He had come into the keeping of the Paiutes as a hostage for the long peace which the authority of the whites made interminable, and, though there was now no order in the tribe, nor any power that could have lawfully5 restrained him, kept on in the old usage, to save his honor and the word of his vanished kin3. He had seen his children's children in the borders of the Paiutes, but loved best his own miles of sand and rainbow-painted hills. Professedly he had not seen them since the beginning of his hostage; but every year about the end of the rains and before the strength of the sun had come upon us from the south, the medicine-man went apart on the mountains to gather herbs, and when he came again I knew by the new fortitude7 of his countenance8 and the new color of his reminiscences that he had been alone and unspied upon in Shoshone Land.
To reach that country from the campoodie, one goes south and south, within hearing of the lip-lip-lapping of the great tideless lake, and south by east over a high rolling district, miles and miles of sage6 and nothing else. So one comes to the country of the painted hills,—old red cones9 of craters10, wasteful11 beds of mineral earths, hot, acrid12 springs, and steam jets issuing from a leprous soil. After the hills the black rock, after the craters the spewed lava13, ash strewn, of incredible thickness, and full of sharp, winding15 rifts16. There are picture writings carved deep in the face of the cliffs to mark the way for those who do not know it. On the very edge of the black rock the earth falls away in a wide sweeping17 hollow, which is Shoshone Land.
South the land rises in very blue hills, blue because thickly wooded with ceanothus and manzanita, the haunt of deer and the border of the Shoshones. Eastward18 the land goes very far by broken ranges, narrow valleys of pure desertness, and huge mesas uplifted to the sky-line, east and east, and no man knows the end of it.
It is the country of the bighorn, the wapiti, and the wolf, nesting place of buzzards, land of cloud-nourished trees and wild things that live without drink. Above all, it is the land of the creosote and the mesquite. The mesquite is God's best thought in all this desertness. It grows in the open, is thorny19, stocky, close grown, and iron-rooted. Long winds move in the draughty valleys, blown sand fills and fills about the lower branches, piling pyramidal dunes20, from the top of which the mesquite twigs21 flourish greenly. Fifteen or twenty feet under the drift, where it seems no rain could penetrate22, the main trunk grows, attaining23 often a yard's thickness, resistant24 as oak. In Shoshone Land one digs for large timber; that is in the southerly, sandy exposures. Higher on the table-topped ranges low trees of juniper and pinon stand each apart, rounded and spreading heaps of greenness. Between them, but each to itself in smooth clear spaces, tufts of tall feathered grass.
This is the sense of the desert hills, that there is room enough and time enough. Trees grow to consummate25 domes26; every plant has its perfect work. Noxious27 weeds such as come up thickly in crowded fields do not flourish in the free spaces. Live long enough with an Indian, and he or the wild things will show you a use for everything that grows in these borders.
The manner of the country makes the usage of life there, and the land will not be lived in except in its own fashion. The Shoshones live like their trees, with great spaces between, and in pairs and in family groups they set up wattled huts by the infrequent springs. More wickiups than two make a very great number. Their shelters are lightly built, for they travel much and far, following where deer feed and seeds ripen28, but they are not more lonely than other creatures that inhabit there.
The year's round is somewhat in this fashion. After the pinon harvest the clans29 foregather on a warm southward slope for the annual adjustment of tribal difficulties and the medicine dance, for marriage and mourning and vengeance30, and the exchange of serviceable information; if, for example, the deer have shifted their feeding ground, if the wild sheep have come back to Waban, or certain springs run full or dry. Here the Shoshones winter flockwise, weaving baskets and hunting big game driven down from the country of the deep snow. And this brief intercourse31 is all the use they have of their kind, for now there are no wars, and many of their ancient crafts have fallen into disuse. The solitariness32 of the life breeds in the men, as in the plants, a certain well-roundedness and sufficiency to its own ends. Any Shoshone family has in itself the man-seed, power to multiply and replenish33, potentialities for food and clothing and shelter, for healing and beautifying.
When the rain is over and gone they are stirred by the instinct of those that journeyed eastward from Eden, and go up each with his mate and young brood, like birds to old nesting places. The beginning of spring in Shoshone Land—oh the soft wonder of it!—is a mistiness34 as of incense35 smoke, a veil of greenness over the whitish stubby shrubs36, a web of color on the silver sanded soil. No counting covers the multitude of rayed blossoms that break suddenly underfoot in the brief season of the winter rains, with silky furred or prickly viscid foliage37, or no foliage at all. They are morning and evening bloomers chiefly, and strong seeders. Years of scant38 rains they lie shut and safe in the winnowed39 sands, so that some species appear to be extinct. Years of long storms they break so thickly into bloom that no horse treads without crushing them. These years the gullies of the hills are rank with fern and a great tangle40 of climbing vines.
Just as the mesa twilights have their vocal41 note in the love call of the burrowing42 owl43, so the desert spring is voiced by the mourning doves. Welcome and sweet they sound in the smoky mornings before breeding time, and where they frequent in any great numbers water is confidently looked for. Still by the springs one finds the cunning brush shelters from which the Shoshones shot arrows at them when the doves came to drink.
Now as to these same Shoshones there are some who claim that they have no right to the name, which belongs to a more northerly tribe; but that is the word they will be called by, and there is no greater offense44 than to call an Indian out of his name. According to their traditions and all proper evidence, they were a great people occupying far north and east of their present bounds, driven thence by the Paiutes. Between the two tribes is the residuum of old hostilities45.
Winnenap', whose memory ran to the time when the boundary of the Paiute country was a dead-line to Shoshones, told me once how himself and another lad, in an unforgotten spring, discovered a nesting place of buzzards a bit of a way beyond the borders. And they two burned to rob those nests. Oh, for no purpose at all except as boys rob nests immemorially, for the fun of it, to have and handle and show to other lads as an exceeding treasure, and afterwards discard. So, not quite meaning to, but breathless with daring, they crept up a gully, across a sage brush flat and through a waste of boulders48, to the rugged49 pines where their sharp eyes had made out the buzzards settling.
The medicine-man told me, always with a quaking relish50 at this point, that while they, grown bold by success, were still in the tree, they sighted a Paiute hunting party crossing between them and their own land. That was mid-morning, and all day on into the dark the boys crept and crawled and slid, from boulder47 to bush, and bush to boulder, in cactus51 scrub and on naked sand, always in a sweat of fear, until the dust caked in the nostrils52 and the breath sobbed53 in the body, around and away many a mile until they came to their own land again. And all the time Winnenap' carried those buzzard's eggs in the slack of his single buckskin garment! Young Shoshones are like young quail54, knowing without teaching about feeding and hiding, and learning what civilized55 children never learn, to be still and to keep on being still, at the first hint of danger or strangeness.
As for food, that appears to be chiefly a matter of being willing. Desert Indians all eat chuckwallas, big black and white lizards56 that have delicate white flesh savored57 like chicken. Both the Shoshones and the coyotes are fond of the flesh of Gopherus agassizii, the turtle that by feeding on buds, going without drink, and burrowing in the sand through the winter, contrives58 to live a known period of twenty-five years. It seems that most seeds are foodful in the arid59 regions, most berries edible14, and many shrubs good for firewood with the sap in them. The mesquite bean, whether the screw or straight pod, pounded to a meal, boiled to a kind of mush, and dried in cakes, sulphur-colored and needing an axe60 to cut it, is an excellent food for long journeys. Fermented61 in water with wild honey and the honeycomb, it makes a pleasant, mildly intoxicating62 drink.
Next to spring, the best time to visit Shoshone Land is when the deer-star hangs low and white like a torch over the morning hills. Go up past Winnedumah and down Saline and up again to the rim63 of Mesquite Valley. Take no tent, but if you will, have an Indian build you a wickiup, willows64 planted in a circle, drawn65 over to an arch, and bound cunningly with withes, all the leaves on, and chinks to count the stars through. But there was never any but Winnenap' who could tell and make it worth telling about Shoshone Land.
And Winnenap' will not any more. He died, as do most medicine-men of the Paiutes.
Where the lot falls when the campoodie chooses a medicine-man there it rests. It is an honor a man seldom seeks but must wear, an honor with a condition. When three patients die under his ministrations, the medicine-man must yield his life and his office.
Wounds do not count; broken bones and bullet holes the Indian can understand, but measles66, pneumonia67, and smallpox68 are witchcraft69. Winnenap' was medicine-man for fifteen years. Besides considerable skill in healing herbs, he used his prerogatives70 cunningly. It is permitted the medicine-man to decline the case when the patient has had treatment from any other, say the white doctor, whom many of the younger generation consult. Or, if before having seen the patient, he can definitely refer his disorder71 to some supernatural cause wholly out of the medicine-man's jurisdiction72, say to the spite of an evil spirit going about in the form of a coyote, and states the case convincingly, he may avoid the penalty. But this must not be pushed too far. All else failing, he can hide. Winnenap' did this the time of the measles epidemic73. Returning from his yearly herb gathering74, he heard of it at Black Rock, and turning aside, he was not to be found, nor did he return to his own place until the disease had spent itself, and half the children of the campoodie were in their shallow graves with beads75 sprinkled over them.
It is possible the tale of Winnenap's patients had not been strictly76 kept. There had not been a medicine-man killed in the valley for twelve years, and for that the perpetrators had been severely77 punished by the whites. The winter of the Big Snow an epidemic of pneumonia carried off the Indians with scarcely a warning; from the lake northward78 to the lava flats they died in the sweathouses, and under the hands of the medicine-men. Even the drugs of the white physician had no power.
After two weeks of this plague the Paiutes drew to council to consider the remissness79 of their medicine-men. They were sore with grief and afraid for themselves; as a result of the council, one in every campoodie was sentenced to the ancient penalty. But schooling80 and native shrewdness had raised up in the younger men an unfaith in old usages, so judgment81 halted between sentence and execution. At Three Pines the government teacher brought out influential82 whites to threaten and cajole the stubborn tribes. At Tunawai the conservatives sent into Nevada for that pacific old humbug83, Johnson Sides, most notable of Paiute orators84, to harangue85 his people. Citizens of the towns turned out with food and comforts, and so after a season the trouble passed.
But here at Maverick86 there was no school, no oratory87, and no alleviation88. One third of the campoodie died, and the rest killed the medicine-men. Winnenap' expected it, and for days walked and sat a little apart from his family that he might meet it as became a Shoshone, no doubt suffering the agony of dread89 deferred90. When finally three men came and sat at his fire without greeting he knew his time. He turned a little from them, dropped his chin upon his knees, and looked out over Shoshone Land, breathing evenly. The women went into the wickiup and covered their heads with their blankets.
So much has the Indian lost of savageness91 by merely desisting from killing92, that the executioners braved themselves to their work by drinking and a show of quarrelsomeness. In the end a sharp hatchet-stroke discharged the duty of the campoodie. Afterward46 his women buried him, and a warm wind coming out of the south, the force of the disease was broken, and even they acquiesced93 in the wisdom of the tribe. That summer they told me all except the names of the Three.
Since it appears that we make our own heaven here, no doubt we shall have a hand in the heaven of hereafter; and I know what Winnenap's will be like: worth going to if one has leave to live in it according to his liking94. It will be tawny95 gold underfoot, walled up with jacinth and jasper, ribbed with chalcedony, and yet no hymnbook heaven, but the free air and free spaces of Shoshone Land.
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1
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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lawfully
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| adv.守法地，合法地；合理地 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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craters
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| n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等 | |
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wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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edible
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| n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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rifts
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| n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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thorny
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| adj.多刺的，棘手的 | |
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dunes
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| 沙丘( dune的名词复数 ) | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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resistant
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| adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的 | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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noxious
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| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
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28
ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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solitariness
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| n.隐居；单独 | |
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replenish
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| vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满 | |
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mistiness
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| n.雾，模糊，不清楚 | |
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incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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winnowed
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| adj.扬净的，风选的v.扬( winnow的过去式和过去分词 )；辨别；选择；除去 | |
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40
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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42
burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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43
owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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45
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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49
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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50
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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51
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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52
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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53
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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54
quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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55
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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56
lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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57
savored
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的过去式和过去分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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58
contrives
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的第三人称单数 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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59
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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60
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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61
fermented
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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intoxicating
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| a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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64
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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66
measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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68
smallpox
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| n.天花 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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prerogatives
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| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
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71
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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74
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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76
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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77
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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78
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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79
remissness
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| n.玩忽职守；马虎；怠慢；不小心 | |
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80
schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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81
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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82
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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83
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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84
orators
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| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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85
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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86
maverick
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| adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者 | |
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87
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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88
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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89
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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90
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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91
savageness
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| 天然，野蛮 | |
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92
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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93
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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95
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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