would they live in the swamps of the south with the Tuscarora and the big lizards, when they could be dwelling among the Yar-Ons? One morning, when I was still a young brave, I was out fishing, alone, when I saw some very big war canoes coming on the water. It looked as if they sailing out of the sunrise. I ran back and told everyone, and they came down to the shore to see. I did not know it, but this was the coming of the Whitemen, and I had been the first to see the ‘dis- covery’ they write about in their books. (We had been living in our land forever, but we had never discovered it! Think of that!) That night, there was a great Council Meeting among the Shining People. We human beings hid our eyes from all the Spirits who gathered in our village. The tall-as-jack-pine ones came, and the gold-skinned ones. People who were half-goat, half-horse, half-fish. Very small people, wearing red hats. Their moccasins curled up at the toes. People from under the sea, who dressed in clam shells and seaweed and smelled strange because of it Tall people with horns on their heads. No·wonder we hid our eyes! The Council lasted all night, and we could hear them shouting horribly and breaking pots in their long house. In the morning, one of the Shining People came to us and explained that those war canoes out on the water belonged to Men from the Old World, the land they had run away from.* He said it was time now for all the Shining People to say goodbye to us and to disappear. I myself said to him that I would kill all the Men who were coming if
ところで、 わしがまだ若い勇者だったころ、
ある日、 釣りにでかけたんじゃ。 河で釣りを
していると、こっちにやってくる大きな戦闘
用のカヌーが目にはいった。 わしは驚いて
大いそぎで走りもどってみんなに知らせたん
だ。 それからみんなで海岸に見にいったんじ
や。
そのときは知らなかったが、それが白人の
到来だったのじゃな。連中が書物に書いてお
る“発見” とやらを最初に目撃したのが、こ
のわしだったのさ。
野蛮な人間がついに新大陸にもやってきた
のじゃ。 その晩、 輝く人びとが大会議をひら
いたんじゃ。 ヤーロン族はそのときはじめ
て、 すべての輝く人びとを見て、ほんとに驚
いたものじゃった。 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集まっていた。
半山半神、 半馬神、 半魚人、 赤いトンガリ帽
子をかぶった小人。 爪先が上へまるくはねあ
がったモカシンをはいているものまでいたん
だからな。 海底からやってきたものは貝と海
46
藻でできた服を着ていて、 変な臭いをそこら
じゅうにまきちらしておったし、 頭に角のあ
る背の高いものもおったな。わしらが驚いた
のも当然だろう!
会議はひと晩じゅうつづいた。 恐ろしげな
叫び声やら、 家のなかで壺をたたきわる音な
んかもきこえてきたんじゃ。
ようやく夜があけると、 輝く人びとのひと
りがしらのところにやってきて、 「あの戦
闘用カヌーは、 旧世界の人間のものだ」と説
明してくれたんじゃよ。
そして、「とうとう別れを告げるときがき
た」 といい、 輝く人びとは姿を消すんだとわ
しらに告げたんだ。 そこでわしは、 「連中が
わしらや友人に危害を加えるようなことがあ
つたら、 かたっぱしから殺してやる」といっ
たんじゃ。
そして、弓と矢を見せてやったら、 輝ける
人は悲しそうな顔をしておったよ。
ひと晩がかりの会議で、 輝く人びとはいく
つものグループにわかれることになった。 た
いはんのものはそれぞれがいまいるところに
47
Now, one day when I was still a young warrior, I went out fishing. While fishing in the river, I spotted large war canoes coming toward me. Startled, I ran back as fast as I could to tell everyone. Then we all went down to the shore to look.
I didn’t know it at the time — but that was the arrival of the white men. It was I who first witnessed what those people write about in their books as “the discovery.”
At last the savage humans had come to the New World too. That evening the Shining People held a great council. It was then, for the first time, that the Yar-On people saw all the Shining People together — and were truly astonished. Those as tall as pine trees and those with golden skin had all gathered. Half-goat half-god, half-horse half-god, half-fish half-human, small people in red pointed hats. Some even wore moccasins with toes that curled upward. Those who had come from the ocean floor wore garments made of shells and seaweed and spread a strange smell everywhere. And there were tall ones with horns on their heads. No wonder we were astonished!
The council lasted all night. We could hear terrifying cries and the sound of pots being smashed inside the longhouse.
At last when dawn broke, one of the Shining People came to the chief and explained: “Those war canoes belong to humans from the Old World.”
And they told us that the time had finally come to say farewell — that the Shining People would vanish. So I said: “If those people try to harm us or our friends, I will kill every last one of them.”
And when I showed them my bow and arrows, the Shining One looked sad.
After a night-long council, the Shining People had decided to divide into several groups. Most would stay where they were…
46-47
