The Indian Fairy Book — Cornelius Mathews
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : The Indian Fairy Book: From the Original Legends Author : Cornelius Mathews Illustrator : John McLenan Release date : August 5, 2007 [eBook #22248] Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22248 Credits : Produced by Janet Blenkinship and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF Page 11 . THE INDIAN FAIRY BOOK. FROM THE ORIGINAL LEGENDS. BY CORNELIUS MATHEWS. With Illustrations by John McLenan. ENGRAVED BY A. V. S. ANTHONY. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY ALLEN BROTHERS. 1869. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1868, BY CORNELIUS MATHEWS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York. PREFACE. The following stories have been, time out of mind, in their original form, recited around the lodge-fires and under the trees, by the Indian story-tellers, for the entertainment of the red children of the West. They were originally interpreted from the old tales and legends by the late Henry R. Schoolcraft, and are now re-interpreted and developed by the Editor, so as to enable them, as far as worthy, to take a place with the popular versions of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and other world-renowned tales of Europe and the East, to which, in their original conception, they bear a resemblance in romantic interest and quaint extravagance of fancy. The Editor hopes that these beautiful and sprightly legends of the West, if not marred in the handling, will repay, in part at least, the glorious debt which we have incurred to the Eastern World for her magical gifts of the same kind. October, 1868. CONTENTS. PAGE I.— The Celestial Sisters 7 II.— The Boy who Set a Snare for the Sun 16 III.— Strong Desire and the Red Sorcerer 22 IV.— The Wonderful Exploits of Grasshopper 34 V.— The Two Jeebi 68 VI.— Osseo, the Son of the Evening Star 74 VII.— Gray Eagle and his Five Brothers 83 VIII.— The Toad-Woman 90 IX.— The Origin of the Robin 98 X.— White Feather and the Six Giants 102 XI.— Sheem, the Forsaken Boy 115 XII.— The Magic Bundle 135 XIII.— The Red Swan 138 XIV.— The Man with his Leg Tied Up 170 XV.— The Little Spirit or Boy-Man 179 XVI.— The Enchanted Moccasins 190 XVII.— He of the Little Shell 207 XVIII.— Manabozho, the Mischief-Maker 215 XIX.— Leelinau, the Lost Daughter 252 XX.— The Winter Spirit and his Visitor 261 XXI.— the Fire-Plume 264 XXII.— Weendigoes and the Bone-Dwarf 288 XXIII.— The Bird Lover 299 XXIV.— Bokwewa the Humpback 315 XXV.— The Crane that Crossed the River 324 XXVI.— Wunzh, the Father of Indian Corn 330 ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece.—The Celestial Sisters 11 The Bear Servants 59 The Man with his Leg Tied Up 176 The Morning Star and Her Brother 212 I. THE CELESTIAL SISTERS. Waupee, or the White Hawk, lived in a remote part of the forest, where animals abounded. Every day he returned from the chase with a large spoil, for he was one of the most skillful and lucky hunters of his tribe. His form was like the cedar; the fire of youth beamed from his eye; there was no forest too gloomy for him to penetrate, and no track made by bird or beast of any kind which he could not readily follow. One day he had gone beyond any point which he had ever before visited. He traveled through an open wood, which enabled him to see a great distance. At length he beheld a light breaking through the foliage of the distant trees, which made him sure that he was on the borders of a prairie. It was a wide plain, covered with long blue grass, and enameled with flowers of a thousand lovely tints. After walking for some time without a path, musing upon the open country, and enjoying the fra grant breeze, he suddenly came to a ring worn among the grass and the flowers, as if it had been made by footsteps moving lightly round and round. But it was strange—so strange as to cause the White Hawk to pause and gaze long and fixedly upon the ground—there was no path which led to this flowery circle. There was not even a crushed leaf nor a broken twig, nor the least trace of a footstep, approaching or retiring, to be found. He thought he would hide himself and lie in wait to discover, if he could, what this strange circle meant. Presently he heard the faint sounds of music in the air. He looked up in the direction they came from, and as the magic notes died away he saw a small object, like a little summer cloud that approaches the earth, floating down from above. At first it was very small, and seemed as if it could have been blown away by the first breeze that came along; but it rapidly grew as he gazed upon it, and the music every moment came clearer and more sweetly to his ear. As it neared the earth it appeared as a basket, and it was filled with twelve sisters, of the most lovely forms and enchanting beauty. As soon as the basket touched the ground they leaped out, and began straightway to dance, in the most joyous manner, around the magic ring, striking, as they did so, a shining ball, which uttered the most ravishing melodies, and kept time as they danced. The White Hawk, from his concealment, entranced, gazed upon their graceful forms and movements. He admired them all, but he was most pleased with the youngest. He longed to be at her side, to embrace her, to call her his own; and unable to remain longer a silent admirer, he rushed out and endeavored to seize this twelfth beauty who so enchanted him. But the sisters, with the quickness of birds, the moment they descried the form of a man, leaped back into the basket, and were drawn up into the sky. Lamenting his ill-luck, Waupee gazed longingly upon the fairy basket as it ascended and bore the lovely sisters from his view.