HIAWATHA'S HUNTING

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Then Iagoo, the great boaster,
He the marvelous story-teller,
He the traveler and the talker,
He the friend of old Nokomis,
Made a bow for Hiawatha;

From a branch of ash he made it,
From an oak bough made the arrows,
Tipped with flint, and winged with feathers,
And the cord he made of deerskin.

Then he said to Hiawatha:
"Go, my son, into the forest,
Where the red deer herd together,
Kill for us a famous roebuck,
Kill for us a deer with antlers!"

Forth into the forest straightway
All alone walked Hiawatha

Proudly, with his bow and arrows;
And the birds sang round him, o'er him,
"Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!"

Sang the robin, the Opechee,
Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa,
"Do not shoot us, Hiawatha!"

Up the oak tree, close beside him,
Sprang the squirrel, Adjidaumo,
In and out among the branches,

Coughed and chattered from the oak tree, Laughed, and said between his laughing, "Do not shoot me, Hiawatha!"

And the rabbit from his pathway
Leaped aside, and at a distance
Sat erect upon his haunches,
Half in fear and half in frolic,
Saying to the little hunter,
"Do not shoot me, Hiawatha!"

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,
There he waited till the deer came,
Till he saw two antlers lifted,
Saw two eyes look from the thicket,
Saw two nostrils point to windward,
And a deer came down the pathway,
Flecked with leafy light and shadow.
And his heart within him fluttered,
Trembled like the leaves above him,
Like the birch leaf palpitated,

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,
Stamped with all his hoofs together,
Listened with one foot uplifted,
Leaped as if to meet the arrow;
Ah! the singing, fatal arrow,

Like a wasp it buzzed and stung him!

Dead he lay there in the forest,

By the ford across the river;
Beat his timid heart no longer,
But the heart of Hiawatha

Throbbed and shouted and exulted,
As he bore the red deer homeward;
And Iagoo and Nokomis

Hailed his coming with applauses.

From the red deer's hide Nokomis
Made a cloak for Hiawatha,
From the red deer's flesh Nokomis
Made a banquet in his honor.
All the village came and feasted,
All the guests praised Hiawatha,
Called him Strong-Heart, Soan-ge-taha!

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,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
And, happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"Why, bless me! but the elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried: "Ho! what have we here,
So very round, and smooth, and sharp?
To me 't is very clear,
This wonder of an elephant
Is very like a spear!"