How The Raven Died: 1902, From "Wolfville Nights"Lewis, Alfred Henry
General
How The Raven Died: 1902, From "Wolfville Nights"
Lewis, Alfred Henry
Short stories
"'It was not a tail, it was blood--star blood; an' the star had been
bit an' was wounded, but would get well. The Sun was the father of the
stars, an' the Moon was their mother. The Sun, _Gheezis_, tried ever to
pursue an' capture an' eat his children, the stars. So the stars all ran
an' hid when the Sun was about. But the stars loved their mother who was
good an' never hurt them; an' when the Sun went to sleep at night an'
_Coush-ee-wan_, the Darkness, shut his eyes, the Moon an' her children
came together to see each other. But the star that bled had been
caught by the Sun; it got out of his mouth, but was wounded. Now it was
frightened, so it always kept its face to where the Sun was sleeping
over in the west. The bleeding star, _Sch-coo-dah_, would get well an'
its wound would heal.
"'Then the Raven wanted to know how the Gray Elk knew all this. An' the
Gray Elk had the Raven into the medicine lodge that night; an' the Raven
heard the spirits come about an' heard their voices; but he could not
understand. Also, the Raven saw a wolf all fire, with wings like the
eagle which flew overhead. Also he heard the Thunder, _Boom-wa-wa_,
talking with the Gray Elk; but the Raven couldn't understand. The Gray
Elk told the Raven to draw his knife an' stab with it in the air outside
the medicine lodge. An' when he did, the Raven's blade an' hand came
back covered with blood. Still, the Raven was cur'ous an' kept askin'
to be told how the Gray Elk knew these things. An' the Gray Elk at last
took the Raven to the Great Bachelor Sycamore that lived alone, an'
asked the Raven if the Bachelor Sycamore was growing. An' the Raven
said it was. Then Gray Elk asked him how he knew it was growing. An'
the Raven said he didn't know. Then Gray Elk said he did not know how
he knew about _Sch-coo-dah_, the star that was bit. This made the Raven
angry, for he was very cur'ous; an' he thought the Gray Elk had two
tongues.
"'Then it came the month of the first young grass an' Sublette was back
for furs. Also he brought many goods; an' he gave to the Raven more of
the powder of the whirlwind in a little box. At once the Raven made
a feast of ducks for the Gray Elk; an' he gave him of the whirlwind
powder; an' at once his teeth came together an' the Gray Elk was twisted
till he died.
"'Now no one knew that the Raven had the powder of the whirlwind, so
they could not tell why all these people were twisted and went to the
Great Spirit. But the Squaw-who-has-dreams saw that it was the Raven
who killed her husband, the Gray Elk, in a vision. Then the
Squaw-who-has-dreams went into the mountains four days an' talked with
_Moh-kwa_, the Bear who is the wisest of the beasts. The Bear said it
was the Raven who killed the Gray Elk an' told the Squaw-who-has-dreams
of the powder of the whirlwind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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