Post by Okwes on Jan 13, 2008 17:49:11 GMT -5
First man - Wampanoag
The first man-being that Maushop made we call First man. On the first
morning of his life he was alone in this new world and wondering what he was
supposed to do there. Of course he didn't understand yet what everything was
for and how things worked, and there were no other people to talk to, so he
just walked around and looked at things and wondered about them.
Then he saw Maushop, who was busy making something new. First man went up to
Maushop and said, "Do you know what goes on in this place? I am new here
myself, and I don't know what I am supposed to do. There's no one to talk
to, so I don't even know who I am."
Maushop looked up and said, "Oh, First man, there you are. Yes, of course,
you don't know anything yet. But I don't have time to talk right now. I am
very busy trying to get the design right on this butterfly wing. Why don't
you go ask your grand-mother?"
"My grandmother? I didn't know I had a grandmother!" First man exclaimed. In
fact, he didn't really know what a grandmother was, but as soon as he heard
that he had one, he loved her. His heart just filled right up with love for
his grand-mother (because all people love their grandmothers, don't they?),
and he knew right away that he had to go and see her. "Oh, yes, I want to
see my grandmother! Where is she?"
"Well, she lives in that lodge just across the river there." 'Thank you."
First man started to go, then came back. "Just one more thing, if I could
ask. What is a river?"
"Well, when you run down that hill, you will find it. Just go across, and
the lodge will be right there."
First man was so excited that he ran down the hill and tried to run right
across the river. Of course, he had never seen water before, and he didn't
know that it wasn't solid like the ground. So he sank down, and the current
of the river swept him off his feet and dumped him back on the shore again.
That's funny stuff, First man thought. It's too soft to walk on. Maybe I'll
take some of this hard earth and throw it in to make a path across. But the
river just took all the dirt he threw in it and washed it away.
Then he tried to roll big rocks into the river, but they sank all the way to
the bottom.
First man sat down on the bank and began to think. He now noticed that there
were stones and pebbles under the water, but that leaves and twigs drifted
on top of it.
So some things sink and some things float, he thought. Pretty soon he saw a
big branch of a tree come floating down the river, and a bird was sitting on
it, getting a ride.
Ah-ha, he rides on that log and floats, thought First man. Maybe I could do
that, too. So he looked around in the woods and found a big log and dragged
it to the river and sat on it in the water. It sank under his weight, but he
could feel it pushing up on him, so he thought that perhaps since he was
bigger than the bird, he would need two logs. When he got another log and
sat on both of them together, they also sank, but he could feel that they
were a little stronger. Well, if two are better than one, then three will be
better than two, and-well, I'll get a lot of them. But when he had several
of them in the water, they would not stay together.
He looked around. Hanging down from a tree was a long vine. He pulled it
down and wrapped the vine around all the logs and tied them together. Now
when he stood on them, they held him up. All he had to figure out was how to
make them all go across the river.
He found a pole and began to push with it while he stood on the logs.
They started to move, and in a little while he had pushed them all the way
across to the other side of the river. Sure enough, there was his
grandmother's lodge right nearby. "Come in. Grandson! Sit down, catch your
breath and rest, have a little corn soup, and tell me all about your day."
First man was so excited about all that had happened to him on his first
day, and how he had solved the problem of getting across the river, that he
just talked and talked and told her everything. Then he said, "But,
Grandmother, Maushop told me that I should ask you about what I am supposed
to do in the world. Can you tell me?" She said, "You have just had your
first lesson. Your heart told you to come and speak to me, and your mind
showed you how to cross the river, and that's the lesson. Always follow your
heart. When you want to know what to do, ask your heart. And when you want
to know how to do it, use your mind. Always use your mind to show you how to
follow the direction of your heart, but never the other way around. Your
mind can learn, and it knows what it learns, but only the heart knows love
and beauty, and they are the Creator's guides."
Taken from The Children of the Morning Light - Wampanoag Tales
As Told by Manitonquat [Medicine Story]
The first man-being that Maushop made we call First man. On the first
morning of his life he was alone in this new world and wondering what he was
supposed to do there. Of course he didn't understand yet what everything was
for and how things worked, and there were no other people to talk to, so he
just walked around and looked at things and wondered about them.
Then he saw Maushop, who was busy making something new. First man went up to
Maushop and said, "Do you know what goes on in this place? I am new here
myself, and I don't know what I am supposed to do. There's no one to talk
to, so I don't even know who I am."
Maushop looked up and said, "Oh, First man, there you are. Yes, of course,
you don't know anything yet. But I don't have time to talk right now. I am
very busy trying to get the design right on this butterfly wing. Why don't
you go ask your grand-mother?"
"My grandmother? I didn't know I had a grandmother!" First man exclaimed. In
fact, he didn't really know what a grandmother was, but as soon as he heard
that he had one, he loved her. His heart just filled right up with love for
his grand-mother (because all people love their grandmothers, don't they?),
and he knew right away that he had to go and see her. "Oh, yes, I want to
see my grandmother! Where is she?"
"Well, she lives in that lodge just across the river there." 'Thank you."
First man started to go, then came back. "Just one more thing, if I could
ask. What is a river?"
"Well, when you run down that hill, you will find it. Just go across, and
the lodge will be right there."
First man was so excited that he ran down the hill and tried to run right
across the river. Of course, he had never seen water before, and he didn't
know that it wasn't solid like the ground. So he sank down, and the current
of the river swept him off his feet and dumped him back on the shore again.
That's funny stuff, First man thought. It's too soft to walk on. Maybe I'll
take some of this hard earth and throw it in to make a path across. But the
river just took all the dirt he threw in it and washed it away.
Then he tried to roll big rocks into the river, but they sank all the way to
the bottom.
First man sat down on the bank and began to think. He now noticed that there
were stones and pebbles under the water, but that leaves and twigs drifted
on top of it.
So some things sink and some things float, he thought. Pretty soon he saw a
big branch of a tree come floating down the river, and a bird was sitting on
it, getting a ride.
Ah-ha, he rides on that log and floats, thought First man. Maybe I could do
that, too. So he looked around in the woods and found a big log and dragged
it to the river and sat on it in the water. It sank under his weight, but he
could feel it pushing up on him, so he thought that perhaps since he was
bigger than the bird, he would need two logs. When he got another log and
sat on both of them together, they also sank, but he could feel that they
were a little stronger. Well, if two are better than one, then three will be
better than two, and-well, I'll get a lot of them. But when he had several
of them in the water, they would not stay together.
He looked around. Hanging down from a tree was a long vine. He pulled it
down and wrapped the vine around all the logs and tied them together. Now
when he stood on them, they held him up. All he had to figure out was how to
make them all go across the river.
He found a pole and began to push with it while he stood on the logs.
They started to move, and in a little while he had pushed them all the way
across to the other side of the river. Sure enough, there was his
grandmother's lodge right nearby. "Come in. Grandson! Sit down, catch your
breath and rest, have a little corn soup, and tell me all about your day."
First man was so excited about all that had happened to him on his first
day, and how he had solved the problem of getting across the river, that he
just talked and talked and told her everything. Then he said, "But,
Grandmother, Maushop told me that I should ask you about what I am supposed
to do in the world. Can you tell me?" She said, "You have just had your
first lesson. Your heart told you to come and speak to me, and your mind
showed you how to cross the river, and that's the lesson. Always follow your
heart. When you want to know what to do, ask your heart. And when you want
to know how to do it, use your mind. Always use your mind to show you how to
follow the direction of your heart, but never the other way around. Your
mind can learn, and it knows what it learns, but only the heart knows love
and beauty, and they are the Creator's guides."
Taken from The Children of the Morning Light - Wampanoag Tales
As Told by Manitonquat [Medicine Story]