The Acorn-Planter, Jack London [free ebook reader .txt] 📗

In kindness, with the thunder in his hand.

{Shaman}
(Deflected to partisanship of War Chief
by War Chief's success.)
By his own lips has he said it, with the thunder
in his hand.

{War Chief}
You are the Sun Man.

{Sun Man}
(Shrugging shoulders.)
My names are many as the stars. Call me
White Man.

{Red Cloud}
I am Red Cloud, the first man.

{Sun Man}
Then am I Adam, the first man and your
brother.

(Glancing about.)
And this is Eden, to look upon it.

{Red Cloud}
My father was the Coyote.

{Sun Man}
My father was Jehovah.

{Red Cloud}
I am the Fire-Bringer. I stole the fire from
the ground squirrel and hid it in the heart of
the wood.

{Sun Man}
Then am I Prometheus, your brother. I
stole the fire from heaven and hid it in the heart
of the wood.

{Red Cloud}
I am the Acorn-Planter. I am the Food-
Bringer, the Life-Maker. I make food for
more life, ever more life.

{Sun Man}
Then am I truly your brother. Life-Maker
am I, tilling the soil in the sweat of my brow
from the beginning of time, planting all manner
of good seeds for the harvest.

(Looking sharply at Red Cloud's skin
garments.)
Also am I the Weaver and Cloth-Maker.

(Holding out arm so that Red Cloud may
examine the cloth of the coat)
From the hair of the goat and the wool of
the sheep, and from beaten and spun grasses,
do I make the cloth to keep man warm.

{Shaman}
(Breaking in boastfully.)
I am the Shaman. I know all secret things.

{Sun Man}
I know my pathway under the sun over all
the seas, and I know the secrets of the stars
that show me my path where no path is. I
know when the Wolf of Darkness shall eat the
moon.

(Pointing toward moon.)
On this night shall the Wolf of Darkness eat
the moon.

(He turns suddenly to Red Cloud,
drawing sheath-knife and passing it
to him.)

More, O First Man and Acorn-Planter. I am
the Iron-Maker. Behold!

(Red Cloud examines knife, understands
immediately its virtue, cuts easily a strip
of skin from his skin garment, and is
overcome with the wonder of the knife.)

{War Chief}
(Exhibiting a long bow.)
I am the War Chief. No man, save me, has
strength to bend this bow. I can slay farther
than any man.

(A huge bear has come out among the
bushes far up the hillside)

{Sun Man}
I, too, am War Chief over men, and I can
slay farther than you.

{War Chief}
Hoh! Hoh!

{Sun Man}
(Pointing to bear)
Can you slay that with your strong bow?

{War Chief}
(Dubiously)
It is a far shot. Too far. No man can slay
a great bear so far.

(Sun Man, shaking off from his arms the
hands of Deer Foot and Elk Man,
aims musket and fires. The bear falls,
and the Nishinam betray astonishment
and awe)

(At a quick signal from War Chief,
Sun Man is again seized. War Chief
takes away musket and examines it.)

{Shaman}
There is a sign.

{People}
There is a sign.
He carries the thunder in his hand.
He slays with the thunder in his hand.
He is the enemy of the Nishinam.
He will destroy the Nishinam.

{Shaman}
There is a sign.

{People}
There is a sign.
In the day the Sun Man comes,
The waters from the spring will no longer flow,
And in that day will he destroy the Nishinam.

{War Chief}
(Exhibiting musket.)
Hoh! Hoh! I have taken the Sun Man's
thunder.

{Shaman}
Now shall the Sun Man die that the Nishinam
may live.

{Red Cloud}
He is our brother. He, too, is an acorn-
planter. He has spoken.

{Shaman}
He is the Sun Man, and he is our eternal
enemy. He shall die.

{War Chief}
In war I command.

(To Hunters.)
Tie their feet with stout thongs that they
may not run. And then make ready with bow
and arrow to do the deed.

(Hunters obey, urging and thrusting the
Sea Cunies into a compact group behind
the Sun Man.)

{Red Cloud}
Shaman I am not.
I know not the secret things.
I say the things I know.
When you plant kindness you harvest kindness.
When you plant blood you harvest blood.
He who plants one acorn makes way for life.
He who slays one man slays the planter of a
thousand acorns.

{Shaman}
Shaman I am.
I see the dark future.
I see the Sun Man's death,
The journey he must take
Through thick and endless forest
Where lost souls wander howling
A thousand moons of moons.

{People}
Through thick and endless forest
Where lost souls wander howling
A thousand moons of moons.

(War Chief arranges Hunters with their
bows and arrows for the killing.)

{Sun Man}
(To Red Cloud.)
You will slay us?

{Red Cloud}
(Indicating War Chief.)
In war he commands.

{Sun Man}
(Addressing the Nishinam)
Nor am I a Shaman. But I will tell you true
things to be. Our brothers are acorn-planters,
cloth-weavers, iron-workers. Our brothers are
life-makers and masters of life. Many are our
brothers and strong. They will come after us.
Your First Man has spoken true words. When
you plant blood you harvest blood. Our brothers
will come to the harvest with the thunder
in their hands. There is a sign. This night,
and soon, will the Wolf of Darkness eat the
moon. And by that sign will our brothers come
on the trail we have broken.

(As final preparation for the killing is
completed, and as Hunters are arranged
with their bows and arrows,
Sun Man sings.)

{Sun Man}
Our brothers will come after,
On our trail to farthest lands;
Our brothers will come after
With the thunder in their hands.

{Sun Men}
Loud will be the weeping,