Algonquin Indian Tales Part 16

"There, Sakehow," he said, using his favorite term of endearment, "look for yourself and see those lovely creatures--some of them quite big enough to swallow us all without winking."

But Mary was stubborn, as well as jealous, and would not give in, even when Kennedy, the favorite dog driver, who was present, told her that even now there were some of the great tusks and bones of animals that the officers called mammoths over at the Hudson Bay Company's fort ready to be shipped to England next summer. She was, however, quickly silenced when Sagastao sat down beside her and throwing his head into her lap said, very coaxingly:

"Now, Mary, just be quiet and let us hear Souwanas tell the rest of the story of what Nanahboozhoo did to Mooshekinnebik."

Peace being thus restored, Souwanas, who had been much amused by Mary's ire, resumed his story:

"When Nokomis heard her grandson describe how he was going to let the monster swallow him she resolved to come and pitch her tent on the seash.o.r.e, among the people who had been so troubled, and there to await the return of her grandson, if he should ever come back from such a perilous adventure.

"Nanahboozhoo asked his mother for some magic singing sticks, and also for a very sharp knife. Then he made for himself a small raft of logs and, bidding her good-bye for a short time, he sprang on it and was soon floating out, in search of the dreaded creature, over the great waters.

"When well out from the sh.o.r.e he began to make music with his magic sticks and to sing a defiant song:

"'Ho, ho! great fish down in the sea, Come, if you dare, and swallow me.

My brothers all you're fond of eating, 'Tis time some one gave you a beating.

He, he! Hi, hi! Ho, ho! Ho, ho!

"'You see I am not far away, So come and taste me while you may; Yet not afraid am I, no, no!

So hurry up, old fish. Ho, ho!

He, he! Hi, hi! Ho, ho! Ho, ho!'

"Nanahboozhoo sang this brave song over and over, to the weird harmony of his magic music sticks, until he reached the place where the great fish was resting.

"When the great monster Mooshekinnebik heard the voice of Nanahboozhoo he came up to the surface of the water to find out who was making all that music and shouting out such defiant words.

"When he saw that it was only one young man on a raft of dry logs, he ordered one of his children to go and knock the raft to pieces and swallow that noisy fellow. But this was not what Nanahboozhoo wanted, and so he shouted out:

"'I want the old father fish to eat me.'

"This made old Mooshekinnebik very angry, and so, open mouthed, he rushed furiously at Nanahboozhoo who, when the great monster was close enough, took a leap into the open mouth and was immediately swallowed up.

"For a short time after being swallowed Nanahboozhoo was unconscious, but he soon recovered himself and was able to look around and see the queer prison in which he was now confined. It was fortunate for him that he had eyes like a cat, and so could see as well in the dark as in the light. He found that he was not the only inmate of this queer prison; there were a lot of creatures whom he called his brothers--the bear, the deer, the fox, the beaver and even the squirrel. Nanahboozhoo inquired of them and they told him how they had been captured and the length of time they had been in that horrid place. They also informed him that many others who had been captured were now dead. Nanahboozhoo found that they were quite hopeless, and looked forward to nothing but death. However he called them around him and informed them that he had willingly come among them for the purpose of affording a speedy deliverance.

"This was indeed good news. Then he explained to them the plan he had in his mind, and said that it was necessary for them to kick up a rumpus in the interior of this monster, that they would thus make him so very sick that he would have to go near to land, and when they should have him there he thought he had another plan that would enable them all to escape.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He took a leap into the open mouth."]

"They all agreed to do anything they could to help on his plans, so Nanahboozhoo took out his magic singing sticks and began to play and sing.

"At once the bear, the deer, the fox, the beaver, and indeed all of the creatures that were still alive, caught up the lively tune, and such a dancing and jumping and flying around was hardly ever seen before.

"This internal commotion very much disturbed Mooshekinnebik. He could not make out what was the matter. He shook himself thoroughly, but that did no good; then he darted off through the water at a great rate, but this also was of no use. Then he rolled over and over and over in the water. This of course stopped the dancing and hubbub inside for a time, but as the walls of the prison were soft, also the floor and ceiling, n.o.body was hurt, and so the instant it ceased they were up and at it again, harder than ever.

Mooshekinnebik never had such a turn in his life. He did not know what to do. Still Nanahboozhoo kept singing louder and louder, while the dancers kept up their wild antics around him.

"At length Nanahboozhoo decided that the monster was about enough frightened for him to do something else, and so he drew out his sharp knife and gave Mooshekinnebik a good stab near his heart.

"This threw him into convulsions and added to his terror, and he began swimming toward the sh.o.r.e. When Nanahboozhoo knew this he kept stabbing him more and more, until at length his body was heard to sc.r.a.pe on the shallow sandy ground. At this Nanahboozhoo with a mighty effort plunged his knife with all his power deep into the monster's heart.

"The instant he did this Mooshekinnebik was thrown into a number of mighty convulsions, and in one of them, with one tremendous effort, he fairly threw himself out of the water on the sh.o.r.e, and there he died.

"So great and terrible had been these dying convulsions that all the creatures inside, and even Nanahboozhoo himself, had become unconscious from being so knocked about.

"How long they remained so they did not know. Nanahboozhoo was the first to regain his senses, and he was indeed very sorry to see that all of his comrades were still unconscious. He had some difficulty in getting out from under the bodies of his comrades, who were piled up on him. He was glad that the monster was dead, but he was uncertain whether they were on the sh.o.r.e or at the bottom of the water. So he speedily determined to find out.

He climbed up over the bodies of his comrades to the place that he thought was the thinnest, and there, with his keen knife, he began cutting through the roof of this queer prison.

"To his great delight he was soon able to see the sunshine coming through.

When he had cut a hole big enough to let in some air and sunshine he took up his magic singing sticks and began singing, for the purpose of reviving all those imprisoned with him. His song was not much to us, but it was a great deal to those shut up in such a prison. It was:

"'Kesik-in-na-win, Kesik-in-na-win.'

(I see the sky, I see the sky.)

"As Nanahboozhoo continued to sing this over and over, one after another his brothers sneezed and opened their eyes. They were indeed a happy lot at the prospect of deliverance.

"When Nanahboozhoo saw that they were all now recovered he again set to work with his knife, and it was not long before he had a hole large enough to permit all of the imprisoned creatures to make their escape.

"The news soon spread, and it was not long before Nokomis, with others, came to see the huge dead monster, and there were great rejoicings."

"And this," added Souwanas, "is the tradition, as told by Shuniou, of how Nanahboozhoo destroyed Mooshekinnebik."

"What became of the little monsters?" asked Minnehaha.

"The Indians," replied Souwanas, "under the leadership of Nanahboozhoo made such a war upon them that they were soon annihilated."

CHAPTER XVIII.

Welcome Springtime in the Northland--How Nanahboozhoo Killed the Great White Sea Lion, the Chief of the Magicians--The Revenge--The Flood--Escape of Nanahboozhoo and the Animals on the Raft--The Creation of a New World.

The coming of the pleasant springtime was hailed with great delight. Seven or eight months were found to be a very long spell of cold winter weather, and so when with a rapidity unknown in more Southern climates the winter broke up, and the welcome warm weather made its appearance, everybody seemed to feel its genial influence.

The first little wild flowers were looked for with intense interest, and great indeed was the joy of the children when some were found. The sweet singing birds that in the previous autumn, on the first signs of the coming down from the colder North of the Frost King, had flitted away to the summer Southland were now returning in mult.i.tudes. The air was full of their melody, and as scores of them, fearless and trustful, made themselves at home in the bird resorts around Wahkiegum, great indeed was the children's delight as they welcomed them back to their haunts in the North.

And really it did seem as though the birds were glad to be there again, for it is only in the North that these birds sing their sweet love songs to each other and build their nests and hatch out their little broods.

The Whisky Jacks, that had been croaking out their hoa.r.s.e cries all winter, seemed to get sulky and vexed that they were now so little admired, and so they flitted away farther north and buried themselves in the interior of the deepest forests.

In the joyousness of those happy days up in those high lat.i.tudes, when the changes of every twenty-four hours can easily be noticed, Sagastao and Minnehaha for a time troubled neither Souwanas nor Mary for Indian legends or stories. There was in the rapid melting of the snow, the breaking up of the immense ice fields on the lake, the appearance of the land, and then the gra.s.s and flowers, and the planting of seeds in their little gardens, enough to keep them busy and happy.

But even all these things at length lost their interest. The flights of the wild geese, swans, and ducks had all ceased. They, with many other kinds of migrating birds, were busy nesting. The sweet songsters around the home were everyday companions, and, while the children loved them as much as ever, the excitement of their coming had died away. So when one day they saw Souwanas coming over the now sparkling waters in his canoe they were delighted to welcome him. As usual, when he reached the sh.o.r.e the contents of his canoe were examined speedily. There the children found a couple of beavers that had but lately been trapped, and a dozen or more muskrats that Souwanas had speared in the marshes. These animals were the result of one night's hunting, and now Souwanas was on his way home to have them skinned and the pelts prepared for sale to the fur traders.

The children's curiosity was much aroused by the sight of the beavers and muskrats, and they questioned the old man about them. The queer, broad, scaly tail of the beavers much interested them, and drew from Souwanas an interesting account of the various purposes for which the clever, industrious beavers use this apparently awkward appendage.

"Do you know any Nanahboozhoo stories in which he tells anything about beavers or muskrats?" asked Sagastao.

"Yes, indeed," replied Souwanas; "in nearly all the stories that are told about the forming of the new land after the great flood both the beaver and the muskrat are mentioned, as well as the other animals."