章节正文
different plants of nature and collecting precious roots, which he
used as medicine. At long intervals some warrior would arrive at
the tent of the old hermit and get medicine roots from him for the
tribe, the old hermit's medicine being considered far superior to
all others.
After a long day's ramble in the woods, the hermit came home late,
and being very tired, at once lay down on his bed and was just
dozing off to sleep, when he felt something rub against his foot.
Awakening with a start, he noticed a dark object and an arm was
extended to him, holding in its hand a flint pointed arrow.
The hermit thought, "This must be a spirit, as there is no human
being around here but myself!" A voice then said: "Hermit, I have
come to invite you to my home." "How (yes), I will come," said the
old hermit. Wherewith he arose, wrapped his robe about him and
followed.
Outside the door he stopped and looked around, but could see no
signs of the dark object.
"Whoever you are, or whatever you be, wait for me, as I don't know
where to go to find your house," said the hermit. Not an answer
did he receive, nor could he hear any noises as though anyone was
walking through the brush. Re-entering his tent he retired and was
soon fast asleep. The next night the same thing occurred again,
and the hermit followed the object out, only to be left as before.
He was very angry to think that anyone should be trying to make
sport of him, and he determined to find out who this could be who
was disturbing his night's rest.
The next evening he cut a hole in the tent large enough to stick an
arrow through, and stood by the door watching. Soon the dark
object came and stopped outside of the door, and said:
"Grandfather, I came to--," but he never finished the sentence,
for the old man let go his arrow, and he heard the arrow strike
something which produced a sound as though he had shot into a sack
of pebbles. He did not go out that night to see what his arrow had
struck, but early next morning he went out and looked at the spot
about where he thought the object had stood. There on the ground
lay a little heap of corn, and from this little heap a small line
of corn lay scattered along a path. This he followed far into the
woods. When he came to a very small knoll the trail ended. At the
end of the trail was a large circle, from which the grass had been
scraped off clean.
"The corn trail stops at the edge of this circle," said the old
man, "so this must be the home of whoever it was that invited me."
He took his bone knife and hatchet and proceeded to dig down into
the center of the circle. When he had got down to the length
of his arm, he came to a sack of dried meat. Next he found a sack
of Indian turnips, then a sack of dried cherries; then a sack of
corn, and last of all another sack, empty except that there was
about a cupful of corn in one corner of it, and that the sack had
a hole in the other corner where his arrow had pierced it. From
this hole in the sack the corn was scattered along the trail, which
guided the old man to the cache.*
From this the hermit taught the tribes how to keep their provisions
when traveling and were overloaded. He explained to them how they
should dig a pit and put their provisions into it and cover them
with earth. By this method the Indians used to keep provisions all
summer, and when fall came they would return to their cache, and on
opening it would find everything as fresh as the day they were
placed there.
The old hermit was also thanked as the discoverer of corn, which
had never been known to the Indians until discovered by the old
hermit.
*Hiding place.
THE MYSTERIOUS BUTTE
A young man was once hunting and came to a steep hill. The east
side of the hill suddenly dropped off to a very steep bank. He
stood on this bank, and at the base he noticed a small opening. On
going down to examine it more closely, he found it was large enough
to admit a horse or buffalo. On either side of the door were
figures of different animals engraved into the wall.
He entered the opening and there, scattered about on the floor, lay
many bracelets, pipes and many other things of ornament, as though
they had been offerings to some great spirit. He passed through
this first room and on entering the second it was so dark
that he could not see his hands before his face, so becoming
scared, he hurriedly left the place, and returning home told what
he had seen.
Upon hearing this the chief selected four of his most daring
warriors to go with this young man and investigate and ascertain
whether the young man was telling the truth or not. The five
proceeded to the butte, and at the entrance the young man refused
to go inside, as the figures on either side of the entrance had
been changed.
The four entered and seeing that all in the first chamber was as
the young man had told, they went on to the next chamber and found
it so dark that they could not see anything. They continued on,
however, feeling their way along the walls. They finally
found an entrance that was so narrow that they had to squeeze into
it sideways. They felt their way around the walls and found
another entrance, so low down that they had to crawl on their hands
and knees to go through into the next chamber.
On entering the last chamber they found a very sweet odor coming
from the opposite direction. Feeling around and crawling on their
hands and knees, they discovered a hole in the floor leading
downward. From this hole came up the sweet odor. They hurriedly
held a council, and decided to go no further, but return to the
camp and report what they had found. On getting to the first
chamber one of the young men said: "I am going to take these
bracelets to show that we are telling the truth." "No," said the
other three, "this being the abode of some Great Spirit, you may
have some accident befall you for taking what is not yours." "Ah!
You fellows are like old women," said he, taking a fine bracelet
and encircling his left wrist with it.
When they reached the village they reported what they had seen.
The young man exhibited the bracelet to prove that it was the truth
they had told.
Shortly after this, these four young men were out fixing up traps
for wolves. They would raise one end of a heavy log and place a
stick under, bracing up the log. A large piece of meat was placed
about five feet away from the log and this space covered with poles
and willows. At the place where the upright stick was put, a hole
was left open, large enough to admit the body of a wolf. The wolf,
scenting the meat and unable to get at it through the poles and
willows, would crowd into the hole and working his
body forward, in order to get the meat, would push down the brace
and the log thus released would hold the wolf fast under its
weight.
The young man with the bracelet was placing his bait under the log
when he released the log by knocking down the brace, and the log
caught his wrist on which he wore the bracelet. He could not
release himself and called loud and long for assistance. His
friends, hearing his call, came to his assistance, and on lifting
the log found the young man's wrist broken. "Now," said they, "you
have been punished for taking the wristlet out of the chamber of
the mysterious butte."
Some time after this a young man went to the butte and saw engraved
on the wall a woman holding in her hand a pole, with which she was
holding up a large amount of beef which had been laid across
another pole, which had broken in two from the weight of so much
meat.
He returned to the camp and reported what he had seen. All around
the figure he saw marks of buffalo hoofs, also marked upon the
wall.
The next day an enormous herd of buffalo came near to the village,
and a great many were killed. The women were busy cutting up and
drying the meat. At one camp was more meat than at any other. The
woman was hanging meat upon a long tent pole, when the pole broke
in two and she was obliged to hold the meat up with another pole,
just as the young man saw on the mysterious butte.
Ever after that the Indians paid weekly visits to this butte, and
thereon would read the signs that were to govern their plans.
This butte was always considered the prophet of the tribe.
THE WONDERFUL TURTLE
Near to a Chippewa village lay a large lake, and in this lake there
lived an enormousturtle. This was no ordinary turtle, as he would
often come out of his home in the lake and visit with his Indian
neighbors. He paid the most of his visits to the head
chief, and on these occasions would stay for hours, smoking and
talking with him.
The chief, seeing that the turtle was very smart and showed great
wisdom in his talk, took a great fancy to him, and whenever any
puzzling subject came up before the chief, he generally sent for
Mr. Turtle to help him decide.
One day there came a great misunderstanding between different
parties of the tribe, and so excited became both sides that it
threatened to cause bloodshed. The chief was unable to decide for
either faction, so he said, "I will call Mr. Turtle. He will
judge for you."
Sending for the turtle, the chief vacated his seat for the time
being, until the turtle should hear both sides, and decide which
was in the right. The turtle came, and taking the chief's seat,
listened very attentively to both sides, and thought long before he
gave his decision. After thinking long and studying each
side carefully, he came to the conclusion to decide in favor of
both. This would not cause any hard feelings. So he gave them a
lengthy speech and showed them where they were both in the right,
and wound up by saying:
"You are both in the right in some ways and wrong in others.
Therefore, I will say that you both are equally in the right."
When they heard this decision, they saw that the turtle was right,
and gave him a long cheer for the wisdom displayed by him. The
whole tribe saw that had it not been for this wise decision there
would have been a great shedding of blood in the tribe. So
they voted him as their judge, and the chief, being so well pleased
with him, gave to him his only daughter in marriage.
The daughter of the chief was the most beautiful maiden of the
Chippewa nation, and young men from other tribes traveled hundreds
of miles for an opportunity to make love to her, and try to win her
for a wife. It was all to no purpose. She would accept no one,
only him whom her father would select for her. The turtle was very
homely, but as he was prudent and wise, the father chose him, and
she accepted him.
The young men of the tribe were very jealous, but their jealousy
was all to no purpose. She married the turtle. The young men
would make sport of the chief's son-in-law. They would say to him:
"How did you come to have so flat a stomach?" The turtle
answered them, saying:
"My friends, had you been in my place, you too would have flat
stomachs. I came by my flat stomach in this way: The Chippewas and
Sioux had a great battle, and the Sioux, too numerous for the
Chippewas, were killing them off so fast that they had to run for
their lives. I was on the Chippewa side and some of the Sioux were
pressing five of us, and were gaining on us very fast. Coming to
some high grass, I threw myself down flat on my face, and pressed
my stomach close to the ground, so the pursuers could not see me.
They passed me and killed the four I was with. After they had gone
back, I arose and lo! my stomach was as you see it now. So hard
had I pressed to the ground that it would not assume its original
shape again."
After he had explained the cause of his deformity to them, they
said: "The Turtle is brave. We will bother him no more." Shortly
after this the Sioux made an attack upon the Chippewas, and every
used as medicine. At long intervals some warrior would arrive at
the tent of the old hermit and get medicine roots from him for the
tribe, the old hermit's medicine being considered far superior to
all others.
After a long day's ramble in the woods, the hermit came home late,
and being very tired, at once lay down on his bed and was just
dozing off to sleep, when he felt something rub against his foot.
Awakening with a start, he noticed a dark object and an arm was
extended to him, holding in its hand a flint pointed arrow.
The hermit thought, "This must be a spirit, as there is no human
being around here but myself!" A voice then said: "Hermit, I have
come to invite you to my home." "How (yes), I will come," said the
old hermit. Wherewith he arose, wrapped his robe about him and
followed.
Outside the door he stopped and looked around, but could see no
signs of the dark object.
"Whoever you are, or whatever you be, wait for me, as I don't know
where to go to find your house," said the hermit. Not an answer
did he receive, nor could he hear any noises as though anyone was
walking through the brush. Re-entering his tent he retired and was
soon fast asleep. The next night the same thing occurred again,
and the hermit followed the object out, only to be left as before.
He was very angry to think that anyone should be trying to make
sport of him, and he determined to find out who this could be who
was disturbing his night's rest.
The next evening he cut a hole in the tent large enough to stick an
arrow through, and stood by the door watching. Soon the dark
object came and stopped outside of the door, and said:
"Grandfather, I came to--," but he never finished the sentence,
for the old man let go his arrow, and he heard the arrow strike
something which produced a sound as though he had shot into a sack
of pebbles. He did not go out that night to see what his arrow had
struck, but early next morning he went out and looked at the spot
about where he thought the object had stood. There on the ground
lay a little heap of corn, and from this little heap a small line
of corn lay scattered along a path. This he followed far into the
woods. When he came to a very small knoll the trail ended. At the
end of the trail was a large circle, from which the grass had been
scraped off clean.
"The corn trail stops at the edge of this circle," said the old
man, "so this must be the home of whoever it was that invited me."
He took his bone knife and hatchet and proceeded to dig down into
the center of the circle. When he had got down to the length
of his arm, he came to a sack of dried meat. Next he found a sack
of Indian turnips, then a sack of dried cherries; then a sack of
corn, and last of all another sack, empty except that there was
about a cupful of corn in one corner of it, and that the sack had
a hole in the other corner where his arrow had pierced it. From
this hole in the sack the corn was scattered along the trail, which
guided the old man to the cache.*
From this the hermit taught the tribes how to keep their provisions
when traveling and were overloaded. He explained to them how they
should dig a pit and put their provisions into it and cover them
with earth. By this method the Indians used to keep provisions all
summer, and when fall came they would return to their cache, and on
opening it would find everything as fresh as the day they were
placed there.
The old hermit was also thanked as the discoverer of corn, which
had never been known to the Indians until discovered by the old
hermit.
*Hiding place.
THE MYSTERIOUS BUTTE
A young man was once hunting and came to a steep hill. The east
side of the hill suddenly dropped off to a very steep bank. He
stood on this bank, and at the base he noticed a small opening. On
going down to examine it more closely, he found it was large enough
to admit a horse or buffalo. On either side of the door were
figures of different animals engraved into the wall.
He entered the opening and there, scattered about on the floor, lay
many bracelets, pipes and many other things of ornament, as though
they had been offerings to some great spirit. He passed through
this first room and on entering the second it was so dark
that he could not see his hands before his face, so becoming
scared, he hurriedly left the place, and returning home told what
he had seen.
Upon hearing this the chief selected four of his most daring
warriors to go with this young man and investigate and ascertain
whether the young man was telling the truth or not. The five
proceeded to the butte, and at the entrance the young man refused
to go inside, as the figures on either side of the entrance had
been changed.
The four entered and seeing that all in the first chamber was as
the young man had told, they went on to the next chamber and found
it so dark that they could not see anything. They continued on,
however, feeling their way along the walls. They finally
found an entrance that was so narrow that they had to squeeze into
it sideways. They felt their way around the walls and found
another entrance, so low down that they had to crawl on their hands
and knees to go through into the next chamber.
On entering the last chamber they found a very sweet odor coming
from the opposite direction. Feeling around and crawling on their
hands and knees, they discovered a hole in the floor leading
downward. From this hole came up the sweet odor. They hurriedly
held a council, and decided to go no further, but return to the
camp and report what they had found. On getting to the first
chamber one of the young men said: "I am going to take these
bracelets to show that we are telling the truth." "No," said the
other three, "this being the abode of some Great Spirit, you may
have some accident befall you for taking what is not yours." "Ah!
You fellows are like old women," said he, taking a fine bracelet
and encircling his left wrist with it.
When they reached the village they reported what they had seen.
The young man exhibited the bracelet to prove that it was the truth
they had told.
Shortly after this, these four young men were out fixing up traps
for wolves. They would raise one end of a heavy log and place a
stick under, bracing up the log. A large piece of meat was placed
about five feet away from the log and this space covered with poles
and willows. At the place where the upright stick was put, a hole
was left open, large enough to admit the body of a wolf. The wolf,
scenting the meat and unable to get at it through the poles and
willows, would crowd into the hole and working his
body forward, in order to get the meat, would push down the brace
and the log thus released would hold the wolf fast under its
weight.
The young man with the bracelet was placing his bait under the log
when he released the log by knocking down the brace, and the log
caught his wrist on which he wore the bracelet. He could not
release himself and called loud and long for assistance. His
friends, hearing his call, came to his assistance, and on lifting
the log found the young man's wrist broken. "Now," said they, "you
have been punished for taking the wristlet out of the chamber of
the mysterious butte."
Some time after this a young man went to the butte and saw engraved
on the wall a woman holding in her hand a pole, with which she was
holding up a large amount of beef which had been laid across
another pole, which had broken in two from the weight of so much
meat.
He returned to the camp and reported what he had seen. All around
the figure he saw marks of buffalo hoofs, also marked upon the
wall.
The next day an enormous herd of buffalo came near to the village,
and a great many were killed. The women were busy cutting up and
drying the meat. At one camp was more meat than at any other. The
woman was hanging meat upon a long tent pole, when the pole broke
in two and she was obliged to hold the meat up with another pole,
just as the young man saw on the mysterious butte.
Ever after that the Indians paid weekly visits to this butte, and
thereon would read the signs that were to govern their plans.
This butte was always considered the prophet of the tribe.
THE WONDERFUL TURTLE
Near to a Chippewa village lay a large lake, and in this lake there
lived an enormousturtle. This was no ordinary turtle, as he would
often come out of his home in the lake and visit with his Indian
neighbors. He paid the most of his visits to the head
chief, and on these occasions would stay for hours, smoking and
talking with him.
The chief, seeing that the turtle was very smart and showed great
wisdom in his talk, took a great fancy to him, and whenever any
puzzling subject came up before the chief, he generally sent for
Mr. Turtle to help him decide.
One day there came a great misunderstanding between different
parties of the tribe, and so excited became both sides that it
threatened to cause bloodshed. The chief was unable to decide for
either faction, so he said, "I will call Mr. Turtle. He will
judge for you."
Sending for the turtle, the chief vacated his seat for the time
being, until the turtle should hear both sides, and decide which
was in the right. The turtle came, and taking the chief's seat,
listened very attentively to both sides, and thought long before he
gave his decision. After thinking long and studying each
side carefully, he came to the conclusion to decide in favor of
both. This would not cause any hard feelings. So he gave them a
lengthy speech and showed them where they were both in the right,
and wound up by saying:
"You are both in the right in some ways and wrong in others.
Therefore, I will say that you both are equally in the right."
When they heard this decision, they saw that the turtle was right,
and gave him a long cheer for the wisdom displayed by him. The
whole tribe saw that had it not been for this wise decision there
would have been a great shedding of blood in the tribe. So
they voted him as their judge, and the chief, being so well pleased
with him, gave to him his only daughter in marriage.
The daughter of the chief was the most beautiful maiden of the
Chippewa nation, and young men from other tribes traveled hundreds
of miles for an opportunity to make love to her, and try to win her
for a wife. It was all to no purpose. She would accept no one,
only him whom her father would select for her. The turtle was very
homely, but as he was prudent and wise, the father chose him, and
she accepted him.
The young men of the tribe were very jealous, but their jealousy
was all to no purpose. She married the turtle. The young men
would make sport of the chief's son-in-law. They would say to him:
"How did you come to have so flat a stomach?" The turtle
answered them, saying:
"My friends, had you been in my place, you too would have flat
stomachs. I came by my flat stomach in this way: The Chippewas and
Sioux had a great battle, and the Sioux, too numerous for the
Chippewas, were killing them off so fast that they had to run for
their lives. I was on the Chippewa side and some of the Sioux were
pressing five of us, and were gaining on us very fast. Coming to
some high grass, I threw myself down flat on my face, and pressed
my stomach close to the ground, so the pursuers could not see me.
They passed me and killed the four I was with. After they had gone
back, I arose and lo! my stomach was as you see it now. So hard
had I pressed to the ground that it would not assume its original
shape again."
After he had explained the cause of his deformity to them, they
said: "The Turtle is brave. We will bother him no more." Shortly
after this the Sioux made an attack upon the Chippewas, and every
- warrior [´wɔriə]
n.勇士，战士 (初中英语单词) - pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- circle [´sə:kəl] n.圆圈 v.环绕；盘旋 (初中英语单词)
- indian [´indiən] a.印度的 n.印度人 (初中英语单词)
- mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)
- opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
- ornament [´ɔ:nəmənt] n.装饰(物) vt.装饰 (初中英语单词)
- unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)
- working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- assistance [ə´sistəns] n.协作；援助；帮助 (初中英语单词)
- amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
- enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)
- weekly [´wi:kli] a.&ad.每周一次(的) (初中英语单词)
- govern [´gʌvən] v.统治；控制；指导 (初中英语单词)
- prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)
- whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
- conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
- equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地；平等地 (初中英语单词)
- wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
- maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
- jealous [´dʒeləs] a.妒忌的 (初中英语单词)
- stomach [´stʌmək] n.胃；胃口，食欲 (初中英语单词)
- bother [´bɔðə] v.打扰 n.麻烦(事) (初中英语单词)
- hermit [´hə:mit] n.隐士 (高中英语单词)
- whoever [hu:´evə] pron.任何人，无论谁 (高中英语单词)
- cupful [´kʌpful] n.一满杯 (高中英语单词)
- buffalo [´bʌfələu] n.水牛；野牛 (高中英语单词)
- hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
- investigate [in´vestigeit] v.调查(研究) (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
- squeeze [skwi:z] v.&n.压榨，榨取 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- befall [bi´fɔ:l] v.降临；发表(于) (高中英语单词)
- bracelet [´breislit] n.手镯 (高中英语单词)
- upright [´ʌprait] a.直立的 ad.直立地 (高中英语单词)
- hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
- turtle [´tə:tl] n.海龟；甲鱼 (高中英语单词)
- prudent [´pru:dənt] a.谨慎的；精明的 (高中英语单词)
- ramble [´ræmbl] v.&n.闲逛；漫步 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- hatchet [´hætʃit] n.短柄小斧 (英语四级单词)
- hurriedly [´hʌridli] ad.仓促地，忙乱地 (英语四级单词)
- faction [´fækʃən] n.宗派；派系纠纷；内讧 (英语四级单词)
- traveled [´trævəld] a.见面广的；旅客多的 (英语四级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
- wherewith [wɛə´wiθ] ad.用什么；用以 (英语六级单词)
- retired [ri´taiəd] a.退休的；通职的 (英语六级单词)
- hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- misunderstanding [,misʌndə´stændiŋ] n.误解；隔阂 (英语六级单词)
- bloodshed [´blʌdʃed] n.流血；杀人 (英语六级单词)
- deformity [di´fɔ:miti] n.畸形 (英语六级单词)
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