|A MAN of small stature found himself standing alone on a prairie. He
thought to himself: "How came I here? Are there no beings on this earth
but myself? I must travel and see. I must walk till I find the abodes of
men."
So soon as his mind was made up, he set out, he knew not whither,
in search of habitations. He was a resolute little fellow, and no
difficulties could turn him from his purpose; neither prairies, rivers,
woods nor storms had the effect to daunt his courage or turn him back.
After traveling a long time he came to a wood, in which he saw decayed
stumps of trees looking as if they had been cut in ancient times, but
aside from that no other trace of men. Pursuing his journey, he found
more recent marks of the same kind; after this he came upon fresh traces
of human beings; first their footsteps, and then the wood they had
felled, lying in heaps. Pushing on, he emerged toward dusk from the
forest and beheld at a distance a large village of high lodges standing
on rising ground.
"I am tired of this dog-trot," he said to himself. "I will arrive there
on a run."
He started off with all his speed. On coming to the first lodge he
jumped over it, without any special exertion, and found himself standing
by the door on the other side. Those within saw something pass over the
opening in the roof; they thought from the shadow it cast that it must
have been some huge bird--and then they heard a thump upon the ground.
"What is that?" they all said and several ran out to see.
They invited him in, and he found himself in company with an old chief
and several men who were seated in the lodge. Meat was set before him;
after which the old chief asked him whither he was going and what was
his name. He answered that he was in search of adventures and that his
name was "Grasshopper."
They all opened their eyes upon the stranger with a broad stare.
"Grasshopper!" whispered one to another; and a general titter went
round.
They invited him to stay with them, which he was inclined to do; for
it was a pleasant village, but so small as constantly to embarrass
Grasshopper. He was in perpetual trouble; whenever he shook hands with a
stranger, to whom he might be introduced, such was the abundance of his
strength that, without meaning it he wrung his arm off at the shoulder.
Once or twice, in mere sport, he cuffed the boys by the side of the
head, and they flew out of sight as though they had been shot from a
bow; nor could they ever be found again, though they were searched
for in all the country round, far and wide. If Grasshopper proposed to
himself a short stroll in the morning, he was at once miles out of town.
When he entered a lodge, if he happened for a moment to forget himself,
he walked straight through the leathern, or wooden, or earthen walls, as
if he had been merely passing through a bush. At his meals he broke
in pieces all the dishes, set them down as lightly as he would; and
stretching a bit when he rose, it was a common thing for him to push off
the top of the lodge.
He wanted more elbow-room; and after a short stay, in which by
accidentally letting go of his strength he had nearly laid waste the
whole place, filling it with demolished lodges and broken pottery and
one-armed men, he made up his mind to go farther, taking with him a
young man who had formed a strong attachment for him, and who might
serve him as his pipe-bearer. For Grasshopper was a huge smoker, and
vast clouds followed him wherever he went; so that people could say,
"Grasshopper is coming!" by the mighty smoke he raised.
They set out together, and when his companion was fatigued with walking,
Grasshopper would put him forward on his journey a mile or two by giving
him a cast in the air and lighting him in a soft place among the trees,
or in a cool spot in a water-pond, among the sedges and water-lilies. At
other times he would lighten the way by showing off a few tricks, such
as leaping over trees, or turning round on one leg till he made the
dust fly; at which the pipe-bearer was mightily pleased, although it
sometimes happened that the character of these gambols frightened him.
For Grasshopper would, without the least hint of such an intention, jump
into the air far ahead, and it would cost the little pipe-bearer half
a day's hard travel to come up with him. And then, too, the dust
Grasshopper raised was often so thick and heavy as completely to bury
the poor little pipe-bearer, and compel Grasshopper to dig diligently
and with might and main to get him out alive.
One day they came to a very large village, where they were well
received. After staying in it some time (in the course of which
Grasshopper, in a fit of abstraction, walked straight through the
sides of three lodges without stopping to look for the door), they
were informed of a number of wicked manitoes or spirits who lived at
a distance, and who made it a practise to kill all who came to their
lodge. Attempts had been made to destroy them, but they had always
proved more than a match for such as had come out against them.
Grasshopper determined to pay them a visit, although he was strongly
advised not to do so. The chief of the village warned him of the great
danger he would incur, but finding Grasshopper resolved, he said:
"Well, if you will go, being my guest, I will send twenty warriors to
serve you."
Grasshopper thanked him for the offer, although he suggested that he
thought he could get along without them; at which the little pipe-bearer
grinned, for his master had never shown in that village what he could
do, and the chief thought that Grasshopper, being little himself, would
be likely to need twenty warriors, at the least, to encounter the wicked
spirits with any chance of success. So twenty young men made their
appearance. They set forward, and after about a day's journey they
descried the lodge of the Manitoes.
Grasshopper placed the warriors and his friend, the pipe-bearer, near
enough to see all that passed, while he went alone to the lodge.
As he entered, Grasshopper saw five horrid-looking Manitoes in the act
of eating. It was the father and his four sons. They were really hideous
to look upon. Their eyes were swimming low in their heads, and they
glared about as if they were half starved. They offered Grasshopper
something to eat, which he politely refused, for he had a strong
suspicion that it was the thigh-bone of a man.
"What have you come for?" said the old one.
"Nothing," answered Grasshopper. "Where is your uncle?"
They all stared at him and answered:
"We ate him, yesterday. What do you want?"
"Nothing," said Grasshopper. "Where is your grandfather?"
They all answered, with another broad stare:
"We ate him a week ago. Do you not wish to wrestle?"
"Yes," replied Grasshopper, "I don't mind if I do take a turn; but you
must be easy with me, for you see I am very little."
Pipe-bearer, who stood near enough to overhear the conversation, grinned
from ear to ear when he caught this remark. The Manitoes answered:
"Oh, yes, we will be easy with you."
And as they said this they looked at one another, and rolled their eyes
about in a dreadful manner. A hideous smile came over their faces as
they whispered among themselves:
"It's a pity he's so thin." Then, "You go," they said to the eldest
brother.
The two got ready--the Manito and Grasshopper--and they were soon
clinched in each other's arms for a deadly throw. Grasshopper knew their
object--his death; they wanted a taste of his delicate little body, and
he was determined they should have it, but perhaps in a different sense
from what they intended.
"Haw! haw!" they cried, and soon the dust and dry leaves flew about
as if driven by a strong wind. The Manito was strong, but Grasshopper
thought he could master him; and all at once giving him a sly trip, just
as the wicked spirit was trying to finish his breakfast with a piece out
of his shoulder, he sent the Manito head-foremost against a stone; and
calling aloud to the three others, he bade them come and take the body
away.
The brothers now stepped forth in quick succession, but Grasshopper,
having got his blood up and limbered himself by exercise, soon
dispatched the three--sending one this way, another that, and the third
straight up into the air, so high that he never came down again.
It was time for the old Manito to be frightened, and dreadfully
frightened he got, and ran for his life, which was the very worst thing
he could have done; for Grasshopper, of all his gifts of strength, was
most noted for his speed of foot. The old Manito set off, and for mere
sport's sake, Grasshopper pursued him. Sometimes he was before the
wicked old spirit, sometimes he was flying over his head, and then he
would keep along at a steady trot just at his heels, till he had blown
all the breath out of the old knave's body.
Meantime his friend, the pipe-bearer, and the twenty young warriors
cried out:
"Ha, ha, ha! ha, ha, ha! Grasshopper is driving the Manito before him."
The Manito only turned his head now and then to look back. At length
when he was tired of the sport, Grasshopper, to be rid of him, with a
gentle application of his foot sent the wicked old Manito whirling
away through the air, where he made a great number of the most curious
turn-overs in the world till he came to alight. It so happened, then,
that he fell astride of an old bull-buffalo grazing in a distant
pasture, who straightway set off with him at a long gallop; and the old
Manito has not been heard of to this day.
Then the warriors and the pipe-bearer and Grasshopper set to work and
burned down the lodge of the wicked spirits, and when they came to look
about, they saw that the ground was strewn on all sides with human bones
bleaching in the sun; these were the unhappy victims of the Manitoes.
Grasshopper then took three arrows from his girdle, and after having
performed a ceremony to the Great Spirit, he shot one into the air,
crying:
"You are lying down; rise up, or you will be hit!"
The bones all moved to one place. He shot the second arrow, repeating
the same words, and each bone drew toward its fellow-bone. The third
arrow brought forth to life the whole multitude of people who had been
killed by the Manitoes. Grasshopper conducted the crowd to his friend,
the chief of the village, and gave them into his hands, telling who they
were and the manner in which they had come to life again. Meanwhile the
twenty warriors, pipe-bearer, and all the people cried together:
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Grasshopper has killed the wicked Manito."
The chief was there with his counsellors, to whom he spoke apart.
"Who is more worthy to rule than you?" said the chief to Grasshopper.
"_You_ alone can defend us all."
Grasshopper thanked him and told him that he was in search of more
adventures.
"I have done some things," said little Grasshopper, rather boastfully,
"and I think I can do some more."
The chief still urged him, but he was eager to go, and naming
Pipe-bearer to tarry and take his place, Grasshopper set out again on
his travels, promising that he would some time or other come back and
see them.
"Ho! ho! ho!" they all cried. "Come back again and see us!" He renewed
his promise that he would; and then set out alone.
After traveling some time he came to a great lake, and on looking about
he discovered a very large otter on an island. He thought to himself,
"His skin will make me a fine pouch." And he immediately drew up at long
shot and drove an arrow into the otter's side. Then he waded into
the lake, and with some difficulty dragged him ashore and up a hill
overlooking the lake.
As soon as Grasshopper got the otter into the warm sunshine, he skinned
him and threw the carcass some distance off, thinking the war-eagle
would come, and that he would have a chance to secure his feathers
as ornaments for the head; for Grasshopper began to be proud, and was
disposed to display himself.
He soon heard a rushing noise as of a loud wind, but could see nothing.
Presently a large eagle dropped, as if from the air, upon the otter's
carcass. Grasshopper drew his bow, and the arrow passed through under
both of his wings. The bird made a convulsive flight upward, with such
force that the cumbrous body was borne up several feet from the ground;
but the heavy otter, in which the bird's claws were deeply fixed,
brought the eagle back to the earth. Grasshopper possessed himself of a
handful of the prime feathers, crowned his head with the trophy, and set
off in high spirits on the look-out for something new.
After walking a while, he came to a body of water which flooded the
trees on its hanks--it was a lake made by beavers. Taking his station on
the raised dam where the stream escaped, he watched to see whether any
of the beavers would show themselves. A head presently peeped out of the
water to see who it was that disturbed them.
"My friend," said Grasshopper in his most persuasive manner, "could you
not oblige me by turning me into a beaver like yourself? Nothing would
please me so much as to make your acquaintance, I can assure you." For
Grasshopper was curious to know how these watery creatures lived, and
what kind of notions they had.
"I do not know," replied the heaver, who was rather short-nosed and
surly. "I will go and ask the others. Meanwhile stay where you are, if
you please."
"To be sure," answered Grasshopper, stealing down the bank several paces
as soon as the beaver's back was turned.
Presently there was a great splashing of the water, and all the heavers
showed their heads, and looked warily to where he stood, to see if he
was armed. But he had knowingly left his bow and arrows in a hollow tree
at a short distance.
After a long conversation, which they conducted in a whisper so that
Grasshopper could not catch a word, strain his ears as he would,
they all advanced in a body toward the spot where he stood; the chief
approaching the nearest and lifting his head highest out of the water.
"Can you not," said Grasshopper, noticing that they waited for him to
speak first, "turn me into a beaver? I wish to live among you."
"Yes," answered their chief. "Lie down." And Grasshopper in a moment
found himself a beaver, and was gliding into the water, when a thought
seemed to strike him, and he paused at the edge of the lake.
"I am very small," he said to the beaver in a sorrowful tone. "You must
make me large." For Grasshopper was terribly ambitious and wanted always
to be the first person in every company. "Larger than any of you; in my
present size it's hardly worth my while to go into the water."
"Yes, yes!" said they. "By and by, when we get into the lodge it shall
be done."
They all dived into the lake, and when in passing great heaps of limbs
and logs at the bottom, Grasshopper asked their use, they answered, "For
our winter's provision."
When they all got into the lodge the number was about one hundred. The
lodge was large and warm.
"Now we will make you large," said they. Then, "Will _that_ do?"
"Yes," he answered; for he found that he was ten times the size of the
largest.
"You need not go out," said the others. "We will bring you food into the
lodge, and you will be our chief."
"Very well," Grasshopper answered. He thought, "I will stay here and
grow fat at their expense."
But, soon after, one of them ran into the lodge out of breath, crying
out:
"We are visited by the Indians!"
All huddled together in great fear. The water began to lower, for the
hunters had broken down the dam, and soon they could be heard on the
roof of the lodge, breaking it up. Out jumped all the beavers into the
water, and so escaped.
Grasshopper tried to follow, then to call them back; but either they did
not hear or would not attend to him. So he had to find his own way of
getting out. Now, unfortunately, in order to gratify his ambition, the
beavers had made him too large to crawl out of the hole. He wiggled and
twisted in vain, and only worried himself till the sweat stood out on
his forehead in knobs and huge bubbles. He looked like a great bladder
swollen and blistered in the sun.
Although he heard and understood every word that the hunters spoke--and
some of their expressions suggested terrible ideas--he could not turn
himself back into a man. He had chosen to be a beaver, and a beaver
he must he. One of the hunters, a prying little man with a single lock
dangling over one eye, put his head in at the top of the lodge.
"Ty-au!" cried he. "Tut ty-au! Me-shau-mik--king of beavers is in."
Whereupon the whole crowd of hunters began upon him with their clubs,
and knocked his skull about until it was no harder than a morass in the
middle of summer. Grasshopper thought as well as ever he did, although
he was inhabiting the carcass of a beaver; and he felt that he was in a
rather foolish scrape.
Presently seven or eight of the hunters hoisted his body upon long
poles and marched away home with him. As they went, he reflected in this
manner:
"What will become of me? My ghost or shadow will not die after they get
me to their lodges. So perhaps then I will be free again."
Invitations were immediately sent out for a grand feast. But as soon as
Grasshopper's body got cold, his soul flew off, being uncomfortable in a
house without heat.
Having reassumed his mortal shape, Grasshopper found himself standing
near a prairie. After walking a distance, he saw a herd of elk feeding.
He admired their apparent ease and enjoyment of life, and thought there
could be nothing more pleasant than the liberty of running about and
feeding on the prairies. He had been a water animal and now he wished to
become a land animal, to learn what passed in an elk's head as he
roved about. So he asked them if they could not turn him into one of
themselves.
"Yes," they answered, after a pause. "Get down on your hands and feet."
He obeyed their directions and forthwith found himself an elk.
"I want big horns, big feet," said he. "I wish to be very large." For
all the conceit and vain-glory had not been knocked out of Grasshopper,
even by the sturdy thwacks of the hunters' clubs.
"Yes, yes," they answered. "There," exerting their power, "are you big
enough?"
"That will do," he replied, for, looking into a lake hard by,
Grasshopper saw that he was very large.
The elk spent their time in grazing and running to and fro; but what
astonished Grasshopper was that although he often lifted up his head and
directed his eyes that way, he could never see the stars, which he had
so admired as a human being.
Being rather cold one day, Grasshopper went into a thick wood for
shelter, whither he was followed by most of the herd. They had not been
long there when some elks from behind passed the others like a strong
wind, calling out:
"The hunters are after us!"
All took the alarm, and off they ran, Grasshopper with the rest.
"Keep out on the plains," they said. But it was too late to profit by
this advice, for they had already got entangled in the thick woods.
Grasshopper soon scented the hunters, who were closely following his
trail, for they had left all the other elk and were making after him in
full cry. He jumped furiously, dashed through the underwood, and broke
down whole groves of saplings in his flight. But this only made it the
harder for him to get on, such a huge and lusty elk was he by his own
request.
Presently, as he dashed past an open space, he felt an arrow in his
side. They could not well miss him, he presented so wide a mark to the
shot. He bounded over trees under the smart, but the shafts clattered
thicker and thicker at his ribs, and at last one entered his heart.
He fell to the ground, and heard the whoop of triumph sounded by the
hunters. On coming up, they looked on the carcass with astonishment, and
with their hands up to their mouths, exclaimed:
"Ty-au! ty-au!"
There were about sixty in the party, which had come out on a special
hunt, as one of their number the day before had observed his large
tracks on the plains. Now they were highly elated at having caught this
giant elk and immediately set about dividing the spoils. But as soon as
the skin was removed, the flesh grew cold. His spirit took its flight
from the dead body, and Grasshopper found himself again in human shape,
with a bow and arrows.
But his passion for adventure was not yet cooled; for on coming to a
large lake with a sandy beach, he saw a large flock of brant. Speaking
to them in the brant language, he requested them to make a brant of him.
"Yes," they replied at once, for the brant is a bird of a very obliging
disposition.
"But I want to be very large," he said. There was no end to the ambition
of little Grasshopper.
"Very well," they answered, and he soon found himself a large brant, all
the others standing gazing in astonishment at his great size.
"You must fly as leader," they said.
"No," answered Grasshopper, "I will fly behind."
"Very well," rejoined the brant. "One thing more we have to say to you,
brother Grasshopper. You must be careful, in flying, not to look down,
or something may happen to you."
"Well, it is so," said he; and soon the flock rose up into the air, for
they were bound north. They flew very fast--he behind.
One day, while going with a strong wind and as swiftly as their wings
could flap, they passed over a large village. The Indians raised a great
shout on seeing them, particularly on Grasshopper's account, for his
wings were broader than two large mats. The village people made such
a frightful noise that he forgot what had been told him about looking
down. They were now scudding along as swift as arrows; and as soon as he
brought his neck in and stretched it down to look at the shouters, his
huge tail was caught by the wind, and over and over he was blown. He
tried to right himself, but without success, for he had no sooner got
out of one heavy air-current than he fell into another, which treated
him even more rudely than that which he had escaped from. Down, down
he went, making more turns than he wished for, from a height of several
miles.
The first moment he had to look about him, Grasshopper, in the shape of
a big brant, was aware that he was jammed into a large hollow tree. To
get backward or forward was out of the question, and there, in spite of
himself, was Grasshopper forced to tarry till his brant life was ended
by starvation, when, his spirit being at liberty, he was once more a
human being.
As he journeyed on in search of further adventures, Grasshopper came to
a lodge in which were two old men, with heads white from extreme age.
They were very fine old men to look at. There was such sweetness and
innocence in their features that Grasshopper was very glad to accept
their invitation to enter the lodge and tarry a while.
They treated him well, and when he made known to them that he was going
back to his village, his friends and people, the two white-headed old
men very heartily wished him a good journey and abundance of comfort in
seeing his friends once more. They even arose, old and infirm as they
were, and tottering with exceeding difficulty to the door, were at great
pains to point out to him the exact course he should take; and called
his attention to the circumstance that it was much shorter and more
direct than the one he would have taken himself. Ah! what merry
deceivers were these two old men with very white heads.
Grasshopper, with blessings showered on him until he was fairly out
of sight, set forth with good heart. He thought he heard loud laughter
resounding after him in the direction of the lodge; but it could not
have been the two old men, for they were, certainly, too old to laugh.
He walked briskly all day, and at night he had the satisfaction of
reaching a lodge in all respects like that which he had left in the
morning. There were two more fine old men, and his treatment was in
every particular the same, even down to the parting blessing and the
laughter that followed him as he went his way.
After walking the third day and coming to a lodge the same as before,
he was satisfied from the bearings of the course he had taken and by a
notch which he had cut in the door-post, that he had been journeying
in a circle, that these were the same two old men, all along, and that,
despite their innocent faces and their very white heads, they had been
playing him a sorry trick.
"Who are you," said Grasshopper, "to treat me so? Come forth, I say."
They were compelled to obey his summons, lest, in his anger, he should
take their lives; and they appeared on the outside of the lodge.
"We must have a little trial of speed, now," said Grasshopper.
"A race?" they asked. "We are very old; we cannot run."
"We will see," said Grasshopper. Whereupon he set them out upon the road
and gave them a gentle push, which put them in motion. Then he pushed
them again--harder--harder--until they got under fine headway, when he
gave each of them an astounding shock with his foot, and off they flew
at a great rate, round and round the course; and such was the magic
virtue of the foot of Grasshopper, that no object once set a-going by
it could by any possibility stop; so that, for aught we know to the
contrary, the two innocent, whiteheaded, merry old men are trotting to
this day, with all their might and main around the circle in which they
beguiled Grasshopper.
Continuing his journey, Grasshopper, although his head was warm and
buzzing with all sorts of schemes, did not know exactly what to do until
he came to a big lake. He mounted a high hill to try and see to the
other side, but he could not. He then made a canoe and sailed forth. The
water was very clear--a transparent blue--and he saw that it abounded
with fish of a rare and delicate complexion. This circumstance inspired
him with a wish to return to his own village, so that he might bring his
people to live near this beautiful lake.
Toward evening, coming to a woody island, he encamped and ate the fish
he had speared, and they proved to be as comforting to the stomach as
they were pleasing to the eye. The next day Grasshopper returned to the
mainland, and as he wandered along the shore he espied at a distance the
celebrated giant, Manabozho, who is a bitter enemy of Grasshopper and
loses no opportunity to stop him on his journeyings and to thwart his
plans.
At first it occurred to Grasshopper to have a trial of wits with the
giant, but on second thoughts he said to himself, "I am in a hurry now;
I will see him another time."
With no further mischief than raising a great whirlwind of dust, which
caused Manabozho to rub his eyes severely, Grasshopper quietly slipped
out of the way; and he made good speed withal, for in much less time
than you could count half the stars in the sky of a winter night, he had
reached home.
His return was welcomed with a great hubbub of feasting and songs; and
he had scarcely set foot in the village before he had invitations to
take pot-luck at different lodges, and ate enough to have lasted him the
rest of his natural life. Pipe-bearer, who had some time before given
up the cares of a ruler and fallen back upon his native place, fairly
danced with joy at the sight of Grasshopper, who, not to be outdone,
dandled him affectionately in his arms by casting him up and down in the
air half a mile or so, till little Pipe-bearer had no breath left in his
body to say that he was happy to see Grasshopper home again.
Grasshopper gave the village folks a lively account of his adventures,
and when he came to the blue lake and the abundant fish, he dwelt upon
their charms with such effect that they agreed, with one voice, that it
must be a glorious place to live in, and if he would show them the way
they would shift camp and settle there at once.
He not only showed them the way, but bringing his wonderful strength and
speed of foot to bear, in less than half a day he had transported the
whole village, with its children, women, tents, and implements of war,
to the new water-side.
Here, for a time, Grasshopper appeared to be content, until one day a
message was brought him by a bear, who said that their king wished to
see him immediately at his village. Grasshopper was ready in an instant;
and mounting upon the messenger's back, off he went. Toward evening they
climbed a high mountain and came to a cave where the bear-king lived.
He was a very large person; and puffing with fat and a sense of his own
importance, he made Grasshopper welcome by inviting him into his lodge.
As soon as it was proper, the king spoke, and said that he had sent for
him on hearing that he was the chief who was moving a large party into
the bears' hunting-ground.
"You must know," said the bear-king with a terrible growl, "that you
have no right there, and I wish you would leave the country with your
party, or else the strongest force will take possession. This I say."
"Very well," replied Grasshopper, going toward the door, for he
suspected that the king of the bears was preparing to give him a hug.
"So be it."
He wished to gain time and to consult his people; for he had seen as he
came along that the bears were gathering in great force on the side of
the mountain. He also made known to the bear-king that he would go back
that night so that his people might be put in immediate possession of
the royal behest.
The bear-king replied that Grasshopper might do as he pleased, but that
one of his young men was at his command; so jumping nimbly on his back,
Grasshopper rode home.
He assembled the people and ordered the bear's head off, to be hung
outside of the village, that the bear spies, who were lurking in the
neighborhood, might see it and carry the news to their chief.
The next morning, by break of day, Grasshopper had all of his young
warriors under arms and ready for a fight. And none too soon, for about
the middle of the afternoon the bear war-party came in sight, led on by
the fat king. The bears advanced on their hind-legs, making a tremendous
noise, and a very imposing display of their teeth and eyeballs.
The bear-chief himself came forward, and with a majestic wave of his
right hand, said that he did not wish to shed the blood of the young
warriors; but that if Grasshopper consented, they two would have a race.
The winner should kill the losing chief, and all his young men should be
servants to the other.
Grasshopper agreed, of course--how little Pipe-bearer, who stood by,
grinned as they came to terms!--and they started to run before the whole
company of warriors who stood in a circle looking on.
At first there was a prospect that Grasshopper would be badly beaten;
for although he kept crowding the great fat bear-king till the sweat
trickled from his shaggy ears, he never seemed to be able to push past
him. But by and by, Grasshopper, going through a number of the most
extraordinary maneuvers in the world, raised about the great fat
bear-king such eddies and whirlwinds of sand, and so danced about,
before and after him, that the king at last got fairly bewildered, and
cried out for mercy. But Grasshopper still went on and reached the goal
where he only waited for the bear-king to come up to drive an arrow
through him. And now in fulfilment of the agreement the bears must
become servants, and Grasshopper ordered them to take the body off and
prepare it for supper.
"I am hungry," he said, "and would hold a great feast to celebrate our
victory."
All the bears had to help, and although bound to act becomingly
according to the forfeit, they made many a wry face as they carved up
the body of their late royal master. And either by accident or design
they fell into many curions blunders. One sprightly young fellow of an
inquisitive turn of mind was found upon the roof of the lodge, with his
head half-way down the smoke-hole, with a view to learn what they were
to have for dinner. Another, a middle-aged bear with very long arms,
who was put in charge of the children as nurse while the mothers were
outside to look after the preparations, squeezed three or four of the
most promising young papooses to death; another, when he should have
been waiting at the back of his master, had climbed a shady tree and was
indulging in his afternoon nap. And when, at last, the dinner was ready
to be served, they came tumbling in with the dishes, heels over head,
one after the other, so that one-half of the feast was spread upon the
ground, and the other half deposited out of doors, on the other side of
the lodge.
After a while, however, by strict discipline and threatening to cut off
their provisions, the bear-servants were brought into tolerable control.
Yet Grasshopper, with his ever restless disposition, was uneasy; and,
having done so many wonderful things, he resolved upon a strict and
thorough reform in all the affairs of the village. To prevent future
difficulty, he determined to adopt new regulations between the bears and
their masters.
With this view, he issued an edict that henceforward the bears should
eat at the first table, and that the Indians were to wait upon them;
that in all public processions of an honorable character the bears
should go first; and that when any fighting was to be done, the Indians
should have the privilege reserved of receiving the first shots. A
special exemption was made in behalf of Grasshopper's favorite and
confidential adviser, the Pipe-bearer, who had been very busy in
private, recommending the new order of things. He was to be allowed to
sit at the head of the feast, and to stay at home with the old women in
the event of battle.
Having seen his orders strictly enforced and the rights of the bears
over the Indians fairly established, Grasshopper fixed his mind upon
further adventures. He determined to go abroad for a time, and having
an old score to settle with Manabozho, he set out with a hope of soon
falling in with that famous giant. Grasshopper was a blood relation of
Dais-Imid, or He of the Little Shell, and had heard of what had passed
between that giant and his kinsman.
After wandering a long time he came to the lodge of Manabozho, who was
absent. He thought he must play him a trick; and so he turned everything
in the lodge upside down and killed his birds, of which there was an
extraordinary attendance. For Manabozho is master of the fowls of the
air, and this was the appointed morning for them to call and pay their
court to him. Among the number was a raven, accounted the meanest of
birds, which Grasshopper killed and hung up by the neck, as an insult.
He then went on till he came to a very high point of rocks running ont
into the lake, from the top of which he could see the country, back as
far as the eye could reach. While sitting there, Manabozho's mountain
chickens flew around and past him in great numbers. Out of mere spite
to their master, Grasshopper shot them by the score, for his arrows were
sure and the birds very plenty, and he amused himself by throwing the
birds down the rocks. At length a wary bird cried out:
"Grasshopper is killing us; go and tell our father."
Away sped a delegation of the birds which were the quickest of wing, and
Manabozho soon made his appearance on the plain below. Grasshopper, who,
when he is in the wrong, is no match for Manabozho, made his escape on
the other side. Manabozho, who had in two or three strides reached the
top of the mountain, cried out:
"You are a rogue. The earth is not so large but I can get up to you."
Off ran Grasshopper and Manabozho after him. The race was sharp; and
such leaps and strides as they made! Over hills and prairies with all
his speed went Grasshopper, and Manabozho hard upon him. Grasshopper had
some mischievous notions still left in his head which he thought might
befriend him. He knew that Manabozho was under a spell to restore
whatever he, Grasshopper, destroyed. Forthwith he stopped and climbed a
large pine-tree, stripped off its beautiful green foliage, threw it to
the winds, and then went on.
When Manabozho reached the spot, the tree addressed him:
"Great chief," said the tree, "will you give me my life again?
Grasshopper has killed me."
"Yes," replied Manabozho, who, as quickly as he could, gathered the
scattered leaves and branches, renewed its beauty with his breath, and
set off. Although Grasshopper in the same way compelled Manabozho to
lose time in repairing the hemlock, the sycamore, cedar, and many other
trees, the giant did not falter, but pushing briskly forward, was fast
overtaking him, when Grasshopper happened to see an elk. Asked for old
acquaintance' sake, to take him on his back, the elk did so, and for
some time made good headway, but still Manabozho was in sight.
He was fast gaining upon him, when Grasshopper threw himself off the
elk's back. Striking a great sandstone rock near the path, he broke
it into pieces, and scattered the grains in a thousand directions.
Manabozho was so close upon him at this place that he had almost caught
him; but the foundation of the rock, cried out:
"Haye! Ne-me-sho, Grasshopper has spoiled me. Will you not restore me to
life?"
"Yes," replied Manabozho, and re-established the rock in all its
strength.
He then pushed on in pursuit, and had got so near to Grasshopper as to
put out his arm to seize him; but Grasshopper dodged him, and, as
his last chance, he immediately raised such a dust and commotion by
whirlwinds, as made the trees break and the sand and leaves dance in the
air. Again and again Manabozho stretched out his arm, but Grasshopper
escaped him at every turn and kept up such a tumult of dust that he was
able to dash into a hollow tree which had been blown down, and change
himself into a snake without Manabozho's seeing him. He crept out at the
roots just in time to save his life, for at that moment Manabozho, who
had the power of lightning, struck the tree, and it was strewn about in
little pieces.
Again Grasshopper was in human shape, and Manabozho was pressing him
hard. At a distance he saw a very high bluff of rocks jutting out into
a lake, and he ran for the foot of the precipice, which was abrupt and
elevated. As he came near, to his surprise and great relief, the Manito
of the rock opened his door and told Grasshopper to come in. The door
was no sooner closed than Manabozho knocked.
"Open it!" he-cried, with a loud voice.
The Manito was afraid of Manabozho; but he said to Grasshopper:
"Since I have taken you as my guest, I would sooner die with you than
open the door."
"Open it!" Manabozho again cried, in a louder voice than before.
The Manito kept silent. Manabozho, however, made no attempt to open it
by force. He waited a few moments.
"Very well," he said, "I give you till morning to live."
Grasshopper trembled, for he thought his last hour had come; but the
Manito bade him to be of good cheer.
When the night came on the clouds were thick and black, and as they were
torn open by the lightning, such discharges of thunder as bellowed forth
were never before heard. The clouds advanced slowly and wrapped the
earth about with their vast shadows as in a huge cloak. All night long
the clouds gathered, and the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared,
and above all could be heard Manabozho muttering vengeance upon poor
little Grasshopper.
"You have led a very foolish kind of life, Grasshopper," said his friend
the Manito.
"I know it--I know it!" Grasshopper answered.
"You had great gifts of strength awarded to you," said the Manito.
"I am aware of it," replied Grasshopper.
"Instead of employing it for useful purposes, and for the good of your
fellow-creatures, you have done nothing since you became a man but raise
whirlwinds on the highways, leap over trees, break whatever you met in
pieces, and perform a thousand idle pranks."
Grasshopper, with great penitence, confessed that his friend the Manito
spoke but too truly; and at last his host, with a still more serious
manner, said:
"Grasshopper, you still have your gift of strength. Dedicate it to the
good of mankind. Lay all of these wanton and vainglorious notions out of
your head. In a word, be as good as you are strong."
"I will," answered Grasshopper. "My heart is changed; I see the error of
my ways."
Black and stormy as it had been all night, when morning came the sun
was shining, the air was soft and sweet as the summer down and the blown
rose; and afar off upon the side of a mountain sat Manabozho, his head
upon his knees, languid and cast down in spirit. His power was gone, for
now Grasshopper was in the right, and he could touch him no more.
With many thanks Grasshopper left the good Manito, taking the nearest
way home to his own people.
As he passed on, he fell in with an old man who was wandering about the
country in search of some place which he could not find. As soon as he
learned his difficulty, Grasshopper, placing the old man upon his back,
hurried away, and in a short hour's despatch of foot set him down among
his own kindred, of whom he had been in quest.
Losing no time, Grasshopper next came to an open plain where a small
number of men stood at bay and on the very point of being attacked by
many armed warriors, fierce of aspect and of prodigious strength. When
Grasshopper saw this unequal struggle, he rushed forward, seized a
long bare pole, and, wielding it with his whole force, drove the fierce
warriors back. Laying about him on every hand, he soon sent them a
thousand ways in great haste, and in a very sore plight.
Without tarrying to receive the thanks of those to whom he had brought
this timely relief, he made his utmost speed, and by the close of
the afternoon he had come in sight of his own village. What were his
surprise and horror, as he approached nearer, to discover the bears
in excellent condition and flesh, seated at lazy leisure in the trees,
looking idly on while his brother Indians were dancing a fantastic and
wearisome dance, for their pastime, in the course of which they were
frequently compelled to go upon all fours and bow their heads in
profound obeisance to their bear-masters in the trees.
As he drew nearer, his heart sank within him to see how starved and
hollow-eyed and woe-begone they were; and his horror was at its height
when, as he entered his own lodge, he beheld his favorite and friend,
Pipe-bearer, also on all fours, smoothing the floor with the palms of
his hands to make it a comfortable sitting-place for the bears on their
return from the dance.
It did not take Grasshopper a long time to resolve what he should do.
He immediately resumed power in the village, bestowed a sound cudgeling
upon the bears, and sent them off to live in the mountains among their
own people, as bears should; restored to his people all their rights;
gave them plenty to eat and drink; exerting his great strength in
hunting, in rebuilding their lodges, keeping in check their enemies, and
doing all the good he could to everybody.
Peace and plenty soon shone and showered upon the spot; and never once
thinking of his wild and wanton frolics, the people blessed Grasshopper
for all his kindness, and sincerely prayed that his name might be held
in honor for a thousand years to come, as no doubt it will.
Little Pipe-hearer stood by Grasshopper in all his course, and admired
his ways as much now that he had taken to being orderly and useful,
as in the old times when he was walking a mile a minute, and in mere
wantonness bringing home whole forests in his arms for fire-wood, in
midsummer.
It was a great old age to which Grasshopper lived, and when at last he
came to die, there was not a dry eye in all that part of the world where
he spent his latter days.
[Illustration: 0157]