_The Tale of the Wind-God_
Without a word of greeting or recognition, Grumgra came shambling up
to Ru. Then, while his people drew back before him and he brought his
club with a thud to the ground, he burst into a bellowing query: "Where
have you been all these days, O Sparrow-Hearted? Why have you left your
people when they were in need of you? Woonoo the Hot-Blooded and Kuff
the Bear-Hunter brought word that you were drowned. Is it that you have
escaped from the great wind-spirit?"
"Yes, O chief, I have escaped from the great wind-spirit," replied Ru,
now thoroughly determined upon his course. "When all the people are
here, I will tell them how."
A hard light came into the black little eyes of Grumgra, and his heavy
brows contracted into a scowl. "Tell them, then!" he assented, gruffly.
"But let every word you speak be the truth! For if it be not truth, you
will have to be punished!"
Here Grumgra lightly fondled his club. And Ru--for all his
self-assurance--edged away fearfully as he beheld the hostile glitter
in the eyes of the chieftain.
And it was not without misgivings that he began his recital a few
minutes later. Standing in the center of a small open space, with his
tribesmen squatting in a rude circle about him, he felt just a little
disconcerted at finding himself once more the focus of the eyes of all
his people. Vividly he recalled the last occasion--when he had received
the brand that still disfigured his throat and chest; and he well
knew that his failure today might incur another and even more painful
penalty.
"Make yourselves ready to hear wonderful things, my people," he began.
"It is very strange that I am with you now, for I was drowned in the
Harr-Sizz River, and my body was taken far away by the waters. Woonoo
the Hot-Blooded and Kuff the Bear-Hunter will tell you so, for they saw
me drown. Is that not so, my brothers?"
With a smile, Ru turned and pointed to Kuff and Woonoo; and both
growled unwilling agreement.
"Now do you want to know how it is I came back to you?" resumed Ru.
"Ask the river-spirit, and he will tell you! I lay long under the
water, and it was cold and wet and dark, and I could not cry out and
could not even breathe. At last, after a long, long while, I heard
voices speaking--strange and terrible voices as loud as thunder. One
was the voice of the river-spirit, and the other was the voice of
that great wind-spirit who blows beyond the last mountains. And the
wind-spirit said, 'Let me have Ru! I want him! He is mine!' But the
river-spirit answered, 'No! I will keep him! He is mine!'
"They argued and argued so long I thought many suns must have gone down
and come up again while I lay there in the water. And the wind roared,
and the river rushed and foamed; but they did not know which was to
have me. In the end, they said, 'Let us each take half of him! Let his
body stay here in the water, but let the wind have that part of him
that thinks and feels.' And straightway this was done.
"Now I did not feel cold and wet any more, and it was no longer dark.
But I flew through the air like a bird, and I felt the arms of the
wind-god about me; and I went over wide forests and high mountains,
until I came to a great cloud all bright with the colors of sunset. And
in this cloud was the lair of the wind-god; and he led me in, up into
a great cave whose walls were red and yellow like the falling leaves
in the season of frost. And he bade me stay there and be happy, for I
was with friends--and there I met Grop the Tree-Climber and Wamwa the
Snake-Eyed and all our tribesmen that we lost long, long ago and shall
see no more.
"But I could not be happy, for I remembered my people here in the
forest, and I knew that they needed me. And I begged the wind-god
to let me go, but he would not. He said, 'No one has ever left here
yet'--and so I thought I must stay there more days than there are sands
by the bank of a river. And it would have been thus, had I not done a
wonderful thing for the wind-god. Soon after I came there, a strange
beast walked into that cave--like a bear, but much larger, for his
claws were the size of Grumgra's club, and each of his teeth was as big
as a man. And his eyes were of fire, and his whole body shone like the
sun, and when he growled I thought it was thundering. Even the wind-god
was afraid and did not know what to do; and even he might have been
killed, if I had not thought of a way to fight the beast.
"'O wind-god,' I said, 'blind his eyes with your mists!' And this the
wind-god did; and soon the great beast walked in a fog, and could
not see any more. And it howled fiercely, like many wolves, and fell
through a hole in the cave floor, and was killed on the rocks below!"
Ru paused; and two hundred pairs of black eyes gaped at him in
unconcealed wonder.
"Tell us more! Tell us more!" came several eager cries, when the delay
threatened to become protracted. And, satisfied with the astonished
but not incredulous looks that greeted him on all sides, Ru continued
blandly:
"When I told the wind-god how to save his cave, he was so happy that he
blew all around me with a great glad noise, like that of waters falling
in the forest. Then after a while he grew quiet again, and came over to
me so gently that I could hardly feel him blowing upon my cheeks. 'A
man like you,' he said to me, 'is very much needed by your people. You
would do great things for them. If the river-god will let me, I will
reward you by sending you back to them.'
"And then suddenly I had left the cave, and the wind-spirit was lifting
me through the air again; and I crossed back over the great forests and
tall mountains, until I saw the Harr-Sizz River running like a snake
beneath me. And I was very glad, for I knew that I was coming back
home. But soon I felt myself go down into the river again; and it was
cold and dark and wet, and I lay on the bottom once more, and could not
move or speak.
"But I heard the wind-god talking to the river-god. 'Let Ru go!' he
said. 'His people need him! He will do great things for them! I will
give up my half of him, if you will give up yours.' But at first the
river-god did not want to give up his half of me, for it was hard for
him to get someone he liked so well. And the wind-god had to blow
very hard and get very angry and stir up big waves before at last the
river-god let me come up from the bottom and walk once more on the land.
"And that, my people, is my story. For two days already I have been out
of the river; and all that time I have been coming back to you, so that
I might be with you when you needed me. The wind-god has shown me how
to find you, and will always be at my side and help me."
Ru ceased, and dropped to a seat among his fellows. For a moment an
awed silence held the audience; then, as the spell was gradually
dispersed, a torrent of questions burst forth; and Ru was showered with
innumerable inquiries as to the wind-spirit and the river-spirit, and
what they looked like and how they acted, and how it felt to be under
the river and how terrifying it was to see the shining monster in the
cave of the clouds. Although sometimes hard-pressed, Ru answered every
question with great seriousness; and, in so doing, he added vastly
to his descriptions, and supplied much detail of a sort to make his
hearers stare and marvel.
Meanwhile many of the people sat about in small groups, chattering
among themselves, discussing Ru's miraculous story. "What do you think?
Is it true?" one would ask another; and brows would be contracted and
grave heads would nod sagely: "Yes, it must be true, for did not Woonoo
and Kuff see Ru drown?" But in other quarters the opinion would run in
a different vein, although to much the same effect: "How could Ru think
of such a story if it was not true? Besides, he spoke like one who
tells the truth.... Do you not remember the tales our mothers told of
how the wind-god takes dead spirits to his cave in the clouds?"
Yet, despite the general acceptance of Ru's story, there were still
one or two skeptics. In most cases the doubters dared not even express
their views, for fear of being overwhelmed instantly by derision and
laughter; but soon it developed that there were some dissenters to whom
all must listen respectfully.
After most of the questioners had flung forth their queries and been
silenced by Ru's resourceful tongue, a more formidable adversary stood
up suddenly amid the throng. It was Zunzun the Marvel-Worker; and the
sullen glow in his dark eyes seemed not to bode well for Ru.
"My people, do not let yourselves believe lies!" he urged, as he
pointed a bony finger malevolently at his adversary. "Is it that you
are all becoming like the Sparrow-Hearted, to listen to such foolish
stories and think them true? No man has ever come back from the cave of
the wind-spirit, and no man ever can come back. Let Ru show us that he
has been in the cave of the wind-spirit! Let him show that we have need
of him, as he says! Come, let him give us something more than empty air
and words!"
And shaking his grizzled right arm menacingly while his eyes gleamed
hostility and wrath, Zunzun slumped back to his seat on the grass.
Even while Ru opened his mouth to reply, and the throng waited
gaping-eyed, a larger and more redoubtable figure towered gravely in
their midst. And little murmurs of excitement traveled from end to end
of the assemblage as the bellowing voice of Grumgra broke forth.
"Zunzun speaks rightly," he began. "The Sparrow-Hearted has been
telling us nothing but lies. If he has been to the cave of the
wind-god, he must give some sign, so that we may believe him. He
must show what he can do for our people! He must call his friend the
wind-god to help him!"
With a sneer that was half a snarl, Grumgra paused momentarily. Then,
lifting his club high in the air and bringing it down with a thud upon
the grass, he resumed: "After the sun has gone down and come up, and
then gone down and come up again, Ru must show us that he speaks truth.
If he cannot show us, he will be punished! And this time his punishment
will not be such as we give to a child!"
And, turning to Ru with a sudden mildness that was almost genial, the
Growling Wolf inquired: "But maybe you do not want to wait so long, O
Sparrow-Hearted? Maybe you can show us now some sign from the clouds."
"I do not need to show you any sign from the clouds," replied Ru,
slowly and thoughtfully. "But listen to this, O chief. The wind-spirit
told me that he has blown past the caves of strange wild men, who
wander in these woods and kill and eat other men. Be careful, O chief!
For some day we may meet these beast-men! And you may find them more
terrible than wolves or bears! And then you will know that I spoke
truth!"
Grumgra, merely grinning incredulously, did not reply. But from
scores of throats came a rippling laughter of unbelief. Many
of the people--they who had not doubted Ru's word about the
wind-spirit--turned to their neighbors, and murmured: "This time
the Sparrow-Hearted tells us lies! The Sparrow-Hearted only wants
to frighten us!" And prolonged and hearty was the merriment at Ru's
incredible report.