Waltey
Soteska reke Delaware
062 Delaware Water Gap
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Soteska reke Delaware
- 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
- 062 Delaware Water Gap
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
Soteska reke Delaware
Indijansko ime te čudovite pokrajine, Minisink, »voda je odtekla«, se ujema s prepričanjem geologov, da je za gorovjem Blue Ridge nekoč ležalo jezero, ki si je prav na tem mestu utrlo pot skozi hribe. Podobne posledice je imela silovita naravna ujma na reki Connecticut pri gori Mount Holyoke in na reki Lehigh pri kraju Mauch Chunk, po podobnem dogodku pa je dobilo ime tudi jezero Runaway Pond v New Hampshiru. Prvotni prebivalci so, naj jim očitajo kar koli že, uživali v naravnih lepotah in se pogosto naseljevali v tej prelepi pokrajini. Njihovih posvetov se je udeleževal poglavar Tamanend ali Tammany iz ljudstva Delaware, ki sta mu modrost in krepost prinesli sloves zavetnika Amerike. Po njem se imenuje tudi zloglasno newyorško društvo Tammany. Ko je poglavar ostarel in oslabel, ga je njegovo pleme zapustilo v koči v New Britainu v Pensilvaniji. Tam se je skušal zabosti do smrti, a ker mu ni uspelo, se je zasul z gorečim listjem in tako umrl. Pokopali so ga tam, kjer je izdihnil. Prav kneginja iz njegovega plemena je pečini na gori Mount Tammany dala ime Lover's Leap, Ljubezenski skok, ko je z nje skočila v smrt, ker njena ljubezen do mladega Evropejca ni bila uslišana.
Nekje na nasprotni gori Minsi je rudnik srebra, toda skrivnost njegove lege je šla v grob s samotarjem, ki je iz tam nakopane kovine koval dragocene, čeprav nezakonite dolarje, in se vsako zimo odpravil v mesto zapravit svoj zaslužek. Med vojno za neodvisnost je »Oran Sokol«, torijec in odpadnik, povzročal preglavice prebivalcem doline reke Delaware, zato so za njim poslali oddelek kolonialnih vojakov. Dohiteli so ga pri soteski in ga pognali po pobočjih gore Tammany, čeprav jih je zadrževal tako, da je mednje valil kamenje. Ena od skal je zadela vojaka, ga zmečkala in odnesla do vznožja pečine, ki jo je med padcem omazal s krvjo. A čeprav se je zdelo, da je Oran ušel zasledovalcem, ga je med begom zadelo več krogel, in ko se je naposled vrgel v goščavo, da bi si odpočil in zajel sapo, ni nikoli več vstal. Ko je odpadlo listje, so tam našli njegove kosti, razpokane od krogel in oglodane od zveri.
Izvirnik
062 Delaware Water Gap
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
The Indian name of this beautiful region, Minisink, “the water is gone,” agrees with the belief of geologists that a lake once existed behind the Blue Ridge, and that it burst its way through the hills at this point. Similar results were produced by a cataclysm on the Connecticut at Mount Holyoke, on the Lehigh at Mauch Chunk, and Runaway Pond, New Hampshire, got its name by a like performance. The aborigines, whatever may be said against them, enjoyed natural beauty, and their habitations were often made in this delightful region, their councils being attended by chief Tamanend, or Tammany, a Delaware, whose wisdom and virtues were such as to raise him to the place of patron saint of America. The notorious Tammany Society of New York is named for him. When this chief became old and feeble his tribe abandoned him in a hut at New Britain, Pennsylvania, and there he tried to kill himself by stabbing, but failing in that, he flung burning leaves over himself, and so perished. He was buried where he died. It was a princess of his tribe that gave the name of Lover's Leap to a cliff on Mount Tammany, by leaping from it to her death, because her love for a young European was not reciprocated.
There is a silver-mine somewhere on the opposite mountain of Minsi, the knowledge of its location having perished with the death of a recluse, who coined the metal he took from it into valuable though illegal dollars, going townward every winter to squander his earnings. During the Revolution “Oran the Hawk,” a Tory and renegade, was vexatious to the people of Delaware Valley, and a detachment of colonial troops was sent in pursuit of him. They overtook him at the Gap and chased him up the slopes of Tammany, though he checked their progress by rolling stones among them. One rock struck a trooper, crushed him, and bore him down to the base of a cliff, his blood smearing it in his descent. But though he seemed to have eluded his pursuers, Oran was shot in several places during his flight, and when at last he cast himself into a thicket, to rest and get breath, it was never to rise again. His bones, cracked by bullets and gnawed by beasts, were found there when the leaves fell.
Nadaljuj z branjem
