This, no less than the other,
was unknown to those persons I saw on the island; but as they seem
entirely beyond the powers of the person who writes them down, and the
other one has the profound and original meaning of Greek tragedy, I
believe they must be genuine legends.
The one I admire is the story of a young warrior, who goes to keep, on
these lonely rocks, the fast which is to secure him vision of his
tutelary spirit. There the loneliness is broken by the voice of sweet
music from the water. The Indian knows well that to break the fast,
which is the crisis of his life, by turning his attention from seeking
the Great Spirit, to any lower object, will deprive him through life of
heavenly protection, probably call down the severest punishment.
But the temptation is too strong for him; like the victims of the
Lorelei, he looks, like them beholds a maiden of unearthly beauty, to
him the harbinger of earthly wo.
The development of his fate, that succeeds; of love, of heart-break, of
terrible revenge, which back upon itself recoils, may vie with anything
I have ever known of stern tragedy, is altogether unlike any other form,
and with all the peculiar expression we see lurking in the Indian eye.
The demon is not frightful and fantastic, like those that haunt the
German forest; but terribly human, as if of full manhood, reared in the
shadow of the black forests. An Indian sarcasm vibrates through it,
which, with Indian fortitude, defies the inevitable torture.
Pages:
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208