Waltey
Podzemna dežela
184 The Under Land
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Podzemna dežela
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 2 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 184 The Under Land
O izvirniku
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Bralni jezik je Slovenščina, izvirnik pa prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.
Besedilo
Podzemna dežela
Ko so pripadniki plemena Chatas zrli v mirne globine vodnega rokava Bayou Lacombe v Louisiani, so govorili, da je odsev neba nebeški svod Spodnje dežele, kamor po smrti zagotovo odidejo vse dobre duše. Njihov poglavar Opaleeta je padel v ta rokav in bil tako dolgo pod vodo, da je bil že mrtev, ko so ga našli njegovi tovariši. Toda po večurnem oživljanju ter molitvah in zaklinjanjih vračev se je življenje vrnilo vanj in spet je stal na nogah. Tedaj je žaloval, ker so ga prijatelji priklicali nazaj, saj je že stal pred vrati Spodnje dežele, kjer je zrak blag in prijeten ter tako hranljiv, da ljudje živijo od njega; kjer nikoli ni zime; kjer sonce svetlo sije, a nikoli ne uveneva rastlin in ne izsušuje zemlje; in kjer zvezde plešejo v ritmu sapic. Tja ne pride noben belec, da bi ropal Indijanca in ga učil delati zlo. Prekrasne ptice letajo pod spreminjajočim se nebom, ki si izposoja barve cvetlic, poljane so posejane z rdečimi, modrimi in zlatimi cvetovi, ki vsak veter napolnijo z dišavami, trava je nežna kakor jelenja dlaka, potoki pa so gosti od medu.
Ob sončnem zahodu se tisti, ki so se ljubili za življenja, zberejo v svojih bivališčih in zapojejo pesmi radosti in hvaležnosti. Njihovi glasovi so mehki in blagozvočni, njihovi obrazi so spet mladi in žarijo od nasmehov, smrti pa ni. Njegovo zgodbo so slišali le poglavarji, kajti če bi zanjo izvedelo vse pleme, bi mnogi stari, bolni in utrujeni odšli k rokavu in skočili vanj, da bi našli tisto spokojno, srečno Spodnjo deželo. Včasih so skušali uzreti tiste, ki so odšli pred njimi, ko je jezero mirovalo in so ga krasili odsevi oblakov ob sončnem zahodu, toda mrtvi se niso nikoli vrnili — izogibali so se vodnemu bregu, da jih ne bi spet priklicali v življenje garanja in žalosti. Opaleeta pa je živel še mnogo let in modro vladal svojemu plemenu, vendar se je le redko pridružil veseljačenju svojega ljudstva. Ko je bilo naposled njegovo bivališče v Spodnji deželi pripravljeno, je brez vzdihljaja izpustil življenje.
OSREDNJE ZVEZNE DRŽAVE IN VELIKA JEZERA
Izvirnik
184 The Under Land
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
When the Chatas looked into the still depths of Bayou Lacombe, Louisiana, they said that the reflection of the sky was the empyrean of the Under Land, whither all good souls were sure to go after death. Their chief, Opaleeta, having fallen into this bayou, was so long beneath the water that he was dead when his fellows found him, but by working over him for hours, and through resort to prayers and incantations of medicine men, his life returned and he stood on his feet once more. Then he grieved that his friends had brought him back, for he had been at the gates of the Under Land, where the air is blithe and balmy, and so nourishing that people live on it; where it is never winter; where the sun shines brightly, but never withers and parches; and where stars dance to the swing of the breezes. There no white man comes to rob the Indian and teach him to do wrong. Gorgeous birds fly through changing skies that borrow the tints of flowers, the fields are spangled with blossoms of red and blue and gold that load each wind with perfume, the grass is as fine as the hair of deer, and the streams are thick with honey.
At sunset those who loved each other in life are gathered to their lodges, and raise songs of joy and thankfulness. Their voices are soft and musical, their faces are young again and beam with smiles, and there is no death. It was only the chiefs who heard his story, for, had all the tribe known it, many who were old and ill and weary would have gone to the bayou, and leaped in, to find that restful, happy Under Land. Those who had gone before they sometimes tried to see, when the lake was still and dappled with pictures of sunset clouds, but the dead never came back--they kept away from the margin of the water lest they should be called again to a life of toil and sorrow. And Opaleeta lived for many years and ruled his tribe with wisdom, yet he shared in few of the merry-makings of his people, and when, at last, his lodge was ready in the Under Land, he gave up his life without a sigh.
THE CENRAL STATES AND THE GREAT LAKES
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