran Paup-puk-keewiss, and Manabozho after him. The race was sharp,\nand such leaps and strides as they made! Over hills and prairies, with\nall his speed, went Paup-puk-keewiss, and Manabozho hard upon him.\nPaup-puk-keewiss had some mischievous notions still left in his head\nwhich he thought might befriend him. He knew that Manabozho was under a\nspell to restore whatever he, Paup-puk-keewiss, destroyed. Forthwith he\nstopped and climbed a large pine-tree, stripped off its beautiful green\nfoliage, threw it to the winds, and then went on.\n\nWhen Manabozho reached the spot, the tree addressed him. \u201cGreat chief,\u201d\nsaid the tree, \u201cwill you give me my life again? Paup-puk-keewiss has\nkilled me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Manabozho, who as quickly as he could gathered the\nscattered leaves and branches, renewed its beauty with his breath, and\nset off. Although Paup-puk-keewiss in the same way compelled Manabozho to\nlose time in repairing the hemlock, the sycamore, cedar, and many other\ntrees, the giant did not falter, but pushing briskly forward, was fast\novertaking him when Paup-puk-keewiss happened to see an elk. And asking\nhim, for old acquaintance\u2019 sake, to take him on his back, the elk did so,\nand for some time he made good headway; but still Manabozho was in sight.\n\nHe was fast gaining upon him when Paup-puk-keewiss threw himself off the\nelk\u2019s back, and, striking a great sandstone rock near the path, he broke\nit into pieces, and scattered the grains in a thousand directions; for\nthis was nearly his last hope of escape. Manabozho was so close upon him\nat this place that he had almost caught him; but the foundation of the\nrock cried out:\n\n\u201cHaye! Ne-me-sho, Paup-puk-keewiss has spoiled me. Will you not restore\nme to life?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Manabozho. He re-established the rock in all its strength.\n\nHe then pushed on in pursuit, and had got so near to Paup-puk-keewiss as\nto put out his arm to seize him; but Paup-puk-keewiss dodged him and,\nas his last chance, he immediately raised such a dust and commotion by\nwhirlwinds as made the trees break and the sand and leaves dance in the\nair. Again and again Manabozho stretched his arm, but he escaped him\nat every turn, and kept up such a tumult of dust that he dashed into a\nhollow tree which had been blown down, changed himself into a snake, and\ncrept out at the roots just in time to save his life; for at that moment\nManabozho, who had the power of lightning, struck it, and it was strewn\nabout in little pieces.\n\nAgain Paup-puk-keewiss was in human shape, and Manabozho was pressing him\nhard. At a distance he saw a very high bluff of rocks jutting out into\na lake, and he ran for the foot of the precipice, which was abrupt and\nelevated. As he came near, to his surprise and great relief, the Manito\nof the rock opened his door and told Paup-puk-keewiss to come in. The\ndoor was no sooner closed than Manabozho knocked.\n\n\u201cOpen it!\u201d he cried, with a loud voice. The Manito was afraid of him, but\nhe said to Paup-puk-keewiss: \u201cSince I have taken you as my guest, I would\nsooner die with you than open the door.\u201d\n\n\u201cOpen it!\u201d Manabozho again cried, in a louder voice than before.\n\nThe Manito kept silent.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Manabozho; \u201cI give you till morning to live.\u201d\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss trembled, for he thought his last hour had come.\n\nWhen the night came on the clouds were thick and black, and as they\nwere torn open by the lightning, such discharges of thunder were never\nheard as bellowed forth. The clouds advanced slowly and wrapped the\nearth about with their vast shadows as in a huge cloak. All night long\nthe clouds gathered, and the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared,\nand above all could be heard Manabozho muttering vengeance upon poor\nPaup-puk-keewiss.\n\n\u201cYou have led a very foolish kind of life, Paup-puk-keewiss,\u201d said his\nfriend the Manito.\n\n\u201cI know it\u2014I know it!\u201d Paup-puk-keewiss answered.\n\n\u201cYou had great gifts of strength awarded to you,\u201d said the Manito.\n\n\u201cI am aware of it,\u201d replied Paup-puk-keewiss.\n\n\u201cInstead of employing it for useful purposes, and for the good of your\nfellow-creatures, you have done nothing since you became a man but raise\nwhirlwinds on the highways, leap over trees, break whatever you met in\npieces, and perform a thousand idle pranks.\u201d\n\nPaup-puk-keewiss, with great penitence, confessed that his friend the\nManito spoke but too truly. Then Manabozho as Animiki, the Spirit of\nLightning, in a cloud of heavy blackness, floated over the bluff of rocks\nthat protected Paup-puk-keewiss. The threatening roar of his voice was\nheard rending the air, and Paup-puk-keewiss, with his companion, the\nManito of the Rocks, trembled with fear. Mighty arrows of fire darted\nthrough the air from Manabozho\u2019s bow; the mountains themselves gave\nway; the solid rocks were broken, and, tottering apart, fell, crushing\nPaup-puk-keewiss and the Manito into fragments. For the first time\nPaup-puk-keewiss experienced death, for he was incapable of entering by\nhis own will a new form, as he was in the human form when crushed between\nthe rocks of the mountain.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Norse god of the sky,[7] Odin, was depicted in a most picturesque\nfashion. He is said to look like an old, tall, one-eyed man, with a long\nbeard, a broad-brimmed hat, a striped cloak of many colors, and a spear\nin his hand. On his arm he wears the gold ring Draupner and carries a\nspear called Gungner; two ravens sit on his shoulders, two wolves lie\nat his feet, and a huge chariot rolls over his head. He sits upon a\nhigh throne and looks out upon the world, or he rides on the winds upon\nhis horse Sleipner. There is a deep speculative expression upon his\ncountenance. Odin\u2019s hat symbolizes the arched vault of heaven, and his\nblue or variegated cloak is the blue sky or atmosphere. His horse with\neight legs, as we learned before, symbolizes the eight winds of heaven,\nand his ring the fruitfulness of nature. His spear produces violent\ntrembling or shaking. He is regarded as the all-pervading spirit of the\nworld, and produces life and spirit, though he did not create the world.\nIn whatever creative work he does he is helped by others. All knowledge\ncomes from him\u2014the arts of war and the arts of peace; even poetry was\ninvented by him. He is the ruler over all things, and, although other\ndeities may have power, they all serve and obey him as children do their\nfather.\n\nHe frequently appeared to men. One of the most interesting of these\nrevelations of himself is told in the Norse epic, the \u201cVolsung Saga.\u201d\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ODIN\u2019S SWORD AND SIGMUND\n\nKing Volsung had made preparations for an entertainment. Blazing fires\nburned along the hall, and in the middle of the hall stood a large tree,\nwhose green and fair foliage covered the roof. King Volsung had placed\nit there, and it was called Odin\u2019s tree. Now, as the guests sat around\nthe fire in the evening, a man entered the hall whose countenance they\ndid not know. He wore a variegated cloak, was barefooted, his breeches\nwere of linen, and a wide-brimmed hat hung down over his face. He was\nvery tall, looked old, and was one-eyed. He had a sword in his hand. The\nman went to the tree, and struck his sword into it with so powerful a\nblow that it sunk into it even to the hilt. No one dared greet this man.\nThen said he: \u201cHe who draws this sword out of the trunk of the tree shall\nhave it as a gift from me, and shall find it true that he never wielded\na better sword.\u201d Then went the old man out of the hall again, and no one\nknew who he was or whither he went. Now all tried to draw the sword out,\nbut it would not move before Volsung\u2019s son, Sigmund, came; for him it\nseemed to be quite loose.\n\nWhen Odin went forth to battle, he was resplendent in armor and a golden\nhelmet; with him were his messengers, the Valkyries\u2014giant, warlike\nmaids who, when in Valhalla, the home of Odin, brought in the drink and\nwaited upon the table, but in time of battle were sent forth by Odin to\nevery battle-field, carrying the message of death to the brave hero, and\ninviting him home to Odin\u2019s hall, a message he received with joy and\ngladness. To bear away to heaven the souls of the dead is often an office\nof a wind god, and in this case of wind goddesses, for there can be\nlittle doubt that the Valkyries had some of the attributes of the wind.\n\nThe Norse god next in importance to Odin was Thor. He wears a red beard.\nHe has a fiery nature, is girded with a belt of strength, and swings a\nhammer in his hand. He rides in a chariot drawn by two goats, from whose\nhoofs and teeth sparks of fire flash, and the scarlet cloud reflects\nhis fiery eyes. Over his head he wears a crown of stars, under his feet\nrests the earth, and it shows the footprints of his mighty steps. He is\nenormously strong, and very terrible when angry, which is not supposed\nto be often, for he has, on the whole, a good-natured disposition. The\nregion in which he lives is called Thrudvaug and his mansion Bilskiner,\nin which there are five hundred and forty halls. His hammer, his belt,\nand his gauntlet are all possessed of remarkable qualities. The first is\ncalled Mjolner, and woe be to the frost or mountain giant against whom\nThor hurls it. His iron gauntlet he wears when he is laying about him\nwith his hammer, and when he puts on his belt of strength his power is\nredoubled. This mighty god has many and wonderful adventures.\n\nThere is no better description of the god Thor to be found than that by\nour own poet Longfellow, in his \u201cTales of a Wayside Inn\u201d:\n\n    \u201cI am the god Thor,\n    I am the war god,\n    I am the Thunderer!\n    Here in my Northland,\n    My fastness and fortress,\n    Reign I forever!\n\n    Here amid icebergs\n    Rule I the nations;\n    This is my hammer,\n    Mjolner, the mighty\n    Giants and sorcerers\n    Cannot withstand it!\n\n    These are the gauntlets\n    Wherewith I wield it\n    And hurl it afar off;\n    This is my girdle;\n    Whenever I brace it\n    Strength is redoubled!\n\n    The light thou beholdest\n    Stream through the heavens,\n    In flashes of crimson,\n    Is but my red beard\n    Blown by the night wind,\n    Affrighting the nations.\n\n    Jove is my brother;\n    Mine eyes are the lightning;\n    The wheels of my chariot\n    Roll in the thunder;\n    The blows of my hammer\n    Ring in the earthquake!\u201d\n\n\nHOW THOR CONQUERED THE STONE GIANT HRUNGNER\n\nThor had once gone eastward to crush trolls, but Odin rode on his horse\nSleipner to Jotunheim, the land of giants, and came to a giant by name\nHrungner. Then he asked Hrungner what man that was, who with a helmet\nof gold rode through the air and over the sea, and added that it was\nan extraordinarily good horse he had. Odin replied that he would wager\nhis head that so good a horse could not be found in Jotunheim. Hrungner\nsaid that it was indeed a very excellent horse, but he had one called\nGoldfax that could take much longer paces, and he immediately sprang upon\nhis horse and galloped away after Odin. Odin constantly kept ahead, but\nHrungner\u2019s giant nature had become so excited that before he was himself\naware of it he had come within the gates of Asgard. When he came to the\ndoor of the hall the gods invited him in to drink. They set before him\nthe bowls out of which Thor was accustomed to drink, and he emptied them\neach in one draught, and so he became drunk and began to boast in a most\nconceited fashion. He was going to take Valhal, he said, and carry it off\nto Jotunheim; he would demolish Asgard and kill the gods, except Freyja\nand Lif, whom he would take home with him; and while Freyja was pouring\nthe celestial beverage into bowls for him he remarked that he was going\nto drink up all the ale of the gods. At last the gods grew very tired of\nhis arrogance. They, therefore, called Thor, who came at once. He was\nvery much enraged and, swinging his hammer about, he fiercely asked who\nwas to blame that dogwise giants should be permitted to drink there, or\nwho had given safety to Hrungner in Valhal, and why Freyja should pour\nale for him as she did at the feasts of the gods. Hrungner, looking at\nThor with anything but a friendly eye, answered that Odin had invited\nhim and that he was under his protection. Thor said that Hrungner should\ncome to rue that invitation before he came out; but the giant answered\nthat it would be but little honor to Thor to kill him, unarmed, as he\nwas; it would be a better proof of his valor if he dared contend with\nhim at the boundaries of his territory. \u201cIt was foolish, indeed, of me\nto leave my weapons at home. Had I my shield and my flint stone with me,\nwe would now try a duel. But I declare you to be a coward if you kill me\nunarmed.\u201d Thor would not excuse himself from such a challenge the like\nof which no one had ever offered him before. Hrungner now went his way\nand hastened home. This journey of Hrungner was much talked of by the\ngiants, and especially did his challenge of Thor awaken their interest,\nand it was of great importance to them which of the two should come out\nfrom the combat victorious. For if Hrungner, who was the most powerful\namong the giants, should be conquered, they might look for nothing but\nevil from Thor. They, therefore, made a man of clay, nine miles high\nand three miles broad between the shoulders. They could not find a\nheart corresponding to his size and therefore took one out of a mare;\nbut this fluttered and trembled when Thor came. Hrungner had a heart\nof hard stone, sharp and three-cornered; his head was also of stone,\nand likewise his shield, which was broad and thick, and this shield he\nheld before him when he stood waiting for Thor. His weapon was a flint\nstone, which he swung over his shoulders, so that it was no trifle to\njoin in combat with him. By his side stood the clay giant, who was so\nextremely terrified that the sweat poured from off him. Thor went to the\nduel together with Thjalfe, a servant, whom he had got from a peasant\nby the sea. Thjalfe ran to the place where Hrungner was standing, and\nsaid to him: \u201cYou stand unguarded, giant; you hold the shield before\nyou, but Thor has seen you; he comes with violence from beneath the\nearth and attacks you.\u201d Then Hrungner hastily put the shield beneath\nhis feet and stood upon it, but he seized his flint stone with both\nhands. Presently he saw flashes of lightning and heard loud crashings,\nand then he saw Thor in his might rushing forward with impetuous speed,\nswinging his hammer and throwing it from the distance against Hrungner.\nThe latter lifted the flint stone with both his hands and threw it with\nall his might against the hammer; the two met in the air and the flint\nstone broke into two pieces, one piece of which fell on the ground (and\nhence the flint mountains), while the other flew with such force against\nthe head of Thor that he fell forward to the ground; but the hammer\nMjolner hit Hrungner right in the head and crushed his skull into small\npieces, he himself falling over Thor, so that his foot lay across Thor\u2019s\nneck. Thor could only be released from the giant\u2019s foot by his own son\nMagne (strength), and to this day the flint stone sticks fast in Thor\u2019s\nforehead.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLongfellow calls Thor the brother of Zeus. Zeus is, however, only like\nThor in his character of the thunderer. As the All-father of the Greeks\nhe is like Odin.\n\nZeus, or Jupiter,[8] as he was called by the Romans, was regarded as the\nsupreme ruler of the universe. Sometimes he was pictured as a god of war.\nThen he rode in his thunder car, hurling the thunderbolt or lashing his\nenemies with a scourge of lightning. He wore a breastplate or shield of\nstorm-cloud like the skin of a gray goat fearful to behold and made by\nthe God of Fire. His special messenger was the eagle.\n\nIn his peaceful guise, he sat throned in the high clear heavens. There he\nwas the gatherer of clouds and snows, the dispenser of gentle rains and\nwinds, the moderator of light and heat and the seasons. He was worshipped\nwith various rites in different places, but everywhere the loftiest trees\nand the highest mountain peaks were sacred to him.\n\n\nHOW ZEUS CAME TO BE KING OF GODS\n\nThe story told of Zeus is that he had not always been the supreme god.\nBefore him reigned his father, Cronus, and before Cronus his grandfather,\nUranus. Cronus deposed Uranus, and having heard that he was destined to\nbe deposed by one of his own children, he indulged in the queer habit\nof swallowing them all. His wife, Rhea, however, when Zeus was born\nthought of the happy expedient of giving Cronus a stone to swallow,\nwhich he, unsuspecting, did. The little Zeus was hidden in the island\nof Crete, where he was tended by nymphs and brought up on goat\u2019s milk.\nWhen he became a full-grown god, he made his father disgorge the brothers\nand sisters he had swallowed\u2014namely, Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pluto, and\nNeptune\u2014and then went to war against his cruel father. This war is a\nbattle of the powers of light against the powers of darkness. Cronus is\nhelped by his brothers the Titans, and Zeus is helped by the Cyclopes,\none-eyed giants, and the Hecatonchires, hundred-handed monsters who\nhad been confined for ages in Tartarus. Zeus and his hosts held Mount\nOlympus. For ages victory wavered in the balance, until by the advice of\nRhea, Zeus released the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires. Instantly they\nhastened to the battle-field of Thessaly, the Cyclopes to support Zeus\nwith their thunders and lightnings, the hundred-handed monsters with the\nshock of the earthquake. Provided with such artillery, shaking earth\nand sea, Zeus issued to the onslaught. With the gleam of the lightning\nthe Titans were blinded, by the earthquake they were laid low, with the\nflames they were well-nigh consumed; overpowered and fettered by the\nhands of the Hecatonchires, they were consigned to the yawning cave of\nTartarus. In the council of the gods following this great battle Zeus was\nchosen Sovereign of the World. He delegated to his brother Posidon or\nNeptune the kingdom of the sea and all the waters, to his brother Hades\nor Pluto the government of the underworld, dark, unseen, mysterious,\nwhere the spirits of the dead should dwell, and of Tartarus the prison\nof the subdued Titans. For himself Zeus retained heaven and earth. His\ndwelling and that of the gods was on the summit of an ideal mountain\ncalled Olympus. The gods all had their separate dwellings, but all when\nsummoned assembled in the palace of Zeus, there to feast upon ambrosia\nand nectar. Their duties consisted in discussing the affairs of heaven\nand earth, while for amusement they had the melodies of Apollo\u2019s lyre,\nand the songs of the muses. There was a gate of clouds to this heavenly\ncity kept by goddesses, the Hours or Seasons, and through these gates the\ncelestials passed when bent upon any errand to earth.\n\n[Illustration: The Flying Mercury or Hermes. _Giovanni di Bologna._]\n\nHermes (Roman name, Mercury) was the personification of the wind and\nthe messenger of Zeus, and, like the Valkyries, he had the office of\nconducting the souls of the dead to Hades. His summoning of the souls\nof the dead is beautifully described in this passage from the Odyssey,\ntranslated by the poet Bryant:\n\n                        \u201cIn his hand he bore\n    The beautiful golden wand, with which at will\n    He shuts the eyes of men, or opens them\n    From sleep. With this he guided on their way\n    The ghostly rout; they followed, uttering\n    A shrilly wail. As when a flock of bats,\n    Deep in a dismal cavern, fly about\n    And squeak, if one have fallen from the place\n    Where, clinging to each other and the rock,\n    They rested, so that crowd of ghosts went forth\n    With shrill and plaintive cries. Before them moved\n    Beneficent Hermes through those dreary ways,\n    And past the ocean stream they went, and past\n    Leucadia\u2019s rock, the portals of the Sun,\n    And people of the land of dreams, until\n    They reached the fields of asphodel, where dwell\n    The souls, the bodiless forms of those who die.\u201d\n\nAmong the loveliest of the sky deities are the goddesses of the dawn.\nBesides bringing light and joy to mankind, they are his kind helpers when\nhe is in trouble, and the givers of all good things. We have already made\nthe acquaintance of the Hindoo Dawn Goddess Ushas, and give here another\nVedic hymn in her praise. The counterpart of Ushas in Greek mythology is\nAurora, the Goddess of the Dawn, who is pictured flying before the car\nof Apollo. A more developed Dawn Goddess is Pallas Ath\u0113ne (Roman name\nMinerva.) She is represented as having sprung fully armed from the head\nof her father Zeus, as the Dawn springs up in the morning sky. But she\nhas a warlike, as well as a beneficent side when she wields the lightning\nand the thunderbolts. When Pallas Ath\u0113ne decided to give her aid to\nany human being, she sometimes took the form of Mentes, or of a young\nshepherd, as she does in different scenes in the \u201cOdyssey.\u201d When she\ndescends to earth she is described as fastening underneath her feet\n\n    \u201cThe fair, ambrosial golden sandals worn\n    To bear her over ocean like the wind,\n    And o\u2019er the boundless land. In hand she took,\n    Well tipped with trenchant brass, the mighty spear,\n    Heavy and huge and strong, with which she bears\n    Whole phalanxes of heroes to earth,\n    When she, the daughter of a mighty sire,\n    Is angered. From the Olympian heights she plunged\n    And stood among the men of Ithaca.\n    ... In her hand she bore the spear,\n    And seemed the stranger Mentes.\u201d\n\nWhen Pallas returned to heaven she\n\n    \u201cPassed like an eagle out of sight and all\n    Were seized with deep amazement as they saw.\u201d\n\nAnother time Pallas appears to Odysseus or Ulysses in the shape\n\n    \u201cOf a young shepherd, delicately formed,\n    As are the sons of kings. A mantle lay\n    Upon her shoulder in rich folds, her feet\n    Shone in their sandals: in her hand she bore\n    A javelin. As Ulysses saw, his heart\n    Was glad within him, and he hastened on\n    And thus accosted her with wing\u00e8d words,\n    \u2018Fair youth, who art the first whom I have met\n    Upon this shore, I bid thee hail, and hope\n    Thou meetest me with no unkind intent.\n    Protect what thou beholdest here and me;\n    I make my suit to thee as to a god,\n    And come to thy dear knees.\u2019\u201d\n\nAfter a little talk with Odysseus\n\n                  \u201cthe blue-eyed goddess, Pallas, smiled\n    And touched the chief caressingly. She seemed\n    A beautiful and stately woman now,\n    Such as are skilled in works of rare device.\u201d\n\nShe advises Odysseus and says to him:\n\n    \u201cHither am I come to frame for thee\n    Wise counsels, and to hide away the stores\n    Given by the opulent Ph\u00e6acian chiefs\n    At thy departure. I shall also tell\n    What thou must yet endure beneath the roof\n    Of thine own palace, by the will of fate.\n    Yet bear it bravely, since thou must, nor speak\n    To any man or woman of thyself\n    And of thy wandering hither, but submit\n    To many things that grieve thee, silently,\n    And bear indignities from violent men.\u201d\n\nThus this beneficent Dawn Goddess is always helping mankind in their\ntroubles, and scattering abroad so much wisdom that she came to be called\nin Greek mythology the Goddess of Wisdom.\n\nThe Indian and the Japanese stories following show other fancies about\ngods of the sky and air. \u201cThe Lover\u2019s Vision of the Happy Land\u201d gives a\npicture of the home of departed spirits in the sky. \u201cThe Message-Bearers\u201d\nis related to the idea that the wind is a messenger of the gods, but it\nis the wind in the form of the repeated sounds in echoes.\n\nThe Indians[9] were in the habit of frequenting rivers with high, wooded\nbanks, or ravines with precipitous sides where reverberations could be\nheard for miles, until they would die away in the distance. There they\nwould stand for hours shouting and listening to the echoing shouts as\nthey leaped from shore to shore, or from hill to mountain, and from\nmountain to valley\u2014on and on into silence; always firmly believing that\nthe words were called from one to another of the faithful spirits until\nthey reached the ears of their loved ones, and finally the Great Spirit\nhimself.\n\n\u201cThe Way of the Gods\u201d describes a god of the infinite sky as the\nbeginning of all things.\n\n\nHYMN TO THE DAWN\n\n(_From the \u201cRig Veda\u201d_)\n\n    The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendor\n         live the waves of waters.\n    She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and rich hath shown\n         herself, benign and friendly.\n    We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre; thy beams, thy\n         splendors have flown up to heaven.\n    Decking thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in majesty,\n         thou goddess Morning.\n    Red are the kine and luminous that bear her, the bless\u00e8d one who\n         spreadeth through the distance.\n    The foes she chaseth like a valiant archer, like a swift warrior\n         she repelleth darkness.\n    Thy ways are easy on the hills: thou passest in windless calm,\n         self-luminous! through waters.\n    So lofty goddess with thine ample pathway, daughter of Heaven,\n         bring wealth to give us courage.\n    Dawn, bring me wealth: untroubled, with thine oxen thou bearest\n         riches at thy will and pleasure;\n    Thou who, a goddess, child of Heaven, hast shown thee lovely through\n         bounty when we called thee early.\n    As the birds fly forth from their resting-places, so men with store\n         of food rise at thy dawning.\n    Yea, to the liberal mortal who remaineth at home, O goddess Dawn,\n         much good thou bringest.\n\n[Illustration: Ath\u0113ne: Brandisher of the Spear. _Capitol, Rome._]\n\n\nTHE LOVER\u2019S VISION OF THE HAPPY ISLAND\n\nThere was once a very beautiful girl, more beautiful than all the Indian\nmaidens of her tribe, who died suddenly, on the eve of her marriage to a\nhandsome young chief; and, although her lover was brave, his heart was\nnot proof against his loss. He mourned as one without hope. After her\nburial he sat near the spot where her remains were deposited, without\nspeaking, musing and dreaming of her he had lost. War and hunting had no\ncharms for him. He pushed aside his bow and arrows, for his heart was\ndead within him. He had heard the old people say that there was a path\nthat led to the Land of Souls, and he determined to follow it. With this\nresolution he left the remains of his beloved, and, after making some\npreparation for the journey, set out at an early hour of the morning.\n\nAt first he hardly knew which direction to take, for he was guided only\nby the tradition that he must go southward. For a while he could discover\nno change in the appearance of the country; forests, hills, valleys, and\nstreams had the same familiar look that they wore around his native home.\nThere was snow upon the ground, however, when he set out; and it was\nsometimes seen clinging in thick mats upon the trees and bushes, but at\nlength it began to diminish, and finally, as he travelled swiftly along,\ntotally disappeared, when the forest assumed a more cheerful appearance.\nThe trees appeared to be putting forth their leaves, and suddenly, as\nif by enchantment, as he walked onward, he found himself surrounded by\nthe budding flowers of spring; the air seemed warm upon his cheek, while\noverhead, instead of wintry clouds, the sky was clear, and his ears were\nsaluted with songs of birds.\n\nThe lover\u2019s heart beat quickly at these changes, for he knew he was\nin the right path, as appearances agreed with the traditions of his\ntribe. As he sped along, he discovered a footpath, which he followed,\nand was led through a dark grove, then up a long precipitous ridge, on\nthe extreme summit of which he came to a lodge. In the doorway of this\nlodge stood an old man, whose hair was white as snow, and whose eyes,\nthough deeply sunken, had a wonderful brilliancy. He had a long robe of\nskins thrown loosely around his shoulders, and a staff in his hand. The\nyoung lover accosted him and began to tell his story, when the old man\ninterrupted him by saying: \u201cI have expected you, and had just risen to\nbid you welcome. She whom you seek passed here a few days since. Enter my\nlodge, for therein she rested, being fatigued, and I will answer all your\ninquiries, and give you direction for your journey from this point.\u201d\n\nHaving entered and rested within the lodge, according to the old man\u2019s\ninvitation, the young lover, impatient of delay, soon issued forth from\nthe lodge-door, accompanied by the venerable chief. \u201cYou see yonder\ngulf,\u201d said the chief, \u201cand the wide-stretching blue plains beyond. It is\nthe Land of Souls. You stand upon its borders, and my lodge is its gate\nof entrance; but you cannot take your body along with you; leave it here\nwith your bow and arrows, your bundle and your dog; you will find it safe\non your return.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he turned and re\u00ebntered his lodge, and the freed traveller\nbounded forward as if his feet were winged. He found, as he thus sped\nforward, that all things retained their natural colors and shapes,\nexcept that they seemed more beautiful\u2014the colors being richer and\nshapes more comely; and he would have thought that everything was the\nsame as heretofore, had he not seen that the animals bounded across his\npath with the utmost freedom and confidence, and birds of beautiful\nplumage inhabited the groves, and sported in the waters in fearless and\nundisturbed enjoyment. As he passed on, however, he noticed that his\npassage was not impeded by trees or other objects; he appeared to walk\ndirectly through them. They were, in fact, but the souls of trees, and he\nthen became sensible that he was in the Land of Shadows.\n\nWhen he had travelled some distance through the country, which\ncontinually became more and more attractive, he came to the banks of a\nbroad lake, in the center of which was a beautiful island; and tied upon\nthe shore of this lake he found a canoe of white, shining stone, within\nwhich were white paddles that seemed to be of the same shining material.\n\nHe immediately entered the canoe and took the paddles in his hands, when,\nto his joy and surprise, on turning around, he discovered the object of\nhis search, the young maiden, in another canoe exactly the counterpart\nof his; who, having imitated his motions in gathering up the paddles and\nmaking preparations for embarking, followed him as he pushed off from\nshore.\n\nThe waves of the lake soon began to rise, and, at a distance, looked\nready to submerge them in their watery embrace; but yet, on approaching\ntheir white edges, they seemed to melt away. Still, as these enormous\nwaves followed each other in quick succession, it kept them in continual\nfear; for they felt no certainty but that some one of them might break\nupon their canoes and bring them to destruction; while, added to this\nperpetual fear, the water of the lake was so clear that it disclosed\nto their affrighted gaze large heaps of bones of human beings who had\nperished before. And, as they moved on, they saw many persons struggling\nand sinking in the waves. Old men and women, and young men and maidens,\nwere there; and but few were able to pass over. The children alone were\nseen to glide on without fear. However, notwithstanding their terror, the\nyoung man and maiden moved unharmed along, for their deeds in life had\nbeen free from evil, and the Master of Life had decreed their safety;\nand, at length, they leaped out upon the shore of the Happy Island, the\nplace of their destination, and wandered together over the blissful\nfields, where everything was formed to delight the eye and please the\near. The air itself was like food, and nourished and strengthened them.\nThere were no tempests. No one shivered for the want of warm clothes.\nNo one suffered from hunger. No one mourned for the dead. They saw no\ngraves. They heard of no wars. There was no hunting of animals. Gladly\nthe young lover would have remained forever with his beloved in this\nbeautiful land, but this was not permitted; for, although he did not see\nthe Master of Life, he heard his voice in a soft breeze which commanded\nhis return: \u201cGo back,\u201d said the voice, \u201cto the land from whence you\ncame. Your time has not yet come; your work is not finished, and the\nduties for which I made you are not completed. Return to your people and\naccomplish all the duties of a brave man. You will be the ruler of your\ntribe for many years. My messenger at the gate shall instruct you in\nyour future work, when he surrenders your body. Listen to him, and you\nshall afterwards rejoin the spirit which you must now leave behind. She\nis accepted, and will dwell here forever, as young and as happy as when\nI called her from the Land of Snows.\u201d And with this the lover\u2019s vision\nclosed.\n\n\nTHE MESSAGE-BEARERS\n\nWhen the Great Spirit brought the Redmen from the Happy Hunting Grounds\nand left them upon the earth, they were filled with fear lest they could\nnever make him hear their wants, and could not reach his ears when they\ndesired to tell him of their joys and sorrows. The sachems went before\nhim and said: \u201cO our Father, how will thy children tell thee of the deeds\nthey have performed that will please thine ear? How will they ask thee\nto their homes to help them drive away the bad spirits; and how will they\ninvite thee to their feasts and dances? O our Father, thou canst not at\nall times be awake and watching thy children, and they will not know\nwhen thou art sleeping. Thy children do not know the trail to the Happy\nHunting Grounds by which to send their wise men and sachems to talk with\nthee, for thou hast covered it with thy hands and thy children cannot\ndiscover it. How will the words of thy children reach thee, O our Father,\nthe Manito; how will what they say come to thine ears?\u201d\n\nThen the Great Spirit created for each one of the Redmen a second self,\nto whom he gave a home in the air. He provided these beings with wings\nand swift feet, so they could move very rapidly. To them he imparted\nthe secrets of the entrance to his home, and made them guides to his\nchildren whom he had called on the long journey, so that they should not\nlose the paths leading to their future home. Finally, the Great Spirit\ntold these creatures of the air that they should be message-bearers for\nhis children, and convey their words exactly as spoken from one point\nto another until they reached the ears of his sachems in the big wigwam\nby the side of the council-fire that never lost its light. They must be\nready at all times to answer the calls of the Redmen, so that none of\ntheir words might be lost. Messages to the loved ones who had left the\nearth and gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds must be transmitted with\nthe same watchful care as were those intended for his ears alone. If\nany of his children spoke idle and untruthful words, they, too, must be\nrepeated, that their father might know whether they were worthy to be\nadmitted to the grand council-fire.\n\nWhen he had finished his instructions, the Great Spirit told the sachems\nthat he would return to his home, and that they could go with his\nchildren to the bank of a beautiful river near which they dwelt, and\nthere talk to him.\n\nSlowly and with a loud voice the chief sachem began to speak. From the\nopposite bank of the river the waiting message-bearer caught up the\nsachem\u2019s words as they were spoken, and with a strong voice shouted\nthem to another dweller of the air, who crouched in the tree-tops far\ndown the river, ready and alert to do the Great Spirit\u2019s bidding. On\nand on, rolling along the ravines and valleys, leaping from hill-top to\nmountainside and from mountainside to lake, striding over the forests at\na bound\u2014fainter and yet fainter, until lost in the blue distance of the\nplain\u2014the message of thankfulness and love was borne from the lips of\nthe grateful sachem until it reached the ears of the ever-listening and\nloving father, and was told to the chiefs who sat in the light of the\ncouncil-fire that never grows dim.\n\n\nTHE WAY OF THE GODS\n\n(_Japanese_)\n\nListen, my children, to the true story of the Beginning of the World.\n\nWhen there was neither Heaven nor Earth, nor Sun nor Moon, nor anything\nthat is, there existed in Infinite Space the Invisible Lord of the Middle\nHeaven. With him were two other Gods.\n\nBy their miraculous power, a Thing whose shape cannot be described came\ninto existence in the midst of Space, in appearance like a Floating\nCloud. Forth from it sprang, as it were, a Flowering Rushsprout, rising\nfrom the water\u2014pure, translucent, and bright\u2014which grew and grew and\nwidened and widened infinitely, till it spread over all things and became\nthe Canopy of Heaven. Then downward from the Floating Cloud grew the\nUnder-region\u2014the Realm of Night\u2014which is the Root-region of the World and\nthe abode of Departed Spirits.\n\nAnd the center of the Floating Cloud became the Earth, which was still\nliquid and formless and without life.\n\nAfter this were born in Heaven seven generations of Gods, and the last\nand most perfect of these were Izanagi and Izanami. Now, Izanagi and\nIzanami were the Parents of the World and all that is in it. And it\nhappened in this wise: the Gods of the High Plain of Heaven said to\nIzanagi and Izanami:\n\n\u201cDescend and make of this drifting mud and ocean a firm and beautiful\nLand, and fill it with living things.\u201d And the Gods placed in their\nhands a mystic jewelled Spear.\n\nNow, in these days the heavens were near to the earth, and the space\nbetween was spanned by a Heavenly Floating Bridge. So they set forth\nbravely on their journey, and, looking down into the space beneath them,\nthey saw in the depths the green plain of the Sea. They held counsel\ntogether and said, \u201cIs there not a country beneath?\u201d\n\nAnd Izanagi pushed the jewelled Spear down from the Floating Bridge and\nstirred the green sea round and round, and some say that is why the earth\nturns round and round to this day. Then the brine went curdle-curdle, and\nthey drew up the Spear, and the brine that fell from the end of the Spear\ndropped down and became an island. This island was called Onogoro, and\nis one of the Everlasting Islands of the Land of Sunrise, of the Land of\nFertile Reed-plains, which is Japan.\n\nNow, the Gods stepped down on to the Earth, and it was strange and\ndesolate, and they shivered, and felt lonely and afraid.\n\nSuddenly sounded a whirring of wings; two tiny Sekirei\u2014wagtails\u2014swept\nby and fluttered to the ground. It was early springtime; the living air\nthrilled warm and sweet. With little pecks and cheeps, full of busy\npride, the pair sought twigs and grasses and wove them deftly into a\ndowny nest. Quivering with rapture, the lover-bird hovered round his\nmate, and sang of love and joy and happy days to come.\n\nWhile the Great Gods watched, a warmth crept round the heart of Izanagi,\nand in Izanami\u2019s eyes was a mist of tears. She whispered softly, \u201cLet us,\ntoo, make a house to dwell in!\u201d Then Izanagi plunged his spear into the\nground, and round them rose a great and glorious Palace, and the Spear\nwas the Heart-Pillar thereof. And they were hidden from the sight of\nHeaven and Earth.\n\nThen, moving round this Pillar, they met and gazed on one another with\ncharmed eyes. The Mother of Mankind cried joyfully: \u201cBehold! I have met\nwith a lovely Youth!\u201d And Izanagi cried back: \u201cBehold! I have met with a\nlovely Maiden!\u201d\n\nSo the Sekirei first taught the Gods the ways of Love, and are honored\nand cherished in Japan to this day.\n\nBut Izanagi remembered how Izanami had been the first to speak, and in\nhis displeasure said wrathfully: \u201cI am a Man, and should by right have\nspoken first!\u201d\n\nWhen the first child born to them was ugly and deformed, they put him in\na boat made of camphor-wood, and he sailed away to sea and became the God\nof the fisherfolk. His children are the hairy men who live in some of the\nislands of Japan to this day.\n\nThen the Gods passed round the Pillar a second time, and Izanagi spoke\nfirst. So his anger was appeased, and they lived greatly content.\n\nTogether they made the eight islands of Japan, and placed them at the\nsummit of the globe. But the land was hidden\u2014becovered with mists\u2014so\nIzanagi sent forth the God of the Winds. He, blowing lustily, rent the\nclouds, and the earth lay as a bride unveiled, shimmering with silver dew\non her green pastures.\n\nNext came the Food-Spirit to comfort mankind, the Sea Gods, the Mountain\nGods, the Gods of the River-mouths, the Tree Gods, and the Earth Goddess.\nLast of all was born the fierce Fire God, Kagu-tsuchi. Now, this God was\nof such a hot and fiery temper that he burned his Great Mother, and she\nsuffered change and departed to the Lower World.\n\nThen Izanagi was wroth, and cried aloud: \u201cOh, that I should have given my\nBeloved in return for a single child!\u201d\n\nAnd his sorrow was so great that he crawled round her head and her feet,\nand from the tears that he shed sprang up the Goddess of Weeping. Then he\ntook his ten-span sword and hewed Kagu-tsuchi in three pieces, and each\npiece sprang into life as the Spirit of Thunder, the Spirit of Mountains,\nand the Spirit of Rain.\n\nNow, Izanagi loved his wife so greatly that he could find no rest or\npeace on earth; and, after wandering long in search of comfort and\nfinding none, he determined to seek her, even in the realm of Departed\nSpirits. His way lay through a long and gloomy passage where few have\ntrod, right through the center of the earth, till he came at length to\nthe Gate of Everlasting Night, to the Kingdom of Yomi, the Ruler of the\nUnder World. He knocked at the Gate and cried aloud:\n\n\u201cO my beloved Sister! come back to me!\u201d And she answered him:\n\n\u201cO beloved Elder Brother! gladly would I come, but, alas! I have eaten of\nYomi\u2019s cooking and am bewitched. Let me return and speak to him, but do\nnot thou follow me!\u201d\n\nSo Izanagi waited anxiously without, till, growing impatient at her long\ndelay, he broke a tooth off his comb, lighting it as a torch, and so\ndared to enter those terrible shades. Through dark and dreadful ways he\nwandered, and his heart quailed within him.\n\nBut Yomi was wroth with him for his daring, and smote Izanami so that\nwhen he found her she lay as one altered in death, with Eight Witches at\nher head and her feet. Then a great horror fell upon Izanagi; he turned\nand fled swiftly, and the Eight Ugly Women rose and pursued him. On he\nran, through winding ways where icy blasts fly shrieking; and the Witches\nswept after him and would have caught him, but he seized the wreath from\nhis head and flung it down, and it was changed into bunches of grapes.\nWhen the Witches saw these they stopped and greedily devoured them; then,\ngathering up their robes, rose and pursued again.\n\nIzanagi felt the chill of their coming, and drew out a many-toothed comb\nfrom the right bunch of his hair and threw it behind him. Behold! as it\ntouched the ground, there sprang up a hedge of young bamboo shoots across\nthe path. The Witches swooped down, pulled up the young shoots, and ate\nthem to the last one; then again gave chase.\n\nNow, Izanami, too, was angered against him, for she had been put to\nshame; and she sent five hundred warriors from Yomi to pursue him. When\nthe rush and the tramping drew nearer, Izanagi unsheathed his ten-span\nsword, and in his despair his breath failed as at the approach of Death.\nThen suddenly appeared before him the Gate of the Pass of Yomi; and\nhastily plucking some peaches which grew by the gate, he threw them, and\nscattered his pursuers, and himself passed through into the light. And\nhe rolled a mighty stone across the mouth of the opening, so that none\nhereafter could move it.\n\nThe peaches that had saved him he named Their Augustness the Great Divine\nFruit, and they are honored in some parts of Japan to this day.\n\nNow, when he came back into the world again, Izanagi felt very weary,\nand searched for a clear stream to wash away the foulness of the Lower\nRegions which clung to him. When he had found one he bathed therein, and\nof this washing many evil gods were born; among them were the Gods of\nCrookedness, who love to plague mankind. Seeing this evil, he made the\nGods of Straightening, to make crooked things straight.\n\nNow, when he had rested and accomplished his purification, he created\nthe greatest of his children in this wise:\n\nDescending once more into the clear stream, he bathed his left eye, and\nforth sprang Amaterasu, the great Sun Goddess.\n\nSparkling with light, she rose from the waters as the Sun rises in the\nEast, and her brightness was wonderful, and shone through Heaven and\nEarth; never was seen such radiant glory.\n\nIzanagi rejoiced greatly, and said, \u201cThere is none like this Miraculous\nChild!\u201d\n\nTaking a necklace of jewels, he put it round her neck and said, \u201cRule\nThou over the Plain of High Heaven!\u201d\n\nThus Amaterasu became the source of all life and light; the glory of her\nshining has warmed and comforted all mankind, and she is worshipped by\nthem unto this day.\n\nThen he bathed his right eye, and there appeared her brother, the Moon\nGod. Izanagi said: \u201cThy beauty and radiance are next to the Sun in\nsplendor; rule thou over the Dominion of Night!\u201d\n\nWhen the two beautiful ones had departed, a third God came forth, whose\nname was Susa-wo. He was a god with a strange destiny, and could never be\nat peace, sweeping ceaselessly over hills and valleys with his long beard\nfloating behind him. Izanagi gave him dominion over the sea.\n\nBut he was not content and neglected his kingdom, restlessly roaming over\nthe earth, so that the green mountains withered and the rivers dried up.\nThe murmuring of spirits he woke with his moaning was as the sound of\ninnumerable bees.\n\nSo Izanagi in his wrath banished him to the Nether Regions, and, having\naccomplished his work, withdrew into an Island Cave, and abode there till\nthe End.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nMOTHER-MYTHS AND CHILD-MYTHS\n\n\nIn all the myths we have learned about so far there has been very little\nof the purely human element of affection, yet it is true that reverence\nand love for the mother of all things was one of the earliest instincts\nin the mind of primitive man, as well as love and even reverence for\nchildren.\n\nThe idea of the earth as a mother is a very simple and natural one, and\nso we find everywhere that the earth has been personified as a mother.\n\nAmong the primitive people of America the Earth-Mother is a personage of\nmuch importance. The Peruvians worshipped her as Mama-Pacha or Mother\nEarth. The Caribs, when there was an earthquake said it was their Mother\nEarth dancing and signifying to them to dance and make merry likewise,\nwhich accordingly they did. Among the North American Indians, the\nComanches call on the earth as their mother, while they regard the Great\nSpirit as their father.\n\nIn the mythology of the Finns, Lapps and Esths, the Earth-Mother is\na divinely honored personage. One of the most primitive forms of the\nEarth-Mother is that of the Zulus. She is described as a very little\nanimal about as large as a pole-cat, and is marked with little white and\nblack stripes. The Zulus say of her that she is not commonly seen. We\nhear it said that primitive men knew her. No one existing at the present\ntime ever saw her. In spite of this fact, however, they seem to have very\ndefinite ideas of her appearance, for upon one side of this little black\nand white animal there grow a bed of reeds, a forest, and grass. She\nalways goes about followed by a large troop of children which resemble\nher, and in whose welfare she takes a great interest. The name of this\ngoddess is Inkosa-za-na.\n\nThe oldest of all their gods in Polynesian mythology is a mother-goddess\ncalled Vari. She is the very beginning of things in the abyss. She is\ncelebrated as the source of all from whom all beings claim descent. She\nsheltered the Earth-Mother, who in Polynesian mythology is called Papa,\nwhose husband was Rangi, the Heaven. How these two came to be separated\nis told in the story of the \u201cChildren of Heaven and Earth.\u201d\n\nWe see from this myth of Vari that the earth is not the only\nmother-goddess.\n\nThe very beginnings of things in night and chaos were frequently\nrepresented as mother goddesses. For example, the Egyptian Mother-goddess\nwas Neith, the goddess of night. She is celebrated as the \u201cOnly One.\u201d\n\u201cGlory to thee! Thou art mightier than the Gods! The forms of the living\nsouls which are in their places give glory to the terrors of thee, their\nmother; thou art their origin.\u201d She is represented as self-existing. \u201cI\nam all that was and is and is to be; no mortal hath lifted my veil.\u201d In\nthe Public Library in Boston the artist Sargent has made the vague, black\nfigure of this goddess the background in his fresco, giving a symbolic\nrepresentation of Egyptian religion. The face of Neith shows inscrutable\ncalm, and she wears as a necklace the constellations of the Zodiac, and\non her head the winged globe of the sun. She was said also to have been\nthe mother of the sun.\n\nThe Hindoo, Aditi, mother of the gods, seems to have been a goddess of\nthe same kind. She is said to represent free, unbounded infinity, and\nis the mother of twelve heavenly beings\u2014sun-gods, called Adityas. Her\nkinship with other mother-goddesses is shown by the fact that she was\ninvoked as the bestower of blessings on children and cattle.\n\nIn the na\u00efve and poetical little myth of the Malayan Peninsula given\nlater, the sun and moon both figure as mother-goddesses.\n\nThe worship of mother-goddesses among the ancient Mexican Indians was\nprominent. Hymns descriptive of two are given here. The first is to the\ngoddess Teteoinan, the \u201cMother of the Gods.\u201d She was also called Soci,\n\u201cOur Mother,\u201d and also by another name which signified \u201cThe Heart of\nthe Earth.\u201d This last name was given to her because she was believed to\nbe the cause of earthquakes. She presided over the vegetable and animal\nworld and her chief temple at Tepeyacac was one of the most renowned in\nancient Mexico. The other goddess, Cihuacoatl, was the mythical mother\nof the human race, and was regarded with veneration on account of her\nantiquity. As well as being an Earth-Goddess, she was the Goddess of War.\n\nIt would be possible to give many illustrations of mother-tree goddesses,\nbut we have space for only one, that of the Persian world-tree in whose\nmidst dwelt the mother of all. \u201cIn Eridu a dark pine grew. It was planted\nin a holy place. Its crown was crystal white, which spread toward the\ndeep vault above. The Abyss of Hea was its pasturage in Eridu, a canal\nfull of waters. Its station was the center of the earth. Its shrine was\nthe couch of Mother Zicam. The roof of its holy house like a forest\nspread its shade; there were none who entered within. It was the seat of\nthe mighty mother, who passes athwart the heavens.\u201d\n\nThe Norse earth-goddess, consort of Odin, appears in three forms\u2014Jord,\nFrigg, and Rind. Jord is the original uninhabited earth, Frigg is the\ninhabited, cultivated earth, and Rind is the frozen earth of winter. The\nchild of the first is Thor, the thunderer; of the second is Balder, the\ngood or the beautiful; and of the third is Vale, who revenged the death\nof Balder. Of these, Frigg is more nearly like other mother-goddesses,\nthough she seems to be somewhat withdrawn from active participation\nin the duties of the mother-goddess. These are handed over to her\nmaid-servants, of whom she had seven\u2014Fulla, Hlyn, Guaa, Snotra, Var,\nLofu, and Syn. Fulla, with golden hair adorned with a ribbon, looks\nafter harvests. Hlyn is the protectress who delivers people from peril.\nGuaa is the messenger who runs errands for Frigg. Var has charge of\nmarriage, Lofu of love, and Syn of justice. The counterpart of Frigg in\nGreek mythology is Demeter (Roman name, Ceres), the daughter of another\nearth-goddess, Rhea. Like Frigg, she represents the bountiful life-giving\naspects of nature. She is best described in the hymn written in her honor\nby Callimachus given later, and in which you will recognize another\nversion of the story of Erisichthon.\n\n\nMALAYAN STORY OF THE SUN AND MOON\n\nThe Moon is a woman, and the Sun also. The stars are the Moon\u2019s children,\nand the Sun had in olden times as many. Fearing, however, that mankind\ncould not bear so much brightness and heat, they agreed each to devour\nher children. But the Moon instead of eating up her stars hid them from\nthe Sun\u2019s sight, who, believing them all devoured, ate up her own; no\nsooner had she done it than the Moon brought her family out of their\nhiding-place. When the Sun saw them, filled with rage, she chased the\nMoon to kill her. The chase has lasted ever since, and sometimes the Sun\neven comes near enough to bite the Moon, and that is an eclipse. The Sun,\nas men may see, still devours her stars at dawn, and the Moon hides hers\nall day while the Sun is near, and only brings them out at night when her\npursuer is far away.\n\n[Illustration: Demeter or Ceres. _The Vatican._]\n\n\nHYMN TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS\n\n(_Mexican Indian_)\n\nHail to our mother, who caused the yellow flowers to blossom, she who\nscattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.\n\nHail to our mother, who poured forth white flowers in abundance, who\nscattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.\n\nHail to the goddess who shines in the thorn-bush like a bright butterfly.\n\nHo! she is our mother, goddess of the earth; she supplies food in the\ndesert to the wild beasts, and causes them to live.\n\nThus, thus, you see her to be an ever-fresh model of liberality toward\nall flesh.\n\nAnd as you see the goddess of the earth do to the wild beasts, so also\ndoes she toward the green herbs and the fishes.\n\n\nHYMN TO CIHUACOATL, THE MOTHER OF MORTALS\n\n(_Mexican Indian_)\n\nQuilaztli, plumed with eagle feathers, with the crest of eagles, painted\nwith serpents\u2019 blood, comes with her hoe, beating her drum, from\nColhuacan.\n\nShe alone, who is our flesh, goddess of the fields and shrubs, is strong\nto support us.\n\nWith the hoe, with the hoe, with hands full, with the hoe, with hands\nfull, the goddess of the fields is strong to support us.\n\nWith a broom in her hands the goddess of the fields strongly supports us.\n\nOur mother is as twelve eagles, goddess of drum-beating, filling the\nfields of tzioac and maguey like our lord Mixcoatl.\n\nShe is our mother, a goddess of war, our mother, a goddess of war, an\nexample and a companion from the home of our ancestors.\n\nShe comes forth, she appears when war is waged, she protects us in war\nthat we shall not be destroyed, an example and companion from the home of\nour ancestors.\n\nShe comes adorned in the ancient manner with the eagle crest, in the\nancient manner with the eagle crest.\n\n\nTHE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH\n\n(_Polynesian_)\n\nMen had but one pair of primitive ancestors; they sprang from the vast\nHeaven that exists above us, and from the Earth which lies beneath us.\nAccording to the traditions of our race, Rangi and Papa, or Heaven\nand Earth, were the source from which, in the beginning, all things\noriginated. Darkness then rested upon the Heaven and upon the Earth, and\nthey still both clave together, for they had not yet been rent apart,\nand their children were ever thinking among themselves what might be the\ndifference between darkness and light.\n\nAt last, worn out by the continued darkness, the children of Heaven and\nEarth consulted amongst themselves, saying: \u201cLet us now determine what we\nshould do with Rangi and Papa, whether it would be better to slay them\nor to rend them apart.\u201d Then spoke Tu-Matauenga, the fiercest of the\nchildren of Heaven and Earth: \u201cIt is well, let us slay them.\u201d\n\nThen spoke Tane-Mahuta, the father of forests and of all things that\ninhabit them, or that are constructed from trees: \u201cNay, not so. It is\nbetter to rend them apart, and to let the Heaven stand far above us, and\nthe Earth lie under our feet. Let the Sky become as a stranger to us, but\nthe Earth remain close to us as our nursing mother.\u201d\n\nThe brothers all consented to this proposal, with the exception of\nTawhiri-ma-tea, the father of winds and storms, and he, fearing that his\nkingdom was about to be overthrown, grieved greatly at the thought of his\nparents being torn apart.\n\nFinally, however, having come to an agreement as to their plans, lo,\nRongo-matane, the god and father of the cultivated food of man, rises up\nthat he may rend apart Heaven and Earth; he struggles, but he cannot rend\nthem apart. Lo, next, Tangawa, the god and father of fish and reptiles,\nrises up, that he may rend apart Heaven and Earth; he also struggles,\nbut he cannot rend them apart. Lo, next, Haumia-tikitiki, the god and\nfather of the food of man which springs without cultivation, rises up and\nstruggles, but ineffectually. Lo, then, Tu-Matauenga, the god and father\nof fierce human beings, rises up and struggles, but he, too, fails in his\nefforts. Then, at last, slowly uprises Tane-Mahuta, the god and father\nof forests, of birds, and of insects, and he struggles with his parents;\nin vain he strives to rend them apart with his hands and arms. Lo, he\npauses; his head is now firmly planted on his mother the Earth, his feet\nhe raises up and rests against his father the Heaven, he strains his back\nand limbs with mighty effort. Now are rent apart Rangi and Papa, and with\ncries and groans of woe they shriek aloud: \u201cWherefore slay you thus your\nparents? Why commit you so dreadful a crime as to slay us, as to rend\nyour parents apart?\u201d But Tane-Mahuta pauses not; he regards not their\nshrieks and cries; far, far beneath him he presses down the Earth; far,\nfar above him he thrusts up the Sky.\n\nThen, also, there arose in the breast of Tawhiri-ma-tea, the god and\nfather of winds and storms, a fierce desire to wage war with his\nbrothers, because they had rent apart their common parents.\n\nThe god of hurricanes and storms dreads also that the world should become\ntoo fair and beautiful, so he rises, follows his father to the realms\nabove, and hurries to the sheltered hollows in the boundless skies; there\nhe hides and clings, and nestling in this place of rest he consults\nlong with his parent, and as the vast Heaven listens to the suggestions\nof Tawhiri-ma-tea, thoughts and plans are formed in his breast, and\nTawhiri-ma-tea also understands what he must do.\n\nHe sends forth fierce squalls, whirlwinds, dense clouds, massy clouds,\ndark clouds, gloomy thick clouds, fiery clouds, clouds which precede\nhurricanes, clouds of fiery black, clouds reflecting glowing red light,\nclouds wildly drifting from all quarters and wildly bursting, clouds\nof thunder-storms, and clouds hurriedly flying. In the midst of these\nTawhiri-ma-tea himself sweeps wildly on. Alas! Alas! then rages the\nfierce hurricane; and whilst Tane-Mahuta and his gigantic forests still\nstand, unconscious and unsuspecting, the blast of the breath of the mouth\nof Tawhiri-ma-tea smites them, the gigantic trees are snapped off right\nin the middle; alas! alas! they are rent to atoms, dashed to the earth,\nwith boughs and branches torn and scattered, and lying on the earth,\ntrees and branches all alike left for the insect, for the grub, and for\nloathsome rottenness.\n\nFrom the forests and their inhabitants Tawhiri-ma-tea next swoops down\nupon the seas, and lashes in his wrath the ocean. Ah! ah! waves steep as\ncliffs arise, whose summits are so lofty that to look from them would\nmake the beholder giddy; these soon eddy in whirlpools, and Tangawa, the\ngod of ocean, and father of all that dwell therein, flies affrighted\nthrough his seas.\n\nTawhiri-ma-tea next rushed on to attack his brothers Rongo-matane and\nHaumia-tikitiki, the gods and progenitors of cultivated and uncultivated\nfood; but Papa, to save these for her other children, caught them up, and\nhid them in a place of safety; and so well were these children of hers\nconcealed by their Mother Earth, that Tawhiri-ma-tea sought for them in\nvain.\n\nTawhiri-ma-tea having thus vanquished all his other brothers, next rushed\nagainst Tu-Matauenga, to try his strength against his; he exerted all his\nforce against him, but he could neither shake him nor prevail against\nhim. What did Tu-Matauenga care for his brother\u2019s wrath? he was the\nonly one of the whole party of brothers who had planned the destruction\nof their parents, and had shown himself brave and fierce in war.\nTu-Matauenga, or man, still stood erect and unshaken upon the breast of\nhis Mother Earth; and now at length the hearts of Heaven and of the god\nof storms became tranquil, and their passions were assuaged.\n\nUp to this time the vast Heaven has still ever remained separated from\nhis spouse the Earth. Yet their mutual love still continues\u2014the soft\nwarm sighs of her loving bosom still ever rise up to him, ascending from\nthe woody mountains and valleys, and men call these mists; and the vast\nHeaven, as he mourns through the long nights his separation from his\nbeloved, drops frequent tears upon her bosom, and men seeing these, term\nthem dewdrops.\n\n\nSTORY OF DEMETER\n\n(_Greek: From the Hymn of Callimachus_)\n\nHe sings how Demeter was the first to cut off wheat, straw, and handfuls\nof ears, and introduced oxen to tread out the corn. He tells also how\nshe punishes those who are guilty of disrespect to her power. She made\nthe son of Triopus pitiable by hunger. Not yet were the Pelasgians\ninhabiting the Cnidian land, but sacred Dotium; but to thyself had raised\na beautiful enclosure, thickly grown with trees; scarce would an arrow\nhave penetrated it. In it was the pine, in it tall elms, and pear-trees\nalso, and beautiful, sweet apples, whilst the water, like as amber, was\nbursting forth from springs. Then the son of Triopus hastened forth with\ntwenty servants, all in their prime, all giant men, having armed them in\nboth respects with hatchets and axes, so they rushed without shame into\nthe grove of Demeter.\n\nNow there was a poplar, a large tree reaching to heaven, and under it the\nnymphs were wont to disport themselves in the noontide, which, stricken\nfirst, sounded an evil melody for the rest. Demeter became aware that her\nsacred grove was in danger, and said in anger, \u201cWho is hewing down my\nbeautiful trees?\u201d\n\nForthwith she likened herself to Nicippe, whom the state had appointed as\nher public priestess, and she grasped in her hand the fillets and poppies\nand kept her key on her shoulders. Then said she, soothing the sad and\nshameless man: \u201cMy son who fellest the sacred trees which are consecrated\nto gods, stay, my son, child, much beloved by thy parents, forbear and\nturn away thy servants, lest anywise our Lady Demeter be wroth with thee;\nDemeter, whose holy precinct thou art pillaging.\u201d\n\nAt her then, looking askance more fiercely than a lioness with savage\nbrood: \u201cGive way, lest I fasten this great axe in thy flesh. These trees\nthou shalt behold my well-roofed house, wherein I shall ever and anon\nhold pleasant banquets to my heart\u2019s content with my companions.\u201d So\nspake the youth, and Nemesis recorded the wicked speech.\n\nDemeter was wroth in an unspeakable degree, and she became the goddess.\nHer steps, indeed, trod the ground, but her head touched Olympus. Then\nwere they half dead, I wot, when they had seen the awful goddess, and on\na sudden rushed away, having left the axe among the oaks. The rest she\nleft alone, for by constraint they followed beneath their lord\u2019s hands,\nbut she replied to the king that vexed her: \u201cSo, so; build thy hall, thou\ndog, thou dog, wherein thou mayst hold banquets, for frequent festivals\nthou shalt have hereafter.\u201d Forthwith she sent upon him a grievous,\nfierce hunger, burning and violent. So terrible was his appetite that he\nate up everything his mother had, causing her to call on Neptune:\n\n\u201cEither remove thou from him his sad disorder or thyself take and\nmaintain him, for my tables have fallen short. Reft are my folds, and my\nstalls now void of beasts; and at length my cooks have declined the task.\nNay, more, they have unyoked the mules from the great wains, and he ate\nthe heifer which his mother was feeding for Vesta, and the prize-gaining\nsteed and war horse, and the cat which lesser animals dread.\u201d\n\nO Demeter, may he be no friend to me who is hated by you.... Sing ye\nvirgins, and ye mothers join the acclaim. All hail, Demeter, many\nnurturing of many measures. And as the four white-maned steeds carry the\nbasket, so shall the great goddess, wide ruling, come, bringing to us\nfair spring, fair summer, winter and autumn, and shall keep them for us\nto another year.\n\nHail, goddess, and preserve this city in harmony and prosperity, and\nbring all things home ripe from the fields. Feed our cattle; support our\nfruit trees; bring forth the ear, produce the harvest; nurse also peace;\nthat he who has sowed, that same may reap. Be propitious at my bidding, O\nthou, thrice-prayed-for, widely ruling among goddesses.\n\n\nTHE STORY OF DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nOnce upon a time, when the giants had all been imprisoned by Zeus under\nMount \u00c6tna, Pluto, the ruler over the lower regions, or Hades, became\nvery much alarmed lest the shock of their fall might expose his kingdom\nto the light of day. Under this apprehension, he mounted his chariot,\ndrawn by black horses, and made a journey of inspection to satisfy\nhimself of the extent of the damage. While he was thus engaged, he was\nespied by the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite (Venus), who was sitting on\nMount Eryx, playing with her little boy Eros (Cupid).\n\nHe is one of the children in mythology who never grows up and never grows\nany wiser. He carries about with him always a bow and a quiver full of\narrows, which he shoots right into the hearts of people and fills them\nwith a love so overwhelming for some one they have seen that they will\neven carry that person off against his or her will, as this present story\nshows. As soon as Aphrodite saw Pluto, she exclaimed: \u201cMy son, take thy\ndarts which subdue all, even Zeus himself, and send one into the breast\nof yonder dark monarch, who rules the realm of Tartarus. Dost thou not\nsee that even in heaven some despise our power? Ath\u0113ne and Artemis defy\nus; and there is that daughter of Demeter, who threatens to follow their\nexample. Now, if thou regardest thine own interest or mine, join these\ntwo in one.\u201d The boy selected his sharpest and truest arrow, and sped it\nright to the heart of Pluto.\n\nNow in the vale of Enna is a lake embowered in woods, where Spring\nreigns perpetual. Here Persephone (Roman, Proserpina) was playing with\nher companions, gathering lilies and violets, when the god Pluto saw\nher. He immediately loved her, and, without waiting to find out whether\nshe returned his love or not, he caught her up and carried her off. She\nscreamed for help to her mother and her companions, but Pluto urged on\nhis steeds and outdistanced pursuit. When he reached the river Cyane, it\nopposed his passage; whereupon he struck the bank with his trident, and\nthe earth opened and gave him a passage to Tartarus.\n\nThen Demeter, overwhelmed with grief, sought her daughter through the\nwhole world. Bright-haired Aurora, when she came forth in the morning,\nand Hesperus, when he led out the stars in the evening, found her still\nbusy in the search. At length, weary and sad, she sat down upon a stone,\nand remained nine days and nine nights, in the open air, under the\nsunlight and moonlight and falling showers. It was where the city of\nEleusis now stands, near the home of an old man named Celeus. His little\ngirl, pitying the old woman, said to her: \u201cMother\u201d\u2014and the name was sweet\nto the ears of Demeter\u2014\u201cwhy sittest thou here alone upon the rocks?\u201d The\nold man begged her to come into his cottage. She declined. He urged her.\n\u201cGo in peace,\u201d she replied, \u201cand be happy in thy daughter; I have lost\nmine.\u201d But their compassion finally prevailed. Demeter rose from the\nstone and went with them. As they walked, Celeus said that his only son\nlay sick of a fever. The goddess stooped and gathered some poppies. Then,\nentering the cottage where all was in distress\u2014for the boy, Triptolemus,\nseemed past recovery\u2014she restored the child to life and health with a\nkiss. In grateful happiness the family spread the table, and put upon it\ncurds and cream, apples, and honey in the comb. While they ate, Demeter\nmingled poppy juice in the milk of the boy. When night came, she arose\nand, taking the sleeping boy, moulded his limbs with her hands, and\nuttered over him three times a solemn charm, then went and laid him in\nthe ashes. His mother, who had been watching what her guest was doing,\nsprang forward with a cry and snatched the child from the fire. Then\nDemeter assumed her own form, and a divine splendor shone all around.\nWhile they were overcome with astonishment, she said: \u201cMother, thou hast\nbeen cruel in thy fondness; for I would have made thy son immortal.\nNevertheless, he shall be great and useful. He shall teach men the use\nof the plough, and the rewards which labor can win from the soil.\u201d So\nsaying, she wrapped a cloud about her, and, mounting her chariot, rode\naway.\n\nDemeter continued her search for her daughter, until at last she returned\nto Sicily, whence she had at first set out, and stood by the banks of\nthe river Cyane. The river nymph would have told the goddess all she had\nwitnessed, but dared not for fear of Pluto; so she ventured merely to\ntake up the girdle which Persephone had dropped in her flight, and float\nit to the feet of her mother. Demeter, seeing this, laid her curse upon\nthe innocent earth in which her daughter had disappeared. Then succeeded\ndrought and famine, flood and plague, until at last the fountain Arethusa\nmade intercession for the land. For she had observed that it had opened\nall unwillingly to the might of Pluto, and she had also, in her flight\nfrom Alpheus through the lower regions of the earth, beheld the missing\nPersephone. She reported that the daughter of Demeter seemed sad, but no\nlonger showed alarm in her countenance. Her look was such as became a\nqueen\u2014the queen of Erebus, the powerful bride of the monarch of the realm\nof the dead.\n\nWhen Demeter heard this she stood a while like one stupefied; then she\nimplored Zeus to interfere to procure the restitution of her daughter.\nZeus consented on condition that Persephone should not, during her stay\nin the lower world, have taken any food; otherwise, the Fates forbade her\nrelease. Accordingly, Hermes was sent, accompanied by Spring, to demand\nPersephone of Pluto. The wily monarch consented; but, alas! the maiden\nhad taken a pomegranate which Pluto offered her, and had sucked the sweet\npulp from a few of the seeds. A compromise, however, was effected by\nwhich she was to pass half the time with her mother and the rest with the\nlord of Hades\u2014so the flowers bloom upon the earth for half the year, and\nfor the other half are buried underground, out of sight.\n\nDemeter, pacified with this arrangement, restored the earth to her favor.\nShe remembered, also, about Celeus and his family, and her promise to\nhis infant son, Triptolemus. She taught the boy the use of the plough\nand how to sow the seed. She took him in her chariot, drawn by winged\ndragons, through all the countries of the earth; and under her guidance\nhe imparted to mankind valuable grains, and the knowledge of agriculture.\nAfter his return, Triptolemus built a temple to Demeter in Eleusis, and\nestablished the worship of the goddess under the name of the Eleusinian\nmysteries, which, in the splendor and solemnity of their observance,\nsurpassed all other religious celebrations among the Greeks.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMyths in which children figure are so numerous that it will be possible\nto give but a few of the most important ones. There are sun and moon\nchildren, and star children, and children of the wind; strong children\nand clever children and tricksy children, and even children who are\nworshipped as ancestors. A charming tale of the Zuni Indians tells how\nthey came to worship children. Once some mothers were crossing a river\nwith their children. By some magical means the children were changed\ninto such ugly and mischievous shapes that many of the mothers, in their\nfright, let them fall into the water. Some of them held fast to their\nchildren, and these were restored to their natural shapes on the other\nside of the river, but those who had lost their children grieved deeply,\nand nothing could comfort them. Thereupon, two little twin brothers,\nwho were called Sons of the Sun, went downward beneath the waters of a\nlake to the dwelling of the children, who as soon as they saw the twins\ninquired lovingly how it fared with their mothers. Their visitors told\nthem of the grief and sorrow of their parents, whereupon the children\nsaid: \u201cTell our mothers we are not dead, but live and sing in this\nbeautiful place, which is the home for them when they sleep. One day they\nwill wake here and be happy always. And we are here to intercede with the\nSun, our father, that he may give to our people rain and the fruits of\nthe earth, and all that is good for them.\u201d Ever since these children have\nbeen worshipped as ancestral gods.\n\nWe have already had a little story in which the stars appear as the\nchildren of the sun and moon. In another one, of the Indians of British\nColumbia, the dark spots which we see on the moon are supposed to be\na child and her little basket. According to this legend, one night a\nchild of the chief class awoke and cried for water. Its cries were very\naffecting\u2014\u201cMother, give me a drink!\u201d\u2014but the mother heeded not. The Moon\nwas touched, and came down, entered the house, and approached the child,\nsaying: \u201cHere is water from heaven; drink.\u201d The child eagerly took hold\nof the jar and drank the water, and was then enticed to go away with its\nbenefactor, the Moon. They took an underground passage until they got\nquite clear of the village, and then ascended to heaven. And still we\nsee in the moon the figure of that very child, carrying the little round\nbasket it had in its hand when it went to sleep.\n\nThe Indians of Mt. Shasta have a little wind child, who also became the\nancestress of the grizzly-bear people. They tell how once a terrific\nstorm came up from the sea and shook to its base the wigwam\u2014Mt. Shasta\nitself\u2014in which lived the Great Spirit and his family. Then the Great\nSpirit commanded his daughter, little more than an infant, to go up and\ncommand the wind to be still; but he cautioned her at the same time, in\na tender, fatherly manner, to be sure and not put her head out into the\nblast, but to thrust out her little red arm and make a sign before she\ndelivered her message. But she could not withstand the temptation to look\nout upon the world, and of course, being such a little thing, she was\ncaught up by the storm and blown down the mountain into the land of the\ngrizzly-bear people. She married one of them, and became the ancestress\nof a new race of men. When the Great Spirit heard that his daughter\nstill lived, he ran down the mountain for joy, but when he found out\nthat his daughter had married one of the grizzly-bear people, he was so\nangry that he cursed the grizzly people and turned them into the present\nrace of bears of that name. Then he drove them and the new race of men\nout of their wigwam, shut to the door, and passed away to his mountains,\ncarrying his daughter with him; and her or him no eye has since seen.\n\nA very important mythical being in Polynesian mythology is a little boy\ncalled Maui-tiki-tiki-o-Taranga, and how he caught the Sun is told in the\nstory of him in this chapter.\n\nThe Egyptians called the sun itself a child when it was rising. The name\nof this Child-Sun was Horus, and he was sometimes regarded as the god\nof silence and represented as a child with his finger held up to his\nlip. The principal children in Greek myths are Heracles and Hermes, who,\nalthough they figure in many stories after they had become full-grown\ngods, were both very remarkable when they were babies. Heracles was the\nGod of Strength, but it is very probable that there are some cosmic\nelements in the conception of this god. His struggle with the serpents in\nhis babyhood resembles very closely other battles in mythology between\nthe sun and the powers of darkness, Ra and Anapef or Apollo and the\nPython. Hermes, who is a roguish little imp, is full of such tricks as\nthe wind plays, and he has become the model of many a medi\u00e6val tale of\ntricksy thieves and wonder-workers.\n\nOther stories to be given in this chapter show how important little human\nchildren were among primitive people\u2014so important in one story that all\nthe animals in the world assembled and tried to save two little boys who\nwent sound asleep upon a rock that gradually rose higher and higher until\ntheir faces touched the moon; and so important in another that even the\ngreat god of the Algonquins, Glooskap himself, was conquered by the baby;\nand in still another Indian myth so important that if it had not been for\nthe wishes of the little son of a Manito, there would never have been any\nsummer; but this last, if he really were the son of a Manito, was, of\ncourse, a little more than human.\n\n\nLEGEND OF TU-TOK-A-NU-LA\n\n(_Indians of the Yosemite Valley_)\n\nThere were once two little boys living in the valley, who went down\nto the river to swim. After paddling and splashing about to their\nhearts\u2019 content, they went on shore and crept upon a huge bowlder that\nstood beside the water, on which they lay down in the warm sunshine\nto dry themselves. Very soon they fell asleep, and slept so soundly\nthat they never wakened more. Through moons and snows, winter and\nsummer, they slumbered on. Meantime the great rock whereon they slept\nwas treacherously rising day and night, little by little, until it\nsoon lifted them up beyond the sight of their friends, who sought them\neverywhere, weeping. Thus they were borne up at last beyond all human\nhelp or reach of human voice; lifted up into the blue heavens, far up,\nfar up, until their faces touched the moon; and still they slumbered and\nslept, year after year, safe among the clouds.\n\nThen, upon a time, all the animals assembled together to bring down the\nlittle boys from the top of the great rock. Every animal made a spring up\nthe face of the wall as far as he could leap. The little mouse could only\njump up a hand-breadth; the rat, two hand-breadths; the raccoon, a little\nfarther; and so on\u2014the grizzly bear making a mighty leap far up the wall,\nbut falling back like all the others. Last of all the lion tried, and he\njumped up farther than any other animal, but he, too, fell down flat on\nhis back.\n\nThen came along an insignificant measuring-worm, which even the mouse\ncould have crushed by treading on it, and began to creep up the rock.\nStep by step, a little at a time, he measured his way up, until he\npresently was above the lion\u2019s jump, then pretty soon out of sight. So he\ncrawled up and up, through many sleeps, for about one whole snow, and at\nlast he reached the top. Then he took the little boys and came downward\nas he went up, so bringing them safely to ground.\n\nAnd the rock is called the measuring-worm\u2014Tutokanula.\n\n\nNEZHIK-E-WA-WA-SUN; OR, THE LONE LIGHTNING\n\n(_Odjibwa_)\n\nA little orphan boy, who had no one to care for him, was once living\nwith his uncle, who treated him very badly, making him do hard things\nand giving him very little to eat; so that the boy pined away, he never\ngrew much, and became, through hard usage, very thin and light. At last\nthe uncle felt ashamed of this treatment, and determined to make amends\nfor it by fattening him up, but his real object was to kill him by\nover-feeding. He told his wife to give the boy plenty of bear\u2019s meat, and\nlet him have the fat, which is thought to be the best part. They were\nboth very assiduous in cramming him, and one day came near choking him to\ndeath by forcing the fat down his throat. The boy escaped and fled from\nthe lodge. He knew not where to go, but wandered about. When night came\non, he was afraid the wild beasts would eat him; so he climbed up into\nthe forks of a huge pine tree, and there he fell asleep in the branches,\nand had an _aupoway_, or ominous dream.\n\nA person appeared to him from the upper sky and said: \u201cMy poor little\nlad, I pity you, and the bad usage you have received from your uncle has\nled me to visit you; follow me, and step in my tracks.\u201d Immediately his\nsleep left him, and he rose up and followed his guide, mounting up higher\nand higher into the air, until he reached the upper sky. Here twelve\narrows were put into his hands, and he was told that there were a great\nmany Manitoes in the northern sky, against whom he must go to war, and\ntry to waylay and shoot them. Accordingly, he went to that part of the\nsky, and at long intervals shot arrow after arrow until he had expended\neleven, in vain attempts to kill the Manitoes. At the flight of each\narrow there was a long and solitary streak of lightning in the sky\u2014then\nall was clear again, and not a cloud or spot could be seen. The twelfth\narrow he held a long time in his hands, and looked around keenly on every\nside to spy the Manitoes he was after. But these Manitoes were very\ncunning, and could change their form in a moment. All they feared was the\nboy\u2019s arrows, for these were magic arrows, which had been given to him\nby a good spirit, and had power to kill them if aimed aright. At length\nthe boy drew up his last arrow, settled in his aim, and let fly, as he\nthought, into the very heart of the chief of the Manitoes; but before the\narrow reached him, the Manito changed himself into a rock. Into this rock\nthe head of the arrow sank deep and stuck fast.\n\n\u201cNow your gifts are all expended,\u201d cried the enraged Manito, \u201cand I\nwill make an example of your audacity and pride of heart for lifting\nyour bow against me.\u201d And so saying, he transformed the boy into the\nNezhik-e-wa-wa-sun, or Lone Lightning, which may be observed in the\nnorthern sky to this day.\n\n\nWASIS, THE BABY\n\nHOW THE LORD OF MEN AND BEASTS STROVE WITH THE MIGHTY WASIS, AND WAS\nSHAMEFULLY DEFEATED\n\n(_Penobscot_)\n\nNow it came to pass when Glooskap had conquered all his enemies, even\nthe Kewahqu\u2019, who were giants and sorcerers, and the M\u2019t\u00e9oulin, who were\nmagicians, and the Pamola, who is the evil spirit of the night air, and\nall manner of ghosts, witches, devils, cannibals, and goblins, that he\nthought upon what he had done, and wondered if his work was at an end.\n\nAnd he said this to a certain woman. But she replied: \u201cNot so fast,\nMaster, for there yet remains One whom no one has ever conquered or got\nthe better of in any way, and who will remain unconquered to the end of\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd who is he?\u201d inquired the Master.\n\n\u201cIt is the mighty Wasis,\u201d she replied, \u201cand there he sits; and I warn you\nthat if you meddle with him you will be in sore trouble.\u201d\n\nNow Wasis was the Baby. And he sat on the floor sucking a piece of\nmaple-sugar, greatly contented, troubling no one.\n\nAs the Lord of Men and Beasts had never married or had a child, he knew\nnaught of the way of managing children. Therefore he was quite certain,\nas is the wont of such people, that he knew all about it. So he turned to\nBaby with a bewitching smile and bade him come to him.\n\nThen Baby smiled again, but did not budge. And the Master spake sweetly\nand made his voice like that of the summer bird, but it was of no avail,\nfor Wasis sat still and sucked his maple-sugar.\n\nThen the Master frowned and spoke terribly, and ordered Wasis to come\ncrawling to him immediately. And Baby burst out into crying and yelling,\nbut did not move for all that.\n\nThen, since he could do but one thing more, the Master had recourse to\nmagic. He used his most awful spells, and sang the songs which raise the\ndead and scare the devils. And Wasis sat and looked on admiringly, and\nseemed to find it very interesting, but all the same he never moved an\ninch.\n\nSo Glooskap gave it up in despair, and Wasis, sitting on the floor in the\nsunshine, went _goo! goo!_ and crowed.\n\nAnd to this day when you see a babe well contented, going _goo! goo!_ and\ncrowing, and no one can tell why, know that it is because he remembers\nthe time when he overcame the Master who had conquered all the world. For\nof all the beings that have ever been since the beginning, Baby is alone\nthe only invincible one.\n\n\nOJEEG ANNUNG; OR, THE SUMMER-MAKER\n\n(_North American Indian_)\n\nThere lived a celebrated hunter on the southern shores of Lake Superior,\nwho was considered a Manito by some, for there was nothing but what he\ncould accomplish. He lived off the path, in a wild, lonesome place, with\na wife whom he loved, and they were blessed with a son, who had attained\nhis thirteenth year. The hunter\u2019s name was Ojeeg, or the Fisher, which is\nthe name of an expert, sprightly little animal common to the region. He\nwas so successful in the chase that he seldom returned without bringing\nhis wife and son a plentiful supply of venison, or other dainties of the\nwoods. As hunting formed his constant occupation, his son began early to\nemulate his father in the same employment, and would take his bow and\narrows, and exert his skill in trying to kill birds and squirrels. The\ngreatest impediment he met with was the coldness and severity of the\nclimate. He often returned home, his little fingers benumbed with cold,\nand crying with vexation at his disappointment. Days and months and\nyears passed away, but still the same perpetual depth of snow was seen,\ncovering all the country as with a white cloak.\n\nOne day, after a fruitless trial of his forest skill, the little boy was\nreturning homeward with a heavy heart, when he saw a small red squirrel\ngnawing the top of a pine bur. He had approached within a proper distance\nto shoot, when the squirrel sat up on its hind legs and thus addressed\nhim:\n\n\u201cMy grandchild, put up your arrows, and listen to what I have to tell\nyou.\u201d The boy complied rather reluctantly, when the squirrel continued:\n\u201cMy son, I see you pass frequently, with your fingers benumbed with cold,\nand crying with vexation for not having killed any birds. Now, if you\nwill follow my advice we will see if you cannot accomplish your wishes.\nIf you will strictly pursue my advice, we will have perpetual summer, and\nyou will then have the pleasure of killing as many birds as you please;\nand I will also have something to eat, as I am now myself on the point of\nstarvation.\n\n\u201cListen to me. As soon as you get home you must commence crying. You\nmust throw away your bow and arrows in discontent. If your mother asks\nyou what is the matter, you must not answer her, but continue crying\nand sobbing. If she offers you anything to eat, you must push it away\nwith apparent discontent, and continue crying. In the evening, when your\nfather returns from hunting, he will inquire of your mother what is the\nmatter with you. She will answer that you came home crying, and would\nnot so much as mention the cause to her. All this while you must not\nleave off sobbing. At last your father will say: \u2018My son, why is this\nunnecessary grief? Tell me the cause. You know I am a spirit, and that\nnothing is impossible for me to perform.\u2019 You must then answer him, and\nsay that you are sorry to see the snow continually on the ground, and ask\nhim if he could not cause it to melt, so that we might have perpetual\nsummer. Say it in a supplicating way and tell him this is the cause of\nyour grief. Your father will reply: \u2018It is very hard to accomplish your\nrequest, but for your sake, and on account of my love for you, I will use\nmy utmost endeavors.\u2019 He will tell you to be still, and cease crying. He\nwill try to bring summer with all its loveliness. You must then be quiet,\nand eat that which is set before you.\u201d\n\nThe squirrel ceased. The boy promised obedience to his advice, and\ndeparted. When he reached home, he did as he had been instructed, and all\nwas exactly fulfilled, as it had been predicted by the squirrel.\n\nOjeeg told him that it was a great undertaking. He must first make a\nfeast, and invite some of his friends to accompany him on a journey.\nNext day he had a bear roasted whole. All who had been invited to the\nfeast came punctually to the appointment. There were the Otter, Beaver,\nLynx, Badger, and Wolverine. After the feast, they arranged it among\nthemselves to set out on the contemplated journey in three days. When the\ntime arrived, the Fisher took leave of his wife and son, as he foresaw\nthat it was for the last time. He and his companions travelled in company\nday after day, meeting with nothing but the ordinary incidents. On the\ntwentieth day they arrived at the foot of a high mountain, where they\nsaw the tracks of some person who had recently killed an animal, which\nthey knew by the blood that marked the way. The Fisher told his friends\nthat they ought to follow the track, and see if they could not procure\nsomething to eat. They followed it for some time; at last they arrived\nat a lodge, which had been hidden from their view by a hollow in the\nmountain. Ojeeg told his friends to be very sedate, and not to laugh\non any account. The first object that they saw was a man standing at\nthe door of the lodge, but of so deformed a shape that they could not\npossibly make out who or what sort of a man it could be. His head was\nenormously large; he had such a queer set of teeth, and no arms. They\nwondered how he could kill animals. But the secret was soon revealed.\nHe was a great Manito. He invited them to pass the night, to which they\nconsented.\n\nHe boiled his meat in a hollow vessel made of wood, and took it out of\nthis singular kettle in some way unknown to his guests. He carefully gave\neach their portion to eat, but made so many odd movements that the Otter\ncould not refrain from laughing, for he is the only one who is spoken of\nas a jester. The Manito looked at him with a terrible look, and then made\na spring at him, and got on him to smother him, for that was his mode of\nkilling animals. But the Otter, when he felt him on his neck, slipped\nhis head back and made for the door, which he passed in safety; but went\nout with the curse of the Manito. The others passed the night, and they\nconversed on different subjects. The Manito told the Fisher that he would\naccomplish his object, but that it would probably cost him his life. He\ngave them his advice, directed them how to act, and described a certain\nroad which they must follow, and they would thereby be led to the place\nof action.\n\nThey set off in the morning, and met their friend, the Otter, shivering\nwith cold; but Ojeeg had taken care to bring along some of the meat that\nhad been given him, which he presented to his friend. They pursued their\nway, and travelled twenty days more before they got to the place of\nwhich the Manito had told them. It was a most lofty mountain. They rested\non its highest peak to fill their pipes and refresh themselves. Before\nsmoking, they made the customary ceremony, pointing to the heavens, the\nfour winds, the earth, and the zenith; in the meantime, speaking in a\nloud voice, they addressed the Great Spirit, hoping that their object\nwould be accomplished. They then commenced smoking.\n\nThey gazed on the sky in silent admiration and astonishment, for they\nwere on so elevated a point that it appeared to be only a short distance\nabove their heads. After they had finished smoking, they prepared\nthemselves. Ojeeg told the Otter to make the first attempt to try and\nmake a hole in the sky. He consented with a grin. He made a leap, but\nfell down the hill stunned by the force of his fall; and the snow being\nmoist, and falling on his back, he slid with velocity down the side of\nthe mountain. When he found himself at the bottom, he thought to himself:\n\u201cIt is the last time I shall attempt such a jump, so I will make the\nbest of my way home.\u201d Then it was the turn of the Beaver, who made the\nattempt, but fell down senseless; then of the Lynx and Badger, who had no\nbetter success.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d says Fisher to the Wolverine, \u201ctry your skill; your ancestors were\ncelebrated for their activity, hardihood, and perseverance, and I depend\non you for success. Now make the attempt.\u201d He did so, but also without\nsuccess. He leaped the second time, but now they could see that the sky\nwas giving way to their repeated attempts. Mustering strength, he made\nthe third leap, and went in. The Fisher nimbly followed him.\n\nThey found themselves in a beautiful plain, extending as far as the\neye could reach, covered with flowers of a thousand different hues and\nfragrance. Here and there were clusters of tall, shady trees, separated\nby innumerable streams of the purest water, which wound around their\ncourses under the cooling shades, and filled the plain with countless\nbeautiful lakes, whose banks and bosom were covered with water-fowl,\nbasking and sporting in the sun. The trees were alive with birds of\ndifferent plumage, warbling their sweet notes, and delighted with\nperpetual spring.\n\nThe Fisher and his friend beheld very long lodges, and the celestial\ninhabitants amusing themselves at a distance. Words cannot express the\nbeauty and charm of the place. The lodges were empty of inhabitants,\nbut they saw them lined with _mocuks_, of different sizes, filled with\nbirds and fowls of different plumage. Ojeeg thought of his son, and\nimmediately commenced cutting open the mocuks and letting out the birds,\nwho descended in whole flocks through the opening which they had made.\nThe warm air of those regions also rushed down through the opening, and\nspread its genial influence over the north.\n\nWhen the celestial inhabitants saw the birds let loose, and the warm\ngales descending, they raised a shout like thunder, and ran for their\nlodges. But it was too late. Spring, summer, and autumn had gone; even\nperpetual summer had almost all gone; but they separated it with a blow,\nand only a part descended; but the ends were so mangled that, wherever it\nprevails among the lower inhabitants, it is always sickly.\n\nWhen the Wolverine heard the noise, he made for the opening and safely\ndescended. Not so the Fisher. Anxious to fulfil his son\u2019s wishes, he\ncontinued to break open the _mocuks_. He was, at last, obliged to run\nalso, but the opening was now closed by the inhabitants. He ran with\nall his might over the plains of heaven, and, it would appear, took a\nnortherly direction. He saw his pursuers so close that he had to climb\nthe first large tree that he came to. They commenced shooting at him\nwith their arrows, but without effect, for all his body was invulnerable\nexcept the space of about an inch near the tip of his tail. At last one\nof the arrows hit the spot, for he had in this chase assumed the shape of\nthe Fisher after whom he was named.\n\nHe looked down from the tree, and saw some among his assailants with\nthe totems of his ancestors. He claimed relationship, and told them to\ndesist, which they only did at the approach of night. He then came down\nto try and find an opening in the celestial plain, by which he might\ndescend to the earth. But he could find none. At last, becoming faint\nfrom the loss of blood from the wound on his tail, he laid himself down\ntoward the north of the plain, and, stretching out his limbs, said: \u201cI\nhave fulfilled my promise to my son, though it has cost me my life;\nbut I die satisfied in the idea that I have done so much good, not only\nfor him, but for my fellow-beings. Hereafter I will be a sign to the\ninhabitants below for ages to come, who will venerate my name for having\nsucceeded in procuring the varying seasons. They will now have from eight\nto ten moons without snow.\u201d\n\nHe was found dead next morning, but they left him as they found him, with\nthe arrow sticking in his tail, as it can be plainly seen, at this time,\nin the heavens.\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF MAUI\n\n(_Polynesian_)\n\nOnce when his relations were all dancing in the great House of Assembly\nthey found out who he was. For little Maui, the infant, crept into the\nhouse, and went and sat behind one of his brothers, and hid himself, so\nwhen their mother counted her children that they might stand up ready\nfor the dance, she said: \u201cOne, that\u2019s Maui-taha; two, that\u2019s Maui-roto;\nthree, that\u2019s Maui-pae; four, that\u2019s Maui-waho\u201d; and then she saw\nanother, and cried out: \u201cHollo, where did this fifth come from?\u201d Then\nlittle Maui, the infant, answered: \u201cAh, I\u2019m your child, too.\u201d Then the\nmother counted them all over again, and said: \u201cOh, no, there ought to be\nonly four of you; now for the first time I\u2019ve seen you.\u201d Then little Maui\nand his mother stood for a long time disputing about this in the very\nmiddle of the ranks of all the dancers.\n\nAt last she got angry, and cried out: \u201cCome, you, be off now, out of\nthe house at once; you are no child of mine, you belong to some one\nelse.\u201d Then little Maui spoke out quite boldly, and said: \u201cVery well,\nI\u2019d better be off, then, for I suppose, as you say it, I must be the\nchild of some other person; but indeed I did think I was your child when\nI said so, because I knew I was born by the side of the sea, and was\nthrown by you into the foam of the surf, after you had wrapped me up in\na long tress of your hair, which you cut off for the purpose; then the\nseaweed formed and fashioned me, as, caught in its long tangles, the\never-heaving surges of the sea rolled me, folded as I was in them, from\nside to side; at length the breezes and squalls which blew from the ocean\ndrifted me on shore again, and the soft jelly-fish of the long, sandy\nbeaches rolled themselves round me to protect me; then again myriads of\nflies buzzed about me, and flocks of birds collected round me to tear\nme to pieces, but at that moment appeared there also my great ancestor,\nTama-nui-ki-te-Rangi, and he saw the flies and birds collected in\nclusters and flocks above the jelly-fish, and behold, within there lay\na human being; then he caught me up and carried me to his house, and he\nhung me up in the roof that I might feel the warm smoke and the heat of\nthe fire, so I was saved alive by the kindness of that old man. At last\nI grew, and then I heard of the fame of the dancing of this great House\nof Assembly. It was that which brought me here. But ever since I can\nremember I have heard the names of these your first-born children, as\nyou have been calling them over until this very night, when I again heard\nyou repeating them. In proof of this I will now recite your names to\nyou, my brothers. You are Maui-taha, and you are Maui-roto, and you are\nMaui-pae, and you are Maui-waho, and as for me, I\u2019m little Maui-the-baby,\nand here I am sitting before you.\u201d\n\nWhen his mother, Taranga, heard all this, she cried out: \u201cYou dear little\nchild, you are indeed my last-born, therefore I now tell you your name\nshall be Maui-tiki-tiki-o-Taranga,\u201d and he was called by that name.\n\nIt was now night; but early in the morning Taranga rose up, and suddenly,\nin a moment of time, she was gone from the house where her children were.\nAs soon as they woke up they looked all about to no purpose, as they\ncould not see her; the elder brothers knew she had left them, and were\naccustomed to it; but the little child was exceedingly vexed; yet he\nthought: \u201cI cannot see her, \u2019tis true, but perhaps she has only gone to\nprepare some food for us.\u201d No-no\u2014she was off, far, far away.\n\nNow, at nightfall when their mother came back to them, her children were\ndancing and singing as usual. As soon as they had finished, she called\nto her last-born, \u201cCome here, my child, let us sleep together\u201d; so they\nslept together; but as soon as day dawned, she disappeared. The little\nfellow now felt quite suspicious at such strange proceedings on the part\nof his mother every morning. So, at length, another night, he crept out\nof bed in the night and stole his mother\u2019s apron, her belt, and clothes,\nand hid them; then he went and stopped up every crevice in the wooden\nwindow, and in the doorway, so that the light of the dawn might not shine\ninto the house, and make his mother hurry to get up. But after he had\ndone this his little heart still felt very anxious and uneasy, lest his\nmother should, in her impatience, rise in the darkness, and defeat his\nplans. But the night dragged its slow length along without his mother\nmoving; at last there came the faint light of early morn, but his mother\nstill slept on; then the sun rose up, and mounted far up above the\nhorizon; now at last his mother moved, and began to think to herself,\n\u201cWhat kind of night can this be, to last so long?\u201d and having thought\nthus, she dropped asleep again. Again she awoke, and began to think to\nherself, but could not tell that it was broad daylight outside, as the\nwindow and every chink in the house were stopped up closely.\n\nAt last up she jumped; and finding herself without her clothes or her\nbelt or her apron, she ran and pulled out the things with which the\nwindows and chinks in the doors were stopped up, and whilst doing so, oh,\ndear! oh, dear! there she saw the sun high up in the heavens; then she\nsnatched up, as she ran off, the old flax cloak, with which the door of\nthe house had been stopped up, and carried it off as her only covering;\ngetting, at last, outside the house, she hurried away, and ran crying at\nthe thought of having been so badly treated by her own children.\n\nAs soon as his mother got outside the house, little Maui jumped up, and\nkneeling upon his hands and knees peeped after her through the doorway\ninto the bright light. Whilst he was watching her, she reached down to\na clump of rushes, and snatching it up from the ground, dropped into a\nhole underneath it, and clapping the rushes into the hole again as if it\nwere its covering, so disappeared. Then little Maui jumped on his feet,\nand, as hard as he could go, ran out of the house, pulled up the clump of\nrushes, and peeping down, discovered a beautiful open cave running quite\ndeep into the earth.\n\nHe covered up the hole again and returned to the house, and waking up his\nbrothers who were still sleeping, said: \u201cCome, come, my brothers, rouse\nup, you have slept long enough; come, get up; here we are again cajoled\nby our mother.\u201d Then his brothers made haste and got up; alas! alas! the\nsun was quite high up in the heavens.\n\nThe little Maui now asked his brothers again, \u201cWhere do you think the\nplace is where our father and mother dwell?\u201d and they answered: \u201cHow\nshould we know, we have never seen it; although we are Maui-taha, and\nMaui-roto, and Maui-pae, and Maui-waho, we have never seen the place; and\ndo you think you can find that place which you are so anxious to see?\nWhat does it signify to you? Cannot you stop quietly with us? What do we\ncare about our father, or about our mother? Did she feed us with food\ntill we grew up to be men? not a bit of it. Why, without doubt, Rangi,\nor the Heaven, is our father, who kindly sent his offspring down to us:\nHau-whenna, or gentle breezes, to cool the earth and young plants; and\nHau-ma-ringiringi, or mists, to moisten them; and Hau-ma-roto-roto, or\nfine weather, to make them grow; and Tonarangi, or rain, to water them;\nand Tomairangi, or dews, to nourish them. He gave these his offspring to\ncause our food to grow, and then Papa-tu-a-nuku, or the Earth, made her\nseeds to spring, and grow forth, and provide sustenance for her children\nin this long-continuing world.\u201d\n\nLittle Maui then answered: \u201cWhat you say is truly quite correct; but such\nthoughts and sayings would better become me than you, for in the foaming\nbubbles of the sea I was nursed and fed: it would please me better if\nyou would think over and remember the time when you were nursed at your\nmother\u2019s breast; it could not have been until after you had ceased to\nbe nourished by her milk that you could have eaten the kinds of food\nyou have mentioned; as for me, oh! my brothers, I have never partaken\neither of her milk or of her food; yet I love her, for this single reason\nalone\u2014that she is my mother; and because I love her, I wish to know the\nplace where she and my father dwell.\u201d\n\nHis brothers felt quite surprised and pleased with their little brother\nwhen they heard him talk in this way, and when, after a little time,\nthey had recovered from their amazement, they told him to try and find\ntheir father and mother. So he said he would go. It was a long time ago\nthat he had finished his first labor, for when he first appeared to his\nrelatives in their house of singing and dancing, he had on that occasion\ntransformed himself into the likeness of all manner of birds, of every\nbird in the world, and yet no single form that he then assumed had\npleased his brothers; but now when he showed himself to them, transformed\ninto the semblance of a pigeon, his brothers said: \u201cAh! now indeed, oh,\nbrother, you do look very well indeed, very beautiful, very beautiful,\nmuch more beautiful than you looked in any of the other forms you\nassumed, when you first discovered yourself to us.\u201d What made him look\nso beautiful now were the belt and apron he had stolen from his mother.\nThe shining white upon his breast was her belt, the glossy black feathers\nat his throat, the fastening to the belt. Then off he flew until he came\nto the clump of rushes, closing the opening of the cave into which his\nmother had disappeared. Then down he went into the cave, shutting up its\nmouth with the rushes so as to hide the entrance. Away he flew, very\nfast indeed, and twice he dipped his wing, because the cave was narrow;\nsoon he reached nearly to the bottom of the cave, and flew along it; and\nagain, because the cave was so narrow, he dipped first one wing and then\nthe other, but the cave now widened, and he dashed straight on.\n\nAt last he saw a party of people coming along under a grove of trees;\nthey were a special kind of tree, called manapan trees, that belonged\nto the country. Maui flying on, perched upon the top of one of these\ntrees, under which the people had seated themselves; and when he saw his\nmother lying down on the grass by the side of her husband, he guessed at\nonce who they were, and he thought, \u201cAh! there sit my father and mother\nright under me\u201d; and he soon heard their names, as they were called to by\ntheir friends who were sitting with them; then the pigeon hopped down,\nand perched on another spray a little lower, and it pecked off one of\nthe berries of the tree and dropped it gently down, and hit the father\nwith it on the forehead; and some of the party said, \u201cWas it a bird which\nthrew that down?\u201d but the father said, \u201cOh, no, it was only a berry that\nfell by chance.\u201d\n\nThen the pigeon again pecked off some of the berries from the tree, and\nthrew them down with all its force, and struck both father and mother,\nso that he really hurt them; then they cried out, and the whole party\njumped up and looked into the tree, and as the pigeon began to coo, they\nsoon found out from the noise where it was sitting amongst the leaves\nand branches, and the whole of them, the chiefs and common people alike,\ncaught up stones to pelt the pigeon with, but they threw for a very long\ntime without hitting it; at last the father tried to throw a stone at it;\nah, he struck it, but Maui had himself contrived that he should be struck\nby the stone which his father threw; for, but by his choice no one could\nhit him; he was struck exactly upon his left leg, and down he fell, and\nas he lay fluttering and struggling upon the ground, they all ran to\ncatch him, but lo! the pigeon had turned into a man.\n\nThen all those who saw him were frightened at his fierce glaring eyes,\nwhich were red as if painted with red ochre, and they said: \u201cOh, it is\nnow no wonder that he so long sat still up in the tree; had he been\na bird he would have flown off long before, but he is a man.\u201d And\nsome of them said: \u201cNo, indeed, rather a god\u2014just look at his form\nand appearance; the like has never been seen before since Rangi and\nPapa-tu-a-nuku were torn apart.\u201d Then Taranga said: \u201cI used to see one\nwho looked like this person every night when I went to visit my children,\nbut what I saw then excelled what I see now; just listen to me.\u201d Then she\ntold the story of Maui as he had told it to her and his brothers himself.\n\nThen Taranga asked Maui, who was sitting near her, \u201cWhere do you come\nfrom? from the west?\u201d and he answered, \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cFrom the north-east,\nthen?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cFrom the south-east then?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cFrom the south then?\u201d\n\u201cNo.\u201d \u201cWas it the wind which blows upon me\u2014the wind that brought you\nhere to me?\u201d When she asked this, he opened his mouth and answered,\n\u201cYes.\u201d And she cried out, \u201cOh, this then is indeed my child\u201d; and she\nsaid, \u201cAre you Maui-taha?\u201d He answered, \u201cNo.\u201d Then said she, \u201cAre you\nMaui-tiki-tiki-o-Taranga?\u201d and he answered, \u201cYes.\u201d And she cried aloud:\n\u201cThis is, indeed, my child. By the winds and storms and wave-uplifting\ngales he was fashioned and became a human being; welcome, oh, my child,\nwelcome! By you shall hereafter be climbed the threshold of the house of\nyour great ancestor Hine-nui-te-po, and death shall thenceforth have no\npower over man.\u201d This prophecy, however, was not fulfilled, for when the\ntime came for him to encounter Hine-nui-te-po, he was himself killed.\n\nMaui, after these things, returned to his brothers to tell them that he\nhad found his parents, and to explain where they dwelt.\n\nThe young hero, Maui, had not been long at home with his brothers when he\nbegan to think that it was too soon after the rising of the sun that it\nbecame night again, and that the sun again sank down below the horizon,\nevery day, every day; in the same manner the days appeared too short to\nhim. So at last one day he said to his brothers, \u201cLet us now catch the\nsun in a noose, so that we may compel him to move more slowly, in order\nthat mankind may have long days to labor in to procure subsistence for\nthemselves\u201d; but they answered him, \u201cWhy, no man could approach it on\naccount of its warmth, and the fierceness of its heat\u201d; but the young\nhero said to them: \u201cHave you not seen the multitude of things I have\nalready achieved? Did I not by degrees transform myself into every bird\nin the world, small or great; and did I not after all this again assume\nthe form of a man? As for that feat, I accomplished it by enchantments,\nand I will by the same means accomplish also this other thing which I\nhave in mind.\u201d When his brothers heard this they consented to aid him in\nhis conquest of the sun.\n\nThen they began to spin and twist ropes to form a noose to catch the\nsun in, and in doing this they discovered the mode of plaiting flax\ninto stout, square-shaped ropes, and the manner of plaiting flat ropes,\nand of spinning round ropes; at last they finished making all the ropes\nthey required. Then Maui took up his enchanted weapon, and he took his\nbrothers with him, and they carried their provisions, ropes, and other\nthings with them in their hands. They travelled all night, and as soon as\nday broke, they halted in the desert, and hid themselves that they might\nnot be seen by the sun; and at night they renewed their journey, and\nbefore dawn they halted and hid themselves again; at length they got very\nfar, very far to the eastward, and came to the very edge of the place out\nof which the sun rises.\n\nThen they set to work and built on each side of this place a long high\nwall of clay, with huts of boughs of trees at each end to hide themselves\nin; when these were finished, they made the loops of the noose, and the\nbrothers of Maui then lay in wait on one side of the place out of which\nthe sun rises, and Maui himself lay in wait upon the other side. The\nyoung hero held in his hand his enchanted weapon, the jaw-bone of his\nancestress, and said to his brothers: \u201cMind now, keep yourselves hid, and\ndo not go showing yourselves foolishly to the sun; if you do, you will\nfrighten him; but wait patiently until his head and fore-legs have got\nwell into the snare, then I will shout; you haul away as hard as you can\non the ropes on both sides, and then I\u2019ll rush out and attack him, but do\nyou keep your ropes tight for a good long time, until he is nearly dead,\nwhen we will let him go; but mind now, my brothers, do not let him move\nyou to pity with his shrieks and screams.\u201d\n\nAt last the sun came rising up out of his place, like a fire spreading\nfar and wide over the mountains and forests; he rises up, his head passes\nthrough the noose, and it takes in more and more of his body, until\nhis fore-paws pass through; then the ropes are pulled tight, and the\nmonster begins to struggle and roll himself about, whilst the snare jerks\nbackward and forward as he struggles. Ah! is he not held fast in the\nropes of his enemies!\n\nThen forth rushes that bold hero, Maui-tiki-tiki-o-Taranga, with his\nenchanted weapon. Alas! the sun screams aloud; he roars; Maui strikes him\nfiercely with many blows; they hold him for a long time; at last they let\nhim go, and then weak from wounds the sun creeps slowly along its course.\nThen men learned the second name of the sun, for in its agony the sun\nscreamed out: \u201cWhy am I thus smitten by you! oh, man! do you know what\nyou are doing? Why should you wish to kill Tama-nui-te-Ra?\u201d At last they\nlet him go. Oh, then, Tama-nui-te-Ra went very slowly and feebly on his\ncourse.\n\n\nTHE INFANT HERACLES\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nWhen Heracles (Roman, Hercules) was a very wee child, not more than ten\nmonths old, he performed a marvellous feat which was a worthy sample\nof the vast labors he was to accomplish during his life. His mother,\nAlcmena, took him and his younger brother, Iphicles, gave them both\ntheir bath and their evening feast of milk, and then tucked them safely\naway in their cradle, which was not an ordinary one by any means, but\na magnificent bronze shield which their father, Amphitryon, had taken\nfrom his fallen enemy, Pterelaus. Then the mother stroked her little\nchildren\u2019s heads, and said to them:\n\n\u201cSleep, my little ones, a light delicious sleep; sleep, soul of mine, two\nbrothers, babes unharmed; blessed be your sleep, and blessed may ye come\nto the dawn.\u201d[10]\n\nAnd as she spoke she rocked the huge shield back and forth, and soon they\nboth fell asleep.\n\nBut just at midnight, when the constellation of the Great Bear wheeled\nround toward the constellation of Orion that shows his mighty shoulder,\nHera (Roman, Juno) sent forth two horrible monsters, two snakes with\nbristling coils of azure\u2014she urged them against the broad threshold\nof the house door, intending that they should devour the young child\nHeracles. Then the serpents crawled, writhing along the ground, and\never from their eyes shone a baleful fire as they came, and they spat\nout their deadly venom. But when with their flickering tongues they were\ndrawing near the children, then Alcmena\u2019s dear babes wakened, by the\nwill of Zeus that knows all things, and there was a bright light in the\nchamber.\n\nThen one of the children, Iphicles, straightway screamed out, when he\nbeheld the hideous monsters above the hollow shield, and saw their\npitiless fangs, and eager to flee from them he kicked off the woollen\ncoverlet with his feet. But Heracles set his force against them, and\ngrasped them with his hands, holding them as in a bond, having got them\nby the throat, wherein lies the evil venom, detested even by the gods, of\nbaleful snakes. Then the serpents, in their turn, wound their coils about\nthe young child, the child unweaned, who never wept in his nursling days;\nbut again they relaxed their spines on account of the pain, and strove to\nfind some issue from the grasp of iron. Alcmena awoke first, hearing the\ncry.\n\n\u201cArise, Amphitryon, for numbing fear lays hold of me: arise, nor stay\nto put on thy shoes! Dost thou not hear how loud the younger child is\nwailing? and though it is the depth of night, the walls are all plain to\nsee as in the clear dawn? I know there is some strange thing within the\nhouse, my dearest lord!\u201d\n\nThus she spoke, and at his wife\u2019s bidding Amphitryon stepped down out of\nhis bed of cedar, making for his richly ornamented sword which he always\nkept hanging on a pin above his bed. Just as he was reaching out for his\nnew woven belt, and lifting with his other hand the mighty sheath of\nlotus wood, lo! the wide chamber was filled again with night. Then he\ncalled aloud to his servants, who were sleeping soundly. \u201cLights! Bring\nlights as quick as may be from the hearth, my servants, and thrust back\nthe strong bolts of the doors. Arise, serving-men, stout of heart. Your\nmaster calls you.\u201d\n\nThen quickly came the serving-men with burning torches, filling the whole\nhouse. When they saw the young child Heracles clutching the two snakes\nin his tender grasp, they all cried out and smote their hands together.\nBut Heracles displayed the creeping things to his father, Amphitryon, and\nleaped on high in his childish glee, and laughing, at his father\u2019s feet\nhe laid them down, the dread monsters fallen on the sleep of death. Then\nAlcmena took Iphicles, dry-eyed and wan with fear, and laid him in her\nown bosom; but Amphitryon placed the other child beneath a lamb\u2019s wool\ncoverlet, and betook himself again to his rest.\n\nThe cocks had barely sung their third welcome to the earliest dawn, when\nAlcmena called forth the seer Tiresias, who cannot lie, and told him of\nthe new portent, and bade him declare what things should come to pass.\n\n\u201cNay, even if the gods devise some mischief, do not in pity conceal it\nfrom me; let me remind thee what thou well knowest, that mortals may not\nescape the doom that Fate speeds from her spindle.\u201d\n\nThus the Queen spoke, and he answered:\n\n\u201cBe of good cheer, daughter of Perseus, woman that hast borne the noblest\nof children. For by the sweet light that long hath left mine eyes, I\nswear that many Ach\u00e6an women, as they card the soft wool about their\nknees, shall sing at eventide of Alcmena\u2019s name, and thou shalt be\nhonorable among the women of Argos. Such a man, even this thy son, shall\nmount to the starry firmament, the hero, broad of breast, the master\nof all wild beasts, and of all mankind. Twelve labors is he fated to\naccomplish, and thereafter to dwell in the house of Zeus.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Infant Hercules. _Louvre._]\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE CHILD HERMES\n\n(_Greek_)\n\nThe little child-god Hermes was born at the first peep of day in a rocky\ncavern overshadowed by a beautiful grove of ancient trees. He was so\nremarkable a child that he began playing on the lyre at noon, and the\nvery same evening he stole away the herds of Ph\u0153bus Apollo. He sprang\nfrom the arms of his mother, Maia, nor could she keep him in his sacred\ncradle, nor from creeping forth to seek the herds of Apollo.\n\nWandering forth from the lofty cavern, he found a tortoise, and cried\nout, \u201cWhat a treasure!\u201d Before the portal, the little beast was\ndepasturing the flowery herbage at his leisure, moving his feet in a\ndeliberate measure over the turf. Hermes, eyeing him and laughing,\nexclaimed: \u201cYou are a useful godsend indeed to me, king of the dance,\ncompanion of the feast, lovely in all your nature! Welcome, you excellent\nplaything! Where, sweet mountain beast, did you get that speckled shell?\nThus much I know, you must come home with me and be my guest; you will\ngive joy to me, and I will do all that is in my power to honor you.\nBetter to be at home than out-of-doors; so come with me, and though it\nhas been said that when alive you defend from magic power, I know you\nwill sing sweetly when you are dead.\u201d Having spoken, this quaint infant\nlifted the tortoise up from the grass upon which it was feeding, and\ngrasping it tightly in his delighted hold, carried off his treasured\nprize into the cavern. He then scooped out all the inside of the\ntortoise, leaving only the shell. Then, through the shell he bored small\nholes at proper distances, and fastened within, the cut stems of reeds,\nand a bridge, over which he stretched the strings.\n\nWhen he had made this lovely instrument, he tried the chords, and brought\nforth beautiful music. He hit the strings with a little instrument called\nthe plectrum, and lo! up from beneath his hand there went a tumult sweet\nof mighty sounds and from his lips he sent a strain of unpremeditated\nwit, joyous and wild and wanton\u2014such as you may hear among revellers\non a holiday. He sang a lovely song in honor of his mother Maia, but\nwhile he was singing, he was suddenly seized with a new fancy. So he\ndeposited in his sacred crib the hollow lyre, and from the sweet cavern\nrushed with great leaps up to the mountain\u2019s head, revolving in his\nmind some subtle feat of thievish craft, such as a swindler might devise\nin the lone season of dim night. The great Sun had driven his steeds\nand chariot under the ocean\u2019s bed. Meanwhile the child strode over the\nPierian mountains clothed in shadows, where the immortal oxen of the\nGod are pastured in the flowering unmown meadows, and safely stalled\nin a remote abode\u2014elate and proud he drove fifty from the herd, lowing\naloud. He drove them wandering over the sandy way, but being of a crafty\ndisposition, he drove them backward and forward astray, so that the\ntracks which seemed before were aft; then he threw his sandals into the\nocean spray, and for each foot he wrought a kind of raft of tamarisk,\nand tamarisk-like sprigs, and bound them in a lump with withy twigs.\nAnd on his feet he tied these sandals light, so that the trail of the\nwide leaves might confuse his tracks; and then, a self-sufficing wight,\nlike a man hastening on some distant way, he from Piera\u2019s mountain\nbent his flight; but an old man perceived the infant pass down green\nOnchestus heaped like beds with grass. The old man stood, dressing his\nsunny vine: \u201cHalloo! old fellow with the crooked shoulder! You grub\nthose stumps? Before they will bear wine methinks even you must grow a\nlittle older: attend, I pray, to this advice of mine if you would escape\nsomething which might appall a bolder man. Seeing, see not\u2014and hearing,\nhear not\u2014and\u2014if you have understanding\u2014understand.\u201d So saying, Hermes\nroused the oxen vast; over shadowy mountain and resounding dell, and\nflower-paven plains, great Hermes passed; till the black night divine,\nwhich favoring fell around his steps, grew gray, and morning fast wakened\nthe world to work, and from her sea-strewn cell, the sublime Morn had\njust begun to climb into her watch-tower. Now to Alpheus he drove all the\nbroad foreheaded oxen of the Sun. They came unwearied to the lofty stall\nand to the water-troughs which ever run through the fresh fields\u2014and when\neveryone had been pastured with rush-grass tall, lotus and all sweet\nherbage, the great God drove them into the stall.\n\nHermes then heaped a mighty pile of wood, and then bethought him how to\nproduce fire. He took two smooth laurel branches, stripped off the bark\nand rubbed them in his palms. Suddenly the burning vapor leaped forth\non high, which the divine child saw with delight. And fine dry logs\nand numerous roots he gathered in a delve upon the ground and kindled\nthem, and instantaneously the strength of the fierce flames was breathed\naround, and while the might of the glorious fire thus wrapped the great\npile with glare and roaring sound, Hermes dragged forth two heifers,\nlowing loud, close to the fire\u2014such might was in the God. He threw them\non their backs upon the earth and rolled them over and over and bored\ntheir lives out. Then he cut up the fat and flesh and placed the two on\nspits of wood before the fire, toasting their flesh and ribs, and while\nthis was being done he stretched their hides over a craggy stone. This\nwas a burnt offering to the gods, but the savor of the roasted meat\ntempted him sorely though immortal, but he repressed the desire to taste\nit and put not a single morsel into his mouth.\n\nThen he removed every trace of the fresh butchery and cooking, so that\nit seemed all to have vanished through the sky. He burned the hoofs and\nhorns and head and hair; the insatiate fire devoured them hungrily. And\nwhen he saw that everything was clear, he quenched the coals and trampled\nthe black dust, and tossed into the stream his bloody sandals. All night\nhe worked in the serene moonshine, but when the light of day was spread\nabroad, he sought his natal mountain-peaks. On his long wandering,\nneither man nor god had met him, since he killed Apollo\u2019s kine, nor had\na single house-dog barked at him on his road. Now he passed obliquely\nthrough the keyhole, like a thin mist or an autumnal blast. Right through\nthe temple of the spacious cave he went with soft light feet, as if his\ntread fell not on earth. Then he crept quickly to his cradle and spread\nthe swaddling clothes about him; and the knave lay playing with the\ncovering of the bed, with his left hand about his knees and the right\nhand holding his beloved tortoise-lyre tight. There he lay, innocent as a\nnew-born child, as gossips say.\n\nBut though he was a god, the goddess, his fair mother, was not deceived,\nand knew all that he had been doing while away. So she said to him:\n\u201cWhence come you and what wild adventures have you had, you cunning\nrogue. Where have you been all night long, clothed in your impudence?\nWhat have you done since you departed hence? Apollo will soon pass\nwithin this gate and bind your tender body in a chain inextricably tight\nand fast as fate, unless you can delude the god again. A pretty torment\nare you for gods and men.\u201d \u201cDear mother,\u201d the sly Hermes replied, \u201cwhy\nscold and bother as if I were like other babes of my age, and understood\nnothing. I have hatched a scheme in my subtle brain which, while the\nsacred stars round heaven are rolled, will profit you and me, nor shall\nour lot be as you counsel, without gifts or food, to spend our lives\nin this obscure abode. We will leave this shadow-peopled cave and live\namong the gods, and pass each day in high communion, sharing their great\nwealth, and from the portion which Jove gave to Ph\u0153bus I will snatch my\nshare away, and if he should find me out I\u2019ll countermine him by a deeper\nplan. I\u2019ll pierce the Pythian temple walls, though stout, and sack the\nfane of everything I can\u2014cauldrons and tripods, each golden cup and every\nbrazen pan, all the wrought tapestries and the gay garments.\u201d So they\ntalked together.\n\nMeanwhile the Day, ethereal-born, arose out of the flood of flowing\nOcean, bearing light to men. Apollo passed toward the sacred wood, which\nfrom the inmost depths of its green glen echoes the voice of Neptune,\nand there stood on the same spot in green Onchestus that same old man,\nthe vine-dresser, who was employed hedging his vineyard there. Latona\u2019s\nglorious son began: \u201cPray tell me, ancient hedger of Onchestus green,\nwhether a drove of kine has passed this way, all heifers with crooked\nhorns? For they have been stolen from the herd in high Pieria, where a\nblack bull was fed apart, between two woody mountains in a neighboring\nglen, though four fierce dogs guarded them. And what is strange, the\nauthor of this theft has stolen all the fatted heifers, but the four\ndogs and the black bull are left. They were stolen last night at set\nof sun, of their soft beds and their sweet food bereft. Now tell me,\nold man, born before the world began, have you seen any one pass with\nthe cows?\u201d The old man replied: \u201cMy friend, it would require no common\nskill justly to speak of everything I see. On various purposes of good\nor ill many pass by my vineyard, and for me it is difficult to know the\ninvisible thoughts which may be in all those many minds. Thus much alone\nI can certainly say. I tilled these vines until the decline of day,\nand then I thought I saw, but dare not speak with certainty of such a\nwondrous thing, a child who could scarcely have been born a week, closely\nfollowing those fair-horned cattle. And in his hand he held a polished\nstick, and, as on purpose, he walked wavering from one side to the other\nof the road, and with his face turned in the opposite direction from his\nsteps.\u201d Apollo, hearing this, passed quickly on. No winged omen could\nhave shown more clearly who it was. So Apollo wrapped a purple atmosphere\naround his shoulders, and like fire went to famous Pylos, seeking his\nkine there. He found their tracks, yet hardly cold, and cried: \u201cWhat\nwonder do mine eyes behold. Here are the footsteps of the horned herd\nturned back toward their fields of asphodel; but these are not the\ntracks of beast or bird, gray wolf or bear, or lion of the dell, or maned\nCentaur. Sand was never stirred by man or woman thus! Inexplicable!\nWho with unwearied feet ever could impress the sand with such enormous\nvestiges?\u201d\n\nHaving spoken thus, Ph\u0153bus impetuously sought high Cyllene\u2019s\nforest-cinctured hill, and the deep cavern where dark shadows lie,\nthe home of Hermes. A delightful odor from the dew was all about. And\nPh\u0153bus stooped under the craggy roof arched over the dark cavern. Maia\u2019s\nchild perceived from afar that he came angry about the cows that had\nbeen stolen. Then Hermes piled over him his fine and fragrant swaddling\nclothes. There he lay like a burning spark covered, beneath the ashes\ncold and dark, an infant who had sucked his fill and now was newly washed\nand put to bed, awake but courting sleep with weary will. And gathered\nin a lump, hands, feet and head, he lay, and his beloved tortoise still\nhe grasped and held under his shoulder blade. Ph\u0153bus knew the lovely\nmountain goddess, not less her subtle, swindling baby, who lay swathed in\nhis sly wiles. He looked sharp round every crook of the ample cavern for\nhis kine, and when he saw them not he took the glittering key and opened\nthree great hollow recesses in the rock, where many a nook was filled\nwith sweet food immortals swallow, and mighty heaps of silver and of gold\nwere piled within\u2014a wonder to behold, and white and silver robes, all\noverwrought with cunning workmanship. Except among the gods there can\nbe naught in the wide world to be compared with it. Latona\u2019s offspring,\nafter having sought his herds in every corner, thus greeted great Hermes:\n\u201cLittle cradled rogue, tell me about my illustrious heifers, where are\nthey? Speak quickly, or a quarrel between us must rise, and the event\nwill be that I shall haul you into dismal Tartarus, in fiery gloom to\ndwell eternally. Nor shall your father nor your mother loose the bars of\nthat black dungeon. Utterly you shall be cast out from the light of day,\nunblest as they to rule the ghosts of men.\u201d Hermes slyly answered: \u201cSon\nof great Latona, what a speech is this! Why come you here to ask me what\nhas been done with the wild oxen which it seems you miss? I have not seen\nthem, nor from any one have I heard a word of the whole business. If you\nshould promise an immense reward I could not tell you more. A stealer of\noxen should be both tall and strong, and I am but a little new-born thing\nwho, yet at least, can think of nothing wrong. My business is to suck\nand sleep and fling the cradle clothes about me all day long; or half\nasleep, hear my sweet mother sing, and to be washed in water clean and\nwarm, and hushed and kissed and kept secure from harm. Oh, let not this\nquarrel ever be heard of, for the astounded gods would laugh at you for\ntelling a story so absurd as that a new-born infant could fare forth out\nof his home after a savage herd. I was born yesterday. My small feet are\ntoo tender for the roads so hard and rough, and if you think that this is\nnot enough, I swear a great oath that I stole not your cows, and that\nI know of no one else who might or could or did. Whatever things cows\nare I do not know, for I have only heard the name.\u201d This said, he winked\nas fast as could be, and his brow was all wrinkled, and he gave a loud\nwhistle like one who hears some strange absurdity. Apollo gently smiled\nand said: \u201cAy, ay, you cunning little rascal, you will bore many a rich\nman\u2019s house, and your array of thieves will lay their siege before his\ndoor, silent as night, in night, and many a day in the wild glens rough\nshepherds will deplore that you or yours, having an appetite, met with\ntheir cattle. And this among the gods shall be your gift, to be the lord\nof those who steal and swindle.\u201d\n\nApollo seized him then. \u201cWhat do you mean to do with me, you unkind God?\u201d\nsaid Hermes. \u201cIs it about these cows you tease me so? I wish the race of\ncows were perished. I did not steal your cows, I do not even know what\nthings cows are. Alas! I well may sigh that since I came into this world\nof woe I should ever have heard of one.\u201d Thus Ph\u0153bus and the vagrant\nHermes talked without coming to an explanation. Hermes continued to try\nand cheat Apollo with lies and roguery, but when no evasion served, he\nproposed to appeal to Jove to judge between them. Hermes paced first over\nthe sandy ground and he of the silver bow followed, and from Jove\u2019s equal\nbalance they did require a judgment in the cause wherein they strove. As\nthey came over odorous Olympus and its snows a murmuring tumult arose.\nAnd from the folded depths of the great hill, while Hermes and Apollo\nreverent stood before Jove\u2019s throne, the indestructible immortals rushed\nin mighty multitude, and while their seats in order due they filled the\nlofty Thunderer in a careless mood to Ph\u0153bus said: \u201cWhence drive you\nthis sweet prey, this herald-baby, born but yesterday? A most important\nsubject, trifler, this to lay before the Gods!\u201d \u201cNay, father, nay. When\nyou have understood the business, say not that I alone am fond of prey.\nI found this little boy in a recess in Cyllene\u2019s mountains far away\u2014a\nmanifest and most apparent thief, a scandal-monger beyond all belief. I\nnever saw his like either in heaven or earth for knavery or craft. Out of\nthe field yester-even, by the low shore on which the loud sea laughed, he\nhad driven my cattle right down to the river ford. The cattle\u2019s track on\nthe black dust is fully evident, as if they went toward the place from\nwhich they came\u2014that asphodel meadow in which I feed my many herds. The\nchild\u2019s steps were most incomprehensible. I know not how I can describe\nin words those tracks. He could not have gone either upon his feet or his\nhands. He must have had some strange mode of moving on. Those immense\nvestiges, as I traced them on the sandy road, seemed like the trail of\noak toppings, but thence the hard ground gave no mark or track denoting\nwhere they trod; but, working at his fence an old man saw him as he\npassed to Pylos with the cows in fiery haste. I found that in the dark he\nhad quietly sacrificed some cows, and before light had thrown the ashes\nall dispersedly about the road; then, still as gloomy night, he crept\ninto his cradle, rubbing either eye and cogitating some new trick. No\neagle could have seen him as he lay hid in his cavern. I taxed him with\nthe fact, when he declared most solemnly that he had neither seen nor in\nany manner heard of my lost cows, whatever things cows be; nor could he\ntell, though offered a reward of any one who could tell me about them.\u201d\n\nThen Ph\u0153bus sat down and Hermes addressed the Supreme Lord of Gods and\nMen. \u201cGreat Father, you know well beforehand that all I shall say is\ntruth, for I am totally unacquainted with untruth. At sunrise Ph\u0153bus\ncame, but with no band of gods to bear him witness, in great wrath to\nmy abode, seeking his heifers there and declaring that I must show him\nwhere they are or he would hurl me down the dark abyss. I know that\nevery limb of Apollo is clothed with speed and might and manliness, as\na green bank with flowers, but unlike him I was born yesterday, and you\nmay guess he knew this well when he indulged the whim of bullying a poor\nlittle new-born thing that slept and never thought of cow-driving. Am I\nlike a strong fellow who steals kine? This driving of herds is none of\nmine. I have never wandered across my threshold! I reverence the divine\nSun and the gods and you, and care even for this hard accuser, who must\nknow I am as innocent as they or you. I swear by these most gloriously\nwrought portals through which the multitude of the Immortals pass and\nrepass forever, day and night, devising schemes for the affairs of\nmortals, that I am guiltless,\u201d and Hermes winked as if now his adversary\nwas silenced, and Jove, according to his wont, laughed heartily to hear\nthe subtle-witted infant give such a plausible account. But he remitted\njudgment for the time and sent them forth to seek the stolen cows. Hermes\nwas truthfully to lead the way and show where he had hidden the mighty\nheifers.\n\nThen they hastened to Pylos and the wide pastures and lofty stalls by the\nAlphean ford, where wealth in the mute night is multiplied with silent\ngrowth. While Hermes drove the herd out of the stony cavern, Ph\u0153bus spied\nthe hides of those the little babe had slain, stretched high upon the\nprecipice. \u201cHow was it possible,\u201d then Ph\u0153bus asked, \u201cthat you, a little\nchild born yesterday, a thing on mother\u2019s milk and kisses fed, could\nhave slain these two prodigious heifers? Ever I may well dread hereafter\nyour prowess, when you grow strong and tall.\u201d He spoke, and bound stiff\nwithy bands around the infant\u2019s wrists. He might as well have bound the\nwild oxen. The withy bands, though starkly interknit, fell at the feet of\nthe immortal child, loosened by some device of his quick wit. Ph\u0153bus was\nagain deceived, and stared while Hermes sought some hole, looking askance\nand winking fast, as though where he might hide himself. But suddenly he\nchanged his plans, and with strange skill subdued Apollo by the might of\nwinning music. His left hand held the lyre, and in his right the plectrum\nstruck the chords; unconquerable, up from beneath his hands in circling\nflight the gathering music rose, and sweet as Love the penetrating notes\ndid live and move within the heart of great Apollo. He listened with\nall his soul and laughed for pleasure. The unabashed boy stood close to\nhis side harping fearlessly, and to the measure of the sweet lyre there\nfollowed loud and free his joyous voice, for he unlocked the treasure\nof his deep song illustrating the birth of the bright gods and the dark\ndesert Earth, and how to the Immortals every one, a portion was assigned\nof all that is; but chief did clothe Maia\u2019s son Mnemosyne in the light\nof his loud melodies, and as each god was born or had begun he in their\norder due and fit degrees sang of his birth and being, and did move\nApollo to unutterable love. These words he spoke: \u201cYou heifer-stealing\nschemer, well do you deserve that fifty oxen should requite such\nminstrelsies as I have heard even now. Comrade of feasts, little\ncontriving wight, one of your secrets I would gladly know\u2014whether the\nglorious power you now show forth was folded up within you at your birth,\nor whether mortal taught or God inspired your skill in song?\u201d And Hermes\nreplied: \u201cWisely hast thou enquired of my skill. Jove has given to thee\nalso divinest gifts. By thee the depths of his far voice are understood,\nby thee the mystery of all oracular fates. Even I, a child, perceive thy\nmight and majesty. Thou canst seek out and compass all that wit can find\nor teach, yet if thou wilt, come take the lyre\u2014be mine the glory giving\nit. Strike the sweet chords and sing aloud, and wake thy joyous pleasure\nout of many a fit of tranced sound.\u201d The shell he proffered Apollo took,\nand gave him in return the glittering lash, installing him as herdsman.\nHermes flashed a joyous look at him, and then Apollo with the plectrum\nstruck the chords, and from beneath his hands a crash of mighty sounds\nrushed up whose music shook the soul with sweetness, and with the lyre\nhis sweeter voice a just accordance kept.\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] See Schoolcraft.\n\n[2] Leland, \u201cAlgonquin Legends.\u201d\n\n[3] See Gubernatis \u201cZoological Mythology.\u201d\n\n[4] Andrew Lang\u2019s translation.\n\n[5] See Anderson\u2019s \u201cNorse Mythology.\u201d\n\n[6] See Gayley\u2019s \u201cClassic Myths in English Literature.\u201d\n\n[7] See Anderson\u2019s \u201cNorse Mythology.\u201d\n\n[8] Gayley\u2019s \u201cClassic Myths in English Literature.\u201d\n\n[9] See Canfield\u2019s \u201cLegends of the Iroquois.\u201d\n\n[10] Andrew Lang\u2019s translation.\n\n\nTHE END\n\n[Illustration: THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS\n\nGARDEN CITY, N. Y.]","title":"A Guide to Mythology","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":100455}