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"As unto
the bow the cord is,
So unto the man is woman;
Though she bends him, she obeys him,
Though she
draws him, yet she follows;
Useless each without the
other!"
Thus the youthful Hiawatha
Said within
himself and pondered,
Much perplexed by various
feelings,
Listless, longing, hoping, fearing,
Dreaming still of Minnehaha,
Of the lovely Laughing
Water,
In the land of the Dacotahs.
"Wed a maiden
of your people,"
Warning said the old Nokomis;
"Go not eastward, go not westward,
For a stranger,
whom we know not!
Like a fire upon the hearth-stone
Is a neighbor's homely daughter,
Like the
starlight or the moonlight
Is the handsomest of
strangers!"
Thus dissuading spake Nokomis,
And my
Hiawatha answered
Only this: "Dear old Nokomis,
Very pleasant is the firelight,
But I like the
starlight better,
Better do I like the moonlight!"
Gravely then said old Nokomis:
"Bring not here an
idle maiden,
Bring not here a useless woman,
Hands unskilful, feet unwilling;
Bring a wife with
nimble fingers,
Heart and hand that move together,
Feet that run on willing errands!"
Smiling
answered Hiawatha:
'In the land of the Dacotahs
Lives the Arrow-maker's daughter,
Minnehaha,
Laughing Water,
Handsomest of all the women.
I
will bring her to your wigwam,
She shall run upon
your errands,
Be your starlight, moonlight,
firelight,
Be the sunlight of my people!"
Still
dissuading said Nokomis:
"Bring not to my lodge a
stranger
From the land of the Dacotahs!
Very
fierce are the Dacotahs,
Often is there war between
us,
There are feuds yet unforgotten,
Wounds that
ache and still may open!"
Laughing answered Hiawatha:
"For that reason, if no other,
Would I wed the
fair Dacotah,
That our tribes might be united,
That old feuds might be forgotten,
And old wounds be
healed forever!"
Thus departed Hiawatha
To the
land of the Dacotahs,
To the land of handsome women;
Striding over moor and meadow,
Through
interminable forests,
Through uninterrupted silence.
With his moccasins of magic,
At each stride a mile
he measured;
Yet the way seemed long before him,
And his heart outran his footsteps;
And he journeyed
without resting,
Till he heard the cataract's
laughter,
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha
Calling
to him through the silence.
"Pleasant is the sound!"
he murmured,
"Pleasant is the voice that calls me!"
On the outskirts of the forests,
'Twixt the shadow
and the sunshine,
Herds of fallow deer were feeding,
But they saw not Hiawatha;
To his bow he
whispered, "Fail not!"
To his arrow whispered,
"Swerve not!"
Sent it singing on its errand,
To
the red heart of the roebuck;
Threw the deer across
his shoulder,
And sped forward without pausing.
At the doorway of his wigwam
Sat the ancient
Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Making
arrow-heads of jasper,
Arrow-heads of chalcedony.
At his side, in all her beauty,
Sat the lovely
Minnehaha,
Sat his daughter, Laughing Water,
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes
Of the past the old
man's thoughts were,
And the maiden's of the future.
He was thinking, as he sat there,
Of the days when
with such arrows
He had struck the deer and bison,
On the Muskoday, the meadow;
Shot the wild
goose, flying southward
On the wing, the clamorous
Wawa;
Thinking of the great war-parties,
How they
came to buy his arrows,
Could not fight without his
arrows.
Ah, no more such noble warriors
Could be
found on earth as they were!
Now the men were all
like women,
Only used their tongues for weapons!
She was thinking of a hunter,
From another tribe and
country,
Young and tall and very handsome,
Who
one morning, in the Spring-time,
Came to buy her
father's arrows,
Sat and rested in the wigwam,
Lingered long about the doorway,
Looking back as he
departed.
She had heard her father praise him,
Praise his courage and his wisdom;
Would he come
again for arrows
To the Falls of Minnehaha?
On
the mat her hands lay idle,
And her eyes were very
dreamy.
Through their thoughts they heard a footstep,
Heard a rustling in the branches,
And with
glowing cheek and forehead,
With the deer upon his
shoulders,
Suddenly from out the woodlands
Hiawatha stood before them.
Straight the ancient
Arrow-maker
Looked up gravely from his labor,
Laid aside the unfinished arrow,
Bade him enter at
the doorway,
Saying, as he rose to meet him,
'Hiawatha, you are welcome!"
At the feet of Laughing
Water
Hiawatha laid his burden,
Threw the red
deer from his shoulders;
And the maiden looked up at
him,
Looked up from her mat of rushes,
Said with
gentle look and accent,
"You are welcome, Hiawatha!"
Very spacious was the wigwam,
Made of deer-skins
dressed and whitened,
With the Gods of the Dacotahs
Drawn and painted on its curtains,
And so tall
the doorway, hardly
Hiawatha stooped to enter,
Hardly touched his eagle-feathers
As he entered at
the doorway.
Then uprose the Laughing Water,
From
the ground fair Minnehaha,
Laid aside her mat
unfinished,
Brought forth food and set before them,
Water brought them from the brooklet,
Gave them
food in earthen vessels,
Gave them drink in bowls of
bass-wood,
Listened while the guest was speaking,
Listened while her father answered,
But not once
her lips she opened,
Not a single word she uttered.
Yes, as in a dream she listened
To the words of
Hiawatha,
As he talked of old Nokomis,
Who had
nursed him in his childhood,
As he told of his
companions,
Chibiabos, the musician,
And the
very strong man, Kwasind,
And of happiness and
plenty
In the land of the Ojibways,
In the
pleasant land and peaceful.
"After many years of
warfare,
Many years of strife and bloodshed,
There is peace between the Ojibways
And the tribe of
the Dacotahs."
Thus continued Hiawatha,
And then
added, speaking slowly,
"That this peace may last
forever,
And our hands be clasped more closely,
And our hearts be more united,
Give me as my wife
this maiden,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Loveliest of Dacotah women!"
And the ancient
Arrow-maker
Paused a moment ere he answered,
Smoked a little while in silence,
Looked at Hiawatha
proudly,
Fondly looked at Laughing Water,
And
made answer very gravely:
"Yes, if Minnehaha wishes;
Let your heart speak, Minnehaha!"
And the lovely
Laughing Water
Seemed more lovely as she stood
there,
Neither willing nor reluctant,
As she
went to Hiawatha,
Softly took the seat beside him,
While she said, and blushed to say it,
"I will
follow you, my husband!"
This was Hiawatha's wooing!
Thus it was he won the daughter
Of the ancient
Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs!
From
the wigwam he departed,
Leading with him Laughing
Water;
Hand in hand they went together,
Through
the woodland and the meadow,
Left the old man
standing lonely
At the doorway of his wigwam,
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha
Calling to them from
the distance,
Crying to them from afar off,
"Fare thee well, O Minnehaha!"
And the ancient
Arrow-maker
Turned again unto his labor,
Sat
down by his sunny doorway,
Murmuring to himself, and
saying:
"Thus it is our daughters leave us,
Those
we love, and those who love us!
Just when they have
learned to help us,
When we are old and lean upon
them,
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers,
With his flute of reeds, a stranger
Wanders piping
through the village,
Beckons to the fairest maiden,
And she follows where he leads her,
Leaving all
things for the stranger!"
Pleasant was the journey
homeward,
Through interminable forests,
Over
meadow, over mountain,
Over river, hill, and hollow.
Short it seemed to Hiawatha,
Though they
journeyed very slowly,
Though his pace he checked
and slackened
To the steps of Laughing Water.
Over wide and rushing rivers
In his arms he bore the
maiden;
Light he thought her as a feather,
As
the plume upon his head-gear;
Cleared the tangled
pathway for her,
Bent aside the swaying branches,
Made at night a lodge of branches,
And a bed
with boughs of hemlock,
And a fire before the
doorway
With the dry cones of the pine-tree.
All
the travelling winds went with them,
O'er the
meadows, through the forest;
All the stars of night
looked at them,
Watched with sleepless eyes their
slumber;
From his ambush in the oak-tree
Peeped
the squirrel, Adjidaumo,
Watched with eager eyes the
lovers;
And the rabbit, the Wabasso,
Scampered
from the path before them,
Peering, peeping from his
burrow,
Sat erect upon his haunches,
Watched with
curious eyes the lovers.
Pleasant was the journey
homeward!
All the birds sang loud and sweetly
Songs of happiness and heart's-ease;
Sang the
bluebird, the Owaissa,
"Happy are you, Hiawatha,
Having such a wife to love you!"
Sang the robin, the
Opechee,
"Happy are you, Laughing Water,
Having
such a noble husband!"
From the sky the sun benignant
Looked upon them through the branches,
Saying to
them, "O my children,
Love is sunshine, hate is
shadow,
Life is checkered shade and sunshine,
Rule by love, O Hiawatha!"
From the sky the moon
looked at them,
Filled the lodge with mystic
splendors,
Whispered to them, "O my children,
Day is restless, night is quiet,
Man imperious,
woman feeble;
Half is mine, although I follow;
Rule by patience, Laughing Water!"
Thus it was they
journeyed homeward;
Thus it was that Hiawatha
To
the lodge of old Nokomis
Brought the moonlight,
starlight, firelight,
Brought the sunshine of his
people,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Handsomest of
all the women
In the land of the Dacotahs,
In
the land of handsome women.
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