An Indian chief once had ten daughters.
They were all very beautiful, especially the youngest.
When they grew to be women, nine of them married
handsome, young warriors. But the youngest maiden
would not listen to any of the young men who came
to see her at her father’s lodge. After
a while, she married an old man with gray hair, and
so feeble that he could hardly walk. Her father
and sisters were very angry, but she would not listen
to them. She said only, “I am very happy,
and so nothing else matters.”
One evening, the father asked his
ten daughters and their husbands to come to his lodge
for a feast. On the way there, the nine sisters
kept saying, as they looked at the youngest maiden
and her husband: “Our poor sister, is it
not a pity she is married to such an old man?
See, he can hardly walk. Would it not be a
good thing if he were to fall and kill himself?”
As they were saying this, they noticed
that the old man kept looking up at the Evening Star,
and every once in a while he would utter a low call.
“See,” said one of the
sisters, “he thinks the Evening Star is his
father and is calling to him.”
Just then, they were passing a hollow
log which lay by the roadside. When the old man
noticed it, he suddenly dropped on his hands and knees
and crawled in at one end. When he came out at
the other end, he was no longer an old man; he had
been changed into a tall, handsome, young chief.
But his wife was no longer a beautiful maiden.
She had been changed into a bent, old woman, hobbling
along with a stick. The young husband was very
kind to her and took good care of her all the rest
of the way to the father’s lodge. He seemed
very sorry that she had been changed like this, but
he loved her just the same as before. During
the feast the young husband heard a voice speak to
him. It seemed to come from the skies.
Looking up, he saw the Evening Star shining in through
a crack in the roof.
“My son,” the Star said
to him, “many years ago an evil spirit changed
you into an old man, but that spirit has now lost its
power. You are free, and may come home and live
with me. Your wife shall be beautiful once more,
and you shall have everything you can wish for.”
The others had not heard this voice,
so they were very much surprised when they felt the
lodge begin to rise in the air. As it floated
upwards, the bark changed into beautiful silver gauze.
It was now a lodge made of wings of insects.
The young chief looked at his wife and saw that she
was a beautiful maiden once more. Her dress was
changed into one of shining, green silk, and her stick
became a silver feather. The sisters and their
husbands had been changed into birds with bright-colored
feathers. Some were parrots, some blue jays,
some singing birds that flew around and sang their
sweet songs. At the side of the lodge was a
large cage for the birds. Upwards, the lodge
floated till they found themselves in the Evening Star.
Everything was silvery white here and very peaceful.
The Star was very glad to see his son.
“Hang up that cage of birds
which you have brought with you by the lodge door,
and then come and sit down while we talk.”
The young chief did as he was told.
He sat on one side of his father, while his wife
sat on the other, and the Star father told them many
stories.
“You must be careful,”
he said, “not to let the beams of the next star
shine on you. That is the Evil Star which turned
you into an old man. If it shines on you again,
you might once more be changed, so be very careful.”
The young chief promised to remember
his father’s warnings, and he always kept away
from the Evil Star. They lived happily together
for several years. Then one day their young
son wanted to learn to hunt. He had heard that
the people on the earth could shoot with bow and arrows,
and he wished to learn. The Evening Star did
not like to refuse his young grandson anything, so
he made him a little bow and arrows. He showed
him how to use them; then said, “I shall open
the bird-cage and let out the birds. You may
try to shoot them, if you like.”
This delighted the young boy, and
so for many days he tried to shoot a bird. His
arrows always fell to one side. But he kept on
trying, and one day the arrow sank deep in the breast
of one of the birds. The boy was very proud,
but what was his surprise, when he went to pick up
the bird, to find that it had changed into a beautiful
maiden with an arrow sticking in her breast.
It was one of his aunts, who had been changed back
into her earthly form. As her blood fell on the
ground of this pure and spotless planet, the spell
was broken.
The boy felt himself sinking down
through the air. He fell slowly, as if he had
wings. At last his feet touched the ground, and
he found himself on a high, rocky island. He
was delighted to see his aunts and uncles all following
him. They floated down through the air until
at last they too reached the rock. Then came
the silvery lodge, with his father and mother, with
its bark looking like the shining wings of insects.
The lodge sank down until it reached the cliff, and
there they all made their home. They had been
given back their earthly bodies, but were only the
size of fairies.
The top of the cliff, which had been
bare before, now grew soft with green grass.
In the grass, bright flowers blossomed, and tiny pools
of water glistened here and there. The fairies
were all very happy to have been given such a beautiful
home, and, looking up, they thanked the Evening Star.
His soft beams fell on them and they heard his gentle
voice say, “Be happy, my children, until I call
you again to your home in the sky. I shall keep
watch over you until then.” So from that
time they have been very contented.
On calm summer evenings, they always
come out on top of the rock to dance and sing.
And when the moon is shining very brightly, you may
see the silver lodge on the very highest part of the
cliff; you may also, if you listen very hard, hear
the voices of the happy little dancers.