When the tree flowered : $b An authentic tale of the old Sioux worldNeihardt, John G.
History
When the tree flowered : $b An authentic tale of the old Sioux world
Neihardt, John G.
Historical fiction; Oglala Indians -- Fiction
“When the two thin little boys peeked in there, the giant Wazya looked
hard at them, and said ‘_Hin!_’, which meant they were not welcome.
‘Why do you come peeking here?’ His voice was so big that it made the
tepee shake, and the smoke flap quivered. Falling Star made his voice
small and said, ‘_How, kola_; we have come to visit.’ And Wazya did not
say ‘_how_’; he said ‘_hin_,’ just like that. And the fat children with
white hair stuck their tongues out at the two thin little boys, and
they made a sound like snow hissing through dead grass.
“By now Falling Star and the other thin little boy were looking around
the big tepee at all the good things to eat. Also, they were looking
at the soft warm skins for the giants and their children to sleep in.
Then Falling Star saw a big bow and big arrows in a quiver, hanging
on a pole. And he said to Wazya, ‘_Kola_, do you use these when you
go hunting?’ And Wazya grunted, ‘_hin_.’ Then Falling Star said, ‘It
is the biggest bow I ever saw. You must be very strong to pull it. I
wish I could try it.’ When Falling Star said this, and he so thin and
little, you could hear laughter rumbling deep down in Wazya’s belly.
When ice is getting ready to break in a river it sounds the same way.
“So Falling Star took the bow down from the pole. It was so big that
his two hands could not reach halfway around it. But he remembered his
eagle feather, and all at once he lifted the bow with his left hand,
and with his right hand he pulled the string back behind his ear. Then
the smallest of the giants’ little boys pointed to Falling Star and
said, ‘I know him. He looks just like Falling Star, and he is Falling
Star.’ Then he just sat and stared like the others. Then there was a
big noise like the ice breaking up in a river and the flood smashing
through. And there on the ground was Wazya’s bow, all in pieces.”
“_Washtay! Hiyay!_” Eagle Voice and Moves Walking applauded.
“Wazya did not say anything,” No Water continued. “His woman did not
say anything. The fat children with white hair did not say anything.
They all just sat and stared at the bow all in pieces. It is like that
when the winter is old and the sun is warm, and there is no cloud, and
no wind blows; but if you listen hard, you can hear little waters.” No
Water, with his left hand extended and his right hand back of his ear,
drew the giant bow.
“So while the giants and their children were staring, Falling Star and
the other thin little boy went outside and took all the _papa_ they
could carry. And the other thin little boy said, ‘That boy who spoke to
us, he is the one who sometimes sneaks over to our tepee and gives us
_papa_ to eat. He is not a bad boy.’ And Falling Star said, ‘We will
remember him.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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