February: The Month Of The Sky And Rocks
The Rolling Rock
(Flathead)
ONCE on a time, Coyote dressed himself in his best beaded clothes, and went for a walk. By and by he met Fox. So they went on together. Coyote had a fine new blanket, but Fox had none. Soon they came to a big smooth Rock. Coyote thought it a very nice Rock.
"Indeed,"
said he, "you are the nicest Rock I have ever seen. I'll give you my
blanket to keep you warm."
So Coyote gave his
blanket to the Rock. Then he and, Fox went on their way.
Pretty soon it
began to thunder and lighten, and the rain poured down in streams. Coyote and
Fox crept under the branches of a tree, but the rain came pouring through the
leaves. As Coyote had no blanket, he was afraid that his beaded clothes would
be spoiled. So he said to Fox:—
"Go and ask
the Rock for my blanket."
Fox ran back, and
asked the Rock, and it said, "No!" Then Fox hurried to Coyote, and
told him what the Rock had said.
"Go,"
said Coyote, "and ask it to let me have the blanket for a little
while."
Fox ran back, and
asked Rock, and it said, "No!" Then Fox hurried back and told Coyote
what the Rock had said.
"The Rock is
very mean," said Coyote; "it might let me have the blanket for a
little while! But why should I be wet, because of this greedy Rock? I'll get my
blanket!"
So off rushed
Coyote, and jerked his blanket from the Rock.
Well, Coyote and
Fox went on again, and soon it cleared, and the Sun shone. The two sat down on
the top of a hill to smoke, when suddenly they heard a crushing, and a
crashing, and an awful rumbling noise. They looked up, and there was the Rock
coming toward them, rolling along as fast as it could, and breaking everything
in its path.
Up jumped Coyote
and Fox, frightened almost to death, and away they ran down the hill, and the
Rock came rolling after them. It came so fast that Fox had just time to leap into
a hole, and the Rock touched the tip of his tail as it passed him. And ever
since then, the tip of Fox's tail has been white.
As for Coyote, he
ran down the hill with all speed, and sprang into the river, and swam across to
the other bank. The Rock plunged into the water after him and Coyote thought,
"Now it will be drowned!" But it was not drowned, and swam straight
across, and rolled swiftly after Coyote.
Then Coyote ran
into the thick timber, for he thought, "It cannot get through all these
trees and bushes." But the Rock rolled right into the timber, and Coyote
could hear the trees and bushes crackling and breaking, and he knew that the
Rock was coming.
Coyote ran out on
to the wide prairie, for he thought, "There is no path on the prairie, and
I can run wherever I wish. The Rock cannot catch me there." But the Rock
came swiftly rolling after.
Then Coyote ran and
ran, until he met a huge Bear. And the Bear said, "I will save you!"
So he stood in the way, and tried to stop the Rock, but it rolled right over
him and went on after Coyote.
Well, Coyote ran
and ran, until he met a great Buffalo. And the Buffalo said, "I will save
you!" So he stood in the way to stop the Rock, but it rolled right over
him, and went on after Coyote.
So Coyote ran and
ran, until he came to a camp, where he met two old women with stone hatchets in
their hands. The old women said, "We will save you!" Coyote ran
between them, and the Rock rolled right after him. Then the old women struck
the Rock with their hatchets, and broke it all to pieces.
Coyote sat down to
rest, and lick his fur, when he heard one of the old women say: "He is fat
and delicious! Let us have him for dinner!" So up he jumped, and ran out
of the camp and across the prairie, and the old women went without their dinner
that night.
The Boy in the Moon
(Vuntakutchin)
DO
you see the mark in the middle of the Moon, that looks like a man? Well, that
is really a little Indian boy. It happened this way:—
Many years ago,
there lived a Vuntakutchin boy. One Winter when he saw that his people had
nothing to eat, he dreamed they killed a lot of Caribou. He told his dream in
the morning, and the braves set out to hunt.
But before they
went, the boy made his uncle promise that he would give him the meat of the
leader Caribou. The uncle killed the leader, but when he came back from the
hunt, he gave the boy the wrong meat, and kept the right meat for himself.
Well, the boy felt
so badly that he cried for two nights. And on the third night he disappeared.
He wore Marten-skin pants, and in the morning his uncle saw the left leg of the
pants, hanging to the tent pole in the hole where the smoke goes out. And when
the uncle went outside the tent, he found that all the Caribou, which had been
killed the day before, had come to life again, and run away.
As for the boy, he
had gone up to the Moon, and there he is now, with one leg bigger than the
other, because the right leg has pants on it. From his hand hangs a little bag
full of the wrong Caribou meat, and during the Autumn and Winter, when the sky
is clear, you may see him standing in the Moon.
The Discontented Rock
(Iroquois)
FROM the beginning of the Earth, Gustahote, the great Rock, had overhung
the valley. He watched and guarded the land, but he was not content, and longed
to be something mightier and stronger than he was.
"If I could be
the wide river that flows through the valley," he thought, "then
surely I should be mighty and strong! The river winds happy and free through
its broad lands; and green grass and flowers follow its course. If I could only
be that river!"
And instantly
Gustahote the Rock became the river. Down the valley he sped, leaping with joy,
and the singing brooks from the hills ran into his stream. Through rocky gorges
he tossed his foaming waves toward the Sky, and they returned to him in a
rainbow spray. He wound around the bases of lofty mountains, and leaped down
precipices. Then through the silent forest he glided, and the trees dipped
their branches in his cool waters.
On and on he
hastened, faster and faster, growing wider as he went, until at last he plunged
into the billowing ocean. It encircled him with its broad, hungry arms, and
drew him down and mingled his waters with the deep, so that he was the river no
longer.
Then suddenly
Gustahote found himself again the Rock, overhanging and guarding the valley.
And he rejoiced to have escaped from the hungry deep.
But he was not
content. He still longed to be something mightier and stronger than he was.
"If I could
have wings, and live in the Sky," he thought, "then surely I should
be mighty and strong! The Sky is open and pathless, and leads to unseen
heights. It has no billowing deep to swallow the unfortunate."
And even as he
thought thus, Gustahote the Rock became a bird, and the air was caressing and
delicious as he tried his wings. He plumed them, and fluttered them, and
spreading them wide, soared into the Sky. Beneath him were the valleys and the
forests and the mountains, growing smaller and smaller as he flew upward.
The air became
cold, as he rose above the clouds and entered the Land of Mists. A whirling
wind rushed past him, breaking his wings. They drooped at his sides, and he
fell heavily toward the Earth. But a fiercer blast caught him, and tore his
body to fragments, and whirled the pieces over and over through the endless
grey Sky.
Then suddenly
Gustahote found himself again the Rock, overhanging and guarding the valley.
And he rejoiced that he had escaped from the pathless Sky.
But still he was
not content. He longed to be something mightier and stronger than he was.
"If I could be
a creature, and wander about on the Earth," thought he, "then surely
I should be mighty and strong. Fair are the valleys of the Earth, and wide its
green forests, and beautiful and fruitful its meadows. It has no fierce rushing
wind to rend in pieces the unfortunate."
And even as he
thought thus, Gustahote the Rock became a creature walking upon the Earth. He
wandered up and down the world, so strange to him, and soon grew lonely and
desired a companion.
First he sought the
beasts, but they were too busy getting their food to stop and talk to a strange
creature. After that he went to the birds, but they were nesting, and could not
stop to talk to a strange creature. Weary, lonely, and despairing, he wandered
about.
Then suddenly
Gustahote found himself again the Rock overhanging and guarding the valley. And
he rejoiced that he was a Rock once more. And he heard a voice whisper:—
"Be content, O
Gustahote the Rock! The waters may overflow you, but they cannot drown you. The
Sun may look upon you with its hottest rays, but he cannot burn you. The
tempest may strike you, but it cannot rend you. Old age cannot wrinkle you. The
rivers may dry up in their beds, the forests may fall into dust, but you will
stand stanch and true, and always watching, and forever remain unchanged and
changeless."
So Gustahote the
Rock rejoiced exceedingly; and he still overhangs and guards the valley. The
river flows from him, and the Sky smiles or frowns, and the Earth heeds him
not. But he is content.
Legends of the Pleiades
The Singing Maidens
(Wyandot)
ONCE the Sun and the Moon had seven little girls, as beautiful as
Starlight. They were kind and loving, and as they grew older they went about
the Sky Land singing so sweetly that they were called the "Singing
Maidens."
The Seven Sisters
often looked down upon the Earth, and longed to go there and wander about.
"O Sun," said they, "let us go down to the Great Island, and
sing to men."
The Sun said:
"I forbid you to go down to the Great Island. Remain in your home and be
content walking about the Sky Land."
But the Singing
Maidens were not content; and one day, when the Sun was gone to give heat and
light to the Earth, they looked down and saw a happy Wyandot village. All
around it were trees full of scarlet Autumn leaves, and it stood near the shore
of a lake. The glittering waves rolled over the pebble-strewn beach, while
flocks of Sea-Birds flew over the lake, or floated on the waves, and the great
Herons waded about among the Water-Lily pads. Then little children ran from the
village down to the shore, and swam or splashed in the waves, or tossed the
scarlet leaves into the air.
And the Singing
Maidens saw all this, and cried: "Here is a more beautiful land than we
can find in the Sky! Let us go down and dance with the children and sing among
the trees by the shore of the lake!"
So they slid down a
Sunbeam to the shining sand. They sang to the laughing children, and danced on
the rippling waves. And the children clapped their hands and skipped for joy,
and their laughter was wafted through the trees to the lodges of the Wyandots.
Then all the people
stood entranced, and said one to the other: "What sweet music is that? We
have never heard such a lovely song! Come, let us see who is visiting our
children." And they all went down to the shore.
And when they
reached the water, they saw the Singing Maidens. Then suddenly the Sky became
black, and the loud wind roared. It was the Autumn Storm that rolled over the
lake. For the Sun had seen his disobedient daughters, and had sent the Storm to
carry them back to the Sky.
Very sad were the
Singing Maidens when they met their angry father. "I will set you in a
spot, far away," said he; "then you can never visit the Great Island
again."
So he placed them
in the distant Sky Land, where their bright forms may be dimly seen from the
Earth. And the Pale-Face children call them "the Pleiades."
The Singing Maidens
still look down with love upon the lake where they once danced and sang with
the children on the shining sand.
And on calm and
silent nights, the Wyandot Grandmother says to the little Indian boys and
girls: "Be quiet, and sit at my feet. Soon we shall hear the Singing
Maidens, as they dance in the scarlet leaves!"
Legends of the Pleiades
The Star Maiden
(Wyandot)
LISTEN to the Wyandot Grandmother, as she tells of the lovely Star Maiden:—
In the olden days
when the Earth was young, an Indian brave sat at the door of his lodge, not far
from a lake. Soon faint and distant sounds of music came to his ears. He looked
on all sides, but could not tell from whence the sounds came. Then they grew
clearer and louder, and seemed to fall from the Sky to the lake.
The young man
listened closely, and thought he heard voices by the water. So he crept through
the grasses and reeds that grew along the shore. And when he parted the reeds,
he saw seven lovely maidens singing and dancing, hand in hand, upon the beach.
They were as
beautiful as Starlight, and one was more lovely than the rest. And as the young
man crept nearer, a pebble slipped beneath his hand, and at the sound the
maidens sprang into a large osier basket, that rose with them to the Sky. And
so they disappeared from his sight.
The young man
returned in sorrow to his lodge. All that night he did not sleep, but thought
of the maiden who was lovelier than the rest. And all the next day he wandered
about lonely and sad. But when evening came, he went down again to the water,
and hid among the reeds.
Soon he heard the
music falling sweetly from the Sky, and the osier basket came floating
downward. The Seven Maidens stepped out on the beach, and began to dance and
sing as before. And as the young man watched them, his delight was so great
that he exclaimed with joy. The maidens heard the sound, and sprang into the
basket, that rose with them to the Sky.
Again on the third
night, the young man watched, and the maidens came. And as they danced to and
fro, he rushed in among them. Filled with terror, they ran to their basket, and
six of them sprang in, and the basket began to rise. But the young man caught
the loveliest maiden by her girdle, as she clung to the side of the basket; and
they were both lifted into the air. Soon she lost her hold, and they fell
gently to the ground.
Then the young man
led her to his lodge and begged her to become his bride. Very grieved she was,
but not angry. "We are the Seven Star Sisters," she said, "the
Singing Maidens. We have always lived together in the Sky Land where you have
seen us dancing above you. If you will go with me to the lodge of the Sun, I
will become your bride."
So the next night,
when the basket descended again, the Star Maiden took the young man with her
into the Sky Land, and there he saw many wonderful things. After which they
returned once more to the Earth, and the Star Maiden became his bride.
That is why to-day
the Indian children see only six Singing Maidens among the Pleiades; and why
sometimes the shadow of the seventh is faintly seen.