The Acorn-Planter

Jack London

The Acorn-Planter / A California Forest Play (1916)

ARGUMENT

     In the morning of the world, while his tribe     makes its camp for the night in a grove, Red     Cloud, the first man of men, and the first man     of the Nishinam, save in war, sings of the duty     of life, which duty is to make life more abundant.     The Shaman, or medicine man, sings of     foreboding and prophecy. The War Chief, who     commands in war, sings that war is the only     way to life. This Red Cloud denies, affirming     that the way of life is the way of the acorn-     planter, and that whoso slays one man slays     the planter of many acorns. Red Cloud wins     the Shaman and the people to his contention.     After the passage of thousands of years, again     in the grove appear the Nishinam. In Red     Cloud, the War Chief, the Shaman, and the     Dew-Woman are repeated the eternal figures     of the philosopher, the soldier, the priest, and     the woman—types ever realizing themselves     afresh in the social adventures of man. Red     Cloud recognizes the wrecked explorers as     planters and life-makers, and is for treating     them with kindness. But the War Chief and     the idea of war are dominant The Shaman     joins with the war party, and is privy to the     massacre of the explorers.     A hundred years pass, when, on their seasonal     migration, the Nishinam camp for the night in     the grove. They still live, and the war formula     for life seems vindicated, despite the imminence     of the superior life-makers, the whites, who are     flooding into California from north, south, east,     and west—the English, the Americans, the     Spaniards, and the Russians. The massacre by     the white men follows, and Red Cloud, dying,     recognizes the white men as brother acorn-planters,     the possessors of the superior life-formula     of which he had always been a protagonist.     In the Epilogue, or Apotheosis, occur the     celebration of the death of war and the triumph     of the acorn-planters.

PROLOGUE

     Time. In the morning of the world.     Scene. A forest hillside where great trees stand with wide     spaces between. A stream flows from a spring that bursts     out of the hillside. It is a place of lush ferns and brakes,     also, of thickets of such shrubs as inhabit a redwood forest     floor. At the left, in the open level space at the foot of the     hillside, extending out of sight among the trees, is visible a     portion of a Nishinam Indian camp. It is a temporary     camp for the night. Small cooking fires smoulder. Standing     about are withe-woven baskets for the carrying of supplies     and dunnage. Spears and bows and quivers of arrows lie     about. Boys drag in dry branches for firewood. Young     women fill gourds with water from the stream and proceed     about their camp tasks. A number of older women are     pounding acorns in stone mortars with stone pestles. An     old man and a Shaman, or priest, look expectantly up the     hillside. All wear moccasins and are skin-clad, primitive,     in their garmenting. Neither iron nor woven cloth occurs     in the weapons and gear.

ACT I

     Shaman     (Looking up hillside.)     Red Cloud is late.     Old Man     (After inspection of hillside.)     He has chased the deer far. He is patient.     In the chase he is patient like an old man.     Shaman     His feet are as fleet as the deer's.     Old Man     (Nodding.)     And he is more patient than the deer.     Shaman     (Assertively, as if inculcating a lesson.)     He is a mighty chief.     Old Man     (Nodding.)     His father was a mighty chief. He is like to     his father.     Shaman     (More assertively.)     He is his father. It is so spoken. He is     his father's father. He is the first man, the     first Red Cloud, ever born, and born again, to     chiefship of his people.     Old Man     It is so spoken.     Shaman     His father was the Coyote. His mother was     the Moon. And he was the first man.     Old Man     (Repeating.)     His father was the Coyote. His mother was     the Moon. And he was the first man.     Shaman     He planted the first acorns, and he is very     wise.     Old Man     (Repeating.)     He planted the first acorns, and he is very     wise.     (Cries from the women and a turning of     faces. Red Cloud appears among his     hunters descending the hillside. All     carry spears, and bows and arrows.     Some carry rabbits and other small     game. Several carry deer)     PLAINT OF THE NISHINAM     Red Cloud, the meat-bringer!     Red Cloud, the acorn-planter!     Red Cloud, first man of the Nishinam!     Thy people hunger.     Far have they fared.     Hard has the way been.     Day long they sought,     High in the mountains,     Deep in the pools,     Wide 'mong the grasses,     In the bushes, and tree-tops,     Under the earth and flat stones.     Few are the acorns,     Past is the time for berries,     Fled are the fishes, the prawns and the grasshoppers,     Blown far are the grass-seeds,     Flown far are the young birds,     Old are the roots and withered.     Built are the fires for the meat.     Laid are the boughs for sleep,     Yet thy people cannot sleep.     Red Cloud, thy people hunger.     Red Cloud     (Still descending.)     Good hunting! Good hunting!     Hunters     Good hunting! Good hunting!     (Completing the descent, Red Cloud     motions to the meat-bearers. They throw     down their burdens before the women,     who greedily inspect the spoils.)     MEAT SONG OF THE NISHINAM     Meat that is good to eat,     Tender for old teeth,     Gristle for young teeth,     Big deer and fat deer,     Lean meat and fat meat,     Haunch-meat and knuckle-bone,     Liver and heart.     Food for the old men,     Life for all men,     For women and babes.     Easement of hunger-pangs,     Sorrow destroying,     Laughter provoking,     Joy invoking,     In the smell of its smoking     And its sweet in the mouth.     (The younger women take charge of the meat,     and the older women resume their acorn-pounding.)     (Red Cloud approaches the acorn-pounders     and watches them with pleasure.     All group about him, the Shaman to the     fore, and hang upon his every action, his     every utterance.)     Red Cloud     The heart of the acorn is good?     First Old Woman     (Nodding.)     It is good food.     Red Cloud     When you have pounded and winnowed and     washed away the bitter.     Second Old Woman     As thou taught'st us, Red Cloud, when the     world was very young and thou wast the first man.     Red Cloud     It is a fat food. It makes life, and life is good.     Shaman     It was thou, Red Cloud, gathering the acorns     and teaching the storing, who gavest life to the     Nishinam in the lean years aforetime, when the     tribes not of the Nishinam passed like the dew     of the morning.     (He nods a signal to the Old Man.)     Old Man     In the famine in the old time,     When the old man was a young man,     When the heavens ceased from raining,     When the grasslands parched and withered,     When the fishes left the river,     And the wild meat died of sickness,     In the tribes that knew not acorns,     All their women went dry-breasted,     All their younglings chewed the deer-hides,     All their old men sighed and perished,     And the young men died beside them,     Till they died by tribe and totem,     And o'er all was death upon them.     Yet the Nishinam unvanquished,     Did not perish by the famine.     Oh, the acorns Red Cloud gave them!     Oh, the acorns Red Cloud taught them     How to store in willow baskets     'Gainst the time and need of famine!     Shaman     (Who, throughout the Old Man's recital, has     nodded approbation, turning to Red     Cloud.)     Sing to thy people, Red Cloud, the song of     life which is the song of the acorn.     Red Cloud     (Making ready to begin)     And which is the song of woman, O Shaman.     Shaman     (Hushing the people to listen, solemnly)     He sings with his father's lips, and with the     lips of his father's fathers to the beginning of time     and men.     SONG OF THE FIRST MAN     Red Cloud     I am Red Cloud,     The first man of the Nishinam.     My father was the Coyote.     My mother was the Moon.     The Coyote danced with the stars,     And wedded the Moon on a mid-summer night     The Coyote is very wise,     The Moon is very old,     Mine is his wisdom,     Mine is her age.     I am the first man.     I am the life-maker and the father of life.     I am the fire-bringer.     The Nishinam were the first men,     And they were without fire,     And knew the bite of the frost of bitter nights.     The panther stole the fire from the East,     The fox stole the fire from the panther,     The ground squirrel stole the fire from the fox,     And I, Red Cloud, stole the fire from the ground squirrel.     I, Red Cloud, stole the fire for the Nishinam,     And hid it in the heart of the wood.     To this day is the fire there in the heart of the wood.     I am the Acorn-Planter.     I brought down the acorns from heaven.     I planted the short acorns in the valley.     I planted the long acorns in the valley.     I planted the black-oak acorns that sprout, that sprout!     I planted the sho-kum and all the roots of the ground.     I planted the oat and the barley, the beaver-tail grass-nut,     The tar-weed and crow-foot, rock lettuce and ground lettuce,     And I taught the virtue of clover in the season of blossom,     The yellow-flowered clover, ball-rolled in its yellow dust.     I taught the cooking in baskets by hot stones from the fire,     Took the bite from the buckeye and soap-root     By ground-roasting and washing in the sweetness of water,     And of the manzanita the berry I made into flour,     Taught the way of its cooking with hot stones in sand pools,     And the way of its eating with the knobbed tail of the deer.     Taught I likewise the gathering and storing,     The parching and pounding     Of the seeds from the grasses and grass-roots;     And taught I the planting of seeds in the Nishinam home-camps,     In the Nishinam hills and their valleys,     In the due times and seasons,     To sprout in the spring rains and grow ripe in the sun.     Shaman     Hail, Red Cloud, the first man!     The People     Hail, Red Cloud, the first man!     Shaman     Who showedst us the way of our feet in the world!     The People     Who showedst us the way of our feet in the world!     Shaman     Who showedst us the way of our food in the world!     The People     Who showedst us the way of our food in the world!     Shaman     Who showedst us the way of our hearts in the world!     The People     Who showedst us the way of our hearts in the world!     Shaman     Who gavest us the law of family!     The People     Who gavest us the law of family!     Shaman     The law of tribe!     The People     The law of tribe!     Shaman     The law of totem!     The People     The law of totem!     Shaman     And madest us strong in the world among men!     The People     And madest us strong in the world among men!     Red Cloud     Life is good, O Shaman, and I have sung but     half its song. Acorns are good. So is woman     good. Strength is good. Beauty is good. So is     kindness good. Yet are all these things without     power except for woman. And by these things     woman makes strong men, and strong men make     for life, ever for more life.     War Chief     (With gesture of interruption that causes     remonstrance from the Shaman but which     Red Cloud acknowledges.)     I care not for beauty. I desire strength in     battle and wind in the chase that I may kill my     enemy and run down my meat.     Red Cloud     Well spoken, O War Chief. By voices in     council we learn our minds, and that, too, is     strength. Also, is it kindness. For kindness     and strength and beauty are one. The eagle in     the high blue of the sky is beautiful. The salmon     leaping the white water in the sunlight is beautiful.     The young man fastest of foot in the race     is beautiful. And because they fly well, and leap     well, and run well, are they beautiful. Beauty     must beget beauty. The ring-tail cat begets     the ring-tail cat, the dove the dove. Never     does the dove beget the ring-tail cat. Hearts     must be kind. The little turtle is not kind.     That is why it is the little turtle. It lays its     eggs in the sun-warm sand and forgets its young     forever. And the little turtle is forever the     Kttle turtle. But we are not little turtles,     because we are kind. We do not leave our young     to the sun in the sand. Our women keep our     young warm under their hearts, and, after, they     keep them warm with deer-skin and campfire.     Because we are kind we are men and not little     turtles, and that is why we eat the little turtle     that is not strong because it is not kind.     War Chief     (Gesturing to be heard.)     The Modoc come against us in their strength.     Often the Modoc come against us. We cannot     be kind to the Modoc.     Red Cloud     That will come after. Kindness grows. First     must we be kind to our own. After, long after,     all men will be kind to all men, and all men will     be very strong. The strength of the Nishinam     is not the strength of its strongest fighter. It is     the strength of all the Nishinam added together     that makes the Nishinam strong. We talk, you     and I, War Chief and First Man, because we are     kind one to the other, and thus we add together     our wisdom, and all the Nishinam are stronger     because we have talked.     (A voice is heard singing. Red Cloud     holds up his hand for silence.)     MATING SONG     Dew-Woman     In the morning by the river,        In the evening at the fire,     In the night when all lay sleeping,        Torn was I with life's desire.     There were stirrings 'neath my heart-beats        Of the dreams that came to me;     In my ears were whispers, voices,        Of the children yet to be.     Red Cloud     (As Red Cloud sings, Dew-Woman     steals from behind a tree and approaches     him.)     In the morning by the river        Saw I first my maid of dew,     Daughter of the dew and dawnlight,        Of the dawn and honey-dew.     She was laughter, she was sunlight,        Woman, maid, and mate, and wife;     She was sparkle, she was gladness,        She was all the song of life.     Dew-Woman     In the night I built my fire,        Fire that maidens foster when     In the ripe of mating season        Each builds for her man of men.     Red Cloud     In the night I sought her, proved her,        Found her ease, content, and rest,     After day of toil and struggle        Man's reward on woman's breast.     Dew-Woman     Came to me my mate and lover;        Kind the hands he laid on me;     Wooed me gently as a man may,        Father of the race to be.     Red Cloud     Soft her arms about me bound me,        First man of the Nishinam,     Arms as soft as dew and dawnlight,        Daughter of the Nishinam.     Red Cloud     She was life and she was woman!     Dew-Woman     He was life and he was man!     Red Cloud and Dew-Woman     (Arms about each other.)     In the dusk-time of our love-night,        There beside the marriage fire,     Proved we all the sweets of living,        In the arms of our desire.     War Chief     (Angrily.)     The councils of men are not the place for     women.     Red Cloud     (Gently.)     As men grow kind and wise there will be     women in the councils of men. As men grow     their women must grow with them if they would     continue to be the mothers of men.     War Chief     It is told of old time that there are women in     the councils of the Sim. And is it not told that     the Sun Man will destroy us?     Red Cloud     Then is the Sun Man the stronger; it may be     because of his kindness and wiseness, and because     of his women.     Young Brave     Is it told that the women of the Sun are good     to the eye, soft to the arm, and a fire in the heart     of man?     Shaman     (Holding up hand solemnly.)     It were well, lest the young do not forget, to     repeat the old word again.     War Chief     (Nodding confirmation.)     Here, where the tale is told.     (Pointing to the spring.)     Here, where the water burst from under the heel     of the Sun Man mounting into the sky.     (War Chief leads the way up the hillside     to the spring, and signals to the Old Man     to begin)     Old Man     When the world was in the making,     Here within the mighty forest,     Came the Sun Man every morning.     White and shining was the Sun Man,     Blue his eyes were as the sky-blue,     Bright his hair was as dry grass is,     Warm his eyes were as the sun is,     Fruit and flower were in his glances;     All he looked on grew and sprouted,     As these trees we see about us,     Mightiest trees in all the forest,     For the Sun Man looked upon them.     Where his glance fell grasses seeded,     Where his feet fell sprang upstarting—     Buckeye woods and hazel thickets,     Berry bushes, manzanita,     Till his pathway was a garden,     Flowing after like a river,     Laughing into bud and blossom.     There was never frost nor famine     And the Nishinam were happy,     Singing, dancing through the seasons,     Never cold and never hungered,     When the Sun Man lived among us.     But the foxes mean and cunning,     Hating Nishinam and all men,     Laid their snares within this forest,     Caught the Sun Man in the morning,     With their ropes of sinew caught him,     Bound him down to steal his wisdom     And become themselves bright Sun Men,     Warm of glance and fruitful-footed,     Masters of the frost and famine.     Swiftly the Coyote running     Came to aid the fallen Sun Man,     Swiftly killed the cunning foxes,     Swiftly cut the ropes of sinew,     Swiftly the Coyote freed him.     But the Sun Man in his anger,     Lightning flashing, thunder-throwing,     Loosed the frost and fanged the famine,     Thorned the bushes, pinched the berries,     Put the bitter in the buckeye,     Rocked the mountains to their summits,     Flung the hills into the valleys,     Sank the lakes and shoaled the rivers,     Poured the fresh sea in the salt sea,     Stamped his foot here in the forest,     Where the water burst from under     Heel that raised him into heaven—     Angry with the world forever     Rose the Sun Man into heaven.     Shaman     (Solemnly.)     I am the Shaman. I know what has gone     before and what will come after. I have passed     down through the gateway of death and talked     with the dead. My eyes have looked upon the     unseen things. My ears have heard the     unspoken words. And now I shall tell you of     the Sun Man in the days to come.     (Shaman stiffens suddenly with hideous     facial distortions, with inturned eye-balls     and loosened jaw. He waves his arms     about, writhes and twists in torment, as     if in epilepsy.)     (The Women break into a wailing, inarticulate     chant, swaying their bodies to the     accent. The men join them somewhat     reluctantly, all save Red Cloud, who     betrays vexation, and War Chief, who     betrays truculence.)     (Shaman, leading the rising frenzy, with     convulsive shiverings and tremblings tears     of his skin garments so that he is quite     naked save for a girdle of eagle-claws     about his thighs. His long black hair     flies about his face. With an abruptness     that is startling, he ceases all movement     and stands erect, rigid. This is greeted     with a low moaning that slowly dies     away.)     CHANT OF PROPHECY     Shaman     The Sun never grows cold.     The Sun Man is like the Sun.     His anger never grows cold.     The Sun Man will return.     The Sun Man will come back from the Sun.     People     The Sun Man will return.     The Sun Man will come back from the Sun.     Shaman     There is a sign.     As the water burst forth when he rose into the sky,     So will the water cease to flow when he returns from the sky.     The Sun Man is mighty.     In his eyes is blue fire.     In his hands he bears the thunder.     The lightnings are in his hair.     People     In his hands he bears the thunder.     The lightnings are in his hair.     Shaman     There is a sign.     The Sun Man is white.     His skin is white like the sun.     His hair is bright like the sunlight.'     His eyes are blue like the sky.     People     There is a sign.     The Sun Man is white.     Shaman     The Sun Man is mighty.     He is the enemy of the Nishinam.     He will destroy the Nishinam.     People     He is the enemy of the Nishinam.     He will destroy the Nishinam.     Shaman     There is a sign.     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     In the day the Sun Man comes     The water from the spring will no longer flow.     And in that day he will destroy the Nishinam.     With the thunder will he destroy the Nishinam.     The Nishinam will be like last year's grasses.     The Nishinam will be like the smoke of last year's campfires.     The Nishinam will be less than the dreams that trouble the sleeper.     The Nishinam will be like the days no man remembers.     I am the Shaman.     I have spoken.     (The People set up a sad wailing.)     War Chief     (Striking his chest with his fist.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     (The People cease from their wailing and     look to the War Chief with hopeful     expectancy.)     War Chief     I am the War Chief. In war I command.     Nor the Shaman nor Red Cloud may say me nay     when in war I command. Let the Sun Man     come back. I am not afraid. If the foxes snared     him with ropes, then can I slay him with spear-     thrust and war-club. I am the War Chief. In     war I command.     (The People greet War Chief's pronouncement     with warlike cries of approval.)     Red Cloud     The foxes are cunning. If they snared the Sun Man     With ropes of sinew, then let us be cunning     And snare him 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 their     way inland)     Sun Men     We sailed three hundred strong        For the far Barbaree;     Our voyage has been most long        For the far Barbaree;           So—it's a long pull,           Give a strong pull,     For the far Barbaree.     We sailed the oceans wide        For the coast of Barbaree;     And left our ship a sinking        On the coast of Barbaree;           So—it's a long pull,           Give a strong pull,        For the far Barbaree.     Our ship went fast a-lee        On the rocks of Barbaree;     That's why we quit the sea        On the rocks of Barbaree.           So—it's a long pull,           Give a strong pull,        For the far Barbaree.     We quit the bitter seas        On the coast of Barbaree;     To seek the savag-ees        Of the far Barbaree.           So—it's a long pull,           Give a strong pull,        For the far Barbaree.     Our feet are lame and sore        In the far Barbaree;     From treading of the shore        Of the far Barbaree.           So—it's a long pull,           Give a strong pull,        For the far Barbaree.     A weary brood are we        In the far Barbaree;     Sea cunies of the sea        In the far Barbaree.           So—it's a long pull,           Give a strong pull,        For the far Barbaree.     Sun Man     (Who alone carries a musket, and who is     evidently captain of the wrecked company)     No farther can we go this night. Mayhap     to-morrow we may find the savages and food.     (He glances about.)     This far world grows noble trees. We shall sleep     as in a temple.     First Sea Cuny     (Espying Red Cloud, and pointing.)     Look, Captain!     Sun Man     (Making the universal peace-sign, arm     raised and out, palm-outward.)     Who are you? Speak. We come in peace.     We kindness seek.     Red Cloud     (Advancing out of the shadow.)     Whence do you come?     Sun Man     From the great sea.     Red Cloud     I do not understand. No one journeys     on the great sea.     Sun Man     We have journeyed many moons.     Red Cloud     Have you come from the sun?     Sun Man     God wot! We have journeyed across the     sun, high and low in the sky, and over the sun     and under the sun the round world 'round.     Red Cloud     (With conviction.)     You come from the Sun. Your hair is like     the summer sunburnt grasses. Your eyes are     blue. Your skin is white.     (With absolute conviction.)     You are the Sun Man.     Sun Man     (With a shrug of shoulders.)     Have it so. I come from the Sun. I am the     Sun Man.     Red Cloud     Do you carry the thunder in your hand?     Sun Man     (Nonplussed for the moment, glances at     his musket, then smiles.)     Yes, I carry the thunder in my hand.     (War Chief and the Hunters leap     suddenly from ambush. Sun Man     warns Sea Cunies not to resist. War     Chief captures and holds Sun Man,     and Sea Cunies are similarly captured     and held. Women and boys appear, and     examine prisoners curiously.)     War Chief     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! I have captured the     Sun Man! Like the foxes, I have captured     the Sun Man!—Deer Foot! Elk Man! The     foxes held the Sun Man. I now hold the Sun     Man. Then can you hold the Sun Man.     (Deer Foot and Elk Man seize the Sun     Man.)     Red Cloud     (To Shaman.)     He said he came in kindness.     War Chief     (Sneering.)     In kindness, with the thunder in his hand.     Shaman     (Deflected to partisanship of War Chief     by War Chief's success.)     By his own lips has he said it, with the thunder     in his hand.     War Chief     You are the Sun Man.     Sun Man     (Shrugging shoulders.)     My names are many as the stars. Call me     White Man.     Red Cloud     I am Red Cloud, the first man.     Sun Man     Then am I Adam, the first man and your     brother.     (Glancing about.)     And this is Eden, to look upon it.     Red Cloud     My father was the Coyote.     Sun Man     My father was Jehovah.     Red Cloud     I am the Fire-Bringer. I stole the fire from     the ground squirrel and hid it in the heart of     the wood.     Sun Man     Then am I Prometheus, your brother. I     stole the fire from heaven and hid it in the heart     of the wood.     Red Cloud     I am the Acorn-Planter. I am the Food-     Bringer, the Life-Maker. I make food for     more life, ever more life.     Sun Man     Then am I truly your brother. Life-Maker     am I, tilling the soil in the sweat of my brow     from the beginning of time, planting all manner     of good seeds for the harvest.     (Looking sharply at Red Cloud's skin     garments.)     Also am I the Weaver and Cloth-Maker.     (Holding out arm so that Red Cloud may     examine the cloth of the coat)     From the hair of the goat and the wool of     the sheep, and from beaten and spun grasses,     do I make the cloth to keep man warm.     Shaman     (Breaking in boastfully.)     I am the Shaman. I know all secret things.     Sun Man     I know my pathway under the sun over all     the seas, and I know the secrets of the stars     that show me my path where no path is. I     know when the Wolf of Darkness shall eat the     moon.     (Pointing toward moon.)     On this night shall the Wolf of Darkness eat     the moon.     (He turns suddenly to Red Cloud,     drawing sheath-knife and passing it     to him.)     More, O First Man and Acorn-Planter. I am     the Iron-Maker. Behold!     (Red Cloud examines knife, understands     immediately its virtue, cuts easily a strip     of skin from his skin garment, and is     overcome with the wonder of the knife.)     War Chief     (Exhibiting a long bow.)     I am the War Chief. No man, save me, has     strength to bend this bow. I can slay farther     than any man.     (A huge bear has come out among the     bushes far up the hillside)     Sun Man     I, too, am War Chief over men, and I can     slay farther than you.     War Chief     Hoh! Hoh!     Sun Man     (Pointing to bear)     Can you slay that with your strong bow?     War Chief     (Dubiously)     It is a far shot. Too far. No man can slay     a great bear so far.     (Sun Man, shaking off from his arms the     hands of Deer Foot and Elk Man,     aims musket and fires. The bear falls,     and the Nishinam betray astonishment     and awe)     (At a quick signal from War Chief,     Sun Man is again seized. War Chief     takes away musket and examines it.)     Shaman     There is a sign.     People     There is a sign.     He carries the thunder in his hand.     He slays with the thunder in his hand.     He is the enemy of the Nishinam.     He will destroy the Nishinam.     Shaman     There is a sign.     People     There is a sign.     In the day the Sun Man comes,     The waters from the spring will no longer flow,     And in that day will he destroy the Nishinam.     War Chief     (Exhibiting musket.)     Hoh! Hoh! I have taken the Sun Man's     thunder.     Shaman     Now shall the Sun Man die that the Nishinam     may live.     Red Cloud     He is our brother. He, too, is an acorn-     planter. He has spoken.     Shaman     He is the Sun Man, and he is our eternal     enemy. He shall die.     War Chief     In war I command.     (To Hunters.)     Tie their feet with stout thongs that they     may not run. And then make ready with bow     and arrow to do the deed.     (Hunters obey, urging and thrusting the     Sea Cunies into a compact group behind     the Sun Man.)     Red Cloud     Shaman I am not.     I know not the secret things.     I say the things I know.     When you plant kindness you harvest kindness.     When you plant blood you harvest blood.     He who plants one acorn makes way for life.     He who slays one man slays the planter of a     thousand acorns.     Shaman     Shaman I am.     I see the dark future.     I see the Sun Man's death,     The journey he must take     Through thick and endless forest     Where lost souls wander howling     A thousand moons of moons.     People     Through thick and endless forest     Where lost souls wander howling     A thousand moons of moons.     (War Chief arranges Hunters with their     bows and arrows for the killing.)     Sun Man     (To Red Cloud.)     You will slay us?     Red Cloud     (Indicating War Chief.)     In war he commands.     Sun Man     (Addressing the Nishinam)     Nor am I a Shaman. But I will tell you true     things to be. Our brothers are acorn-planters,     cloth-weavers, iron-workers. Our brothers are     life-makers and masters of life. Many are our     brothers and strong. They will come after us.     Your First Man has spoken true words. When     you plant blood you harvest blood. Our brothers     will come to the harvest with the thunder     in their hands. There is a sign. This night,     and soon, will the Wolf of Darkness eat the     moon. And by that sign will our brothers come     on the trail we have broken.     (As final preparation for the killing is     completed, and as Hunters are arranged     with their bows and arrows,     Sun Man sings.)     Sun Man     Our brothers will come after,        On our trail to farthest lands;     Our brothers will come after        With the thunder in their hands.     Sun Men           Loud will be the weeping,           Red will be the reaping,           High will be the heaping        Of the slain their law commands.     Sun Man     Givers of law, our brothers,        This is the law they say:     Who takes the life of a brother        Ten of the slayers shall pay.     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after,        On our trail to farthest lands;     Our brothers will come after        With the thunder in their hands.           Loud will be the weeping,           Red will be the reaping,           High will be the heaping        Of the slain their law commands.     Sun Man     Our brothers will come after        By the courses that we lay;     Many and strong our brothers,        Masters of life are they.     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after        On our trail to farthest lands;     Our brothers will come after        With the thunder in their hands.           Loud will be the weeping,           Red will be the reaping,           High will be the heaping        Of the slain their law commands.     Sun Man     Plowers of land, our brothers,        Of the hills and pleasant leas;     Under the sun our brothers        With their keels will plow the seas.     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after,        On our trail to farthest lands;     Our brothers will come after        With the thunder in their hands.           Loud will be the weeping,           Red will be the reaping,           High will be the heaping        Of the slain their law commands.     Sun Man     Mighty men are our brothers,        Quick to forgive and to wrath,     Sailing the seas, our brothers        Will follow us on our path.     Sun Men     Our brothers will come after,        On our trail to farthest lands;     Our brothers will come after        With the thunder in their hands.           Loud will be the weeping,           Red will be the reaping,           High will be the heaping        Of the slain their law commands.     (At signal from War Chief the arrows     are discharged, and repeatedly     discharged. The Sun Men fall. The War     Chief himself kills the Sun Man.)     (In what follows, Red Cloud and Dew-     Woman stand aside, taking no part.     Red Cloud is depressed, and at the     same time is overcome with the wonder     of the knife which he still holds.)     War Chief     (Brandishing musket and drifting stiff-     legged, as he sings, into the beginning     of a war dance of victory.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     I have slain the Sun Man!     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     I hold his thunder in my hand!     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     Greatest of War Chiefs am I!     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     I have slain the Sun Man!     (The dance grows wilder.)     (After a time the hillside begins to darken)     Dew-Woman     (Pointing to the moon entering eclipse)     Lo! The Wolf of Darkness eats the Moon!     (In consternation the dance is broken off     for the moment)     Shaman     (Reassuringly)     It is a sign.     The Sun Man is dead.     War Chief     (Recovering courage and resuming dance.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man is dead!     People     (Resuming dance.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man is dead!     (As darkness increases the dance grows     into a saturnalia, until complete darkness     settles down and hides the hillside.)