Sanders' Union Fourth Reader / Embracing a Full Exposition of the Principles of Rhetorical Reading; with Numerous Exercises for Practice, Both in Prose and Poetry, Various in Style, and Carefully Adapted to the Purposes of Teaching in Schools of Every Grade

by Charles W. Sanders

[!-- Marker --] LESSON XXXVIII.

LODG' ES, dens; caves.
MAR' VEL OUS, wonderful.
TIP' PED, pointed.
HERD, gather in herds.
FA' MOUS, noted; remarkable.
ROE' BUCK, small species of deer.
STRAIGHT' WAY, immediately.
E RECT', upright.
FROL' IC, fun; play.
FORD, place where water can be waded.
FLECK' ED, spotted; striped.
FLUT' TER ED, quivered.
PAL' PI TA TED, beat; throbbed.
WA' RY, watchful; cautious.
FA' TAL, deadly; mortal.
EX ULT' ED, (x like gz,) greatly rejoiced.

HIAWATHA'S HUNTING.

LONGFELLOW.

This lesson is taken from "The Song of Hiawatha," a poem, founded upon traditions current among some tribes of North American Indians, respecting an imaginary being of more than mortal powers and gifts, named Hiawatha. The scene of the poem is laid among the Ojibways, or Chippewas, a tribe of Indians, occupants, from the period of our earliest history, of the basin of Lake Superior.

1.
Then the little Hiawatha
Learned of every bird its language,
Learned their names and all their secrets,
How they built their nests in summer,
Where they hid themselves in winter,
Talked with them where'er he met them,
Called them "Hiawatha's chickens."

2.
Of all beasts he learned the language,
Learned their names and all their secrets,
How the beavers built their lodges,
Where the squirrels hid their acorns,
How the reindeer ran so swiftly,
Why the rabbit was so timid,
Talked with them whene'er he met them,
Called them "Hiawatha's brothers."

3.
Then Ia'goo, the great boaster,
He, the marvelous story-teller,
He, the traveler and the talker,
Made a bow for Hiawatha;
From a branch of ash he made it,
From an oak-bough made the arrows,
Tipped with flint, and winged with feathers,
And the cord he made of deer-skin.

4.
Then he said to Hiawatha,
"Go, my son, into the forest,
Where the red deer herd together,
Kill for us a famous roebuck,
Kill for us a deer with antlers."
Forth into the forest straightway
All alone walked Hiawatha
Proudly with his bow and arrows.

5.
And the birds sang round him, o'er him
"Do not shoot us, Hiawatha."
Sang the robin, sang the bluebird,
"Do not shoot us, Hiawatha."
Up the oak-tree, close beside him,
Sprang the squirrel, lightly leaping
In and out among the branches;
Coughed and chattered from the oak-tree,
Laughed, and said between his laughing,
"Do not shoot me, Hiawatha."