The Acorn-Planter

ACT II

     (A hundred years have passed, when the     hillside and the Nishinam in their     temporary camp are revealed. The spring     is flowing, and Women are filling gourds     with water. Red Cloud and Dew-     Woman stand apart from their people.)     Shaman     (Pointing.)     There is a sign.     The spring lives.     The water flows from the spring     And all is well with the Nishinam.     People     There is a sign.     The spring lives.     The water flows from the spring.     War Chief     (Boastingly.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     All is well with the Nishinam.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     It is I who have made all well with the Nishinam.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     I led our young men against the Napa.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     We left no man living of the camp.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     Shaman     Great is our War Chief!     Good is war!     No more will the Napa hunt our meat.     No more will the Napa pick our berries.     No more will the Napa catch our fish.     People     No more will the Napa hunt our meat.     No more will the Napa pick our berries.     No more will the Napa catch our fish.     War Chief     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The War Chiefs before me made all well with     the Nishinam.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The War Chief of long ago slew the Sun Man.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man said his brothers would come after.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man lied.     People     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man lied.     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man lied.     Shaman     (Derisively.)     Red Cloud is sick. He lives in dreams. Ever     he dreams of the wonders of the Sun Man.     Red Cloud     The Sun Man was strong. The Sun Man was     a life-maker. The Sun Man planted acorns,     and cut quickly with a knife not of bone nor     stone, and of grasses and hides made cunning     cloth that is better than all grasses and hides.     —Old Man, where is the cunning cloth that is     better than all grasses and hides?     Old Man     (Fumbling in his skin pouch for the doth.)     In the many moons aforetime,     Hundred moons and many hundred,     When the old man was the young man,     When the young man was the youngling,     Dragging branches for the campfire,     Stealing suet from the bear-meat,     Cause of trouble to his mother,     Came the Sun Man in the night-time.     I alone of all the Nishinam     Live to-day to tell the story;     I alone of all the Nishinam     Saw the Sun Man come among us,     Heard the Sun Man and his Sun Men     Sing their death-song here among us     Ere they died beneath our arrows,     War Chief's arrows sharp and feathered—     War Chief     (Interrupting braggartly.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     Old Man     (Producing cloth.)     And the Sun Man and his Sun Men     Wore nor hair nor hide nor birdskin.     Cloth they wore from beaten grasses     Woven like our willow baskets,     Willow-woven acorn baskets     Women make in acorn season.     (Old Man hands piece of cloth to Red     Cloud.)     Red Cloud     (Admiring cloth.)     The Sun Man was an acorn-planter, and we     killed the Sun Man. We were not kind. We     made a blood-debt. Blood-debts are not good.     Shaman     The Sun Man lied. His brothers did not come     after. There is no blood-debt when there is no     one to make us pay.     Red Cloud     He who plants acorns reaps food, and food is     life. He who sows war reaps war, and war is death.     People     (Encouraged by Shaman and War Chief     to drown out Red Cloud's voice.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man is dead!     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     The Sun Man and his Sun Men are dead!     Red Cloud     (Shaking his head.)     His brothers of the Sun are coming after.     I have reports.     (Red Cloud beckons one after another of     the young hunters to speak)     First Hunter     To the south, not far, I wandered and lived     with the Petaluma. With my eyes I did not     see, but it was told me by those whose eyes had     seen, that still to the south, not far, were many     Sun Men—war chiefs who carry the thunder in     their hands; cloth-makers and weavers of cloth     like to that in Red Cloud's hand; acorn-planters     who plant all manner of strange seeds that ripen     to rich harvests of food that is good. And there     had been trouble. The Petaluma had killed     Sun Men, and many Petaluma had the Sun Men     killed.     Second Hunter     To the east, not far, I wandered and lived with     the Solano. With my own eyes I did not see,     but it was told me by those whose eyes had seen,     that still to the east, not far, and just beyond the     lands of the Tule tribes, were many Sun Men—     war chiefs and cloth-makers and acorn-planters.     And there had been trouble. The Solano had     killed Sun Men, and many Solano had the Sun Men killed.     Third Hunter     To the north, and far, I wandered and lived     with the Klamath. With my own eyes I did     not see, but it was told me by those whose eyes     had seen, that still to the north, and far, were     many Sun Men—war chiefs and cloth-makers     and acorn-planters. And there had been trouble.     The Klamath had killed Sun Men, and many     Klamath had the Sun Men killed.     Fourth Hunter     To the west, not far, three days gone I     wandered, where, from the mountain, I looked     down upon the great sea. With my own eyes     I saw. It was like a great bird that swam upon     the water. It had great wings like to our great     trees here. And on its back I saw men, many     men, and they were Sun Men. With my own     eyes I saw.     Red Cloud     We shall be kind to the Sun Men when they     come among us.     War Chief     (Dancing stiff-legged.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     Let the Sun Men come!     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     We will kill the Sun Men when they come!     People     (As they join in the war dance.)     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     Let the Sun Men come!     Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!     We will kill the Sun Men when they come.     (The dance grows wilder, the Shaman and     War Chief encouraging it, while Red     Cloud and Dew-Woman stand sadly at     a distance.)     (Rifle shots ring out from every side. Up     the hillside appear Sun Men firing rifles.     The Nishinam reel to death from their     dancing.)     (Red Cloud shields Dew-Woman with     one arm about her, and with the other arm     makes the peace-sign)     (The massacre is complete, Dew-Woman     and Red Cloud being the last to fall.     Red Cloud, wounded, the sole survivor,     rests on his elbow and watches the Sun     Men assemble about their leader)     (The Sun Men are the type of pioneer     Americans who, even before the discovery     of gold, were already drifting across the     Sierras and down into Oregon and     California with their oxen and great wagons.     With here and there a Rocky Mountain     trapper or a buckskin-clad scout of the     Kit Carson type, in the main they are     backwoods farmers. All carry the long     rifle of the period.)     (The Sun Man is buckskin-clad, with long     blond hair sweeping his shoulders.)     Sun Men     (Led by Sun Man.)     We crossed the Western Ocean        Three hundred years ago,     We cleared New England's forests        Three hundred years ago.           Blow high, blow low,           Heigh hi, heigh ho,     We cleared New England's forests        Three hundred years ago.     We climbed the Alleghanies        Two hundred years ago,     We reached the Susquehanna        Two hundred years ago.           Blow high, blow low,           Heigh hi, heigh ho,     We reached the Susquehanna        Two hundred years ago.     We crossed the Mississippi        One hundred years ago,     And glimpsed the Rocky Mountains        One hundred years ago.           Blow high, blow low,           Heigh hi, heigh ho,     And glimpsed the Rocky Mountains        One hundred years ago.     We passed the Rocky Mountains        A year or so ago,     And crossed the salty deserts        A year or so ago.           Blow high, blow low,           Heigh hi, heigh ho,     And crossed the salty deserts        A year or so ago.     We topped the high Sierras        But a few days ago,     And saw great California        But a few days ago.           Blow high, blow low,           Heigh hi, heigh ho,     And saw great California        But a few days ago.     We crossed Sonoma's mountains        An hour or so ago,     And found this mighty forest        An hour or so ago.           Blow high, blow low,           Heigh hi, heigh ho,     And found this mighty forest        An hour or so ago.     Sun Man     (Glancing about at the slain and at the giant     forest.)     Good the day, good the deed, and good this     California land.     Red Cloud     Not with these eyes, but with other eyes in my     lives before, have I beheld you. You are the     Sun Man.     (The attention of all is drawn to Red     Cloud, and they group about him and the     Sun Man.)     Sun Man     Call me White Man. Though in truth we     follow the sun. All our lives have we followed     the sunset sun, as our fathers followed it before     us.     Red Cloud     And you slay us with the thunder in your hand.     You slay us because we slew your brothers.     Sun Man     (Nodding to Red Cloud and addressing     his own followers)     You see, it was no mistake. He confesses it.     Other white men have they slain.     Red Cloud     There will come a day when men will not slay     men and when all men will be brothers. And in     that day all men will plant acorns.     Sun Man     You speak well, brother.     Red Cloud     Ever was I for peace, but in war I did not command.     Ever I sought the secrets of the growing     things, the times and seasons for planting. Ever     I planted acorns, making two black oak trees     grow where one grew before. And now all is     ended. Oh my black oak acorns! My black     oak acorns! Who will plant them now?     Sun Man     Be of good cheer. We, too, are planters.     Rich is your land here. Not from poor soil can     such trees sprout heavenward. We will plant     many seeds and grow mighty harvests.     Red Cloud     I planted the short acorns in the valley. I     planted the long acorns in the valley. I made     food for life.     Sun Man     You planted well, brother, but not well enough.     It is for that reason that you pass. Your fat     valley grows food but for a handful of men. We     shall plant your fat valley and grow food for ten     thousand men.     Red Cloud     Ever I counseled peace and planting.     Sun Man     Some day all men will counsel peace. No     man will slay his fellow. All men will plant.     Red Cloud     But before that day you will slay, as you have     this day slain us?     Sun Man     You killed our brothers first. Blood-debts must     be paid. It is man's way upon the earth. But     more, O brother! We follow the sunset sun, and     the way before us is red with war. The way     behind us is white with peace. Ever, before     us, we make room for life. Ever we slay the     squalling crawling things of the wild. Ever we     clear the land and destroy the weeds that block     the way of life for the seeds we plant. We are     many, and many are our brothers that come after     along the way of peace we blaze. Where you     make two black oaks grow in the place of one,     we make an hundred. And where we make one     grow, our brothers who come after make an     hundred hundred.     Red Cloud     Truly are you the Sun Man. We knew about     you of old time. Our old men knew and sang of     you:     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,     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.     SONG OF THE PIONEERS     Sun Men     Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze.        Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain           Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands;     In place of war's alarums, peaceful days;        Above the warrior's grave the golden grain           Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands.     Sun Man     We cleared New England's flinty slopes and plowed     Her rocky fields to fairness in the sun,     But fared we westward always for we sought     A land of golden richness and we knew     The land was waiting on the sunset trail.     Where we found forest we left fertile fields,     We bridled rivers wild to grind our corn,     The deer-paths turned to roadways at our heels,     Our axes felled the trees that bridged the streams,     And fenced the meadow pastures for our kine.     Sun Men     Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze;        Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain        Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands;     In place of war's alarums, peaceful days;        Above the warrior's grave the golden grain           Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands.     Sun Man     Beyond the Mississippi still we fared,     And rested weary by the River Platte     Until the young grass velveted the Plains,     Then yoked again our oxen to the trail     That ever led us west to farthest west.     Our women toiled beside us, and our young,     And helped to break the soil and plant the corn,     And fought beside us in the battle front     To fight of arrow, whine of bullet, when     We chained our circled wagons wheel to wheel.     Sun Men     Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze;        Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain           Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers hands;     In place of war's alarums, peaceful days;        Above the warrior's grave the golden grain           Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands.     Sun Man     The rivers sank beneath the desert sand,     The tall pines dwarfed to sage-brush, and the grass     Grew sparse and bitter in the alkali,     But fared we always toward the setting sun.     Our oxen famished till the last one died     And our great wagons rested in the snow.     We climbed the high Sierras and looked down     From winter bleak upon the land we sought,     A sunny land, a rich and fruitful land,     The warm and golden California land.     Sun Men     Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze;        Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain           Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands;     In place of war's alarums, peaceful days;     Above the warrior's grave the golden grain        Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands.     (The hillside begins to darken.)     Red Cloud     (Faintly.)     The darkness is upon me. You are acorn-     planters. You are my brothers. The darkness     is upon me and I pass.     Sun Men     (As total darkness descends.)     Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze;        Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain           Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands;     In place of war's alarums, peaceful days;        Above the warrior's grave the golden grain           Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands.

EPILOGUE

     Red Cloud     Good tidings! Good tidings     To the sons of men!     Good tidings! Good tidings!     War is dead!     (Light begins to suffuse the hillside, revealing     Red Cloud far up the hillside in a     commanding position on an out-jut of     rock.)     Lo, the New Day dawns,     The day of brotherhood,     The day when all men     Shall be kind to all men,     And all men shall be sowers of life.     (From every side a burst of voices.)     Hail to Red Cloud!     The Acorn-Planter!     The Life-Maker!     Hail! All hail!     The New Day dawns,     The day of brotherhood,     The day of man.     (A band of Warriors appears on hillside.)     Warriors     Hail, Red Cloud!     Mightier than all fighting men!     The slayer of War!     We are not sad.     Our eyes were blinded.     We did not know one acorn planted     Was mightier than an hundred fighting men.     We are not sad.     Our red work was when     The world was young and wild.     The world has grown wise.     No man slays his brother.     Our work is done.     In the light of the new day are we glad.     (A band of Pioneers and Sea Explorers     appears.)     Pioneers and Explorers     Hail, Red Cloud!     The first planter!     The Acorn-Planter!     We sang that War would die,     The anarch of our wild and wayward past.     We sang our brothers would come after,     Turning desert into garden,     Sowing friendship, and not hatred,     Planting seeds instead of dead men,     Growing men to manhood in the sun.     (A band of Husbandmen appear, bearing     fruit and sheaves of grain and corn.)     Husbandmen     Hail, Red Cloud!     The first planter!     The Acorn-Planter!     The harvests no more are red, but golden,     We are thy children.     We plant for increase,     Increase of wheat and corn,     Of fruit and flower,     Of sheep and kine,     Of love and lovers;     Rich are our harvests     And many are our lovers.     Red Cloud     Death is a stench in the nostrils,     Life is beauty and joy.     The planters are ever brothers.     Never are the warriors brothers;     Their ways are set apart,     Their hands raised each against each.     The planters' ways are the one way.     Ever they plant for life,     For life more abundant,     For beauty of head and hand,     For the voices of children playing,     And the laughter of maids in the twilight     And the lover's song in the gloom.     All Voices     Hail, Red Cloud!     The first planter!     The Acorn-Planter!     The maker of life!     Hail! All hail!     The New Day dawns,     The day of brotherhood,     The day of man!THE END