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A short story by Charles Alexander Eastman |
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The Eagle And The Beaver (Third Evening) |
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Title: The Eagle And The Beaver (Third Evening) Author: Charles Alexander Eastman [More Titles by Eastman] THIRD EVENING
"But see, my younger brother, you are only a small boy and can neither hunt nor fight; surely, therefore, it is well for you to help our mother at home!" The two children, Wasula and Chatanna, as they draw near the old story-teller's wigwam, are carrying on a dispute that has arisen between them earlier in the evening, when dry sticks were to be gathered for cooking the supper, and Chatanna, aged seven, refused to help his sister on the ground that it is not a warrior's duty to provide wood. Both appeal to their teacher to settle the question. "Hun, hun, hay!" good-naturedly exclaims the old man. "Truly, there is much to be said on both sides; but perhaps you can agree more easily after you have heard my story."
Out of the quiet blue sky there shot like an arrow the great War-eagle. Beside the clear brown stream an old Beaver-woman was busily chopping wood. Yet she was not too busy to catch the whir of descending wings, and the Eagle reached too late the spot where she had vanished in the midst of the shining pool. He perched sullenly upon a dead tree near by and kept his eyes steadily upon the smooth sheet of water above the dam. After a time the water was gently stirred and a sleek, brown head cautiously appeared above it. "What right have you," reproached the Beaver-woman, "to disturb thus the mother of a peaceful and hard-working people?" "Ugh, I am hungry," the Eagle replied shortly. "Then why not do as we do--let other folks alone and work for a living?" "That is all very well for you," the Eagle retorted, "but not everybody can cut down trees with his teeth, or live upon bark and weeds in a mud-plastered wigwam. I am a warrior, not an old woman!" "It is true that some people are born trouble-makers," returned the Beaver, quietly. "Yet I see no good reason why you, as well as we, should not be content with plain fare and willing to toil for what you want. My work, moreover, is of use to others besides myself and family, for with my dam-building I deepen the stream for the use of all the dwellers therein, while you are a terror to all living creatures that are weaker than yourself. You would do well to profit by my example." So saying, she dove down again to the bottom of the pool. The Eagle waited patiently for a long time, but he saw nothing more of her; and so, in spite of his contempt for the harmless industry of an old Beaver-woman, it was he, not she, who was obliged to go hungry that morning. Pride alone will not fill the stomach. [The end] GO TO TOP OF SCREEN |