That was "No."
One day this maiden fell ill and day after day grew worse. All the
best medicine men were called in, but their medicines were of no
avail, and in two weeks from the day that she was taken ill she lay
a corpse. Of course there was great mourning in the camp. They
took her body several miles from camp and rolled it in fine robes
and blankets, then they laid her on a scaffold which they had
erected. (This was the custom of burial among the Indians). They
placed four forked posts into the ground and then lashed strong
poles lengthwise and across the ends and made a bed of willows and
stout ash brush. This scaffold was from five to seven feet from
the ground. After the funeral the parents gave away all of their
horses, fine robes and blankets and all of the belongings of the
dead girl. Then they cut their hair off close to their heads, and
attired themselves in the poorest apparel they could secure.
When a year had passed the friends and relatives of the old couple
tried in vain to have them set aside their mourning. "You have
mourned long enough," they would say. "Put aside your mourning and
try and enjoy a few more pleasures of this life while
you live. You are both growing old and can't live very many more
years, so make the best of your time." The old couple would listen
to their advice and then shake their heads and answer: "We have
nothing to live for.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132