In all youthful sports and pastimes,
In all manly arts and labors.
Swift of foot was Hiawatha;
He could shoot an arrow from him,
And run forward with such fleetness2,
That the arrow fell behind him!
Strong of arm was Hiawatha;
He could shoot ten arrows upward,
Shoot them with such strength and swiftness,
That the tenth had left the bow-string
Ere3 the first to earth had fallen.
He had mitens, Minjekahwun,
Magic mittens made of deer-skin;
When upon his hands he wore them,
He could smite the rocks as under,
He could grind them into powder,
He had moccasins enchanted,
Magic moccasins of deer-skin,
When he bound them round his ankles,
When upon his feet he tied them,
At each stride a mile he measured!
When Hiawatha learns, how his father deserted his mother, he decides to punish him. In the land of the West Wind, he and Mudjekeewis fight for three days. Being a god, Mudjekeewis is immortal. However, he acknowledges Hiawatha's courage and nobility and sends him to the earth to fight evil, to do deeds of valour and unite the Indian peoples. On his way Hiawatha stops in the land of Dako-tahs [da'kautsz] and meets a lovely girl, the daughter of the arrow maker, Minnehaha ['ттэ'ЬлЬл], and takes her home as his bride.
1 lore — знания
2 fleetness — быстрота
3 Ere [еэ] — поэт, до, перед
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Among Hiawatha's heroic deeds is the defeat of Mondamin [man'dcumm], the Corn Spirit, whose death teaches Hiawatha and his people how to grow maize. Together with his good friends, Chibiabos ['tfaibfeibas], "the best of all musicians and the sweetest of all singers", and Kwasind fkwrxzmd], "the strongest of all mortals", Hiawatha kills Pearl-Feather, who brings death and diseases on the Indians, clears the rivers and streams, so that his people can sail on them in safety, teaches them to follow trail, collect herbs and use medicine. "Buried is the war-club", peace rules among the Indian tribes, and happy days follow in the Ojibway land. Hiawatha and Minnehaha have a gay wedding party at which the guests relate stories and legends, and the reader learns of many interesting Indian customs.
Then evil times come to the Indians. Chibiabos perishes, breaking through the ice into a lake. Strong Kwasind, too, is killed by the evil dwarfs who conquer him using the cone of the blue fir-tree. With winter, the famine and fever come. Hungry are the women and the children.
О the long and dreary Winter!
О the cold and cruel Winter!
Ever thicker, thicker, thicker
Froze the ice on lake and river,
Ever deeper, deeper, deeper
Fell the snow o'er all the landscape,
Fell the covering snow, and drifted
Through the forest, round the village.
Hardly from his buried wigwam
Could the hunter force a passage;
With his mittens and his snow-shoes
Vainly walked he through the forest,
Sought for bird or beast and found none,
Saw no track of deer or rabbit,
In the snow beheld no footprints,
In the ghastly, gleaming forest
Fell, and could not rise from weakness,
Perished there from cold and hunger.
О the famine and the fever!
О the wasting of the famine!
О the blasting of the fever!
О the wailing of the children!
О the anguish of the women!
All the earth was sick and famished,
Hungry was the air around them,
Hungry was the sky above them,
And the hungry stars in heaven
Like the eyes of wolves glared at them!
Minnehaha dies of starvation. Hiawatha sails to rule over the land of the Northwest wind.
At a time, when the Indians were considered a lower race, Longfellow managed to show the beauty of their character, their valour, their closeness to nature, the charm of their customs and legends.
The Songs of Hiawatha was translated into many European languages. The Russian translation was made by I. A. Bunin. The originality and novelty of its literary form, the unknown poetic world of Indian folklore surprised everyone and attracted world attention.
Vocabulary
ghastly ['ga:sth] а мрачный
grind [gramd] v (ground) молоть
herb [пз:Ь] п трава
lodge [ЬсЭД п хатка (бобра)
maize [meiz] n кукуруза
nobility [nsu'biliti] n благородство
seek [si:k] v (sought) искать
similar ['simils] а подобный, похожий
smite [smart] v разбить
sought [so:t] past и р. р. от seek
source [so:s] n источник
stride [straid] n шаг
valour ['vasls] n доблесть
acknowledge [эк'поЬф] v признавать
acorn ['eiko:n] n желудь
ankle ['aenkl] n лодыжка
asunder [s'sAnda] adv на куски
beaver ['bi:va] n бобер
beheld [bi'held] past и р. р. от behold
behold [bi'hauld] v (beheld) смотреть
bow-string [baustnn] n тетива
craft [kra:ft] n ремесло
drift [drift] v плыть
dwarf [dwo:f] n карлик
enchant [m'tfaint] v заколдовывать
famine ['faemm] n голод
famished ['faemift) а изголодавшийся
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Questions and Tasks
Where was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow born?
What played a great role in the life of young Longfellow?
Where was Longfellow educated?
When did he write his first verses and stories?
What career did Longfellow dream of?
What did he begin doing on his graduation from Bowdoin College?
What was Longfellow's first book?
Name his other notable works published from 1839 to 1841.
What theme did he touch upon in his collection of verses Poems on Slavery?
Retell the contents on the poems The Slave's Dream and The Negro in the Dismal Swamp.
Comment on Longfellow's poem The Building of the Ship.
Dwell on his lyrics about nature.
Speak on the subject of Longfellow's masterpiece The Song of Hiawatha.
Retell in your own words The Song of Hiawatha.
What is the importance of Longfellow's work as a translator?
What was his contribution of American literature?
Prove that by the end of his life Longfellow had won recognition all over the world.
American Literature