MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV), FREDERICK MARRYAT [easy novels to read .txt] 📗
- Author: FREDERICK MARRYAT
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"When You Refused to Till The Ground, You Did Well, For It Was Not In
Your Nature--The Nature Of Man Cannot Be Changed like That Of A Moth.
Yet, At That Time, You Understood Well The Means Which Give Power To A
Great People. Wealth Alone Can Maintain The Superiority That Bravery Has
Asserted. Wealth And Bravery Make Strength--Strength Which Nothing Can
Break Down, Except The Great Master Of Life.
"The Shoshones Knew This A Long Time Ago; They Are Brave, But They Have
No Wealth; And If They Still Keep Their Superiority, It Is Because Their
Enemies Are At This Time Awed by The Strength And The Cunning Of Their
Warriors. But The Shoshones, To Keep Their Ground, Will Some Day Be
Obliged to Sleep Always On Their Borders, To Repel Their Enemies. They
Will Be Too Busy To Fish And To Hunt. Their Squaws And Children Will
Starve! Even Now The Evil Has Begun. What Hunting and What Fishing Have
You Had This Last Year? None! As Soon As The Braves Had Arrived at Their
Hunting-Ground, They Were Obliged to Return Back To Defend Their Squaws
And To Punish Their Enemies.
"Now, Why Should Not The Shoshones Put Themselves At Once Above The
Reach Of Such Chances? Why Should They Not Get Rich? They Object To
Planting Grain And Tobacco. They Do Well, As Other People Can Do That
For Them; But There Are Many Other Means Of Getting Strength And Wealth.
These I Will Teach To My Tribe!
"The Shoshones Fight The Crows, Because The Crows Are Thieves; The
Flat-Heads, Because They Are Greedy Of Our Buffaloes; The Umbiquas,
Because They Steal Horses. Were It Not For Them, The Children Of The
Grand Serpent Would Never Fight; Their Lodges Would Fill With Wealth,
And That Wealth Would Purchase All The Good Things Of The White Men From
Distant Lands. These White Men-Come To The Watchinangoes (Mexicans), To
Take The Hides Of Their Oxen, The Wool Of Their Sheep. They Would Come
To Us, If We Had Anything To Offer Them. Let Us Then Call Them, For We
Have The Hides Of Thousands Of Buffaloes; We Have The Furs Of The Beaver
And The Otter; We Have Plenty Of Copper In our Mountains, And Of Gold In
Our Streams.
"Now, Hear Me. When A Shoshone Chief Thinks That The Crows Will Attack
His Lodge, He Calls His Children And His Nephews Around Him. A Nation
Can Do The Same. The Shoshones Have Many Brave Children In the Prairies
Of The South; They Have Many More On The Borders Of The Yankees. All Of
Them Think And Speak Like Their Ancestors, They Are The Same People.
Now Would It Not Be Good And Wise To Have All These Brave Grand-Children
And Grand-Nephews As Your Neighbours And Allies, Instead Of The Crows,
The Cayuses, And The Umbiquas? Yes, It Would. Who Would Dare To Come
From The North Across A Country Inhabited by The Warlike Comanches, Or
From The South And The Rising Sun, Through The Wigwams Of The Apaches?
The Shoshones Would Then Have More Than 30,000 Warriors; They Would
Sweep The Country, From The Sea To The Mountains, From The River Of The
North (Columbia) To The Towns Of The Watchinangoes. When The White Men
Would Come In their Big Canoes, As Traders And Friends, We Would Receive
Them Well; If They Come As Foes, We Will Laugh At Them, And Whip Them
Like Dogs. These Are The Thoughts Which I Wanted to Make Known To The
Shoshones.
"During My Absence, I Have Seen The Apaches And The Comanches. They Are
Both Great Nations. Let Us Send Some Wise Men To Invite Them To Return
To Their Fathers; Let Our Chiefs Offer Them Wood, Land, And Water. I
Have Said."
As Long As I Spoke, The Deepest Silence Reigned over The Whole Assembly;
But As Soon As I Sat Down, And Began Smoking, There Was A General
Movement, Which Showed me That I Had Made An Impression. The Old Great
Chief Rose, However, And The Murmurs Were Hushed. He Spoke:--
"Owato Wanisha Has Spoken. I Have Heard. It Was A Strange Vision, A
Beautiful Dream. My Heart Came Young Again, My Body Lighter, And My Eyes
More Keen. Yet I Cannot See The Future; I Must Fast And Pray, I Must Ask
The Great Master Of Life To Lend Me His Wisdom.
"I Know The Comanches, I Know The Apaches, And The Arrapahoes. They Are
Our Children; I Know It. The Comanches Have Left Us A Long, Long Time,
But The Apaches And Arrapahoes Have Not Yet Forgotten The
Hunting-Grounds Where Their Fathers Were Born. When I Was But A Young
Hunter, They Would Come Every Snow To The Lodge Of Our Manitou, To Offer
Their Presents. It Was Long Before Any Pale-Face Had Passed the
Mountains. Since That The Leaves Of The Oaks Have Grown And Died eighty
Times. It Is A Long While For A Man, But For A Nation It Is But As
Yesterday.
"They Are Our Children,--It Would Be Good To Have Them With Us; They
Would Share Our Hunts; We Would Divide Our Wealth With Them. Then We
Would Be Strong. Owato Wanisha Has Spoken Well; He Hath Learned many
Mysteries With The _Macota Conaya_ (Black Robes, Priests); He Is Wise.
Yet, As I Have Said, The Red-Skin Chiefs Must Ask Wisdom From The Great
Master. He Will Let Us Know What Is Good And What Is Bad. At The Next
Moon We Will Return To The Council. I Have Said."
All The Chiefs Departed, To Prepare For Their Fasting and Ceremonies,
While Gabriel, Roche, My Old Servant, And Myself, Concerted our Measures
So As To Insure The Success Of My Enterprise. My Servant I Despatched to
Monterey, Gabriel To The Nearest Village Of The Apaches, And As It Was
Proper, According To Indian Ideas, That I Should Be Out Of The Way
During The Ceremonies, So As Not To Influence Any Chief, I Retired with
Roche To The Boat-House, To Pass The Time Until The New Moon.
Upon The Day Agreed upon, We Were All Once More Assembled at The
Council-Ground On The Shores Of The Buona Ventura, The Chiefs And Elders
Of The Tribe Had Assumed a Solemn Demeanour, And Even The Men Of Dark
Deeds (The Medecins) And The Keepers Of The Sacred lodges Had Made Their
Appearance, In their Professional Dresses, So As To Impress Upon The
Beholders The Importance Of The Present Transaction. One Of The Sacred
Lodge First Arose, And Making a Signal With His Hand, Prepared
To Speak:--
"Shoshones," Said He, "Now Has Come The Time In which Out Nation Must
Either Rise Above All Others, As The Eagle Of The Mountains Rises Above
The Small Birds, Or Sink Down And Disappear From The Surface Of The
Earth. Had We Been Left Such As We Were Before The Pale-Faces Crossed
The Mountains, We Would Have Needed no Other Help But A Shoshone Heart
And Our Keen Arrows To Crush Our Enemies; But The Pale-Faces Have Double
Hearts As Well As A Double Tongue; They Are Friends Or Enemies As Their
Thirst For Wealth Guides Them. They Trade With The Shoshones, But They
Also Trade With The Crows And The Umbiquas. The Young Chief, Owato
Wanisha, Hath Proposed a New Path To Our Tribe; He Is Young, But He Has
Received his Wisdom From The Black-Gowns, Who, Of All Men, Are The Most
Wise. I Have Heard, As Our Elders And Ancient Chiefs Have Also Heard,
The Means By Which He Thinks We Can Succeed: We Have Fasted, We Have
Prayed to The Master Of Life To Show Unto Us The Path Which We Must
Follow. Shoshones, We Live In a Strange Time! Our Great Manitou Bids Us
Red-Skins Obey The Pale-Face, And Follow Him To Conquer Or Die. I Have
Said! The Chief Of Many Winters Will Now Address His Warriors
And Friends!"
A Murmur Ran Through The Whole Assembly, Who Seemed evidently Much Moved
By This Political Speech From One Whom They Were Accustomed to Look Upon
With Dread, As The Interpreter Of The Will Of Heaven. The Old Chief, Who
Had Already Spoken In the Former Council, Now Rose And Spoke With A
Tremulous Yet Distinct Voice.
"I Have Fasted, I Have Prayed, I Have Dreamed. Old Men, Who Have Lived
Almost All Their Life, Have A Keener Perception *To Read The Wishes Of
The Master Of Life Concerning The Future. I Am A Chief, And Have Been A
Chief During Sixty Changes Of The Season. I Am Proud Of My Station, And
As I Have Struck Deepest In the Heart Of Our Enemies, I Am Jealous Of
That Power Which Is Mine, And Would Yield It To No One, If The Great
Manitou Did Not Order It. When This Sun Will Have Disappeared behind The
Salt-Water, I Shall No Longer Be A Chief! Owato Wanisha Will Guide Our
Warriors, He Will Preside In council, For Two Gods Are With Him--The
Manitou Of The Pale-Faces And The Manitou Of The Red-Skins.
"Hear My Words, Shoshones! I Shall Soon Join My Father And Grandfather
In The Happy Lands, For I Am Old! Yet, Before My Bones Are Buried at The
Foot Of The Hills, It Would Brighten My Heart To See The Glory Of The
Shoshones, Which I Know Must Be In a Short Time. Hear My Words! Long
Ages Ago Some Of Our Children, Not Finding Our Hunting-Grounds Wide
Enough For The Range-Of Their Arrows, Left Us. They First Wandered in
The South, And In the Beautiful Prairies Of The East, Under A Climate
Blessed by The Good Spirits. They Grew And Grew In number Till Their
Families Were As Numerous As Ours, And As They Were Warriors And Their
Hearts Big, They Spread Themselves, And, Soon Crossing The Big
Mountains, Their Eagle Glance Saw On Each Side Of Their Territory The
Salt-Water Of The Sunrise And The Salt-Water Of The Sunset. These Are
The Comanches, A Powerful Nation. The Comanches Even Now Have A Shoshone
Heart, A Shoshone Tongue. Owato Wanisha Has Been With Them; He Says They
Are Friends, And Have Not Forgotten That They Are The Children Of The
Great Serpent.
"Long, Long While Afterwards, Yet Not Long Enough That I Should Escape
The Memory And The Records Of Our Holy Men, Some Other Of Our Children,
Hearing Of The Power Of The Comanches Of Their Wealth, Of Their
Beautiful Country, Determined also To Leave Us And Spread To The South.
These Are The Apaches From The Top Of The Big Mountains, Always Covered
With Snow They Look Towards The Bed of The Sun. They See The Green Grass
Of The Prairie Below Them, And Afar The Blue Salt-Water Their Houses Are
As Numerous As The Stars In heaven, Their Warriors As Thick As The
Shells In the Bottom Of Our Lakes. They Are Brave; They Are Feared by
The Pale-Faces--By All; And They Too, Know That We Are Their Fathers;
Their Tongue Is Our Tongue Their Manitou Our Manitou; Their Heart A
Portion Of Our Heart And Never Has The Knife Of A Shoshone Drunk The
Blood Of A Apache, Nor The Belt Of An Apache Suspended the Scalp
Of Shoshone.
"And Afterwards, Again, More Of Our Children Left Us. By That Time They
Left Us Because We Were Angry. They Were Few Families Of Chiefs Who Had
Grown Strong And Proud. They Wished to Lord Over Our Wigwams, And We
Drove Them Away, As The Panther Drives Away Her Cubs, When Their Claws
And Teeth Have Been Once Turned against Her. These Are The Arrapahoes
They Are Strong And Our Enemies, Yet They Are A Noble Nation. I Have In
My Lodge Twenty Of Their Scalps; They Have Many Ours. They Fight By The
Broad Light Of The Day, With The Lane Bow, And Arrows; They Scorn
Treachery. Are They Not Although Rebels And Unnatural Children, Still
The Children, Of The Shoshones? Who Ever Heard Of The Arrapahoes
Entering The War-Path In night? No One! They Are No Crows, No Umbiquas,
No Flat-Heads! They Can Give Death; They Know How To Receive
It,--Straight And Upright, Knee To Knee, Breast To Breast, And Their Eye
Drinking The Glance Of Their Foe.
"Well, These Arrapahoes Are Our Neighbours; Often, Very Often, Too Much
So (As Many Of Our Widows Can Say), When They Unbury Their Tomahawk And
Enter The War-Path Against The Shoshones. Why; Can Two Suns Light The
Same Prairie, Or Two Male Eagles Cover The Same Nest? No. Yet Numerous
Stars Appear During Night, All Joined together, And Obedient To The
Moon. Blackbirds And Parrots Will Unite Their Numerous Tribes And Take
The Same Flight To Seek Altogether A Common Rest A Shelter For A Night;
It Is A Law Of Nature. The Red-Skin Knows None But The Laws Of Nature.
The Shoshone Is An Eagle On The Hills, A Bright Sun In the Prairie, So
Is An Arrapahoe;
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