The Child of the Evening Star

NCE upon a time, on the shores of the great lake, Gitchee Gumee, there

lived a hunter who had ten beautiful young daughters. Their hair was

dark and glossy as the wings of the blackbird, and when they walked or

ran it was with the grace and freedom of the deer in the forest.

Thus it was that many suitors came to court them--brave and handsome

young men, straight as arrows, fleet of foot, who could travel from

sun to sun without fatigue. They were sons of the prairie, wonderful

horsemen who would ride at breakneck speed without saddle or stirrup.

They could catch a wild horse with a noose, tame him in a magical way

by breathing into his nostrils, then mount him and gallop off as if

he always had been ridden. There were those also who came from afar in

canoes, across the waters of the Great Lake, canoes which shot swiftly

along, urged by the strong, silent sweep of the paddle.

All of them brought presents with which they hoped to gain the father's

favor. Feathers from the wings of the eagle who soars high up near the

sun; furs of fox and beaver and the thick, curly hair of the bison;

beads of many colors, and wampum, the shells which the Indians used

for money; the quills of the porcupine and the claws of the grizzly

bear; deerskin dressed to such a softness that it crumpled up in the

hands--these and many other things they brought.

One by one, the daughters were wooed and married, until nine of them had

chosen husbands. One by one, other tents were reared, so that instead

of the single family lodge on the shores of the lake there were tents

enough to form a little village. For the country was a rich one, and

there was game and fish enough for all.

There remained the youngest daughter, Oweenee--the fairest of them all.

Gentle as she was beautiful, none was so kind of heart. Unlike her proud

and talkative elder sisters, Oweenee was shy and modest, and spoke but

little. She loved to wander alone in the woods, with no company but the

birds and squirrels and her own thoughts. What these thoughts were we

can only guess; from her dreamy eyes and sweet expression, one could

but suppose that nothing selfish or mean or hateful ever came into her

mind. Yet Oweenee, modest though she was, had a spirit of her own. More

than one suitor had found this out. More than one conceited young man,

confident that he could win her, went away crestfallen when Oweenee

began to laugh at him.

The truth is, Oweenee seemed hard to please. Suitor after suitor

came--handsome, tall young men, the handsomest and the bravest in all

the country round. Yet this fawn-eyed maiden would have none of them.

One was too tall, another too short; one too thin, another too fat. At

least, that was the excuse she gave for sending them away. Her proud

sisters had little patience with her. It seemed to be questioning

their own taste; for Oweenee, had she said the word, might have gained a

husband more attractive than any of theirs. Yet no one was good enough.

They could not understand her; so they ended by despising her as a silly

and unreasonable girl.

Her father, too, who loved her dearly and wished her to be happy, was

much puzzled. "Tell me, my daughter," he said to her one day, "Is it

your wish never to marry? The handsomest young men in the land have

sought you in marriage, and you have sent them all away--often with a

poor excuse. Why is it?"

Oweenee looked at him with her large, dark eyes.

"Father," she said at last. "It is not that I am wilful. But it seems

somehow as if I had the power to look into the hearts of men. It is the

heart of a man, and not his face, that really matters; and I have not

yet found one youth who in this sense is really beautiful."

Soon after, a strange thing happened. There came into the little village

an Indian named Osseo, many years older than Oweenee. He was poor and

ugly, too. Yet Oweenee married him.

How the tongues of her nine proud sisters did wag! Had the spoiled

little thing lost her mind? they asked. Oh, well! They always knew she

would come to a bad end; but it was pretty hard on the family.

Of course they could not know what Oweenee had seen at once--that Osseo

had a generous nature and a heart of gold; that beneath his outward

ugliness was the beauty of a noble mind, and the fire and passion of a

poet. That is why Oweenee loved him; knowing, too, that he needed her

care, she loved him all the more.

Now, though Oweenee did not suspect it, Osseo was really a beautiful

youth on whom an evil spell had been cast. He was in truth the son

of the King of the Evening Star--that Evening Star which shines so

gloriously in the western sky, just above the rim of the earth, as the

sun is setting. Often on a clear evening it hung suspended in the

purple twilight like some glittering jewel. So close it seemed, and so

friendly, that the little children would reach out their hands, thinking

that they might grasp it ere it was swallowed by the night, and keep it

always for their own. But the older ones would say: "Surely it must be

a bead on the garments of the Great Spirit as he walks in the evening

through the garden of the heavens."

Little did they know that the poor, despised Osseo had really descended

from that star. And when he, too, stretched out his arms toward it, and murmured words they could not understand,

they all made sport of him.

There came a time when a great feast was prepared in a neighboring

village, and all of Oweenee's kinsfolk were invited to attend. They set

out on foot--the nine proud sisters, with their husbands, walking ahead,

much pleased with themselves and their finery, and all chattering

like magpies. But Oweenee walked behind in silence, and with her walked

Osseo.

The sun had set; in the purple twilight, over the edge of the earth,

sparkled the Evening Star. Osseo, pausing, stretched out his hands

toward it, as if imploring pity; but when the others saw him in this

attitude they all made merry, laughing and joking and making unkind

remarks.

"Instead of looking up in the sky," said one of the sisters, "he had

better be looking on the ground. Else he may stumble and break his

neck." Then calling back to him, she cried: "Look out! Here's a big log.

Do you think you can manage to climb over it?"

Osseo made no answer; but when he came to the log he paused again. It

was the trunk of a huge oak-tree blown down by the wind. There it had

lain for years, just as it fell; and the leaves of many summers

lay thick upon it. There was one thing, though, the sisters had not

noticed.. The tree-trunk was not a solid one, but hollow, and so big

around that a man could walk inside it from one end to the other without

stooping.

But Osseo did not pause because he was unable to climb over it. There

was something mysterious and magical in the appearance of the great

hollow trunk; and he gazed at it a long time, as if he had seen it in a

dream, and had been looking for it ever since.

"What is it, Osseo?" asked Oweenee, touching him on the arm. "Do you see

something that I cannot see?"

But Osseo only gave a shout that echoed through the forest, and leaped inside the log. Then as Oweenee, a little alarmed,

stood there waiting, the figure of a man came out from the other end.

Could this be Osseo? Yes, it was he--but how transformed! No

longer bent and ugly, no longer weak and ailing; but a beautiful

youth---vigorous and straight and tall. His enchantment was at an end.

But the evil spell had not been wholly lifted, after all. As Osseo

approached he saw that a great change was taking place in his loved one.

Her glossy black hair was turning white, deep wrinkles lined her

face; she walked with a feeble step, leaning on a staff. Though he had

regained his youth and beauty, she in turn had suddenly grown old.

"O, my dearest one!" he cried. "The Evening Star has mocked me in

letting this misfortune come upon you. Better far had I remained as I

was; gladly would I have borne the insults and laughter of your people

rather than you should be made to suffer."

"As long as you love me," answered Oweenee, "I am perfectly content. If

I had the choice to make, and only one of us could be young and fair, it

is you that I would wish to be beautiful."

Then he took her in his arms and caressed her, vowing that he loved her

more than ever for her goodness of heart; and together they walked hand

in hand, as lovers do.

When the proud sisters saw what had happened they could scarcely believe

their eyes. They looked enviously at Osseo, who was now far handsomer

than any one of their husbands, and much their superior in every other

way. In his eyes was the wonderful light of the Evening Star, and when

he spoke all men turned to listen and admire him. But the hard-hearted

sisters had no pity for Oweenee. Indeed, it rather pleased them to see

that she could no longer dim their beauty, and to realize that people

would no longer be singing her praises in their jealous ears.

The feast was spread, and all made merry but Osseo. He sat like one in

a dream, neither eating nor drinking. From time to time he would press

Oweenee's hand, and speak a word of comfort in her ear. But for the

most part he sat there, gazing through the door of the tent at the

star-besprinkled sky.

Soon a silence fell on all the company. From out of the night, from the

dark, mysterious forest, came the sound of music--a low, sweet music

that was like, yet unlike, the song sung by the thrush in summer

twilight. It was magical music such as none had ever heard, coming, as

it seemed, from a great distance, and rising and falling on the quiet

summer evening. All those at the feast wondered as they listened. And

well they might! For what to them was only music, was to Osseo a voice

that he understood, a voice from the sky itself, the voice of the

Evening Star. These were the words that he heard:

"Suffer no more, my son; for the evil spell is broken, and hereafter no

magician shall work you harm. Suffer no more; for the time has come when

you shall leave the earth and dwell here with me in the heavens. Before

you is a dish on which my light has fallen, blessing it and giving it a

magic virtue. Eat of this dish, Osseo, and all will be well."

So Osseo tasted the food before him, and behold! The tent began to

tremble, and rose slowly into the air; up, up above the tree-tops--up,

up toward the stars. As it rose, the things within it were wondrously

changed. The kettles of clay became bowls of silver, the wooden dishes

were scarlet shells, while the bark of the roof and the poles supporting

it were transformed into some glittering substance that sparkled in

the rays of the stars. Higher and higher it rose. Then the nine proud

sisters and their husbands were all changed into birds. The men became

robins, thrushes and woodpeckers. The sisters were changed into various

birds with bright plumage; the four who had chattered most, whose tongues were always wagging, now appeared in the feathers of the magpie and bluejay.

Osseo sat gazing at Oweenee. Would she, too, change into a bird, and be

lost to him? The very thought of it made him bow his head with grief;

then, as he looked at her once more, he saw her beauty suddenly restored, while the color of her garments was the color only to be found

where the dyes of the rainbow are made.

Again the tent swayed and trembled as the currents of the air bore it

higher and higher, into and above the clouds; up, up, up--till at last

it settled gently on the land of the Evening Star.

Osseo and Oweenee caught all the birds, and put them in a great silver

cage, where they seemed quite content in each other's company. Scarcely

was this done when Osseo's father, the King of the Evening Star, came to

greet them. He was attired in a flowing robe, spun from star-dust, and

his long white hair hung like a cloud upon his shoulders.

"Welcome," he said, "my dear children. Welcome to the kingdom in the

sky that has always awaited you. The trials you have passed through

have been bitter; but you have borne them bravely, and now you will be

rewarded for all your courage and devotion. Here you will live happily;

yet of one thing you must beware."

He pointed to a little star in the distance--a little, winking star,

hidden from time to time by a cloud of vapor.

"On that star," he continued, "lives a magician named Wabeno. He has

the power to dart his rays, like so many arrows, at those he wishes to

injure. He has always been my enemy; it was he who changed Osseo into

an old man and cast him down upon the earth. Have a care that his light

does not fall upon you. Luckily, his power for evil has been greatly

weakened; for the friendly clouds have come to my assistance, and form a screen of vapor through which his arrows cannot penetrate."

The happy pair fell upon their knees, and kissed his hands in gratitude.

"But these birds," said Osseo, rising and pointing to the cage. "Is this

also the work of Wabeno, the magician?"

"No," answered the King of the Evening Star. "It was my own power, the

power of love, that caused your tent to rise and bear you hither. It was

likewise by my power that the envious sisters and their husbands were

transformed into birds. Because they hated you and mocked you, and were

cruel and scornful to the weak and the old, I have done this thing. It

is not so great a punishment as they deserve. Here in the silver cage

they will be happy enough, proud of their handsome plumage, strutting

and twittering to their hearts' content. Hang the cage there, at the

doorway of my dwelling. They shall be well cared for."

Thus it was that Osseo and Oweenee came to live in the kingdom of the

Evening Star; and, as the years passed by, the little winking star where

Wabeno, the magician, lived grew pale and paler and dim and dimmer, till

it quite lost its power to harm. Meanwhile a little son had come to make

their happiness more perfect, a charming boy with the dark, dreamy eyes

of his mother and the strength and courage of Osseo.

It was a wonderful place for a little boy to live in--close to the stars

and the moon, with the sky so near that it seemed a kind of curtain for

his bed, and all the glory of the heavens spread out before him. But

sometimes he was lonely, and wondered what the Earth was like--the Earth

his father and mother had come from. He could see it far, far below--

so far that it looked no bigger than an orange; and sometimes he would

stretch out his hands toward it, just as the little children on earth

stretch out their hands for the moon.

His father had made him a bow, with little arrows, and this was a great

delight to him. But still he was lonely, and wondered what the little

boys and girls on earth were doing, and whether they would be nice to

play with. The Earth must be a pretty place, he thought, with so many

people living on it. His mother had told him strange stories of that

far-away land, with its lovely lakes and rivers, its great, green

forests where the deer and the squirrel lived, and the yellow, rolling

prairies swarming with buffalo.

These birds, too, in the great silver cage had come from the Earth, he

was told; and there were thousands and thousands just like them, as well

as others even more beautiful that he had never seen at all. Swans

with long, curved necks, that floated gracefully on the waters;

whip-poor-wills that called at night from the woods; the robin

redbreast, the dove and the swallow. What wonderful birds they must be!

Sometimes he would sit near the cage, trying to understand the language

of the feathered creatures inside. One day a strange idea came into his

head. He would open the door of the cage and let them out. Then they

would fly back to Earth, and perhaps they would take him with them. When

his father and mother missed him they would be sure to follow him to the

Earth, and then--

He could not quite see just how it would all end. But he found himself

quite close to the cage, and the first thing he knew he had opened the

door and let out all the birds. Round and round they flew; and now he

was half sorry, and a little afraid as well. If the birds flew back to

Earth, and left him there, what would his grandfather say?

"Come back, come back!" he called.

But the birds only flew around him in circles, and paid no attention to

him. At any moment they might be winging their way to the Earth.

"Come back, I tell you!" he cried, stamping his foot and waving his

little bow. "Come back, I say, or I'll shoot you."

Then, as they would not obey him, he fitted an arrow to his bow and let

it fly. So well did he aim that the arrow sped through the plumage of

a bird, and the feathers fell all around. The bird itself, a little

stunned but not much hurt, fell down; and a tiny trickle of blood

stained the ground where it lay. But it was no longer a bird, with an

arrow in its wing; instead, there stood in its place a beautiful young

woman.

Now, no one who lives in the stars is ever permitted to shed blood,

whether it be of man, beast or bird. So when the few drops fell upon

the Evening Star, everything was changed. The boy suddenly found himself

sinking slowly downward, held up by invisible hands, yet ever sinking

closer and closer to the Earth. Soon he could see its green hills and

the swans floating on the water, till at last he rested on a grassy

island in a great lake. Lying there, and looking up at the sky, he could

see the tent descending, too. Down it softly drifted, till it in turn

sank upon the island; and in it were his father and mother, Osseo and

Oweenee--returned to earth, to live once more among men and women and

teach them how to live. For they had learned many things in their life

upon the Evening Star; and the children of Earth would be better for the

knowledge.

As they stood there, hand in hand, all the enchanted birds came

fluttering after, falling and fluttering through the air. Then as each

one touched the Earth, it was no longer a bird they saw, but a human

being. A human being, yet not quite as before; for now they were only

dwarfs, Little People, or Pygmies; Puk-Wudjies, as the Indians called

them. Happy Little People they became, seen only by a few. Fishermen,

they say, would sometimes get a glimpse of them--dancing in the light

of the Evening Star, of a summer night, on the sandy, level beach of the

Great Lake.