Waltey
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028 A Villain's Cremation
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
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- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 028 A Villain's Cremation
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
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Na gori Bramley's Mountain, blizu današnje vasi Bloomfield v zvezni državi New York, na obrobju gorovja Catskill, je živel mlad par, ki se je poročil v velikem veselju in se z navdušenjem lotil dolžnosti in radosti skupnega gospodinjstva. Resnici na ljubo gospodinjstvo v tistih časih ni bilo nekaj, česar bi se bilo treba posebno bati, in o vprašanju služinčadi se še ni razpravljalo. Gospodinje so delo opravljale same, možje pa niso imeli osebnih služabnikov. Dom tega para je bil le šotor iz kož, napetih čez ogrodje iz drogov, njuno pohištvo pa so sestavljala predvsem krzna, razgrnjena po zemljenih tleh; vendar sta se iskreno ljubila. Dekle je bilo hvaležno, da je lahko zapustilo domačo hišo in zaživelo drugje, saj jo je vse do poroke nadlegoval čemeren in neprijeten mož iz njenega plemena. Za njeno naklonjenost se je potegoval s tolikšno silovitostjo, da bolj ko jo je rotil, bolj ji je bil zoprn; zdaj pa je upala, da ga je videla zadnjič. Toda ni ji bilo usojeno. Potikal se je okoli njunega vigvama, se mučil ob pogledu na njuno srečo in čakal na priložnost, da pokaže svoje sovraštvo. Ta se mu je ponudila, ko je mož odšel ribarit na jezero Delaware; odveslal je za njim in ga sredi jezera napadel. Moža, ki ga je napad presenetil in ni bil dovolj dobro oborožen, je ubil, njegovo truplo pa vrgel v vodo. Nato je ženi, ki je s pobočja gore v nemi grozi opazovala to izdajalsko in zlobno dejanje, namenil poželjiv pogled, poln navidezne naklonjenosti, pripeljal svoj kanu k bregu in se pognal za njo. Umikala se je tako počasi, da je ni izgubil izpred oči, in ko je stopila v jamo, je željno pohitel za njo, prepričan, da ji zdaj ni več mogoče uiti. Toda vanjo ga je zvabila nalašč, saj je že prej raziskala vijugast rov, ki je vodil na prosto, in po njem varno zapustila votlino, medtem ko je on tipal po temi in jo klical. Vrnila se je k vhodu in s sunkom omajala skalno polico nad njim, da se je zrušila in skoraj zaprla odprtino. Nato je z okoliških suhih dreves nabrala drobnih vej, zakurila ogenj in goreča polena metala v ječo, kjer je tulil nesrečnik, dokler ni umrl v dimu in plamenih. Ko so njegovi kriki in kletvice potihnili, je prijatelju povedala, kaj je storila, nato pa se vrnila k jezeru, zapela svojo smrtno pesem in se vrgla v vodo v upanju, da se bo tako znova združila z možem.
Izvirnik
028 A Villain's Cremation
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
Bramley's Mountain, near the present village of Bloomfield, New York, on the edge of the Catskill group, was the home of a young couple that had married with rejoicing and had taken up the duties and pleasures of housekeeping with enthusiasm. To be sure, in those days housekeeping was not a thing to be much afraid of, and the servant question had not come up for discussion. The housewives did the work themselves, and the husband had no valets. The domicile of this particular pair was merely a tent of skins stretched around a frame of poles, and their furniture consisted principally of furs strewn over the earth floor; but they loved each other truly. The girl was thankful to be taken from her home to live, because, up to the time of her marriage, she had been persecuted by a morose and ill-looking fellow of her tribe, who laid siege to her affection with such vehemence that the more he pleaded the greater was her dislike; and now she hoped that she had seen the last of him. But that was not to be. He lurked about the wigwam of the pair, torturing himself with the sight of their felicity, and awaiting his chance to prove his hate. This chance came when the husband had gone to Lake Delaware to fish, for he rowed after and gave battle in the middle of the pond. Taken by surprise, and being insufficiently armed, the husband was killed and his body flung into the water. Then, casting an affectionate leer at the wife who had watched this act of treachery and malice with speechless horror from the mountain-side, he drove his canoe ashore and set off in pursuit of her. She retreated so slowly as to allow him to keep her in sight, and when she entered a cave he pressed forward eagerly, believing that now her escape was impossible; but she had purposely trapped him there, for she had already explored a tortuous passage that led to the upper air, and by this she had left the cavern in safety while he was groping and calling in the dark. Returning to the entrance, she loosened, by a jar, a ledge that overhung it, so that the door was almost blocked; then, gathering light wood from the dry trees around her, she made a fire and hurled the burning sticks into the prison where the wretch was howling, until he was dead in smoke and flame. When his yells and curses had been silenced she told a friend what she had done, then going back to the lake, she sang her death-song and cast herself into the water, hoping thus to rejoin her husband.
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