八喜电子书 > 经管其他电子书 > the complete poetical works >

第51部分

the complete poetical works-第51部分

小说: the complete poetical works 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!




The most subtle of all medicines;

The most potent spell of magic;

Dangerous more than war or hunting!

Thus the Love…Song was recorded;

Symbol and interpretation。

  First a human figure standing;

Painted in the brightest scarlet;

'T is the lover; the musician;

And the meaning is; 〃My painting

Makes me powerful over others。〃

  Then the figure seated; singing;

Playing on a drum of magic;

And the interpretation; 〃Listen!

'T is my voice you hear; my singing!〃

  Then the same red figure seated

In the shelter of a wigwam;

And the meaning of the symbol;

〃I will come and sit beside you

In the mystery of my passion!〃

  Then two figures; man and woman;

Standing hand in hand together

With their hands so clasped together

That they seemed in one united;

And the words thus represented

Are; 〃I see your heart within you;

And your cheeks are red with blushes!〃

  Next the maiden on an island;

In the centre of an island;

And the song this shape suggested

Was; 〃Though you were at a distance;

Were upon some far…off island;

Such the spell I cast upon you;

Such the magic power of passion;

I could straightway draw you to me!〃

  Then the figure of the maiden

Sleeping; and the lover near her;

Whispering to her in her slumbers;

Saying; 〃Though you were far from me

In the land of Sleep and Silence;

Still the voice of love would reach you!〃

  And the last of all the figures

Was a heart within a circle;

Drawn within a magic circle;

And the image had this meaning:

〃Naked lies your heart before me;

To your naked heart I whisper!〃

  Thus it was that Hiawatha;

In his wisdom; taught the people

All the mysteries of painting;

All the art of Picture…Writing;

On the smooth bark of the birch…tree;

On the white skin of the reindeer;

On the grave…posts of the village。







XV



HIAWATHA'S LAMENTATION



In those days the Evil Spirits;

All the Manitos of mischief;

Fearing Hiawatha's wisdom;

And his love for Chibiabos;

Jealous of their faithful friendship;

And their noble words and actions;

Made at length a league against them;

To molest them and destroy them。

  Hiawatha; wise and wary;

Often said to Chibiabos;

〃O my brother! do not leave me;

Lest the Evil Spirits harm you!〃

Chibiabos; young and heedless;

Laughing shook his coal…black tresses;

Answered ever sweet and childlike;

〃Do not fear for me; O brother!

Harm and evil come not near me!〃

  Once when Peboan; the Winter;

Roofed with ice the Big…Sea…Water;

When the snow…flakes; whirling downward;

Hissed among the withered oak…leaves;

Changed the pine…trees into wigwams;

Covered all the earth with silence;

Armed with arrows; shod with snow…shoes;

Heeding not his brother's warning;

Fearing not the Evil Spirits;

Forth to hunt the deer with antlers

All alone went Chibiabos。

  Right across the Big…Sea…Water

Sprang with speed the deer before him。

With the wind and snow he followed;

O'er the treacherous ice he followed;

Wild with all the fierce commotion

And the rapture of the hunting。

  But beneath; the Evil Spirits

Lay in ambush; waiting for him;

Broke the treacherous ice beneath him;

Dragged him downward to the bottom;

Buried in the sand his body。

Unktahee; the god of water;

He the god of the Dacotahs;

Drowned him in the deep abysses

Of the lake of Gitche Gumee。

  From the headlands Hiawatha

Sent forth such a wail of anguish;

Such a fearful lamentation;

That the bison paused to listen;

And the wolves howled from the prairies;

And the thunder in the distance

Starting answered 〃Baim…wawa!〃

  Then his face with black he painted;

With his robe his head he covered;

In his wigwam sat lamenting;

Seven long weeks he sat lamenting;

Uttering still this moan of sorrow:

  〃He is dead; the sweet musician!

He the sweetest of all singers!

He has gone from us forever;

He has moved a little nearer

To the Master of all music;

To the Master of all singing!

O my brother; Chibiabos!〃

  And the melancholy fir…trees

Waved their dark green fans above him;

Waved their purple cones above him;

Sighing with him to console him;

Mingling with his lamentation

Their complaining; their lamenting。

  Came the Spring; and all the forest

Looked in vain for Chibiabos;

Sighed the rivulet; Sebowisha;

Sighed the rushes in the meadow。

  From the tree…tops sang the bluebird;

Sang the bluebird; the Owaissa;

〃Chibiabos! Chibiabos!

He is dead; the sweet musician!〃

  From the wigwam sang the robin;

Sang the robin; the Opechee;

〃Chibiabos! Chibiabos!

He is dead; the sweetest singer!〃

  And at night through all the forest

Went the whippoorwill complaining;

Wailing went the Wawonaissa;

〃Chibiabos! Chibiabos!

He is dead; the sweet musician!

He the sweetest of all singers!〃

  Then the Medicine…men; the Medas;

The magicians; the Wabenos;

And the Jossakeeds; the Prophets;

Came to visit Hiawatha;

Built a Sacred Lodge beside him;

To appease him; to console him;

Walked in silent; grave procession;

Bearing each a pouch of healing;

Skin of beaver; lynx; or otter;

Filled with magic roots and simples;

Filled with very potent medicines。

  When he heard their steps approaching;

Hiawatha ceased lamenting;

Called no more on Chibiabos;

Naught he questioned; naught he answered;

But his mournful head uncovered;

From his face the mourning colors

Washed he slowly and in silence;

Slowly and in silence followed

Onward to the Sacred Wigwam。

  There a magic drink they gave him;

Made of Nahma…wusk; the spearmint;

And Wabeno…wusk; the yarrow;

Roots of power; and herbs of healing;

Beat their drums; and shook their rattles;

Chanted singly and in chorus;

Mystic songs like these; they chanted。

  〃I myself; myself! behold me!

'T is the great Gray Eagle talking;

Come; ye white crows; come and hear him!

The loud…speaking thunder helps me;

All the unseen spirits help me;

I can hear their voices calling;

All around the sky I hear them!

I can blow you strong; my brother;

I can heal you; Hiawatha!〃

  〃Hi…au…ha!〃 replied the chorus;

〃Way…ha…way!〃 the mystic chorus。

  〃Friends of mine are all the serpents!

Hear me shake my skin of hen…hawk!

Mahng; the white loon; I can kill him;

I can shoot your heart and kill it!

I can blow you strong; my brother;

I can heal you; Hiawatha!〃

  〃Hi…au…ha!〃 replied the chorus;

〃Way…ha…way!〃 the mystic chorus。

  〃I myself; myself! the prophet!

When I speak the wigwam trembles;

Shakes the Sacred Lodge with terror;

Hands unseen begin to shake it!

When I walk; the sky I tread on

Bends and makes a noise beneath me!

I can blow you strong; my brother!

Rise and speak; O Hiawatha!〃

  〃Hi…au…ha!〃 replied the chorus;

〃Way…ha…way!〃 the mystic chorus。

  Then they shook their medicine…pouches

O'er the head of Hiawatha;

Danced their medicine…dance around him;

And upstarting wild and haggard;

Like a man from dreams awakened;

He was healed of all his madness。

As the clouds are swept from heaven;

Straightway from his brain departed

All his moody melancholy;

As the ice is swept from rivers;

Straightway from his heart departed

All his sorrow and affliction。

  Then they summoned Chibiabos

From his grave beneath the waters;

From the sands of Gitche Gumee

Summoned Hiawatha's brother。

And so mighty was the magic

Of that cry and invocation;

That he heard it as he lay there

Underneath the Big…Sea…Water;

From the sand he rose and listened;

Heard the music and the singing;

Came; obedient to the summons;

To the doorway of the wigwam;

But to enter they forbade him。

  Through a chink a coal they gave him;

Through the door a burning fire…brand;

Ruler in the Land of Spirits;

Ruler o'er the dead; they made him;

Telling him a fire to kindle

For all those that died thereafter;

Camp…fires for their night encampments

On their solitary journey

To the kingdom of Ponemah;

To the land of the Hereafter。

  From the village of his childhood;

From the homes of those who knew him;

Passing silent through the forest;

Like a smoke…wreath wafted sideways;

Slowly vanished Chibiabos!

Where he passed; the branches moved not;

Where he trod; the grasses bent not;

And the fallen leaves of last year

Made no sound beneath his footstep。

  Four whole days he journeyed onward

Down the pathway of the dead men;

On the dead…man's strawberry feasted;

Crossed the melancholy river;

On the swinging log he crossed it;

Came unto the Lake of Silver;

In the Stone Canoe was carried

To the Islands of the Blessed;

To the land of ghosts and shadows。

  On that journey; moving slowly;

Many weary spirits saw he;

Panting under heavy burdens;

Laden with war…clubs; bows and arrows;

Robes of fur; and pots and kettles;

And with food that friends had given

For that solitary journey。

  〃Ay! why do the living;〃 said they;

〃Lay such heavy burdens on us!

Better were it to go naked;

Better were it to go fasting;

Than to bear such heavy burdens

On our long and weary journey!〃

Forth then issued Hiawatha;

Wandered eastward; wandered westward;

Teaching men the use of simples

And the antidotes for poisons;

And the cure of all diseases。

Thus was first made known to mortals

All the mystery of Medamin;

All the sacred art of healing。







XVI



PAU…PUK…KEEWIS



You shall hear how Pau…Puk…Keewis;

He; the handsome Yenadizze;

Whom the people called the Storm…Fool;

Vexed the village with disturbance;

You shall hear of all his mischief;

And his flight from Hiawatha;

And his wondrous transmigrations;

And the end of his adventures。

  On the shores of Gitche Gumee;

On the dunes of Nagow Wudjoo;

By the shining Big…Sea…Water

Stood the lodge of Pau…Puk…Keewis。

It was he who in his frenzy

Whirled these drifting sands together;

On the dune

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的