The Four Winds

"Honor be to Mudjekeewis!"Cried the warriors, cried the old men,When he came in triumph homewardWith the sacred Belt of Wampum,From the regions of the North-Wind,From the kingdom of Wabasso,From the land of the White Rabbit.He had stolen the Belt of WampumFrom the neck of Mishe-Mokwa,From the Great Bear of the mountains,From the terror of the nations,As he lay asleep and cumbrousOn the summit of the mountains,Like a rock with mosses on it,Spotted brown and gray with mosses.Silently he stole upon him,Till the red nails of the monsterAlmost touched him, almost scared him,Till the hot breath of his nostrilsWarmed the hands of Mudjekeewis,As he drew the Belt of WampumOver the round ears, that heard not,Over the small eyes, that saw not,Over the long nose and nostrils,The black muffle of the nostrils,Out of which the heavy breathingWarmed the hands of Mudjekeewis.Then he swung aloft his war-club,Shouted loud and long his war-cry,Smote the mighty Mishe-MokwaIn the middle of the forehead,Right between the eyes he smote him.With the heavy blow bewildered,Rose the Great Bear of the mountains;But his knees beneath him trembled,And he whimpered like a woman,As he reeled and staggered forward,As he sat upon his haunches;And the mighty Mudjekeewis,Standing fearlessly before him,Taunted him in loud derision,Spake disdainfully in this wise:--"Hark you, Bear! you are a coward;And no Brave, as you pretended;Else you would not cry and whimperLike a miserable woman!Bear! you know our tribes are hostile,Long have been at war together;Now you find that we are strongest,You go sneaking in the forest,You go hiding in the mountains!Had you conquered me in battleNot a groan would I have uttered;But you, Bear! sit here and whimper,And disgrace your tribe by crying,Like a wretched Shaugodaya,Like a cowardly old woman!"Then again he raised his war-club,Smote again the Mishe-MokwaIn the middle of his forehead,Broke his skull, as ice is brokenWhen one goes to fish in Winter.Thus was slain the Mishe-Mokwa,He the Great Bear of the mountains,He the terror of the nations."Honor be to Mudjekeewis!"With a shout exclaimed the people,"Honor be to Mudjekeewis!Henceforth he shall be the West-Wind,And hereafter and foreverShall he hold supreme dominionOver all the winds of heaven.Call him no more Mudjekeewis,Call him Kabeyun, the West-Wind!"Thus was Mudjekeewis chosenFather of the Winds of Heaven.For himself he kept the West-Wind,Gave the others to his children;Unto Wabun gave the East-Wind,Gave the South to Shawondasee,And the North-Wind, wild and cruel,To the fierce Kabibonokka.Young and beautiful was Wabun;He it was who brought the morning,He it was whose silver arrowsChased the dark o'er hill and valley;He it was whose cheeks were paintedWith the brightest streaks of crimson,And whose voice awoke the village,Called the deer, and called the hunter.Lonely in the sky was Wabun;Though the birds sang gayly to him,Though the wild-flowers of the meadowFilled the air with odors for him,Though the forests and the riversSang and shouted at his coming,Still his heart was sad within him,For he was alone in heaven.But one morning, gazing earthward,While the village still was sleeping,And the fog lay on the river,Like a ghost, that goes at sunrise,He beheld a maiden walkingAll alone upon a meadow,Gathering water-flags and rushesBy a river in the meadow.Every morning, gazing earthward,Still the first thing he beheld thereWas her blue eyes looking at him,Two blue lakes among the rushes.And he loved the lonely maiden,Who thus waited for his coming;For they both were solitary,She on earth and he in heaven.And he wooed her with caresses,Wooed her with his smile of sunshine,With his flattering words he wooed her,With his sighing and his singing,Gentlest whispers in the branches,Softest music, sweetest odors,Till he drew her to his bosom,Folded in his robes of crimson,Till into a star he changed her,Trembling still upon his bosom;And forever in the heavensThey are seen together walking,Wabun and the Wabun-Annung,Wabun and the Star of Morning.But the fierce KabibonokkaHad his dwelling among icebergs,In the everlasting snow-drifts,In the kingdom of Wabasso,In the land of the White Rabbit.He it was whose hand in AutumnPainted all the trees with scarlet,Stained the leaves with red and yellow;He it was who sent the snow-flake,Sifting, hissing through the forest,Froze the ponds, the lakes, the rivers,Drove the loon and sea-gull southward,Drove the cormorant and curlewTo their nests of sedge and sea-tangIn the realms of Shawondasee.Once the fierce KabibonokkaIssued from his lodge of snow-driftsFrom his home among the icebergs,And his hair, with snow besprinkled,Streamed behind him like a river,Like a black and wintry river,As he howled and hurried southward,Over frozen lakes and moorlands.There among the reeds and rushesFound he Shingebis, the diver,Trailing strings of fish behind him,O'er the frozen fens and moorlands,Lingering still among the moorlands,Though his tribe had long departedTo the land of Shawondasee.Cried the fierce Kabibonokka,"Who is this that dares to brave me?Dares to stay in my dominions,When the Wawa has departed,When the wild-goose has gone southward,And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,Long ago departed southward?I will go into his wigwam,I will put his smouldering fire out!"And at night Kabibonokka,To the lodge came wild and wailing,Heaped the snow in drifts about it,Shouted down into the smoke-flue,Shook the lodge-poles in his fury,Flapped the curtain of the door-way.Shingebis, the diver, feared not,Shingebis, the diver, cared not;Four great logs had he for firewood,One for each moon of the winter,And for food the fishes served him.By his blazing fire he sat there,Warm and merry, eating, laughing,Singing, "O Kabibonokka,You are but my fellow-mortal!"Then Kabibonokka entered,And though Shingebis, the diver,Felt his presence by the coldness,Felt his icy breath upon him,Still he did not cease his singing,Still he did not leave his laughing,Only turned the log a little,Only made the fire burn brighter,Made the sparks fly up the smoke-flue.From Kabibonokka's forehead,From his snow-besprinkled tresses,Drops of sweat fell fast and heavy,Making dints upon the ashes,As along the eaves of lodges,As from drooping boughs of hemlock,Drips the melting snow in spring-time,Making hollows in the snow-drifts.Till at last he rose defeated,Could not bear the heat and laughter,Could not bear the merry singing,But rushed headlong through the door-way,Stamped upon the crusted snow-drifts,Stamped upon the lakes and rivers,Made the snow upon them harder,Made the ice upon them thicker,Challenged Shingebis, the diver,To come forth and wrestle with him,To come forth and wrestle nakedOn the frozen fens and moorlands.Forth went Shingebis, the diver,Wrestled all night with the North-Wind,Wrestled naked on the moorlandsWith the fierce Kabibonokka,Till his panting breath grew fainter,Till his frozen grasp grew feebler,Till he reeled and staggered backward,And retreated, baffled, beaten,To the kingdom of Wabasso,To the land of the White Rabbit,Hearing still the gusty laughter,Hearing Shingebis, the diver,Singing, "O Kabibonokka,You are but my fellow-mortal!"Shawondasee, fat and lazy,Had his dwelling far to southward,In the drowsy, dreamy sunshine,In the never-ending Summer.He it was who sent the wood-birds,Sent the robin, the Opechee,Sent the bluebird, the Owaissa,Sent the Shawshaw, sent the swallow,Sent the wild-goose, Wawa, northward,Sent the melons and tobacco,And the grapes in purple clusters.From his pipe the smoke ascendingFilled the sky with haze and vapor,Filled the air with dreamy softness,Gave a twinkle to the water,Touched the rugged hills with smoothness,Brought the tender Indian SummerTo the melancholy north-land,In the dreary Moon of Snow-shoes.Listless, careless Shawondasee!In his life he had one shadow,In his heart one sorrow had he.Once, as he was gazing northward,Far away upon a prairieHe beheld a maiden standing,Saw a tall and slender maidenAll alone upon a prairie;Brightest green were all her garments,And her hair was like the sunshine.Day by day he gazed upon her,Day by day he sighed with passion,Day by day his heart within himGrew more hot with love and longingFor the maid with yellow tresses.But he was too fat and lazyTo bestir himself and woo her;Yes, too indolent and easyTo pursue her and persuade her;So he only gazed upon her,Only sat and sighed with passionFor the maiden of the prairie.Till one morning, looking northward,He beheld her yellow tressesChanged and covered o'er with whiteness,Covered as with whitest snow-flakes."Ah! my brother from the North-land,From the kingdom of Wabasso,From the land of the White Rabbit!You have stolen the maiden from me,You have laid your hand upon her,You have wooed and won my maiden,With your stories of the North-land!"Thus the wretched ShawondaseeBreathed into the air his sorrow;And the South-Wind o'er the prairieWandered warm with sighs of passion,With the sighs of Shawondasee,Till the air seemed full of snow-flakes,Full of thistle-down the prairie,And the maid with hair like sunshineVanished from his sight forever;Never more did ShawondaseeSee the maid with yellow tresses!Poor, deluded Shawondasee!'T was no woman that you gazed at,'T was no maiden that you sighed for,'T was the prairie dandelionThat through all the dreamy SummerYou had gazed at with such longing,You had sighed for with such passion,And had puffed away forever,Blown into the air with sighing.Ah! deluded Shawondasee!Thus the Four Winds were divided;Thus the sons of MudjekeewisHad their stations in the heavens,At the corners of the heavens;For himself the West-Wind onlyKept the mighty Mudjekeewis.