A Guide to MythologyClarke, Helen A. (Helen Archibald)
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A Guide to Mythology
Clarke, Helen A. (Helen Archibald)
Mythology -- Juvenile literature
A little orphan boy, who had no one to care for him, was once living
with his uncle, who treated him very badly, making him do hard things
and giving him very little to eat; so that the boy pined away, he never
grew much, and became, through hard usage, very thin and light. At last
the uncle felt ashamed of this treatment, and determined to make amends
for it by fattening him up, but his real object was to kill him by
over-feeding. He told his wife to give the boy plenty of bear’s meat, and
let him have the fat, which is thought to be the best part. They were
both very assiduous in cramming him, and one day came near choking him to
death by forcing the fat down his throat. The boy escaped and fled from
the lodge. He knew not where to go, but wandered about. When night came
on, he was afraid the wild beasts would eat him; so he climbed up into
the forks of a huge pine tree, and there he fell asleep in the branches,
and had an _aupoway_, or ominous dream.
A person appeared to him from the upper sky and said: “My poor little
lad, I pity you, and the bad usage you have received from your uncle has
led me to visit you; follow me, and step in my tracks.” Immediately his
sleep left him, and he rose up and followed his guide, mounting up higher
and higher into the air, until he reached the upper sky. Here twelve
arrows were put into his hands, and he was told that there were a great
many Manitoes in the northern sky, against whom he must go to war, and
try to waylay and shoot them. Accordingly, he went to that part of the
sky, and at long intervals shot arrow after arrow until he had expended
eleven, in vain attempts to kill the Manitoes. At the flight of each
arrow there was a long and solitary streak of lightning in the sky—then
all was clear again, and not a cloud or spot could be seen. The twelfth
arrow he held a long time in his hands, and looked around keenly on every
side to spy the Manitoes he was after. But these Manitoes were very
cunning, and could change their form in a moment. All they feared was the
boy’s arrows, for these were magic arrows, which had been given to him
by a good spirit, and had power to kill them if aimed aright. At length
the boy drew up his last arrow, settled in his aim, and let fly, as he
thought, into the very heart of the chief of the Manitoes; but before the
arrow reached him, the Manito changed himself into a rock. Into this rock
the head of the arrow sank deep and stuck fast.
“Now your gifts are all expended,” cried the enraged Manito, “and I
will make an example of your audacity and pride of heart for lifting
your bow against me.” And so saying, he transformed the boy into the
Nezhik-e-wa-wa-sun, or Lone Lightning, which may be observed in the
northern sky to this day.
WASIS, THE BABY
HOW THE LORD OF MEN AND BEASTS STROVE WITH THE MIGHTY WASIS, AND WAS
SHAMEFULLY DEFEATED
(_Penobscot_)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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