they were very powerful. Their medicine was so strong that they could not be killed. They were different in appearance from the Yar-Ons as well. Some were ugly, with yellow hair like Whitemen and eyes the color of the sky. Others were not so disgusting, having brown skin. As soon as the Yar-Ons learned they could not kill these Shining People, they made friends. The strangers were wise in council and also very great in singing and dancing and making love. When they arrived, these visitors spoke many strange languages which were impossible to un- derstand, but they must have been very intelligent people, for they soon learned the language of the Yar-Ons. They lived among us for many years before I was born. How many years? This many? That many? Who can say? They had no generations, because they did not die. It was a grave misfortune for them never to die, never to pass over into the Land of the An- cestors, and they must have done something very bad once to be cursed in such a way. † It was said that other Shining People had come across the water, too; some in big canoes, some flying on the wind or in other magic ways, to live in the lands north and south and west of the Yar -Ons. It was some of these Shining People were tall as jack pines, some had skin the color of gold, and so forth, but I did not believe it. Why should people live in the north with the Micmacs on their cold rock island? Why *The Indian use of the word “grandfather” sometimes means simply “old man” or “wise man.” It is also used in legends to signify a spirit, as of wind, or cloud, and in this sense means ”memory.” **Possibly “ Huron ,” the Quebec-based tribe all but exterminated in 1649. † The Hurons considered death a cause for rejoicing, and held feasts to wish the dead man a happy journey to “the village in the sky.
だが、 大部分のものは肌も浅黒く、 さほど醜
くもなかったがな。
輝く人びとを殺せないとわかったんで、 ヤ
・ロン族はすぐに友だちになろう、と決め
たんじゃ。やつらは談合でもうまい思いつき
をいうし、おまけに歌や踊りや愛の表現もた
いしたものじゃったよ。
やってきたばかりのころには、わけのわか
らない奇妙なことばでしゃべっていたもんだ
が、おそらくえらく頭がいいんだろう、すぐ
にヤーロン族のことばをおぼえこんでしま
つた。
わしが生まれたのは、そうしてヤーロン
族と輝く人びとがいっしょに住むようになっ
てから何年も何年もすぎたころだった。
何年くらいかって?
これくらい?
あれくらい?
だれにもわかるもんか。 やつらには世代と
いうものがないんじゃ。 なにせ不死身だから
な。 けっして死なない、そして、けっして祖
44
先の土地へ戻れないということは、たいそう
な不幸をせおっているということだ。 そんな
ふうに呪われているということは、むかし、
そうとうな悪事をはたらいたにちがいないん
じゃ。
なにしろ、 ヤー・ロン族にとって死こそよ
ろこびの源だし、死んではじめて”天空の村”
へ楽しく旅立てるのだからな。
もっとほかにも、 大海を越えてやってきた
輝く人びとがいる、とわしはきいていた。 大
きなカヌーに乗ってやってきたものもいれば、
気流にのって空を飛んできたもの、 魔法をつ
かってやってきたものもいた。 やつらは、 ヤ
・ロンの北と南と西の地に住みついた。 こ
の輝く人びとのなかには、 松の木ほども背丈
のあるものや、 黄金色の肌をしたものもいた
ということだが、 わしには信じられんかった。
なぜ、 北の冷たい岩の島でミクマク族とい
つしょになど住むんだ?
なぜ、 南の湿地でタスカローラ族や大
ゲといっしょに住むんだ?
ヤーロン族となかよく住めるというのに。
45
But most of them had darker skin and were not so ugly after all.
Once the Yar-On people understood they couldn’t kill the Shining People, they quickly decided to make friends with them. They were clever in council, and their singing and dancing and expressions of love were quite something too.
When they first arrived they spoke in strange incomprehensible words — but being remarkably intelligent, they quickly mastered the language of the Yar-On people.
I was born many, many years after the Yar-On and the Shining People had begun living together.
How many years?
This many?
That many?
Nobody could say. They had no generations, you see. Being immortal. Never dying — and never being able to return to their ancestral lands — that was a tremendous burden of misfortune to carry. To be cursed in such a way, they must have committed some terrible evil long ago.
For the Yar-On people, death itself was a source of joy — only through death could one happily set out on the journey to the “village in the sky.”
I had heard there were other Shining People who had come across the great sea too. Some came in large canoes, some flew through the air on currents, others arrived by magic. They settled in the lands to the north, south, and west of the Yar-On. Among these Shining People there were said to be some as tall as pine trees, and others with golden skin — but I couldn’t believe it.
Why would anyone live on the cold rocky northern islands with the Mi’kmaq?
Why live in the southern swamps with the Tuscarora and the great lizards?
When they could live peacefully with the Yar-On.
44-45
