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Wyandank
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Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Wyandank
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 3 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 058 Wyandank
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
Wyandank
Od Brooklyn Heightsa ali Ihpetonge, »vzpetine dreves«, kjer so Indijanci plemena Canarsie izdelovali vampum ali sevant in zrli v Velikega duha ob zahodu sonca onkraj voda, ki se tam stekajo, pa vse do Montauk Pointa so Long Island pretresale vojne rdečekožcev in številne so sledi njihovega bivanja. Še pred petdesetimi leti je bilo mogoče videti več njihovih grobov, označenih prav tako razločno kakor takrat, ko so vanje položili bojevnike v upanju, da bodo vstali na srečnih loviščih, ki so ležala proti zahodu in jugu. Navada, da so na kraje smrti ali grobove nekaterih spoštovanih ali ljubljenih Indijancev polagali kamne, se je dolgo ohranila in je bila nedvomno namenjena postavljanju spomenikov v njihov spomin, čeprav na gori Monument Mountain v Massachusettsu, pri skali Sacrifice Rock med Plymouthom in Sandwichem v isti zvezni državi ter še ponekod kamnite gomile zgolj označujejo pot. Celo začasno počivališče poglavarja Poggatacuta blizu Sag Harborja so Indijanci, ki so hodili mimo, čistili plevela in listja v dveh stoletjih, ki sta minili od poglavarjeve smrti do leta 1846, ko so čezenj speljali cesto. Ta kraj ni daleč od doline Whooping Boy's Hollow, ki je dobila ime po dečku, ki so ga ubili Indijanci, pa tudi po tem, da sta dve drevesi, ki sta se med viharjem drgnili drugo ob drugo, oddajali zvok, podoben joku. Po starejši pripovedi je ta zvok jezni glas čarovnika, ki je skušal ubiti Wyandanka, »Washingtona Montaukov«, pokopanega na vzhodnem koncu otoka. Svoje može je pogosto vodil v boj in pri tem spuščal bojni krik, posnet po orlovem predirljivem klicu, tako glasno, da so tisti, ki so ga slišali, govorili, da Montauki kričijo po plenu.
Ko je ta poglavar na Block Islandu ubil orla, da bi si z njegovimi peresi okrasil lase, se je razkril sovražnikom in sprožil spopad, v katerem so bili pobiti vsi udeleženci razen njega. Nazaj na Long Island mu je skrivaj sledil čarovnik, ki je upal, da bo proti njemu pridobil hudobna bitja tiste pokrajine — velikane, ki so pustili svoje sledi v skalah »Blood-stone Rock« in »Printed Rock« blizu Napeagueja, ter odpadnike, kakršen je bil tisti, ki ga je, potem ko je izdal svoje ljudstvo, pogoltnila zemlja; njegovo poslednjo agonijo je zaznamoval udarec z nogo, ki je pustil odtis na kamniti plošči blizu indijanskega grobišča v Kongonoku. Ker mu teh zavezništev ni uspelo skleniti, se je čarovnik skril med kotanje na resavah in tam izvajal tako zlobne uroke, da poglavarjeva roka pri lovu ni bila več mirna, njegov glas pa se je le redko slišal na posvetih. Ko so izvedeli, kje se ta hudobnež skriva, se je več mladeničev namenilo ujeti ga. Ponoči so odšli v hribe in se prikradli skozi grmičevje, dokler niso bili že skoraj pri njem; toda njegovi duhovni pomočniki so ga opozorili na njihov prihod, čeprav so ga zbudili le zato, da bi ga izdali: z morja je namreč pridrvel oblak, se zgrnil okoli nesrečneža, vzplamtel in se odvalil nazaj proti oceanu ter ga odnesel v osrčju svojih gorečih gub. Zaradi krika, ki ga je izpustil, je kraj dolgo nosil ime Whooping Hollow, in nekoč so pripovedovali, da se čarovnik vsako zimo vrača na prizorišče svojih hudodelstev, ko je slišati njegove krike, kako odmevajo čez hribe.
Izvirnik
058 Wyandank
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
From Brooklyn Heights, or Ihpetonga, “highplace of trees,” where the Canarsie Indians made wampum or sewant, and where they contemplated the Great Spirit in the setting of the sun across the meeting waters, to Montauk Point, Long Island has been swept by the wars of red men, and many are the tokens of their occupancy. A number of their graves were to be seen until within fifty years, as clearly marked as when the warriors were laid there in the hope of resurrection among the happy hunting grounds that lay to the west and south. The casting of stones on the death-spots or graves of some revered or beloved Indians was long continued, and was undoubtedly for the purpose of raising monuments to them, though at Monument Mountain, Massachusetts, Sacrifice Rock, between Plymouth and Sandwich, Massachusetts, and some other places the cairns merely mark a trail. Even the temporary resting-place of Sachem Poggatacut, near Sag Harbor, was kept clear of weeds and leaves by Indians who passed it in the two centuries that lapsed between the death of the chief and the laying of the road across it in 1846. This spot is not far from Whooping Boy's Hollow, so named because of a boy who was killed by Indians, and because the rubbing of two trees there in a storm gave forth a noise like crying. An older legend has it that this noise is the angry voice of the magician who tried to slay Wyandank, the “Washington of the Montauks,” who is buried on the east end of the island. Often he led his men into battle, sounding the warwhoop, copied from the scream of the eagle, so loudly that those who heard it said that the Montauks were crying for prey.
It was while killing an eagle on Block Island, that he might use the plumes for his hair, that this chief disclosed himself to the hostiles and brought on a fight in which every participant except himself was slain. He was secretly followed back to Long Island by a magician who had hopes of enlisting the evil ones of that region against him,--the giants that left their tracks in “Blood-stone Rock” and “Printed Rock,” near Napeague, and such renegades as he who, having betrayed his people, was swallowed by the earth, his last agony being marked by a stamp of the foot that left its print on a slab near the Indian burial-ground at Kongonok. Failing in these alliances the wizard hid among the hollows of the moors, and there worked spells of such malice that the chief's hand lost steadiness in the hunt and his voice was seldom heard in council. When the haunt of this evil one was made known, a number of young men undertook to trap him. They went to the hills by night, and moved stealthily through the shrubbery until they were almost upon him; but his familiars had warned him of their approach, though they had wakened him only to betray him for a cloud swept in from the sea, fell about the wretch, burst into flame, and rolled back toward the ocean, bearing him in the centre of its burning folds. Because of the cry he uttered the place long bore the name of Whooping Hollow, and it used to be said that the magician visited the scene of his ill-doing every winter, when his shrieks could be heard ringing over the hills.
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