Through the summit of the Cedar
Went a sound, a cry of horror,
Went a murmur of resistance;
But it whispered, bending downward,
"Take my boughs, O Hiawatha!"

Down he hewed the boughs of cedar, Shaped them straightway to a framework, Like two bows he formed and shaped them, Like two bended bows together.

"Give me of your roots, O Tamarack! Of your fibrous roots, O Larch-Tree! My canoe to bind together,

So to bind the ends together

That the water may not enter,
That the river may not wet me!"
And the Larch, with all its fibres,
Shivered in the air of morning,
Touched his forehead with its tassels,
Said, with one long sigh of sorrow,
"Take them all, O Hiawatha!"

From the earth he tore the fibres,
Tore the tough roots of the Larch-Tree,
Closely sewed the bark together,
Bound it closely to the framework.

"Give me of your balm, O Fir-Tree!

Of your balsam and your resin,
So to close the seams together

That the water may not enter,
That the river may not wet me!"

And the Fir-Tree, tall and sombre,
Sobbed through all its robes of darkness,
Rattled like a shore with pebbles,
Answered wailing, answered weeping,

"Take my balm, O Hiawatha !” And he took the tears of balsam,

Took the resin of the Fir-Tree,

Addantque infrà firmitatem."
Cedrum pertentavit summam
Horror atque ejulans querela,
Quasi contumaciam mussitans:
Tamen deflexa susurravit,
"Ramos meos, si vis, capias."
Jam cedrinos ramos succídit,
Atque in compaginem fabricatur
Instar parium compositorum arcuum.

66

III. E contortis tuis radicibus,

O Larix da mihi aliquot,
Quæ cymbæ bene cólligent
Oras, ne madefiam,
Irrumpente undâ fluvii!"

Tum cunctas per fibras Larix
Aurâ matutínâ inhorrescens,
Cirris suis fronte ejus tactâ,
Longùm suspiravit mærens :
"Ergo cunctas, Hiawatha, capias."
Ille tenaces láricis fibras
Vi multâ érutas ex humo
Cum cortice ipsâ consuit,

Cum compagine astrictè colligat.
IV. "Balsamum da mihi," inquit,
"Resinamque tuam, O Abies!
Quâ suturas arctè conjungam
Fluvii undam exclusuras,
Ne irrumpens me madefaciat”

Atque Abies procéra et pullata
Per nigrantia sua vestimenta suspiravit,
Instarque littoris lapillis plangentis
Fletu luctuoso respondit:

Smeared therewith each seam and fissure, Made each crevice safe from water.

"Give me of your quills, O Hedgehog! I will make a necklace of them, Make a girdle for my beauty,

And two stars to deck her bosom!"
From a hollow tree the Hedgehog
With his sleepy eyes looked at him,
Shot his shining quills, like arrows,
Saying, with a drowsy murmur,
Through the tangle of his whiskers,
"Take my quills, O Hiawatha!"

From the ground the quills he gathered,
Stained them red and blue and yellow,
With the juice of roots and berries;
Into his canoe he wrought them,
Round its waist a shining girdle,
Round its bows a gleaming necklace,
On its breast two stars resplendent.
Thus the Birch Canoe was builded
In the valley, by the river,
In the bosom of the forest;

And the forest's life was in it,
All its mystery and its magic,
All the lightness of the birch-tree,
All the toughness of the cedar,
All the larch's supple sinews;

And it floated on the river
Like a yellow leaf in Autumn,
Like a yellow water-lily.

Paddles none had Hiawatha,
Paddles none he had or needed,

For his thoughts as paddles served him
And his wishes served to guide him;

Swift or slow at will he glided,

Veered to right or left at pleasure.

Ac rima excluderet aquam.

V.

"Spinas mihi tuo ex corpore,
O Erinaceë," inquit, "da cunctas;
Quibus collarem fabricer catellam
Ac cingulum Veneri meæ,
Duasque stellas thoraceas."

Ex cavâ árbore Erinaceus
Oculis circumspectans veternosis,
Spinas, sagittarum instar projecit,
Per implexam narium barbam
Inter sopores murmurans,
"Ergo capias tu spinas meas."

Ille ex humo collectas spinas
Radícum ac baccorum succo

Finxit in rubrum, cæruleum, croceum: Has cymbæ interstinxit,

Lucidum ventri cingulum,

Prora fulgentem torquem,

Par stellarum pro mammis micans.
Sic betulea cymba in valle

Propter amnem est contexta,

Ipso in gremio silvæ.

Ergo vita inerat silvestris,

Horrenda sanè ac magica;
E Betulâ sua levitas,

E Cedro suum robur,

E Lárice nervorum lentitudo.
Jamque innatabat amni

Velut auctumnale folium.

Velut luteum aquatile lilium.

Neque erant remi Hiawatha,
Neque rémige omnino opus erat.
Nam ipsius voluntate cymba,
Et nutu animi, movebatur;
Velociter, lentè, dextrâ, sinistrâ,
Progrediens, recedens, se convertens.

FABLES OF ESOP.

1. Quarrel of the Oxen.

In eodem prato pascebantur tres boves in maximâ concordiâ, et sic ab omni ferarum incursione tuti erant. Sed, dissidio inter illos orto, R. 29 singuli 124 a feris petiti et laniati sunt.

2. The Fox and Grapes.

Vulpes uvam in vite conspicata, ad illam subsiliit omnium virium suarum contentione, si eam fortè attingere posset. Tandem; defatigata inani labore, discédens dixit, "At nunc etiam acerbæ sunt, nec eas in viâ repertas * tollerem."

3. The Wolf and the Crane.

In faucibus lupi os inhæserat. Mercéde igitur conducit gruem, qui illud extrahat. Hoc grus longitudine colli facilè effecit. Cùm autem mercędem postularet, subridens lupus et dentibus infrendens, "Num tibi" inquit "parva merces videtur, quòd caput incolume ex lupi faucibus extraxisti ?”

4. Union is Strength.

Agricola senex, cùm mortem sibi appropinquare sentiret, filios convocavit, quos, ut fieri solet, interdum discordare noverat, et fascem virgularum afferi jubet. Quibus allatis, filios hortatur, ut hunc fascem frángerent. Quod cùm facere non possent, distribuit singulas virgas; iisque celeriter fractis, docuit filios, quàm firma res esset concordia, quàmque imbecillis discordia.

* If I found them.