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You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis,
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How the handsome Yenadizze
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Danced at Hiawatha's wedding;
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How the gentle Chibiabos,
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He the sweetest of musicians,
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Sang his songs of love and longing;
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How Iagoo, the great boaster,
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He the marvellous story-teller,
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Told his tales of strange adventure,
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That the feast might be more joyous,
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That the time might pass more gayly,
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And the guests be more contented.
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Sumptuous was the feast Nokomis
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Made at Hiawatha's wedding;
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All the bowls were made of bass-wood,
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White and polished very smoothly,
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All the spoons of horn of bison,
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Black and polished very smoothly.
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She had sent through all the village
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Messengers with wands of willow,
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As a sign of invitation,
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As a token of the feasting;
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And the wedding guests assembled,
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Clad in all their richest raiment,
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Robes of fur and belts of wampum,
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Splendid with their paint and plumage,
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Beautiful with beads and tassels.
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First they ate the sturgeon, Nahma,
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And the pike, the Maskenozha,
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Caught and cooked by old Nokomis;
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Then on pemican they feasted,
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Pemican and buffalo marrow,
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Haunch of deer and hump of bison,
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Yellow cakes of the Mondamin,
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And the wild rice of the river.
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But the gracious Hiawatha,
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And the lovely Laughing Water,
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And the careful old Nokomis,
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Tasted not the food before them,
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Only waited on the others,
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Only served their guests in silence.
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And when all the guests had finished,
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Old Nokomis, brisk and busy,
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From an ample pouch of otter,
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Filled the red-stone pipes for smoking
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With tobacco from the South-land,
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Mixed with bark of the red willow,
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And with herbs and leaves of fragrance.
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Then she said, "O Pau-Puk-Keewis,
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Dance for us your merry dances,
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Dance the Beggar's Dance to please us,
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That the feast may be more joyous,
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That the time may pass more gayly,
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And our guests be more contented!"
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Then the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis,
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He the idle Yenadizze,
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He the merry mischief-maker,
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Whom the people called the Storm-Fool,
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Rose among the guests assembled.
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Skilled was he in sports and pastimes,
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In the merry dance of snow-shoes,
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In the play of quoits and ball-play;
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Skilled was he in games of hazard,
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In all games of skill and hazard,
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Pugasaing, the Bowl and Counters,
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Kuntassoo, the Game of Plum-stones.
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Though the warriors called him Faint-Heart,
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Called him coward, Shaugodaya,
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Idler, gambler, Yenadizze,
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Little heeded he their jesting,
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Little cared he for their insults,
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For the women and the maidens
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Loved the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis.
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He was dressed in shirt of doeskin,
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White and soft, and fringed with ermine,
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All inwrought with beads of wampum;
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He was dressed in deer-skin leggings,
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Fringed with hedgehog quills and ermine,
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And in moccasins of buck-skin,
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Thick with quills and beads embroidered.
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On his head were plumes of swan's down,
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On his heels were tails of foxes,
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In one hand a fan of feathers,
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And a pipe was in the other.
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Barred with streaks of red and yellow,
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Streaks of blue and bright vermilion,
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Shone the face of Pau-Puk-Keewis.
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From his forehead fell his tresses,
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Smooth, and parted like a woman's,
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Shining bright with oil, and plaited,
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Hung with braids of scented grasses,
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As among the guests assembled,
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To the sound of flutes and singing,
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To the sound of drums and voices,
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Rose the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis,
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And began his mystic dances.
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First he danced a solemn measure,
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Very slow in step and gesture,
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In and out among the pine-trees,
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Through the shadows and the sunshine,
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Treading softly like a panther.
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Then more swiftly and still swifter,
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Whirling, spinning round in circles,
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Leaping o'er the guests assembled,
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Eddying round and round the wigwam,
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Till the leaves went whirling with him,
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Till the dust and wind together
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Swept in eddies round about him.
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Then along the sandy margin
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Of the lake, the Big-Sea-Water,
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On he sped with frenzied gestures,
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Stamped upon the sand, and tossed it
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Wildly in the air around him;
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Till the wind became a whirlwind,
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Till the sand was blown and sifted
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Like great snowdrifts o'er the landscape,
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Heaping all the shores with Sand Dunes,
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Sand Hills of the Nagow Wudjoo!
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Thus the merry Pau-Puk-Keewis
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Danced his Beggar's Dance to please them,
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And, returning, sat down laughing
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There among the guests assembled,
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Sat and fanned himself serenely
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With his fan of turkey-feathers.
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Then they said to Chibiabos,
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To the friend of Hiawatha,
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To the sweetest of all singers,
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To the best of all musicians,
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"Sing to us, O Chibiabos!
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Songs of love and songs of longing,
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That the feast may be more joyous,
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That the time may pass more gayly,
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And our guests be more contented!"
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And the gentle Chibiabos
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Sang in accents sweet and tender,
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Sang in tones of deep emotion,
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Songs of love and songs of longing;
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Looking still at Hiawatha,
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Looking at fair Laughing Water,
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Sang he softly, sang in this wise:
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"Onaway! Awake, beloved!
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Thou the wild-flower of the forest!
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Thou the wild-bird of the prairie!
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Thou with eyes so soft and fawn-like!
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"If thou only lookest at me,
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I am happy, I am happy,
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As the lilies of the prairie,
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When they feel the dew upon them!
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"Sweet thy breath is as the fragrance
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Of the wild-flowers in the morning,
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As their fragrance is at evening,
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In the Moon when leaves are falling.
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"Does not all the blood within me
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Leap to meet thee, leap to meet thee,
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As the springs to meet the sunshine,
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In the Moon when nights are brightest?
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"Onaway! my heart sings to thee,
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Sings with joy when thou art near me,
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As the sighing, singing branches
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In the pleasant Moon of Strawberries!
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"When thou art not pleased, beloved,
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Then my heart is sad and darkened,
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As the shining river darkens
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When the clouds drop shadows on it!
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"When thou smilest, my beloved,
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Then my troubled heart is brightened,
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As in sunshine gleam the ripples
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That the cold wind makes in rivers.
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"Smiles the earth, and smile the waters,
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Smile the cloudless skies above us,
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But I lose the way of smiling
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When thou art no longer near me!
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"I myself, myself! behold me!
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Blood of my beating heart, behold me!
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Oh awake, awake, beloved!
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Onaway! awake, beloved!"
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Thus the gentle Chibiabos
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Sang his song of love and longing;
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And Iagoo, the great boaster,
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He the marvellous story-teller,
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He the friend of old Nokomis,
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Jealous of the sweet musician,
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Jealous of the applause they gave him,
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Saw in all the eyes around him,
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Saw in all their looks and gestures,
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That the wedding guests assembled
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Longed to hear his pleasant stories,
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His immeasurable falsehoods.
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Very boastful was Iagoo;
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Never heard he an adventure
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But himself had met a greater;
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Never any deed of daring
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But himself had done a bolder;
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Never any marvellous story
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But himself could tell a stranger.
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Would you listen to his boasting,
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Would you only give him credence,
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No one ever shot an arrow
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Half so far and high as he had;
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Ever caught so many fishes,
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Ever killed so many reindeer,
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Ever trapped so many beaver!
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None could run so fast as he could,
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None could dive so deep as he could,
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None could swim so far as he could;
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None had made so many journeys,
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None had seen so many wonders,
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As this wonderful Iagoo,
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As this marvellous story-teller!
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Thus his name became a by-word
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And a jest among the people;
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And whene'er a boastful hunter
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Praised his own address too highly,
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Or a warrior, home returning,
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Talked too much of his achievements,
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All his hearers cried, "Iagoo!
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Here's Iagoo come among us!"
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He it was who carved the cradle
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Of the little Hiawatha,
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Carved its framework out of linden,
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Bound it strong with reindeer sinews;
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He it was who taught him later
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How to make his bows and arrows,
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How to make the bows of ash-tree,
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And the arrows of the oak-tree.
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So among the guests assembled
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At my Hiawatha's wedding
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Sat Iagoo, old and ugly,
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Sat the marvellous story-teller.
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And they said, "O good Iagoo,
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Tell us now a tale of wonder,
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Tell us of some strange adventure,
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That the feast may be more joyous,
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That the time may pass more gayly,
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And our guests be more contented!"
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And Iagoo answered straightway,
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"You shall hear a tale of wonder,
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You shall hear the strange adventures
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Of Osseo, the Magician,
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