In the Stone Canoe was carried

To the Islands of the Blessed,

To the land of ghosts and shadows.
On that journey, moving slowly,
Many weary spirits saw he,

Panting under heavy burdens,

Laden with war-clubs, bows and arrows,
Robes of fur, and pots and kettles,

And with food that friends had given
For that solitary journey.

"Ah! why do the living," said they,

"Lay such heavy burdens on us! Better were it to go naked,

Better were it to go fasting,

Than to bear such heavy burdens

On our long and weary journey!

Forth then issued Hiawatha,

Wandered eastward, wandered westward,

Teaching men the use of simples

And the antidotes for poisons,

And the cure of all diseases.

Thus was first made known to mortals

All the mystery of Medamin,

All the sacred art of healing.

14

210

XVI.

PAU-PUK-KEEWIS.

You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis

He, the handsome Yenadizze,

Whom the people called the Storm Fool,

Vexed the village with disturbance;

You shall hear of all his mischief,
And his flight from Hiawatha,
And his wondrous transmigrations,

And the end of his adventures.

On the shores of Gitche Gumee,

On the dunes of Nagow Wudjoo,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water

Stood the lodge of Pau-Puk-Keewis.

It was he who in his frenzy

Whirled these drifting sands together,
On the dunes of Nagow Wudjoo,

When, among the guests assembled,
He so merrily and madly

Danced at Hiawatha's wedding,

Danced the Beggar's Dance to please them. Now, in search of new adventures,

From his lodge went Pau-Puk-Keewis,

Came with speed into the village,
Found the young men all assembled
In the lodge of old Iagoo,
Listening to his monstrous stories,
To his wonderful adventures.

He was telling them the story
Of Ojeeg, the Summer-Maker,
How he made a hole in heaven,
How he climbed up into heaven,
And let out the Summer-weather,
The perpetual, pleasant Summer;

How the Otter first essayed it;
How the Beaver, Lynx, and Badger
Tried in turn the great achievement,
From the summit of the mountain
Smote their fists against the heavens,
Smote against the sky their foreheads,
Cracked the sky, but could not break it;
How the Wolverine, uprising,

Made him ready for the encounter,
Bent his knees down, like a squirrel,
Drew his arms back, like a cricket.

"Once he leaped," said old Iagoo, "Once he leaped, and lo! above him Bent the sky, as ice in rivers

When the waters rise beneath it;

Twice he leaped, and lo! above him

Cracked the sky, as ice in rivers
When the freshet is at highest!

Thrice he leaped, and lo! above him
Broke the shattered sky asunder,