Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Part 23

_La Leggenda d'Oro._ Tradotta da Ada Corbellini Martini. Parma: 1867.

_Il Canto d'Hiawatha._ Tr. da L. G. Bartolini. Frammenti. Firenze: 1867.

_Miles Standish._ Traduzione dall'Inglese di Caterino Frattini. Padova: 1868.

_Liriche e Novelle._ Tradotte da C. Faccioli. Firenze: 1890.

_Uccelletti di Pa.s.so._ [Birds of Pa.s.sage.] Dall'Inglese di H. W.

Longfellow. Rovigo: 1875.

_Excelsior._ Traduzione dall'Inglese. A. Tebaldi.

PORTUGUESE

_El Rei Roberto de Sicilia._ Tr. by Dom Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil.

Autograph MS.

_Evangelina._ Traduzida por Franklin Doria. Rio de Janeiro: 1874.

_The Same. Poema de Henrique Longfellow._ Traduzido por Miguel Street de Arriaga. Lisbon: n. d.

SPANISH

_Evangelina. Romance de la Acadia._ Traducido del Ingles por Carlos Morla Vicuna. Nueva York: 1871.

_The Same._ Traduccion de D. Alvaro L. Nunez. Barcelona. Tipolitografia del Comercio. 1895.

POLISH

_Ew.a.n.gelina._ Przelozona na jezyk Polski przez. A. Ch. [A. Chodzko?]

Poznan. 1851.

_Zlota Legenda._ The Golden Legend. Tr. into Polish by F. Jezierski.

Warszawa: 1857.

_Ew.a.n.gelina._ Tr. into Polish by Felix Jezierski. Warszawa: 1857.

_Duma o Hiawacie_ [The Song of Hiawatha.] Tr. into Polish by Felix Jezierski. Warszawa: 1860.

_Excelsior_, z Longfellowa przelozyl. El ... y (in Pamietnik str.

87-88).

BOHEMIAN

_Pisen o Hiavate._ Preloil J. V. Sladek. 1882.

_Evangelina._ Povidka Akadska. Preloil P. Sobotka. 1877.

HUNGARIAN

_Hiavata._ Forditotta Tamasfi Gy. 1885.

_Az Arany Legenda._ Forditotta Janosi Gusztav. 1886.

RUSSIAN

_Poem of Hiawatha._ Moscow, 1878.

_Excelsior_, and Other Poems. St. Petersburg: n. d.

OTHER LANGUAGES

_Hiawatha_, rendered into Latin, with abridgment. By Francis William Newman. London: 1862.

_Excelsior._ Tr. into Hebrew by Henry Gersoni. n. d.

_A Psalm of Life._ In Marathi. By Mrs. H. I. Bruce. Satara: 1878.

_The Same._ In Chinese. By Jung Tagen. Written on a fan.

_The Same._ In Sanscrit. By Elihu Burritt and his pupils. MS.

_Judas Maccabaeus_, a prose translation in Judea-German. Odessa, 1882.

[The above list does not include reprints of Longfellow in the English language published in foreign countries; as, for instance, Evangeline published in Sweden in the Little English Library; Poems and fragments selected by Urda, published at Amsterdam, Holland, and various editions of Hyperion and other works in German editions, as mentioned in the introduction to this book.]

IV

A VISIT TO HIAWATHA'S PEOPLE

The following narrative of the reception given to the Longfellow family by the Ojibway Indians was prepared by Miss Alice M. Longfellow for the Riverside Literature Series, and is used by permission.

When the idea of writing an Indian poem began first to take form in Mr.

Longfellow's mind, he followed the adventures of Manabozho (a mythical character, whose exploits figure largely in all Ojibway legends) and gave his name to the poem; but feeling the need of some expression of the finer and n.o.bler side of the Indian nature, he blended the supernatural deeds of the crafty sprite with the wise, n.o.ble spirit of the Iroquois national hero, and formed the character of Hiawatha.

Early in the last century the scattered bands of the Ojibways who had their home near Lake Superior and Lake Huron, with their princ.i.p.al village at Garden River in Algoma, not far from Sault Ste. Marie, were ruled over by Chief Shingwauk, a ruler of force and character. He held the remnants of the tribe together, cherished their national pride, and laid great stress on the importance of preserving the national legendary history. He imbued his son Bukwujjinini with the same feeling, and carefully instructed him in all the legendary lore of his people.

Bukwujjinini became thus well versed in these legends, and it was from him that Mr. Schoolcraft, who had married an Indian woman, received them, turning them into English and printing them in his great work on the Indians.

The old chief was a fine specimen of the aboriginal red man, dignified, wise, and thoughtful, and deeply beloved by his people. He selected his nephew, George Kabaoosa--or Daguagonay--as his successor in continuing the legendary history of his people, constantly repeating to him all he had heard from his father, and this Kabaoosa is now engaged in writing out all these legends to preserve them for posterity. In addition to his knowledge of these tales from his uncle's lips, Kabaoosa had heard the poem of "Hiawatha" read by his Sunday-school teacher in his youth.

In the winter of 1900 a band of Ojibway Indians was formed to ill.u.s.trate Indian life at the Sportsmen's Show in Boston. Among them was the old chief Bukwujjinini, and one of the inducements he had to take the journey was the hope of visiting the home of the writer who had cared enough for the legends of his people to turn them into poetry. But this could not be, for the old man, who was over ninety, fell ill, and died on the very day the Indians were to set forth, and they took their journey without their father, and with genuine sorrow in their hearts.