THE DEATH OF KWASIND.
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ar and wide among the nationsSpread the name and fame of Kwasind;No man dared to strive with Kwasind,No man could compete with Kwasind.But the mischievous Puk-Wudjies, 5They the envious Little People,They the fairies and the pygmies,Plotted and conspired against him."If this hateful Kwasind," said they,"If this great, outrageous fellow 10Goes on thus a little longer,Tearing everything he touches,Rending everything to pieces,Filling all the world with wonder,What becomes of the Puk-Wudjies? 15Who will care for the Puk-Wudjies?He will tread us down like mushrooms,Drive us all into the water,Give our bodies to be eatenBy the wicked Nee-ba-naw-baigs, 20By the Spirits of the water!"So the angry Little PeopleAll conspired against the Strong Man,All conspired to murder Kwasind,Yes, to rid the world of Kwasind, 25The audacious, overbearing,Heartless, haughty, dangerous Kwasind!Now this wondrous strength of KwasindIn his crown alone was seated;In his crown too was his weakness: 30There alone could he be wounded,Nowhere else could weapon pierce him,Nowhere else could weapon harm him.Even there the only weaponThat could wound him, that could slay him, 35Was the seed-cone of the pine-tree,Was the blue cone of the fir-tree.This was Kwasind's fatal secret,Known to no man among mortals;But the cunning Little People, 40The Puk-Wudjies, knew the secret,Knew the only way to kill him.So they gathered cones together,Gathered seed-cones of the pine-tree,Gathered blue cones of the fir-tree, 45In the woods by Taquamenaw,Brought them to the river's margin,Heaped them in great piles together,Where the red rocks from the marginJutting overhang the river. 50There they lay in wait for Kwasind,The malicious Little People.'T was an afternoon in Summer;Very hot and still the air was,Very smooth the gliding river, 55Motionless the sleeping shadows:Insects glistened in the sunshine,Insects skated on the waterFilled the drowsy air with buzzing,With a far-resounding war-cry. 60Down the river came the Strong Man,In his birch canoe came Kwasind,Floating slowly down the currentOf the sluggish Taquamenaw,Very languid with the weather, 65Very sleepy with the silence.From the overhanging branches,From the tassels of the birch-trees,Soft the Spirit of Sleep descended;By his airy hosts surrounded, 70His invisible attendants,Came the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin;Like the burnished Dush-kwo-ne-she,Like a dragon fly, he hoveredO'er the drowsy head of Kwasind. 75To his ear there came a murmurAs of waves upon a sea-shore,As of far-off tumbling waters,As of winds among the pine-trees;And he felt upon his forehead 80Blows of little airy war-clubs,Wielded by the slumbrous legionsOf the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin,As of some one breathing on him.At the first blow of their war-clubs, 85Fell a drowsiness on Kwasind;At the second blow they smote him,Motionless his paddle rested;At the third, before his visionReeled the landscape into darkness, 90Very sound asleep was Kwasind.So he floated down the river,Like a blind man seated upright,Floated down the Taquamenaw,Underneath the trembling birch-trees, 95Underneath the wooded headlands,Underneath the war encampmentOf the pygmies, the Puk-Wudjies.There they stood, all armed and waiting,Hurled the pine-cones down upon him, 100Struck him on his brawny shoulders,On his crown defenseless struck him."Death to Kwasind!" was the suddenWar-cry of the Little People.And he sideways swayed and tumbled, 105Sideways fell into the river,Plunged beneath the sluggish waterHeadlong, as an otter plunges;And the birch canoe, abandoned,Drifted empty down the river, 110Bottom upward swerved and drifted:Nothing more was seen of Kwasind. [Illustration: "There they stood, all armed and waiting,Hurled the pine-cones down upon him."] But the memory of the Strong ManLingered long among the people,And whenever through the forest 115Raged and roared the wintry tempest,And the branches, tossed and troubled,Creaked and groaned and split asunder,"Kwasind!" cried they; "that is Kwasind!He is gathering in his fire-wood!" 120 [Illustration: _Strings of Black and White Wampum Shells._]
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