Stirring scenes in savage lands : $b An account of the manners, customs, habits and recreations, peaceful and warlike, of the uncivilised worldGreenwood, James
History
Stirring scenes in savage lands : $b An account of the manners, customs, habits and recreations, peaceful and warlike, of the uncivilised world
Greenwood, James
Anthropology
“They ate and lived there for days and years in pleasure and happiness;
and Kitchi-Manitou often came to them and conversed with them. ‘One
thing,’ he said, ‘I must warn you against. Come hither; see, this
tree in the middle of the garden is not good. I did not plant it, but
Matchi-Manitou planted it. In a short time this tree will blossom and
bear fruits which look very fine and taste very sweet; but do not eat
of them, for if ye do so ye will die.’ They paid attention to this, and
kept the command a long time, even when the tree had blossomed and the
fruit had set. One day, however, when Mami went walking in the garden,
she heard a very friendly and sweet voice say to her, ‘Mami, Mami, why
dost thou not eat of this beautiful fruit? it tastes splendidly.’ She
saw no one, but she was certain the voice did not come either from
Kitchi-Manitou or her husband. She was afraid and went into the house.
The next day though, she again went into the garden, and was rather
curious whether the same pleasant voice would speak to her again. She
had hardly approached the forbidden tree, when the voice was heard once
more, ‘Mami, Mami, why dost thou not taste this splendid fruit? it will
make thy heart glad.’ And with these words a young handsome Indian came
out of the bushes, plucked a fruit, and placed it in her hand. ‘Thou
canst make famous preserves of it for thy household,’ the friendly
Indian added.
“The fruit smelled pleasantly, and Mami licked it a little. At length
she swallowed it entirely, and felt as if drunk. When her husband came
to her soon after she persuaded him also to eat of it; he did so, and
also felt as if drunk. But this had scarce happened ere the silver
scales with which their bodies had been covered, fell off; only twenty
of these scales remained on, but they had lost their brilliancy,--ten
on the fingers and ten on the toes. They saw themselves to be quite
uncovered, and began to be ashamed, and withdrew timidly into the
bushes of the garden.
“The young Indian had disappeared, but the angry Kitchi-Manitou soon
came to them, and said ‘It is done; ye have eaten of Matchi-Manitou’s
fruit, and must now die. Hence it is necessary that I should marry you,
lest the whole human race might die out with you. Ye must perish, but
shall live on in your children and children’s children.’ Kitchi-Manitou
banished them also from the happy isle, which immediately grew wild,
and bore them in his canoe to the shores of the lake. But he had mercy
on them still. He gave the man a bow and arrow, and told him he would
find animals which were called deer. These he was to shoot, and Mami
would get ready the meat for him, and make mocassins and clothing of
the hide.
“When they reached the other shore, Mami’s husband tried first of all
this bow and the arrows. He shot into the sand, and the arrows went
three inches deep into the ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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