HIAWATHA'S HUNTING HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW Then Iagoo, the great boaster, From a branch of ash he made it, Then he said to Hiawatha: Forth into the forest straightway Proudly, with his bow and arrows; Sang the robin, the Opechee, Up the oak tree, close beside him, Coughed and chattered from the oak tree, Laughed, and said between his laughing, "Do not shoot me, Hiawatha!" And the rabbit from his pathway But he heeded not, nor heard them, For his thoughts were with the red deer; On their tracks his eyes were fastened, Leading downward to the river, To the ford across the river, And as one in slumber walked he. Hidden in the alder bushes, As the deer came down the pathway. There he waited till the deer came Then, upon one knee uprising, Hiawatha aimed an arrow; Scarce a twig moved with his motion, Scarce a leaf was stirred or rustled; But the wary roebuck started, Like a wasp it buzzed and stung him! Dead he lay there in the forest, By the ford across the river; Throbbed and shouted and exulted, Hailed his coming with applauses. From the red deer's hide Nokomis Called him Loon-Heart, Mahn-go-taysee! I a'goo (ē ä'goo); Nō kō'mis; Hi awa'tha (he à wä'tha); Ope'chee (ō pe'che); Owais'sa (ō wa'sa); Ad ji dau'mō; Sōan ge ta' ha; Mahngō tay'see; roe'buck' (rō'buk'), the male of the roe deer; ănt'lers. branching horns; păl'pi tā'těd, beat rapidly with strong feeling; wā'ry, careful; fā'tal, causing death; băn'quet (kwět), a great feast. STUDY HELPS Who was Iagoo? What did he do? From what did he make the bow and arrows? What did he tell Hiawatha to do? Where did Hiawatha go? What did the birds do? What did the squirrel do? What did the rabbit do? Why did Hiawatha pay no attention to them? What did he see from his hiding place? What tells you how excited he was? How did he kill the deer? What did Hiawatha's heart do then? (Can you tell why?) Tell how he was welcomed for his success. What was done with the deer? THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT JOHN GODFREY SAXE It was six men of Indostan, Might satisfy his mind. The first approached the elephant, Against his broad and sturdy side, The second, feeling of the tusk, |