Wau wau tay see! Wau wau tay see! E mow e shin Tshe bwau ne baun-e wee! Be eghaun—be eghaun—ewee! Wa wau tay see! Wa wau tay see! Was sa koon ain je gun Was sa koon ain je gun.
LITERAL TRANSLATION.
Flitting-white-fire-insect! waving-white-fire-bug! give me light before I go to bed! give me light before I go to sleep. Come, little dancing[21] white-fire-bug! Come little flitting-white-fire-beast! Light me with your bright white-flame-instrument—your little candle[22].
[21] In giving the particle wa, the various meanings of "flitting," "waving," and "dancing," the Indian idiom is fully preserved. The final particle see, in the term wa wa tai see, is from the generic root asee, meaning a living creature, or created form, not man. By prefixing Ahw to the root, we have the whole class of quadrupeds, and by pen, the whole class of birds, &c. The Odjibwa Algonquin term for a candle, was sa koon ain je gun, is literally rendered from its elements—"bright—white—flamed—instrument." It is by the very concrete character of these compounds that so much meaning results from a few words, and so considerable a latitude in translation is given to Indian words generally.
[22]Fire-fly, fire-fly! bright little thing,
Light me to bed, and my song I will sing.
Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head,
That I may merrily go to my bed.
Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep,
That I may joyfully go to my sleep.
Come little fire-fly—come little beast—
Come! and I'll make you to-morrow a feast. Come little candle that flies as I sing,
Bright little fairy-bug—night's little king;
Come, and I'll dance as you guide me along,
Come, and I'll pay you, my bug, with a song.
Metre there was none, at least, of a regular character: they were the wild improvisations of children in a merry mood.
ETHNOLOGY.
SCHOOLCRAFT'S AMERICAN CYCLOPÆDIA, OR ETHNOLOGICAL GAZETTEER OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT, NORTH AND SOUTH, COMPRISING THEIR HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND NOMENCLATURE, FROM THE DISCOVERY IN 1492, TO THE PRESENT PERIOD.