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The Stories of El Dorado. Frona Eunice Wait
Читать онлайн.Название The Stories of El Dorado
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Автор произведения Frona Eunice Wait
Жанр Детская проза
Издательство Public Domain
One day a culprit was brought before the Golden Hearted accused of stealing a curious looking stick with yellow grains fastened all around it. The Quinames said it was good food and they pulled off its green wrappings and held it before the fire until it was browned and then ate it. The Golden Hearted and the wise men had never seen this plant before and were very much interested in their discovery. But they did not think it well to say so.
"Dost thou say this man is a thief?" asked the Golden Hearted.
"Yes, yes; we knew where the bush grew, but we were waiting until it should be more yellow before giving it to thee," said the captors.
"I will prove thee," said the Golden Hearted to the accused. He took a piece of finely-polished black stone from his breast pocket and held it up before the prisoner saying, "Look into its shining face and beholding thine own image, swear by the Heart of Heaven to speak the truth."
The poor savage nearly died of fright when he saw himself because he thought it was an omen of instant death. He quaked and trembled and his eyes were as big and round as walnuts.
"From whence came this goodly seed?" asked the Golden Hearted kindly.
"From the edge of the wood where a silver band of water rots an old tree," answered the man, still pallid with fear.
"Take thy share, and leave me what thy accusers intended for me."
The prisoner stared at him stupidly for a moment then his better nature spoke and he took only one grain, and would have fled into the jungle if the Golden Hearted had not caught him by the mantle.
"Look again into the mirror of truth."
This time the savage was not so afraid and he gazed curiously at the stone for some time. Its surface was perfectly blank.
"Tell me what thou seest?"
"Nothing but its own dark face speaks to the eye of thy servant," responded the accused.
"Then know, my brothers," said the Golden Hearted turning to the astonished Quinames, "this man is innocent and must go free."
"Thou art welcome to my life," exclaimed the accused joyfully; "thou hast saved it and it is thine to command."
"Use it to perfect the growth of this strange seed so that thy fellows and all grain-eating creatures may profit by thy labors."
The grain found in this manner is known to the people of that country to-day as maize. We call it Indian corn.
When the wise men heard about it, they begged the Golden Hearted to let them build a white house where any one accused of crime would be safe until the judges could decide whether they were guilty or not. The prince thought it was a very good plan and said:
"I will put the black stone in it and will make a law that no man shall be called guilty if the surface of the stone does not change when he is made to look into it. And to commemorate our safe passage through this wild country, I will order several white houses built, and each one shall be called Refuges Against Fear."
In those days no one seemed to think it was wrong to kill a person who was said to be a thief or had done anything his neighbors did not like, so it was very necessary for the Golden Hearted to teach them to be just to each other. He told the Quinames that they must be sure about a thing before they acted harshly, and he cautioned them to be careful about believing or repeating unkind remarks they heard. It was quite a long time before the Quinames would even try to do this, but finally they helped to build the houses and were honorable enough not to harm any one once inside the walls. Many a useful life was saved in this manner, but sometimes a poor refugee was overtaken and beaten to death with clubs before reaching the house.
Because the Golden Hearted succeeded in persuading the warlike Quinames to live peaceably with their neighbors and to treat each other well, he was called in that and many other countries, Votan, The People's Heart, to distinguish him from the Heart of Heaven which was their name for God. His was truly a great work because it was done without a selfish motive and for no reward except the good of his fellow men.
Lord of the Sacred Tunkel
NO one living can tell how many years ago it was that the Golden Hearted built Nachan, the city of wise men, nor how many years it took to do the work, but it has always been said to be a very beautiful place. Anyhow, it was after he left the Quinames, and it was in a country very much more civilized.
The Golden Hearted had many happy days there.
Even if he was a grown man and a great prince, he was very fond of children and one day he visited the Temple of the Sun where the pupils from school were having a holiday. They all had on their best clothes, and their faces and hands were clean, but they were shouting, and singing and playing games, very much like the boys and girls we know. They felt sure that the Golden Hearted was their good friend and when they saw him coming they ran out into the courtyard and crowded around him as thick as flies.
"A story! a story!" they said; "Please, good Prince, tell us a story."
"What shall it be about?" asked the Golden Hearted with a pleasant smile.
"Something very perfect and beautiful," they said.
"Let me think what we have in the world that is both perfect and beautiful. Which would you prefer, something man has made, or that God has made?"
The children were very much puzzled to know which to choose. They tried hard to think what man had made that was without any faults and could not be imitated or improved, either in appearance or quality, but they were not satisfied with anything. Then they began to think about the trees, the flowers, the precious stones, the sky and the sea, and were getting more and more confused all the time when the Golden Hearted laughed and said:
"I will tell you what we will do. We will send for the wise men and ask them to choose."
The wise men thought it was great fun, so they hurried as fast as they could and were quite out of breath when they got near enough to speak to the Golden Hearted.
"Tell me something you know in the world that is both perfect and beautiful," he said to the wise man who had charge of the Temple of the Sun, and was first to arrive.
"The great, blazing, glorious sun," he replied.
"None but God could have made it, and we adore it and sacrifice to it because it is the mask behind which God hides His ever-smiling face."
Many of the children shaded their eyes with their hands and took a quick look at the sun overhead, and thought that was a good answer.
"What do you know in the world that is both perfect and beautiful?" asked the prince of the next comer, who was a man wise in the art of working metals. He had not heard the first answer, but, without stopping a minute to think, said:
"Gold; because it is like the substance of the sun and cannot be made by putting any metals together nor by any mixture of chemicals."
The Golden Hearted knew that was a correct answer but he wanted the children to be satisfied, and he was not sure that all of them understood it.
"Do you know that way down in the earth gold is created, and yet it is shining and bright and yellow like the light of the sun? This accounts for its beauty, and it is perfect because it is absolutely pure in itself."
The next man that came along was wise, but he looked like a farmer.
"What have you seen in your life that cannot be improved or made prettier?"
"Wheat," was his quick reply, "because it is not a blend of any of the grains or grasses but grows out of the ground perfect. It is beautiful in every phase of its life whether it waves in the wind like a sea of emeralds or ripens into great sheaves of gold, or its plump grains tempt you to satisfy hunger. It is the best friend man has, and it would be very hard for him to live without it."
That was such a sensible answer, that the children all clapped their hands with delight because they knew at once that it was correct. Just then the Golden Hearted looked up and saw one of his best perfumers