|BOKWEWA and his brother lived in a far-off part of the country. By
those who knew them, Bokwewa, the elder, although deformed and feeble of
person, was considered a manito who had assumed mortal shape; while
his younger brother, Kwasynd, manly in appearance, active, and strong,
partook of the nature of the present race of beings.
They lived off the path, in a wild, lonesome place. Far retired from
neighbors and undisturbed by cares,' they passed their time content and
happy. The days glided by as serenely as the river that flowed by their
lodge.
Owing to his lack of strength, Bokwewa never engaged in the chase but
gave his attention entirely to the affairs of the lodge. In the long
winter evenings he passed the time in telling his brother stories of the
giants, spirits, weendigoes, and fairies of the older age, who in those
days had the exclusive charge of the world. He also at times taught his
brother the manner in which game should be pursued, pointed out to him
the ways of the different beasts and birds of the chase, and assigned
the seasons at which they could be hunted with most success.
For a while the brother was eager to learn and keenly attended to his
duties as the provider of the lodge; but at length he grew weary of
their tranquil life and began to have a desire to show himself among
men. He became restive in their retirement and was seized with a longing
to visit remote places.
One day Kwasynd told his brother that he should leave him; that he
wished to visit the habitations of men and to procure a wife.
Bokwewa objected; but his brother overruled all that he said, and in
spite of every remonstrance, he departed on his travels.
He traveled for a long time. At length he fell in with the footsteps of
men. They were moving by encampments, for he saw the poles at several
spots where they had passed. It was winter; and coming to a place where
one of their company had died, he found upon a scatfold, lying at length
in the cold blue air, the body of a beautiful young woman.
"She shall be my wife!" exclaimed Kwasynd.
He lifted her up, and bearing her in his arms, he returned to his
brother.
"Brother," he said, "cannot you restore her to life? Oh, do me that
favor!"
He looked upon the beautiful maiden with a longing gaze; but she lay as
cold and silent as when he had found her upon the scatfold.
"I will try," said Bokwewa.
These words had been scarcely breathed, when the young woman rose up,
opened her eyes, and looked upon Bokwewa with a smile, as if she had
known him before.
To Kwasynd she paid no heed whatever. But presently Bokwewa, seeing how
she lingered in her gaze upon himself, said to her, "Sister, that is
your husband," pointing to Kwasynd.
She listened to his voice, and crossing the lodge, sat by Kwasynd, and
they were man and wife.
For a long time they all lived contentedly together. Bokwewa was very
kind to his brother and sought to render his days happy. He was ever
within the lodge, seeking to have it in readiness against the return of
Kwasynd from the hunt. And by following his directions, which were
those of one deeply skilled in the chase, Kwasynd always succeeded in
returning with a good store of meat.
But the charge of the two brothers was greatly lightened by the presence
of the spirit-wife; for without labor of the hand she ordered the lodge,
and as she willed everything took its place and was at once in proper
array. The wish of her heart seemed to control whatever she looked upon,
and all obeyed her desire.
But to the surprise of her husband, she never partook of food, or shared
in any way the longings and appetites of a mortal creature. She was
never seen arranging her hair, like other women, nor did she work upon
her garments, and yet they were ever seemly and without blemish or
disorder.
Behold her at any hour, she was ever beautiful, and she seemed to need
no ornament, or nourishment, or other aid, to give grace or strength to
her looks.
Kwasynd, when the first wonder of her ways had passed, paid little
heed to her discourse; he was engrossed with the hunt, and chose to
be abroad, pursuing the wild game, or when in the lodge, enjoying its
savory spoil, rather than the society of his spirit-wife.
But Bokwewa watched closely every word that fell from her lips, and
often in conferring with her, forgot all mortal appetite and care of the
body, noting what she had to say of spirits and fairies, of stars,
and streams that never ceased to flow, the delight of the happy
hunting-grounds, and the groves of the blessed.
One day Kwasynd had gone out as usual, and Bokwewa was sitting in the
lodge on the opposite side to his brother's wife, when a tall youth
entered. His face was like the sun in its brightness, and he stood
straight as a cedar tree. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the
door.
The woman made no resistance, but turned as she left the lodge and cast
upon Bokwewa a smile of kind regard. Then saying, "I must leave you,"
she was at once gone from his view, with her companion.
He ran to the door, and looking far off in the sky, thought that he
could discover, at a great distance, a shining track, and the dim
figures of two who were vanishing into the clouds.
When his brother returned, Bokwewa related all to him exactly as it had
happened.
The face of Ivwasynd changed and was dark as the night. For several days
he would not taste food. Sometimes he would fall to weeping for a
long time, and now for the first time seemed to realise how gentle and
beautiful had been the ways of her who was lost. At last he said that he
would go in search of her.
Bokwewa tried to dissuade him from it; but he would not be turned aside
from his purpose.
"Since you are resolved," said Bokwewa, "listen to my advice. You will
have to go South. It is a long distance to the present abiding-place of
your wife, and there are so many charms and temptations by the way that
I fear you will be led astray and forget your errand. The people whom
you will see in the country through which you have to pass, do nothing
but amuse themselves. They are very idle, gay and effeminate, and I fear
that they will lead you astray. Your path is beset with dangers. I will
mention two things which you must be especially on your guard against.
"In the course of your journey you will come to a large grape-vine
lying across your path. You must not even taste its fruit, for it is
poisonous. Step over it. It is a snake. You will nest come to something
that looks like bear's fat, of which you are so fond. Touch it not, or
you will be overcome by the soft habits of the idle people. It is frog's
eggs. These are snares laid by the way for you."
Kwasynd promised that he would observe the advice, and bidding his
brother farewell, he set out. After traveling a long time he came to the
enchanted grape-vine. It looked so tempting, with its swelling purple
clusters, that he forgot his brother's warning and tried the fruit.
Then he went on till he came to the frog's eggs. They so much resembled
delicious bear's fat that Kwasynd tasted them. He still went on.
At length he came to a wide plain. As he emerged from the forest the sun
was falling in the west, and cast its scarlet and golden shades far over
the country. The air was perfectly calm, and the whole prospect had the
air of an enchanted land. Fruits and flowers and delicate blossoms lured
the eye and delighted the senses.
At a distance he beheld a large village, swarming with people, and as he
drew near he discovered women beating corn in silver mortars.
When they saw Kwasynd approaching, they cried out:
"Bokwewa's brother has come to see us."
Throngs of men and women in bright apparel hurried out to meet him.
Having already yielded to temptation by the way, he was soon overcome by
their fair looks and soft speeches; and it was not long afterward that
he was seen beating corn with the women, having entirely abandoned all
further quest for his lost wife.
Meantime, Bokwewa, alone in the lodge, waited patiently his brother's
return. After the lapse of several years he set out in search of him,
and he arrived in safety among the soft and idle people of the South. He
had met the same allurements by the way, and the people gathered around
him on his coming just as they had around his brother Kwasynd; but
Bokwewa was proof against their flattery. He only grieved in his heart
that any should yield.
He shed tears of pity to see that his brother had laid aside the arms
of a hunter, and that he was beating corn with the women, indifferent to
the fate and the fortune of his lost wife.
Bokwewa ascertained that she had passed on to a country beyond.
After deliberating for a time and spending several days in a severe
fast, he set out in the direction in which she had gone.
It was far off, but Bokwewa had a stout heart; and strong in the faith
that he was now on the broad path toward the happy land, he pressed
forward. For many days he traveled without encountering anything
unusual. Then plains of vast extent, rich in waving grass, began to pass
before his eyes. He saw many beautiful groves and beard the songs of
countless birds.
At length he began to fail in strength for lack of food; when he
suddenly reached a high ground. From this he caught the first glimpse of
the other land. But it appeared to be still far off, and all the country
between, partly veiled in silvery mists, glittered with lakes
and streams of water. As he pressed on, Bok-wewa came in sight of
innumerable herds of stately deer, moose, and other animals which walked
near his path, and they appeared to have no fear of man.
And now again as he wound about in his course, and faced the north once
more, he beheld coming toward him an immense number of men, women, and
children, pressing forward in the direction of the shining land.
In this vast throng Bokwewa beheld persons of every age, from the little
infant, the sweet and lovely penaisee, or younger son, to the feeble,
gray old man, stooping under the burden of his years.
All whom Bokwewa met, of every name and degree, were heavily laden with
pipes, weapons, bows, arrows, kettles and other wares and implements.
One man stopped him and complained of the weary load he was carrying.
Another offered him a kettle; another his bow and arrows; but he
declined all, and, free of foot, hastened on.
And now he met women who were carrying their basket-work and painted
paddles, and little boys with their embellished war-clubs and bows and
arrows, the gifts of their friends.
With this mighty throng, Bokwewa was borne along for two days and
nights, when he arrived at a country so still and shining, and so
beautiful in its woods and groves and plains, that he knew it was here
that he should find the lost spirit-wife.
He had scarcely entered this fair country, with a sense of home and the
return to things familiar strong upon him, when there appeared before
him the lost spirit-wife herself, who, taking him by the hand, gave him
welcome, saying:
"My brother, I am glad to see you. Welcome! welcome! You are now in your
native land! Here you shall dwell in peace and plenty all your days."
Then Bokwewa, finding himself no longer misshapen and awkward, but
strong and straight, followed her into the lodge.
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