The Acorn-Planter | Page 5

with ropes of kindness.?In kindness, O War Chief, is strength, much strength.
{Shaman}?Red Cloud speaks true. In kindness is strength.
{War Chief}?I am the War Chief.
{Shaman}?You cannot slay the Sun Man.
{War Chief}?I am the War Chief.
{Shaman}?The Sun Man fights with the thunder in his hand.
{War Chief}?I am the War Chief.
{Red Cloud}?_(As he speaks the People are visibly wan by?his argument.)_
You speak true, O War Chief. In war you?command. You are strong, most strong. You?have slain the Modoc. You have slain the Napa.?You have slain the Clam-Eaters of the big water?till the last one is not. Yet you have not slain?all the foxes. The foxes cannot fight, yet are?they stronger than you because you cannot slay?them. The foxes are foxes, but we are men.?When the Sun Man comes we will not be cunning?like the foxes. We will be kind. Kindness and?love will we give to the Sun Man, so that he will?be our friend. Then will he melt the frost, pull?the teeth of famine, give us back our rivers of?deep water, our lakes of sweet water, take the?bitter from the buckeye, and in all ways make?the world the good world it was before he left us.
{People}?Hail, Red Cloud, the first man!?Hail, Red Cloud, the Acorn-Planter!?Who showed us the way of our feet in the world!?Who showed us the way of our food in the world!?Who showed us the way of our hearts in the world!?Who gave us the law of family,?The law of tribe,?The law of totem,?And made us strong in the world among men!
_(While the People sing the hillside slowly?grows dark.)_
ACT I
_(Ten thousand years have passed, and it is?the time of the early voyaging from Europe?to the waters of the Pacific, when the?deserted hillside is again revealed as the?moon rises. The stream no longer flows?from the spring. Since the grove is used?only as a camp for the night when the?Nishinam are on their seasonal migration?there are no signs of previous camps.)_
_(Enter from right, at end of day's march,?women, old men, and Shaman, the?women bending under their burdens of?camp gear and dunnage)_
_(Enter from left youths carrying fish-spears?and large fish)_
_(Appear, coming down the hillside, Red?Cloud and the hunters, many carrying?meat.)_
_(The various repeated characters, despite?differences of skin garmenting and decoration,?resemble their prototypes of the prologue.)_
{Red Cloud}?Good hunting! Good hunting!
{Hunters}?Good hunting! Good hunting!
{Youths}?Good fishing! Good fishing!
{Women}?Good berries! Good acorns!
_(The women and youths and hunters, as they?reach the campsite, begin throwing down?their burdens)_
{Dew-Woman}?_(Discovering the dry spring.)_?The water no longer flows!
{Shaman}?_(Stilling the excitement that is immediate?on the discovery.)_?The word of old time that has come down to?us from all the Shamans who have gone before!?The Sun Man has come back from the Sun.
{Dew-Woman}?_(Looking to Red Cloud.)_?Let Red Cloud speak. Since the morning of?the world has Red Cloud ever been reborn with?the ancient wisdom to guide us.
{War Chief}?Save in war. In war I command.
_(He picks out hunters by name.)_?Deer Foot... Elk Man... Antelope. Run?through the forest, climb the hill-tops, seek down?the valleys, for aught you may find of this Sun Man.
_(At a wave of the War Chief's hand the?three hunters depart in different directions.)_
{Dew-Woman}?Let Red Cloud speak his mind.
{Red Cloud}?_(Quietly)_?Last night the earth shook and there was a?roaring in the air. Often have I seen, when the?earth shakes and there is a roaring, that springs?in some places dry up, and that in other places?where were no springs, springs burst forth.
{Shaman}?There is a sign.?The Shamans told it of old.?The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his hand.
{People}?There is a sign.?The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his hand.
{Shaman}?The roaring in the air was the thunder of the?Sun Man's return. Now will he destroy the?Nishinam. Such is the word.
{War Chief}?Hoh! Hoh!
_(From right Deer Foot runs in.)_
{Deer Foot}?_(Breathless.)_?They come! He comes!
{War Chief}?Who comes?
{Deer Foot}?The Sun Men. The Sun Man. He is their?chief. He marches before them. And he is?white.
{People}?There is a sign.?The Sun Man is white.
{Red Cloud}?Carries he the thunder in his hand?
{Deer Foot}?_(Puzzled)_?He looks hungry.
{War Chief}?Hoh! Hoh! The Sun Man is hungry. It?will be easy to kill a hungry Sun Man.
{Red Cloud}?It would be easy to be kind to a hungry Sun?Man and give him food. We have much. The?hunting has been good.
{War Chief}?Better to kill the Sun Man.
_(He turns upon People, indicating most?commands in gestures as he prepares the?ambush, making women and boys conceal?all the camp outfit and game, and?disposing the armed hunters among the?ferns and behind trees till all are hidden.)_
{Elk Man and Antelope}?_(Running down hillside)_?The Sun Man comes.
_(War Chief sends them to hiding places)_
{War Chief}?_(Preparing himself to hide)_?You have not hidden, O Red Cloud.
{Red Cloud}?_(Stepping into shadow of big tree where he?remains inconspicuous though dimly?visible)_?I would see this Sun Man and talk with him.
_(The sound of singing is heard, and War?Chief conceals himself)_
_(Sun Man, with handful of followers, singing?to ease the tedium of the march, enter?from right. They are patently survivors?of a wrecked exploring skip, making