第21章

The Son of the Evening StarCan it be the sun descending O'er the level plain of water?

Or the Red Swan floating, flying, Wounded by the magic arrow, Staining all the waves with crimson, With the crimson of its life-blood, Filling all the air with splendor, With the splendor of its plumage?

Yes; it is the sun descending, Sinking down into the water;All the sky is stained with purple, All the water flushed with crimson!

No; it is the Red Swan floating, Diving down beneath the water;To the sky its wings are lifted, With its blood the waves are reddened!

Over it the Star of Evening Melts and trembles through the purple, Hangs suspended in the twilight.

No; it is a bead of wampum On the robes of the Great Spirit As he passes through the twilight, Walks in silence through the heavens.

This with joy beheld Iagoo And he said in haste: "Behold it!

See the sacred Star of Evening!

You shall hear a tale of wonder, Hear the story of Osseo, Son of the Evening Star, Osseo!

"Once, in days no more remembered, Ages nearer the beginning, When the heavens were closer to us, And the Gods were more familiar, In the North-land lived a hunter, With ten young and comely daughters, Tall and lithe as wands of willow;Only Oweenee, the youngest, She the wilful and the wayward, She the silent, dreamy maiden, Was the fairest of the sisters.

"All these women married warriors, Married brave and haughty husbands;Only Oweenee, the youngest, Laughed and flouted all her lovers, All her young and handsome suitors, And then married old Osseo, Old Osseo, poor and ugly, Broken with age and weak with coughing, Always coughing like a squirrel.

"Ah, but beautiful within him Was the spirit of Osseo, From the Evening Star descended, Star of Evening, Star of Woman, Star of tenderness and passion!

All its fire was in his bosom, All its beauty in his spirit, All its mystery in his being, All its splendor in his language!

"And her lovers, the rejected, Handsome men with belts of wampum, Handsome men with paint and feathers.

Pointed at her in derision, Followed her with jest and laughter.

But she said: 'I care not for you, Care not for your belts of wampum, Care not for your paint and feathers, Care not for your jests and laughter;I am happy with Osseo!'

'Once to some great feast invited, Through the damp and dusk of evening, Walked together the ten sisters, Walked together with their husbands;Slowly followed old Osseo, With fair Oweenee beside him;All the others chatted gayly, These two only walked in silence.

"At the western sky Osseo Gazed intent, as if imploring, Often stopped and gazed imploring At the trembling Star of Evening, At the tender Star of Woman;And they heard him murmur softly, 'Ah, showain nemeshin, Nosa!

Pity, pity me, my father!'

'Listen!' said the eldest sister, 'He is praying to his father!

What a pity that the old man Does not stumble in the pathway, Does not break his neck by falling!'

And they laughed till all the forest Rang with their unseemly laughter.

"On their pathway through the woodlands Lay an oak, by storms uprooted, Lay the great trunk of an oak-tree, Buried half in leaves and mosses, Mouldering, crumbling, huge and hollow.

And Osseo, when he saw it, Gave a shout, a cry of anguish, Leaped into its yawning cavern, At one end went in an old man, Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly;From the other came a young man, Tall and straight and strong and handsome.

"Thus Osseo was transfigured, Thus restored to youth and beauty;But, alas for good Osseo, And for Oweenee, the faithful!

Strangely, too, was she transfigured.

Changed into a weak old woman, With a staff she tottered onward, Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly!

And the sisters and their husbands Laughed until the echoing forest Rang with their unseemly laughter.

"But Osseo turned not from her, Walked with slower step beside her, Took her hand, as brown and withered As an oak-leaf is in Winter, Called her sweetheart, Nenemoosha, Soothed her with soft words of kindness, Till they reached the lodge of feasting, Till they sat down in the wigwam, Sacred to the Star of Evening, To the tender Star of Woman.

"Wrapt in visions, lost in dreaming, At the banquet sat Osseo;All were merry, all were happy, All were joyous but Osseo.

Neither food nor drink he tasted, Neither did he speak nor listen;But as one bewildered sat he, Looking dreamily and sadly, First at Oweenee, then upward At the gleaming sky above them.

"Then a voice was heard, a whisper, Coming from the starry distance, Coming from the empty vastness, Low, and musical, and tender;And the voice said: 'O Osseo!

O my son, my best beloved!

Broken are the spells that bound you, All the charms of the magicians, All the magic powers of evil;Come to me; ascend, Osseo!

"'Taste the food that stands before you:

It is blessed and enchanted, It has magic virtues in it, It will change you to a spirit.

All your bowls and all your kettles Shall be wood and clay no longer;But the bowls be changed to wampum, And the kettles shall be silver;They shall shine like shells of scarlet, Like the fire shall gleam and glimmer.

"'And the women shall no longer Bear the dreary doom of labor, But be changed to birds, and glisten With the beauty of the starlight, Painted with the dusky splendors Of the skies and clouds of evening!'

"What Osseo heard as whispers, What as words he comprehended, Was but music to the others, Music as of birds afar off, Of the whippoorwill afar off, Of the lonely Wawonaissa Singing in the darksome forest.

"Then the lodge began to tremble, Straight began to shake and tremble, And they felt it rising, rising, Slowly through the air ascending, From the darkness of the tree-tops Forth into the dewy starlight, Till it passed the topmost branches;And behold! the wooden dishes All were changed to shells of scarlet!

And behold! the earthen kettles All were changed to bowls of silver!

And the roof-poles of the wigwam Were as glittering rods of silver, And the roof of bark upon them As the shining shards of beetles.