IN
THE LAND OF SOULS
Far
away, in North America, where the Red Indians dwell, there lived a long time
ago a beautiful maiden, who was lovelier than any other girl in the whole
tribe. Many of the young braves sought
her in marriage, but she would listen to one only--a handsome chief, who had
taken her fancy some years before. So
they were to be married, and great rejoicings were made, and the two looked
forward to a long life of happiness together, when the very night before the
wedding feast a sudden illness seized the girl, and, without a word to her
friends who were weeping round her, she passed silently away.
The
heart of her lover had been set upon her, and the thought of her remained with
him night and day. He put aside his bow,
and went neither to fight nor to hunt, but from sunrise to sunset he sat by the
place where she was laid, thinking of his happiness that was buried there. At last, after many days, a light seemed to
come to him out of the darkness. He
remembered having heard from the old, old people of the tribe, that there was a
path that led to the Land of Souls--that if you sought carefully you could find
it.
So
the next morning he got up early, and put some food in his pouch and slung an
extra skin over his shoulders, for he knew not how long his journey would take,
nor what sort of country he would have to go through. Only one thing he knew, that if the path was
there, he would find it. At first he was
puzzled, as there seemed no reason he should go in one direction more than
another. Then all at once he thought he
had heard one of the old men say that the Land of Souls lay to the south, and
so, filled with new hope and courage, he set his face southwards. For many, many miles the country looked the
same as it did round his own home. The
forests, the hills, and the rivers all seemed exactly like the ones he had
left. The only thing that was different
was the snow, which had lain thick upon the hills and trees when he started,
but grew less and less the farther he went south, till it disappeared
altogether. Soon the trees put forth
their buds, and flowers sprang up under his feet, and instead of thick clouds
there was blue sky over his head, and everywhere the birds were singing. Then he knew that he was in the right road.
The
thought that he should soon behold his lost bride made his heart beat for joy,
and he sped along lightly and swiftly.
Now his way led through a dark wood, and then over some steep cliffs,
and on the top of these he found a hut or wigwam. An old man clothed in skins, and holding a
staff in his hand, stood in the doorway; and he said to the young chief who was
beginning to tell his story, 'I was waiting for you, wherefore you have come I
know. It is but a short while since she
whom you seek was here. Rest in my hut,
as she also rested, and I will tell you what you ask, and whither you should
go.'
On
hearing these words, the young man entered the hut, but his heart was too eager
within him to suffer him to rest, and when he arose, the old man rose too, and
stood with him at the door. 'Look,' he
said, 'at the water which lies far out yonder, and the plains which stretch
beyond. That is the Land of Souls, but
no man enters it without leaving his body behind him. So, lay down your body here; your bow and
arrows, your skin and your dog. They
shall be kept for you safely.'
Then
he turned away, and the young chief, light as air, seemed hardly to touch the
ground; and as he flew along the scents grew sweeter and the flowers more
beautiful, while the animals rubbed their noses against him, instead of hiding
as he approached, and birds circled round him, and fishes lifted up their heads
and looked as he went by. Very soon he
noticed with wonder, that neither rocks nor trees barred his path. He passed through them without knowing it,
for indeed, they were not rocks and trees at all, but only the souls of them;
for this was the Land of Shadows.
So
he went on with winged feet till he came to the shores of a great lake, with a
lovely island in the middle of it; while on the bank of the lake was a canoe of
glittering stone, and in the canoe were two shining paddles.
The
chief jumped straight into the canoe, and seizing the paddles pushed off from
the shore, when to his joy and wonder he saw following him in another canoe
exactly like his own the maiden for whose sake he had made this long
journey. But they could not touch each
other, for between them rolled great waves, which looked as if they would sink
the boats, yet never did. And the young
man and the maiden shrank with fear, for down in the depths of the water they
saw the bones of those who had died before, and in the waves themselves men and
women were struggling, and but few passed over.
Only the children had no fear, and reached the other side in
safety. Still, though the chief and the
young girl quailed in terror at these horrible sights and sounds, no harm came
to them, for their lives had been free from evil, and the Master of Life had
said that no evil should happen unto them.
So they reached unhurt the shore of the Happy Island, and wandered
through the flowery fields and by the banks of rushing streams, and they knew
not hunger nor thirst; neither cold nor heat.
The air fed them and the sun warmed them, and they forgot the dead, for
they saw no graves, and the young man's thoughts turned not to wars, neither to
the hunting of animals. And gladly would
these two have walked thus for ever, but in the murmur of the wind he heard the
Master of Life saying to him, 'Return whither you came, for I have work for you
to do, and your people need you, and for many years you shall rule over
them. At the gate my messenger awaits
you, and you shall take again your body which you left behind, and he will show
you what you are to do. Listen to him,
and have patience, and in time to come you shall rejoin her whom you must now
leave, for she is accepted, and will remain ever young and beautiful, as when I
called her hence from the Land of Snows.'
From
the Red Indian.
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