Kitabı oku: «The Acorn-Planter», sayfa 4

 
 
 
     War Chief     (Dubiously)     It is a far shot. Too far. No man can slay
     a great bear so far.
 
 
     (Sun Man, shaking off from his arms the
     hands of Deer Foot and Elk Man,
     aims musket and fires. The bear falls,
     and the Nishinam betray astonishment
     and awe)
     (At a quick signal from War Chief,
     Sun Man is again seized. War Chief
     takes away musket and examines it.)
     Shaman     There is a sign.
 
 
     People     There is a sign.
     He carries the thunder in his hand.
     He slays with the thunder in his hand.
     He is the enemy of the Nishinam.
     He will destroy the Nishinam.
 
 
     Shaman     There is a sign.
 
 
     People     There is a sign.
     In the day the Sun Man comes,
     The waters from the spring will no longer flow,
     And in that day will he destroy the Nishinam.
 
 
     War Chief     (Exhibiting musket.)     Hoh! Hoh! I have taken the Sun Man's
     thunder.
 
 
     Shaman     Now shall the Sun Man die that the Nishinam
     may live.
 
 
     Red Cloud     He is our brother. He, too, is an acorn-
     planter. He has spoken.
 
 
     Shaman     He is the Sun Man, and he is our eternal
     enemy. He shall die.
 
 
     War Chief     In war I command.
 
 
     (To Hunters.)     Tie their feet with stout thongs that they
     may not run. And then make ready with bow
     and arrow to do the deed.
 
 
     (Hunters obey, urging and thrusting the
     Sea Cunies into a compact group behind
     the Sun Man.)
     Red Cloud     Shaman I am not.
     I know not the secret things.
     I say the things I know.
     When you plant kindness you harvest kindness.
     When you plant blood you harvest blood.
     He who plants one acorn makes way for life.
     He who slays one man slays the planter of a
     thousand acorns.
 
 
     Shaman     Shaman I am.
     I see the dark future.
     I see the Sun Man's death,
     The journey he must take
     Through thick and endless forest
     Where lost souls wander howling
     A thousand moons of moons.
 
 
     People     Through thick and endless forest
     Where lost souls wander howling
     A thousand moons of moons.
 
 
     (War Chief arranges Hunters with their
     bows and arrows for the killing.)
     Sun Man     (To Red Cloud.)     You will slay us?
 
 
     Red Cloud     (Indicating War Chief.)     In war he commands.
 
 
     Sun Man     (Addressing the Nishinam)     Nor am I a Shaman. But I will tell you true
     things to be. Our brothers are acorn-planters,
     cloth-weavers, iron-workers. Our brothers are
     life-makers and masters of life. Many are our
     brothers and strong. They will come after us.
     Your First Man has spoken true words. When
     you plant blood you harvest blood. Our brothers
     will come to the harvest with the thunder
     in their hands. There is a sign. This night,
     and soon, will the Wolf of Darkness eat the
     moon. And by that sign will our brothers come
     on the trail we have broken.
 
 
     (As final preparation for the killing is
     completed, and as Hunters are arranged
     with their bows and arrows,
     Sun Man sings.)
     Sun Man     Our brothers will come after,
        On our trail to farthest lands;
     Our brothers will come after
        With the thunder in their hands.
 
 
     Sun Men           Loud will be the weeping,
           Red will be the reaping,
           High will be the heaping
        Of the slain their law commands.
 
 
     Sun Man     Givers of law, our brothers,
        This is the law they say:
     Who takes the life of a brother
        Ten of the slayers shall pay.
 
 
     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after,
        On our trail to farthest lands;
     Our brothers will come after
        With the thunder in their hands.
           Loud will be the weeping,
           Red will be the reaping,
           High will be the heaping
        Of the slain their law commands.
 
 
     Sun Man     Our brothers will come after
        By the courses that we lay;
     Many and strong our brothers,
        Masters of life are they.
 
 
     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after
        On our trail to farthest lands;
     Our brothers will come after
        With the thunder in their hands.
           Loud will be the weeping,
           Red will be the reaping,
           High will be the heaping
        Of the slain their law commands.
 
 
     Sun Man     Plowers of land, our brothers,
        Of the hills and pleasant leas;
     Under the sun our brothers
        With their keels will plow the seas.
 
 
     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after,
        On our trail to farthest lands;
     Our brothers will come after
        With the thunder in their hands.
           Loud will be the weeping,
           Red will be the reaping,
           High will be the heaping
        Of the slain their law commands.
 
 
     Sun Man     Mighty men are our brothers,
        Quick to forgive and to wrath,
     Sailing the seas, our brothers
        Will follow us on our path.
 
 
     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after,
        On our trail to farthest lands;
     Our brothers will come after
        With the thunder in their hands.
           Loud will be the weeping,
           Red will be the reaping,
           High will be the heaping
        Of the slain their law commands.
 
 
     (At signal from War Chief the arrows
     are discharged, and repeatedly
     discharged. The Sun Men fall. The War
     Chief himself kills the Sun Man.)
 
 
     (In what follows, Red Cloud and Dew-
     Woman stand aside, taking no part.
     Red Cloud is depressed, and at the
     same time is overcome with the wonder
     of the knife which he still holds.)
     War Chief     (Brandishing musket and drifting stiff-
     legged, as he sings, into the beginning
     of a war dance of victory.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     I have slain the Sun Man!
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     I hold his thunder in my hand!
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     Greatest of War Chiefs am I!
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     I have slain the Sun Man!
 
 
     (The dance grows wilder.)
     (After a time the hillside begins to darken)
     Dew-Woman     (Pointing to the moon entering eclipse)     Lo! The Wolf of Darkness eats the Moon!
 
 
     (In consternation the dance is broken off
     for the moment)
     Shaman     (Reassuringly)     It is a sign.
     The Sun Man is dead.
 
 
     War Chief     (Recovering courage and resuming dance.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man is dead!
 
 
     People     (Resuming dance.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man is dead!
 
 
     (As darkness increases the dance grows
     into a saturnalia, until complete darkness
     settles down and hides the hillside.)
 

ACT II

 
     (A hundred years have passed, when the
     hillside and the Nishinam in their
     temporary camp are revealed. The spring
     is flowing, and Women are filling gourds
     with water. Red Cloud and Dew-
     Woman stand apart from their people.)
     Shaman     (Pointing.)     There is a sign.
     The spring lives.
     The water flows from the spring
     And all is well with the Nishinam.
 
 
     People     There is a sign.
     The spring lives.
     The water flows from the spring.
 
 
     War Chief     (Boastingly.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     All is well with the Nishinam.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     It is I who have made all well with the Nishinam.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     I led our young men against the Napa.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     We left no man living of the camp.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
 
 
     Shaman     Great is our War Chief!
     Good is war!
     No more will the Napa hunt our meat.
     No more will the Napa pick our berries.
     No more will the Napa catch our fish.
 
 
     People     No more will the Napa hunt our meat.
     No more will the Napa pick our berries.
     No more will the Napa catch our fish.
 
 
     War Chief     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The War Chiefs before me made all well with
     the Nishinam.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The War Chief of long ago slew the Sun Man.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man said his brothers would come after.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man lied.
 
 
     People     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man lied.
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man lied.
 
 
     Shaman     (Derisively.)     Red Cloud is sick. He lives in dreams. Ever
     he dreams of the wonders of the Sun Man.
 
 
     Red Cloud     The Sun Man was strong. The Sun Man was
     a life-maker. The Sun Man planted acorns,
     and cut quickly with a knife not of bone nor
     stone, and of grasses and hides made cunning
     cloth that is better than all grasses and hides.
     —Old Man, where is the cunning cloth that is
     better than all grasses and hides?
 
 
     Old Man     (Fumbling in his skin pouch for the doth.)     In the many moons aforetime,
     Hundred moons and many hundred,
     When the old man was the young man,
     When the young man was the youngling,
     Dragging branches for the campfire,
     Stealing suet from the bear-meat,
     Cause of trouble to his mother,
     Came the Sun Man in the night-time.
     I alone of all the Nishinam
     Live to-day to tell the story;
     I alone of all the Nishinam
     Saw the Sun Man come among us,
     Heard the Sun Man and his Sun Men
     Sing their death-song here among us
     Ere they died beneath our arrows,
     War Chief's arrows sharp and feathered—
 
 
     War Chief     (Interrupting braggartly.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
 
 
     Old Man     (Producing cloth.)     And the Sun Man and his Sun Men
     Wore nor hair nor hide nor birdskin.
     Cloth they wore from beaten grasses
     Woven like our willow baskets,
     Willow-woven acorn baskets
     Women make in acorn season.
 
 
     (Old Man hands piece of cloth to Red
     Cloud.)
     Red Cloud     (Admiring cloth.)     The Sun Man was an acorn-planter, and we
     killed the Sun Man. We were not kind. We
     made a blood-debt. Blood-debts are not good.
 
 
     Shaman     The Sun Man lied. His brothers did not come
     after. There is no blood-debt when there is no
     one to make us pay.
 
 
     Red Cloud     He who plants acorns reaps food, and food is
     life. He who sows war reaps war, and war is death.
 
 
     People     (Encouraged by Shaman and War Chief
     to drown out Red Cloud's voice.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man is dead!
     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!
     The Sun Man and his Sun Men are dead!
 
 
     Red Cloud     (Shaking his head.)     His brothers of the Sun are coming after.
     I have reports.
 
 
     (Red Cloud beckons one after another of
     the young hunters to speak)
     First Hunter     To the south, not far, I wandered and lived
     with the Petaluma. With my eyes I did not
     see, but it was told me by those whose eyes had
     seen, that still to the south, not far, were many
     Sun Men—war chiefs who carry the thunder in
     their hands; cloth-makers and weavers of cloth
     like to that in Red Cloud's hand; acorn-planters
     who plant all manner of strange seeds that ripen
     to rich harvests of food that is good. And there
     had been trouble. The Petaluma had killed
     Sun Men, and many Petaluma had the Sun Men
     killed.
 
 
     Second Hunter     To the east, not far, I wandered and lived with
     the Solano. With my own eyes I did not see,
     but it was told me by those whose eyes had seen,
     that still to the east, not far, and just beyond the
     lands of the Tule tribes, were many Sun Men—
     war chiefs and cloth-makers and acorn-planters.
     And there had been trouble. The Solano had
     killed Sun Men, and many Solano had the Sun Men killed.
 
 
     Third Hunter     To the north, and far, I wandered and lived
     with the Klamath. With my own eyes I did