"Alfred Henry Lewis - How the Raven Died" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lewis Alfred Henry)

Raven heap cur'ous. He asked Gray Elk to tell him about it, for he was a
prophet. The Raven asked many questions; they fell from him like leaves from a
tree in the month of the first ice. So the Gray Elk called Chee-bee, the Spirit;
an' the Spirit told the Gray Elk. Then the Gray Elk told the Raven.
"'It was not a tail, it was blood— star blood; an' the star had been bit an' was
wounded, but would get well. The Sun was the father of the stars, an' the Moon
was their mother. The Sun, Gheezis, tried ever to pursue an' capture an' eat his
children, the stars. So the stars all ran an' hid when the Sun was about. But
the stars loved their mother who was good an' never hurt them; an' when the Sun
went to sleep at night an' Coush-ee-wan, the Darkness, shut his eyes, the Moon
an' her children came together to see each other. But the star that bled had
been caught by the Sun; it got out of his mouth, but was wounded. Now it was
frightened, so it always kept its face to where the Sun was sleeping over in the
west. The bleeding star, Sch-coo-dah, would get well an' its wound would heal.
"'Then the Raven wanted to know how the Gray Elk knew all this. An' the Gray Elk
had the Raven into the medicine lodge that night; an' the Raven heard the
spirits come about an' heard their voices, but he could not understand. Also,
the Raven saw a wolf all fire, with wings like the eagle which flew overhead.
Also he heard the Thunder, Boom-wa-wa, talking with the Gray Elk; but the Raven
couldn't understand. The Gray Elk told the Raven to draw his knife an' stab with
it in the air outside the medicine lodge. An' when he did, the Raven's blade an'
hand came back covered with blood. Still, the Raven was cur'ous an' kept askin'
to be told how the Gray Elk knew these things. An' the Gray Elk at last took the
Raven to the Great Bachelor Sycamore that lived alone, an' asked the Raven if
the Bachelor Sycamore was growing. An' the Raven said it was. Then Gray Elk
asked him how he knew it was growing An' the Raven said he didn't know. Then
Gray Elk said he did not know how he knew about Sch-ooo-dah, the star that was
bit. This made the Raven angry, for he was very cur'ous; an' he thought the Gray
Elk had two tongues.
"'Then it came the month of the first young grass an' Sublette was back for
furs. Also he brought many goods; an' he gave to the Raven more of the powder of
the whirlwind in a little box. At once the Raven made a feast of ducks for the
Gray Elk; an' he gave him of the whirlwind powder; an' at once his teeth came
together an' the Gray Elk was twisted till he died.
"'Now no one knew that the Raven had the powder of the whirlwind, so they could
not tell why all these people were twisted and went to the Great Spirit. But the
Squaw-who-has-dreams saw that it was the Raven who killed her husband, the Gray
Elk, in a vision. Then the Squaw-who-has-dreams went into the mountains four
days an' talked with Moh-kwa, the Bear who is the wisest of the beasts. The Bear
said it was the Raven who killed the Gray Elk an' told the Squaw-who-has-dreams
of the powder of the whirlwind.
"'Then the Bear an' the Squaw-who-has-dreams made a fire an' smoked an' laid a
plot. The Bear did not know where to find the powder of the whirlwind which the
Raven kept always in a secret place. But the Bear told the Squaw-who-has-dreams
that she should marry the Raven an' watch until she found where the powder of
the whirlwind was kept in its secret place; an' then she was to give some to the
Raven, an' he, too, would be twisted an' die. There was a great danger, though;
the Raven would, after the one day when they were wedded, want to kill the
Squaw-who-has-dreams. So to protect her, the Bear told her she must begin to
tell the Raven the moment she was married to him the Story-that-never-ends.