“What, in the daytime, outdoors? And in the summer too? Don’t you know that we tell tales only of a winter night?”
“Oh, grandmother, those old rules are gone. Do tell us a story to keep us awake on this hot day.”
“Well, what shall it be? Shall I tell you how Old-woman’s grandchild conquered the monsters that haunted the earth?”
“No, you’ve told us that one many times. Tell us a new one.”
“Well, you shall hear one you have never heard before; a new story and yet a true one.”
There was a young Crow maiden1 named Beaver-woman who was as good-looking as any girl the Crows had ever known. She was neither too tall nor too short, her waist was slim, and her nose was as straight as a nose can be. She made the finest moccasins in all the tribe and knew how to embroider2 them with the prettiest quill3 designs. Throughout the camp there was no one for whom she did not have a kind word. The young men respected her for they knew she would not romp4 with them as some girls did, and those older ones who had been on the war-path were eager to take her to wife. Yet though one suitor after another came to offer horses to her father, the beautiful girl refused them all. At length her parents grew impatient and scolded her. “What are you waiting for? Your brothers have need of horses. Do you expect Morningstar to come down from the sky and woo you?”
Then for the first time she spoke5 of her hopes. “One day when the grass was sprouting6, I went to the creek7 to fetch some water. There my eldest8 brother’s comrade, the one they call White-dog, spoke to me and courted me, then left with a war party. I have seen him in my dreams, returning with booty. He is bringing home horses; he will offer you more than all the other suitors together who have tried to buy me.”
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Then one of her brothers laughed in derision, and another good-naturedly, and still others kept their peace, while her mother mumbled9, “Some dreams have come true and some only mock one. I liked the looks of the horses you refused.”
But a few days later, when the cherries were ripe, White-dog came back with his party, driving eighty head of horses stolen from the Sioux. Many he allotted10 to his followers11 and many he gave away to his father’s clansmen; but of the remainder he offered the twenty finest to Beaver-woman’s parents. Then she was happy and said, “My dream has come true.” Her parents, too, were very glad, and she went to live in her husband’s lodge12.
White-dog had an older wife named Turtle, whom he had inherited from a brother killed in battle. Turtle did not like the newcomer, but White-dog would not allow her to abuse Beaver-woman. He was very proud of his young and beautiful wife. When the people moved camp, it was Beaver-woman who bore his buffalo-hide shield; and when he came back from the enemy with spoils, she was the one to dance with his bow or spear while Turtle and other women looked on with envy. There was one thing he prized even higher than her good looks, and that was her virtue14. Other men were having all sorts of trouble with their wives, but he was sure of his. When he heard of a married woman eloping with her lover, he would say proudly, “My wife will soon be the only one who shall dare chop down the tree for the Sun Dance lodge”; for only a wife who had never erred15 was allowed to take part in this sacred rite13.
All went well until one spring soon after Beaver-woman had borne her first child. You young men have your dancing-clubs to-day, some of you are Hot Dancers and others belong to the Big-Ear-Holes. That’s the way we Crows used to have it in the old days, only we had real societies, the Foxes and the Lumpwoods. They didn’t just dance and feast; they tried to be brave in war and each society sought to outdo the other. But they fought in another way, too. Sometimes it happened that a Lumpwood or a Fox had once had a mistress who afterwards married into the other society. Then for a few days in the early spring he was allowed to kidnap her. No matter how badly he felt about it, her husband durst not protect her, it would have been a terrible disgrace. He must never take her back so long as he lived, or the whole camp would jeer16 at him for the rest of his37 days. Often a man might feel like fighting, but he would control himself and say, “She is nothing to me, take her.” Then the people would praise him, saying, “That one has a strong heart.”
Well, one day in the spring, a hooting17 was heard in camp. The Lumpwoods, headed by Red-eye, were ready to steal the Foxes’ wives, and the Foxes had answered the call of challenge. White-dog was not greatly interested in these doings. He was lounging in his lodge, talking to his younger brother, Little-owl, while Beaver-woman was crooning a song over her baby. Of a sudden the tramping of feet was heard, the door flap was rudely lifted, and Red-eye’s head was thrust through the opening. Beaver-woman faced him calmly. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
He answered with a song:
“My sweetheart is the one I love,
I am taking her away.”
“Go away, you’re crazy,” she said, “I have never been your sweetheart!”
“What, don’t you remember what happened at the spring?”
But now Red-eye had entered the lodge with two of his companions and was about to lay hands on her. Then she knew that it was no jest, that he was falsely claiming her as a one-time mistress and she screamed aloud at her husband.
“He is lying, you know he is lying! Help me!” All this time White-dog was sitting in the rear of the lodge, stiff and silent. He knew the charge against his wife was false, and hatred19 filled him against her wanton accuser. He also knew that unless he fought for her now she was lost forever. But it was not a man’s part to show resentment20 at such times. Just because no one in camp would believe in Red-eye’s tale, he, White-dog, would be all the greater for having shown a strong heart. So with stern face he turned to his wife and said, “They are calling you, go.” But as they seized her, up sprang Little-owl, White-dog’s younger brother, a gentle young man who loved Beaver-woman and had always shown respect for her instead of teasing her as most brothers-in-law do with their brothers’ wives. He picked up a large butchering knife from the ground and38 rushed at Red-eye crying, “You lie, you lie!” But now White-dog, too, leaped up and with his greater strength pinioned21 his brother’s arms behind his back. He wanted no scuffle when his wife was being kidnapped; it would have been a disgrace. Thus Red-eye dragged Beaver-woman away without interference.
The Lumpwoods had a grand feast and a dress parade on horseback, and Beaver-woman had to ride double with the greatest warrior23 in the society. They had dressed her up in the finest elk-tooth dress and everyone admired her good looks, but she was sad and could not hold back her tears. All the Foxes stood round about to see the spectacle, and among them was White-dog, looking on as if nothing had happened. For he wanted to show what a strong heart he had.
When the celebration was over, Beaver-woman had to live as the wife of Red-eye, whom she hated. One night she stole to White-dog’s lodge and begged him to take her back. But White-dog got angry and bade her depart. “Do you believe he was ever my lover?” she asked.
He answered, “I do not believe it, but he has made the charge and seized you. Go back. I do not want people to sing songs in mockery of me.” And when she lingered he thrust her out and struck her a blow,—he who had never beaten her before. Then she mournfully retraced24 her steps towards her new home. But before she had gotten very far she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned about and faced not White-dog but his younger brother.
“The people here are bad,” said Little-owl, “come, let us two flee. By the mouth of the Yellowstone there are Crows too, and down the Missouri are the villages of the Corn-eaters. I have relatives among both; let us go and live with them.” So in the same night they packed some dried meat and other necessaries and they started northward25 down the Yellowstone without being detected in camp.
But on the second day’s journey they were espied26 by a group of scouting27 Cheyenne. Little-owl fought bravely but was killed and scalped. Beaver-woman with her baby became a captive of the hostile tribe, and the leader of the party took her as his wife, when they got back to the Cheyenne camp. Her new husband was a great warrior and treated her kindly28, but he was an elderly man and she could not love him as she had loved White-dog. She grieved, too,39 for gentle Little-owl who had died for love of her, and she longed to go back to her own people.
About a year later another Crow woman was brought to camp as a captive. That was a joyful29 day for Beaver-woman. Now she learned all the news about her own people. She heard that Red-eye was dead, killed by lightning, and all the Crows said it was because he had abducted30 an innocent woman. White-dog had not married again; he had even sent away Turtle, his elder wife. He was more famous as a brave than ever, for he had struck several enemies and stolen two picketed31 horses from the Sioux. The people talked about his recklessness and thought he would surely become a chief.
When Beaver-woman heard about her people, she was filled with a great longing32 to go back to them. “We are not far from our own people,” she said, “let us run back there together. My husband is setting out against the Sioux; then we can escape.” So they made their get-away and arrived in safety among their own tribe. Beaver-woman went straight to her first husband’s lodge. She found him alone, smoothing an arrow-shaft. “They told me that other man was killed by lightning; I have come back,” she said. But he hardly looked up.
“A man does not take back a kidnapped wife,” he said, “go away.” Then she saw that she had come in vain and, weeping, she went to her parents’ home.
White-dog had always had a strong heart. But now the people were saying that he was positively33 foolhardy. When enemies were entrenched34, he was the first to lead the attack; when a hostile camp was to be entered, he was the first to volunteer; he was always planning a raid against the Cheyenne or Sioux. But one time a Crow party returned wailing35: White-dog had fallen in a reckless charge and they were bearing his corpse36 for burial among his people. His kinsfolk and the Foxes and all the tribe mourned his death, and the women in his family gashed37 themselves with knives to show their grief. But none grieved more, or inflicted38 more cruel wounds upon herself than Beaver-woman, and for a whole year she wore ragged22 clothes, and let her hair hang down disheveled. Then, because she was still good-looking, men came once more to woo her, and at length, because her brothers urged her, she married an oldish man and bore him children. And her children, as they grew up,40 married and had children too. But all her life she could not forget those early days when White-dog came and took her as his wife.
The old woman paused.
“Thanks, grandmother, yours is a good story and a new one, too. What times! Aren’t we happy now to live in peace, without being disturbed by Sioux or Cheyenne and without the women being kidnapped by a society of our own?”
The old woman straightened up and looked at the youth with a disdainful glance. “You boys who go to school don’t understand anything. The longer you stay there, the less sense you have. I once hoped to cut down the sacred tree in the Sun Dance! I bore White-dog’s shield when the camp moved! I danced, holding his spear, with Turtle and all the other women looking on in envy! Little-owl died for love of me! White-dog threw away his life because he could not take me back!”
Robert H. Lowie
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1
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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embroider
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| v.刺绣于(布)上；给…添枝加叶，润饰 | |
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3
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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4
romp
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| n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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6
sprouting
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| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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7
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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8
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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9
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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12
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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13
rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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14
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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15
erred
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| 犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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17
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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18
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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19
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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20
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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21
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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23
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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24
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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25
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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26
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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28
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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29
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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30
abducted
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| 劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展 | |
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31
picketed
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| 用尖桩围住（picket的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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32
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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33
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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34
entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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35
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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36
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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37
gashed
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| v.划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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