the complete poetical works-第51部分
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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