Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast

You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis
How the handsome Yenadizze
Danced at Hiawatha's wedding;
How the gentle Chibiabos
He the sweetest of musicians
Sang his songs of love and longing;
How Iagoo, the great boaster
He the marvellous story-teller
Told his tales of strange adventure
That the feast might be more joyous
That the time might pass more gayly
And the guests be more contented

Sumptuous was the feast Nokomis
Made at Hiawatha's wedding;
All the bowls were made of bass-wood
White and polished very smoothly
All the spoons of horn of bison
Black and polished very smoothly

She had sent through all the village
Messengers with wands of willow
As a sign of invitation
As a token of the feasting;
And the wedding guests assembled
Clad in all their richest raiment
Robes of fur and belts of wampum
Splendid with their paint and plumage
Beautiful with beads and tassels

First they ate the sturgeon, Nahma
And the pike, the Maskenozha
Caught and cooked by old Nokomis;
Then on pemican they feasted
Pemican and buffalo marrow
Haunch of deer and hump of bison
Yellow cakes of the Mondamin
And the wild rice of the river

But the gracious Hiawatha
And the lovely Laughing Water
And the careful old Nokomis
Tasted not the food before them
Only waited on the others
Only served their guests in silence

And when all the guests had finished
Old Nokomis, brisk and busy
From an ample pouch of otter
Filled the red-stone pipes for smoking
With tobacco from the South-land
Mixed with bark of the red willow
And with herbs and leaves of fragrance

Then she said, "O Pau-Puk-Keewis
Dance for us your merry dances
Dance the Beggar's Dance to please us
That the feast may be more joyous
That the time may pass more gayly
And our guests be more contented!"

Then the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis
He the idle Yenadizze
He the merry mischief-maker
Whom the people called the Storm-Fool
Rose among the guests assembled

Skilled was he in sports and pastimes
In the merry dance of snow-shoes
In the play of quoits and ball-play;
Skilled was he in games of hazard
In all games of skill and hazard
Pugasaing, the Bowl and Counters
Kuntassoo, the Game of Plum-stones
Though the warriors called him Faint-Heart
Called him coward, Shaugodaya
Idler, gambler, Yenadizze
Little heeded he their jesting
Little cared he for their insults
For the women and the maidens
Loved the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis

He was dressed in shirt of doeskin
White and soft, and fringed with ermine
All inwrought with beads of wampum;
He was dressed in deer-skin leggings
Fringed with hedgehog quills and ermine
And in moccasins of buck-skin
Thick with quills and beads embroidered
On his head were plumes of swan's down
On his heels were tails of foxes
In one hand a fan of feathers
And a pipe was in the other

Barred with streaks of red and yellow
Streaks of blue and bright vermilion
Shone the face of Pau-Puk-Keewis
From his forehead fell his tresses
Smooth, and parted like a woman's
Shining bright with oil, and plaited
Hung with braids of scented grasses
As among the guests assembled
To the sound of flutes and singing
To the sound of drums and voices
Rose the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis
And began his mystic dances

First he danced a solemn measure
Very slow in step and gesture
In and out among the pine-trees
Through the shadows and the sunshine
Treading softly like a panther
Then more swiftly and still swifter
Whirling, spinning round in circles
Leaping o'er the guests assembled
Eddying round and round the wigwam
Till the leaves went whirling with him
Till the dust and wind together
Swept in eddies round about him

Then along the sandy margin
Of the lake, the Big-Sea-Water
On he sped with frenzied gestures
Stamped upon the sand, and tossed it
Wildly in the air around him;
Till the wind became a whirlwind
Till the sand was blown and sifted
Like great snowdrifts o'er the landscape
Heaping all the shores with Sand Dunes
Sand Hills of the Nagow Wudjoo!

Thus the merry Pau-Puk-Keewis
Danced his Beggar's Dance to please them
And, returning, sat down laughing
There among the guests assembled
Sat and fanned himself serenely
With his fan of turkey-feathers

Then they said to Chibiabos
To the friend of Hiawatha
To the sweetest of all singers
To the best of all musicians
"Sing to us, O Chibiabos!
Songs of love and songs of longing
That the feast may be more joyous
That the time may pass more gayly
And our guests be more contented!"

And the gentle Chibiabos
Sang in accents sweet and tender
Sang in tones of deep emotion
Songs of love and songs of longing;
Looking still at Hiawatha
Looking at fair Laughing Water
Sang he softly, sang in this wise:

"Onaway! Awake, beloved!
Thou the wild-flower of the forest!
Thou the wild-bird of the prairie!
Thou with eyes so soft and fawn-like!