A Guide to MythologyClarke, Helen A. (Helen Archibald)
General
A Guide to Mythology
Clarke, Helen A. (Helen Archibald)
Mythology -- Juvenile literature
His wife, according to his predictions, followed him after the brief
expiration of eight months; but in her last moments she reminded the two
children of the promise made their father. During the winter following
their mother’s death, the two elder children were exceedingly thoughtful
in regard to their brother, who was a mere child and very delicate
and sickly; but when the winter had passed away, the young man became
restless, and at length determined to break his promise to his father,
and seek the village of his father’s tribe.
He communicated this determination to his sister, who replied: “My
brother, I cannot wonder at your desire, as we are not prohibited the
society of our fellow-men; but we were told to cherish each other, and
protect our little brother. If we follow our own inclinations, we may
forget him.”
To this the young man made no reply, but, taking his bow and arrows, left
the lodge and never returned. Several moons passed after his departure,
during which the girl tenderly watched over her little brother; but at
length the solitude of her life became unendurable, and she began to
meditate escaping from the care of her brother, and leaving him alone in
his helplessness. She gathered into the lodge a large amount of food, and
then said to her brother, “My brother, do not leave the lodge; I go to
seek our brother, and shall soon return.”
Then she went in search of the village of her tribe, where she hoped
to find her elder brother. When she reached the village, she was so
delighted with the novelty of society and the pleasure of seeing others
of her own age that she entirely forgot her little brother. She found her
elder brother nicely settled in life, he having married very happily;
and, on receiving a proposal of marriage herself, abandoned all thought
of returning to the solitary lodge in the forest, accepting a home in the
village with the young man who became her husband.
As soon as the little brother had eaten all the food collected by his
sister, he went into the woods and picked berries and dug up roots. That
satisfied his hunger as long as the weather was mild; but, when the
winter drew on, he was obliged to wander about in very great distress for
want of food. He often passed his nights in the clefts and hollows of old
trees, and was glad to eat the refuse-meat left by the wolves; and he
became so fearless of those animals that he would sit by them while they
devoured their prey, and the animals themselves were so accustomed to him
that they seemed pleased with his presence, and always left some of their
food for him. Thus the little boy lived on through the winter, succored
from hunger by the wild beasts of the woods.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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