Prevod
Komaj se je čuditi, da sta dva ugledna znanstvenika stopila v bran morski kači, saj so o tem nenavadnem bitju poročali s toliko krajev in ga je videlo toliko prič, ki niso bile ne ljubiteljice ribiških zgodb ne žganja, da bi vendarle moralo biti nekaj na njem. Zlasti pogosto se je pojavljalo ob obali Nove Anglije. Leta 1817 so ga opazili pred rtom Cape Ann in večkrat pred Nahantom. Čeprav je na pogled grozljivo — ima namreč sto čevljev dolgo telo, kuštravo glavo in izbuljene oči —, je po naravi krotko kakor jagnje in nikoli ni dalo povoda za poskuse, da bi ga ubili ali ujeli. Nekoč so pomorščakom, ki bi ga ujeli, obljubljali nagrade, carinskim kuterjem, ki so križarili po Massachusettskem zalivu, pa ukazali, naj prežijo nanj in imajo top pripravljen z dvojno kroglo. Neki ribič je, kot je menil sam, v kačjo glavo izpraznil puško za lov na race, toda bitje je igrivo pomigalo z nekaj sežnji svojega repa in odplavalo. John Josselyn, plemeniti gospod, poroča, da so leta 1638, ko se je potikal po teh krajih, videli velikanskega plazilca, »zvitega na skali pri rtu Cape Ann«. Streljal bi nanj, ko ga ne bi njegov indijanski vodnik tako vztrajno odvračal od tega, češ da bo tak poskus prinesel nesrečo. Morska kača včasih kaže dvoživkarska nagnjenja in tu in tam zapusti morje ter se poda v sladko vodo. Leta 1892 so štirje možje v jezeru Devil's Lake v Wisconsinu videli kar dve. Priznavajo pa, da so takrat ribarili. Kači sta imeli plavuti in bili dolgi kakih petdeset čevljev.
Ko je eden od teh plazilcev odkril drugega v svoji bližini, je dvignil glavo šest čevljev nad vodo in se z zobmi in kremplji — če je kremplje sploh imel — pognal nadenj. Med bojem sta ta neprijetna soseda dvignila tolikšne valove, da se je ribiški čoln skoraj prevrnil.
Celo skromna reka Wabash ima svojo strahoto, saj so pri Huntingtonu v Indiani tri resnicoljubne mestne mladenke videle, kako njene vode razburkava rep, ki je opletal sem ter tja, daleč pred njim pa je bil premec živali — levja glava z brki, velika kakor glava dvanajstletnega dečka. Kakor da bi se zavedala, kakšno poročilo bodo razširili o njej, je pošast ob pogledu na dekleta premagala sramežljivost in potonila izpred oči.
Aprila 1890 so poročali o vodni kači v enem od jezer Twin Lakes v gričevju Berkshire, vendar so ji očividci njenih norčij prizanesli in ji prisodili le petindvajset čevljev dolžine.
V jezeru Sysladobosis v Mainu živi kača s pasjo glavo, vendar je komaj vredna omembe, saj je dolga le osem čevljev — komaj kaj daljša od imena jezera. Onstran meje kažejo več podjetnosti, saj se jezero Skiff Lake v Novem Brunswicku ponaša s podobno kačo, dolgo trideset čevljev.
V času Cottona Matherja so pri Newburyju v Massachusettsu našli dvoglavo kačo — na vsakem koncu je imela glavo —, in preden so jo ubili, je svojo hudobno naravo pokazala tako, da je preganjala in napadala fanta, ki jo je prvi srečal.
V jezeru Wolf Pond v Pensilvaniji straši kača, ki naj bi bila ostanek silurske dobe. Nazadnje so jo videli septembra 1887, ko je pred očmi prestrašenega opazovalca — spet ribiča — razvila trideset čevljev svojega telesa. Gledalec jo je udaril s palico, kača pa mu je iz maščevanja prevrnila čoln; vendar se je vzdržala, da bi sovražnika požrla, in izginila, ko se je potopila na dno. Bitje je imelo črno telo, debelo približno šest palcev in obdano z umazano rumenimi pasovi, ter lisasto zeleno glavo, dolgo in koničasto kakor ščukino.
Leta 1855 so poročali, da je jezero Silver Lake blizu Gainesvilla v zvezni državi New York brlog velike kače, stari naseljenci pa zatrjujejo, da še vedno tu in tam priplava na površje.
Med revnimi belci na Jugu kroži izročilo, po katerem je morska pošast, ki je pogoltnila Jona — ne kit, saj je grlo te živali komaj dovolj široko, da bi skozenj spravila slanika —, prečkala Atlantik in nazadnje pristala ob obalah obeh Karolin. Njen potnik je bil preskrbljen s tobakom in si je dolgočasno plovbo krajšal s kajenjem pipe. Pošast, nevajena česa takega, je trpela kakor vsi začetniki pri zastrupitvi z nikotinom in je nesrečnega moža silovito izbljuvala. Ko se je Jona varno znašel na kopnem, se je pridružil enemu od plemen, ki so naseljevala puste pokrajine, in zapustil bele potomce, ki so bili tam že več stoletij pred Kolumbovim prihodom. Bogu se je zasmilila nebogljenost teh nevednih in bojazljivih belcev, zato jih je popeljal na goro Looking-Glass Mountain v Severni Karolini, kjer je zanje ustvaril koruzo in divjad; dokler je ta rod obstajal, je živel v izobilju.
Otok Santa Barbara ob kalifornijski obali je dolgo veljal za glavno zbirališče plavajočih in letečih pošasti ter siren in noben Mehičan ni plul mimo, na dosegu njihovega tuljenja, vreščanja in nenavadnih pesmi, ne da bi se pokrižal in prosil kapitana, naj se skali izogne v širokem loku. Toda ves ta hrup je zgolj mačji hrup. Pred mnogimi leti je kraj naselila progasta mačka, ki je preživela brodolom, in njeni številni potomci tam živijo od poginulih rib ter jajc in mladičev morskih ptic.
Spirit Canon, skalnato sotesko, ki se tri milje vije ob reki Big Sioux v Iowi, je skozi kamen izdolbel duh, ki si je nadel podobo zmaja. Tako velik in divji je bil, da so se Indijanci kraja izogibali, da ne bi postali žrtve njegovega besa.
Huroni so verjeli v pošastno kačo — Okniont —, ki je na glavi nosila rog, s katerim je lahko prebodla drevesa, skale in griče. Košček tega roga je bil zelo dragocen amulet, saj je zagotavljal srečo.
Zuniji pripovedujejo o kači s perjanico, ki živi v vodah svetih izvirov, in si ne drznejo pobijati strupenih bitij, ki mrgolijo po arizonskih ravnicah, kajti zanje uboj kače pomeni zmanjšanje že tako pičlih zalog vode. Bogovi do kač niso bili tako prijazni kakor ljudje, saj velja, da so drevesa, okamenela v ahat, v arizonskem parku Chalcedony Park puščice, ki so jih jezna božanstva izstrelila v pošasti, ki so nadlegovale to pokrajino.
Indijanci, ki so živeli ob jezeru Canandaigua v zvezni državi New York, so ukrotili lepo lisasto kačo ter jo hranili in ljubkovali, dokler ni za en obrok pojedla celega jelena. Zrasla je tako velika, da je nazadnje obdala tabor in začela žreti svoje skrbnike. Zaman so jo skušali ubiti, dokler ni majhen deček vzel puščice iz rdeče vrbe, jo premazal s krvjo mlade ženske in jo z lipovim lokom izstrelil v srce pošasti. Ni prodrla vanjo takoj; le obtičala je na luskah. Toda kmalu se je začela vrtati in zavijati v kačje telo. Kača se je zvalila v jezero in ga v svoji agoniji razpenila. Goltala je vodo in jo spet bruhala, skupaj z mrtvimi in živimi ljudmi, dokler ni poginila.
Pošast Amhuluk, ki domuje v jezeru blizu gore Forked Mountain v Oregonu, je imela eno samo strast — ujeti in utopiti vse, kar je obstajalo; in ko pogledaš v jezero, vidiš, da je v njem utopila celo nebo in postavila drevesa v vodi na glavo. Kamor je stopila, so se tla zmehčala. Ko so trije otroci ob vodi izkopavali korenine, jih je napadla in dva nabodla na svoje rogove; le najstarejšemu je uspelo pobegniti. Ko je ta deček prišel domov, je bilo njegovo telo polno lis in oče je zaslutil, kaj se je zgodilo, vendar je nemudoma odšel k jezeru. Telesi otrok sta mu pri nogah prišli iz blata naproti, a sta spet potonili in se pozneje prikazali na drugi strani vode. Tako sta ga vodili naprej, dokler ni prišel do kraja, kjer sta utonili. Iz vode se je zdaj začela dvigati megla, toda skoznjo je videl otročiča, privzdignjena na pošastinih rogovih, in ju slišal klicati: »Spremenila sva svoji telesi.« Petkrat sta se dvignila in ga nagovorila in petkrat je žalostno zavpil ter ju prosil, naj se vrneta, toda nista mogla. Naslednje jutro ju je spet videl vstati skozi meglo; postavil si je tabor in tam ostal ter več dni žaloval. Pet dni sta se mu prikazovala, potem pa sta potonila in nikoli več ju ni ne videl ne slišal. Ambuluk je vzel otroka in odtlej bosta za vedno živela z njim.
Jezero Crater Lake v Oregonu je bilo domovanje vodnih hudičev, ki so vanj zvlekli in utopili vsakogar, ki se je drznil približati. Šele v zadnjih nekaj letih je bilo mogoče Indijance prepričati, da so tja odšli kot vodniki. Tisti, ki so ga odkrili, so v njem videli delo Velikega duha, vendar niso mogli dognati njegovega pomena. Ko so pogledali v njegovo okroglo kotanjo in strme stene, so se vsi ti Klamathi razen enega skrivaj izmuznili. Ta je menil, da utegnejo bogovi, če je to njihov dom, imeti kakšno sporočilo za ljudi, zato je utaborjen na robu visokih pečin čakal. V spanju se mu je prikazala vizija in slišal je glasove, vendar ni mogel razločiti ne podob ne ene same besede. Vsako noč so se sanje ponavljale. Nazadnje se je spustil k jezeru in se okopal; takoj je začutil, da se mu je moč povečala, in spoznal, da so ljudje iz njegovih sanj duhovi voda — ali dobri ali hudobni, ni mogel presoditi. Nekega dne si je za hrano ujel ribo. V hipu se je na površju prikazalo tisoč vodnih hudičev in ga zgrabilo. Odnesli so ga na skalo na severni strani jezera, ki se dviga dva tisoč čevljev nad vodo, in ga z nje treščili v globino, spodaj pa pobrali ostanke njegovega razbitega telesa in jih požrli. Odkar so okusili njegovo kri, hlepijo po človeški krvi. Za skalo na južni strani jezera, imenovano Phantom Ship, Indijanci verjamejo, da je pogubna pošast, naj je podnevi videti še tako nedolžna.
Podobno je z jezerom Rock Lake v zvezni državi Washington. Po njegovih vodah se podi ostuden plazilec in požre vse, kar najde v njih ali na njih. Še leta 1853 je skupino Indijancev, ki so sem pribežali, da bi bili varni pred vojaki, dohitelo to bitje, jih z udarci pobilo in požrlo.
Indijanci v Louisiani, Mississippiju in Teksasu so verjeli, da v Mehiškem zalivu živi Kačji kralj ali Kačji bog. Spal je v votlini iz čistega kristala na morskem dnu, in ko se je dvignil blizu površja, je njegova glava, izoblikovana iz enega samega smaragda, razsvetljevala ocean milje daleč.
Temu je podobno verovanje Čerokejev v kralje klopotač, »svetle stare prebivalce« gora, ki so zrasli do silne velikosti in pritegnili k sebi vsako bitje, na katero so se ozrli. Vsak je nosil krono iz slepeče svetlega karbunkla.
Indijanci so se izogibali jezeru Klamath, ker je v njem strašila pošast, napol zmaj in napol povodni konj. Jezero Hutton v Wyomingu je dom kačje kraljice, katere dihanje je mogoče videti v mehurčkih, ki se dvigajo sredi jezera. Nenehno preži na svojega ljubimca, toda vse moške, ki ji prekrižajo pot, odpelje v svojo votlino pod vodo, ko ugotovi, da niso tisti, ki ga je pričakovala, in tam postanejo njeni sužnji. Da bi žrtve zvabila v jezero, vanj postavi vabo v podobi čudovitega rdečega laboda; če lovec to ptico ubije, dobi božansko moč. Če pa vidi »žensko«, kakor pravijo kačji kraljici, ne bo nikoli dočakal dne, ko bi lahko o tem pripovedoval, razen če jo je videl iz skrivališča ob obali — kajti tako gotovo, kakor ga opazi ta Diana globin, ga bodo njene vohunke, kopenske kače, z ugrizi spravile v smrt. Po videzu je ljubko dekle v vsem razen v obraz, ta pa je oblikovan kakor glava pošastne kače. Indijanci nikoli ne izgovorijo njenega imena, saj se bojijo, da bi jih to stalo življenja.
Michael Pauw, pogumni ribič iz Patersona v New Jerseyju, junak boja z največjo hlastavo želvo v Dover Slanku, nosilec brazgotine na svoji častitljivi zadnjici v spomin na ta spopad, član Kersey Reds — tisti, ki je pokazal svojo prisebnost, ko je iztegnil iver iz palice svetega Nikolaja ob srečanju z devetimi čarovnicami s skal, ki so rajale v meglicah slapov Passaic —, se je iz čolna spopadel s pošastjo, ki se je povzpela do slapa. Eden od Kersey Reds se je nagnil predaleč, padel na roževinasto zver in jo zajahal; z ekspresno hitrostjo ga je odnesla, rjovečega od strahu, dokler ga ni štrleča skala vrgla s sedla in je po njej splezal na varno. Druščina se je z bajoneti in palicami lotila dela, pokončala bitje in ga zvlekla na breg. Neki Holandec — ki je bil pravi popotnik, saj je bil od doma že tako daleč kot v Albanyju — je dejal, da je to tista žival, ki jo Van Rensselaerjevi razsekajo za govedino, in da ji, kolikor ve, pravijo jeseter.
Izvirnik
It is hardly to be wondered at that two prominent scientists should have declared on behalf of the sea-serpent, for that remarkable creature has been reported at so many points, and by so many witnesses not addicted to fish tales nor liquor, that there ought to be some reason for him. He has been especially numerous off the New England coast. He was sighted off Cape Ann in 1817, and several times off Nahant. Though alarming in appearance--for he has a hundred feet of body, a shaggy head, and goggle eyes--he is of lamb-like disposition, and has never justified the attempts that have been made to kill or capture him. Rewards were at one time offered to the seafaring men who might catch him, and revenue cutters cruising about Massachusetts Bay were ordered to keep a lookout for him and have a gun double shotted for action. One fisherman emptied the contents of a ducking gun into the serpent's head, as he supposed, but the creature playfully wriggled a few fathoms of its tail and made off. John Josselyn, gentleman, reports that when he stirred about this neighborhood in 1638 an enormous reptile was seen “quoiled up on a rock at Cape Ann.” He would have fired at him but for the earnest dissuasion of his Indian guide, who declared that ill luck would come of the attempt. The sea-serpent sometimes shows amphibious tendencies and occasionally leaves the sea for fresh water. Two of him were seen in Devil's Lake, Wisconsin, in 1892, by four men. They confess, however, that they were fishing at the time. The snakes had fins and were a matter of fifty feet long.
When one of these reptiles found the other in his vicinage he raised his head six feet above water and fell upon him tooth and nail--if he had nails. In their struggles these unpleasant neighbors made such waves that the fishermen's boat was nearly upset.
Even the humble Wabash has its terror, for at Huntington, Indiana, three truthful damsels of the town saw its waters churned by a tail that splashed from side to side, while far ahead was the prow of the animal--a leonine skull, with whiskers, and as large as the head of a boy of a dozen years. As if realizing what kind of a report was going to be made about him, the monster was overcome with bashfulness at the sight of the maidens and sank from view.
In April, 1890, a water-snake was reported in one of the Twin Lakes, in the Berkshire Hills, but the eye-witnesses of his sports let him off with a length of twenty-five feet.
Sysladobosis Lake, in Maine, has a snake with a head like a dog's, but it is hardly worth mentioning because it is only eight feet long-hardly longer than the name of the lake. More enterprise is shown across the border, for Skiff Lake, New Brunswick, has a similar snake thirty feet long.
In Cotton Mather's time a double-headed snake was found at Newbury, Massachusetts,--it had a head at each end,--and before it was killed it showed its evil disposition by chasing and striking at the lad who first met it.
A snake haunts Wolf Pond, Pennsylvania, that is an alleged relic of the Silurian age. It was last seen in September, 1887, when it unrolled thirty feet of itself before the eyes of an alarmed spectator--again a fisherman. The beholder struck him with a pole, and in revenge the serpent capsized his boat; but he forbore to eat his enemy, and, diving to the bottom, disappeared. The creature had a black body, about six inches thick, ringed with dingy-yellow bands, and a mottled-green head, long and pointed, like a pike's.
Silver Lake, near Gainesville, New York, was in 1855 reported to be the lair of a great serpent, and old settlers declare that he still comes to the surface now and then.
A tradition among the poor whites of the South Jruns to the effect that the sea-monster that swallowed Jonah--not a whale, because the throat of that animal is hardly large enough to admit a herring--crossed the Atlantic and brought up at the Carolinas. His passenger was supplied with tobacco and beguiled the tedium of the voyage by smoking a pipe. The monster, being unused to that sort of thing, suffered as all beginners in nicotine poisoning do, and expelled the unhappy man with emphasis. On being safely landed, Jonah attached himself to one of the tribes that peopled the barrens, and left a white progeny which antedated Columbus's arrival by several centuries. God pitied the helplessness of these ignorant and uncourageous whites and led them to Looking-Glass Mountain, North Carolina, where He caused corn and game to be created, and while this race endured it lived in plenty.
Santa Barbara Island, off the California coast, was, for a long time, the supposed head-quarters of swimming and flying monsters and sirens, and no Mexican would pass in hearing of the yells and screams and strange songs without crossing himself and begging the captain to give the rock a wide berth. But the noise is all the noise of cats. A shipwrecked tabby peopled the place many years ago, and her numerous progeny live there on dead fish and on the eggs and chicks of sea-fowl.
Spirit Canon, a rocky gorge that extends for three miles along Big Sioux River, Iowa, was hewn through the stone by a spirit that took the form of a dragon. Such were its size and ferocity that the Indians avoided the place, lest they should fall victims to its ire.
The Hurons believed in a monster serpent--Okniont--who wore a horn on his head that could pierce trees, rocks, and hills. A piece of this horn was an amulet of great value, for it insured good luck.
The Zunis tell of a plumed serpent that lives in the water of sacred springs, and they dare not destroy the venomous creatures that infest the plains of Arizona because, to them, the killing of a snake means a reduction in their slender water-supply. The gods were not so kind to the snakes as men were, for the agatized trees of Chalcedony Park, in Arizona, are held to be arrows shot by the angry deities at the monsters who vexed this region.
Indians living on the shore of Canandaigua Lake, New York, tamed a pretty spotted snake, and fed and petted it until it took a deer at a meal. It grew so large that it eventually encircled the camp and began to prey on its keepers. Vainly they tried to kill the creature, until a small boy took an arrow of red willow, anointed it with the blood of a young woman, and shot it from a basswood bow at the creature's heart. It did not enter at once; it merely stuck to the scales. But presently it began to bore and twist its way into the serpent's body. The serpent rolled into the lake and made it foam in its agony. It swallowed water and vomited it up again, with men dead and alive, before it died.
The monster Amhuluk, whose home is a lake near Forked Mountain, Oregon, had but one passion-to catch and drown all things; and when you look into the lake you see that he has even drowned the sky in it, and has made the trees stand upside down in the water. Wherever he set his feet the ground would soften. As three children were digging roots at the edge of the water he fell on them and impaled two of them on his horns, the eldest only contriving to escape. When this boy reached home his body was full of blotches, and the father suspected how it was, yet he went to the lake at once. The bodies of the children came out of the mud at his feet to meet him, but went down again and emerged later across the water. They led him on in this way until he came to the place where they were drowned. A fog now began to steam up from the water, but through it he could see the little ones lifted on the monster's horns, and hear them cry, “We have changed our bodies.” Five times they came up and spoke to him, and five times he raised a dismal cry and begged them to return, but they could not. Next morning he saw them rise through the fog again, and, building a camp, he stayed there and mourned for several days. For five days they showed themselves, but after that they went down and he saw and heard no more of them. Ambuluk had taken the children and they would live with him for ever after.
Crater Lake, Oregon, was a haunt of water-devils who dragged into it and drowned all who ventured near. Only within a few years could Indians be persuaded to go to it as guides. Its discoverers saw in it the work of the Great Spirit, but could not guess its meaning. All but one of these Klamaths stole away after they had looked into its circular basin and sheer walls. He fancied that if it was a home of gods they might have some message for men, so camping on the brink of the lofty cliffs he waited. In his sleep a vision came to him, and he heard voices, but could neither make out appearances nor distinguish a word. Every night this dream was repeated. He finally went down to the lake and bathed, and instantly found his strength increased and saw that the people of his dreams were the genii of the waters--whether good or bad he could not guess. One day he caught a fish for food. A thousand water-devils came to the surface, on the instant, and seized him. They carried him to a rock on the north side of the lake, that stands two thousand feet above the water, and from that they dashed him down, gathering the remains of his shattered body below and devouring them. Since that taste they have been eager for men's blood. The rock on the south side of the lake, called the Phantom Ship, is believed by the Indians to be a destructive monster, innocent as it looks in the daytime.
So with Rock Lake, in Washington. A hideous reptile sports about its waters and gulps down everything that it finds in or on them. Only in 1853 a band of Indians, who had fled hither for security against the soldiers, were overtaken by this creature, lashed to death, and eaten.
The Indians of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas believed that the King Snake, or God Snake, lived in the Gulf of Mexico. It slept in a cavern of pure crystal at the bottom, and its head, being shaped from a solid emerald, lighted the ocean for leagues when it arose near the surface.
Similar to this is the belief of the Cherokees in the kings of rattlesnakes, “bright old inhabitants” of the mountains that grew to a mighty size, and drew to themselves every creature that they looked upon. Each wore a crown of carbuncle of dazzling brightness.
The Indians avoided Klamath Lake because it was haunted by a monster that was half dragon, half hippopotamus.
Hutton Lake, Wyoming, is the home of a serpent queen, whose breathing may be seen in the bubbles that well up in the centre. She is constantly watching for her lover, but takes all men who come in her way to her grotto beneath the water, when she finds that they are not the one she has expected, and there they become her slaves. To lure victims into the lake she sets there a decoy of a beautiful red swan, and should the hunter kill this bird he will become possessed of divine power. Should he see “the woman,” as the serpent queen is called, he will never live to tell of it, unless he has seen her from a hiding-place near the shore--for so surely as he is noticed by this Diana of the depths, so surely will her spies, the land snakes, sting him to death. In appearance she is a lovely girl in all but her face, and that is shaped like the head of a monster snake. Her name is never spoken by the Indians, for fear that it will cost them their lives.
Michael Pauw, brave fisherman of Paterson, New Jersey, hero of the fight with the biggest snapping-turtle in Dover Slank, wearer of a scar on his seat of honor as memento of the conflict, member of the Kersey Reds--he whose presence of mind was shown in holding out a chip of St. Nicholas's staff when he met the nine witches of the rocks capering in the mists of Passaic Falls--gave battle from a boat to a monster that had ascended to the cataract. One of the Kersey Reds, leaning out too far, fell astride of the horny beast, and was carried at express speed, roaring with fright, until unhorsed by a projecting rock, up which he scrambled to safety. Falling to work with bayonets and staves, the company despatched the creature and dragged it to shore. One Dutchman--who was quite a traveller, having been as far from home as Albany--said that the thing was what the Van Rensselaers cut up for beef, and that he believed they called it a sturgeon.
