Besides these foundations of things good, they recognize a Manitou, whom we may call the devil. They regard him as the origin of evil; it is true that they do not attribute great malice to the Manitou, but to his wife, who is a real she-devil. The husband does not hate men. He is only present in wars and combats, and those whom he looks upon are protected, the others are killed. So for this reason, my host told me that he prayed this Manitou every day not to cast his eyes upon the Hiroquois, their enemies, and to always give them some of them in their wars. As to the wife of the Manitou, she is [58] the cause of all the diseases which are in the world. It is she who kills men, otherwise they would not die; she feeds upon their flesh, gnawing them upon the inside, which causes them to become emaciated in their illnesses. She has a robe made of the most beautiful hair of the men and women whom she has killed; she sometimes appears like a fire; she can be heard roaring like a flame, but her language cannot be understood. From this, in my opinion, come those cries and howls, and those beatings of the drum which they make around their sick, as if to prevent this she-devil from giving the deathblow, which she does so secretly that no one can defend himself therefrom, for he does not see her.
Deplus, les Sauuages se persuadent que non seulement les hommes & les autres animaux: mais aussi que toutes les autres choses sont animées, & que toutes les ames sont immortelles, ils se figurent les ames comme vn ombre de la chose animée, n'ayans iamais ouy parler d'vne chose purement spirituelle, ils se representent l'ame de l'hõme, [59] comme vne image sombre & noire, où comme vne ombre de l'homme mesme, luy attribuant des pieds, des mains, vne bouche, vne teste, & toutes les autres parties du corps [176] humain. Voila pourquoy ils disent que les ames boiuent & mangent, aussi leurs dõnent-ils à manger quand quelqu'vn meurt, iettant la meilleure viãde qu'ils ayent dãs le feu, & souuẽt ils m'ont dit qu'ils auoient trouué le matin de la viande rongée la nuict par les ames. Or m'ayans declaré ce bel article de leur croyance, ie leurs fis plusieurs interogations. Premierement, ou alloient ces ames apres la mort de l'homme, & des autres creatures; elles vont, dirent ils, fort loin, en vn grãd village situé où le Soleil se couche: Tout vostre pays, leur dis-je (sçauoir est l'Amerique) est vne grande Isle, comme vous tesmoignez l'auoir appris: comment est ce que les ames des hommes, des animaux, des haches, des cousteaux, des chaudieres; bref les ames de tout ce qui meurt, ou qui s'vse, peuuent passer l'eau pour s'en aller à ce grand village que vous placez où le soleil se couche, trouuent [60] elles des vaisseaux tous prests pour s'embarquer & trauerser les eaux? non pas, mais elle vont à pied, me dirent-ils, passants les eaux à gay en quelque endroict: & le moyen, leur fis-ie, de passer à gay le grand Ocean que vous sçauez estre si profond, car c'est cette grãde mer qui enuironne vostre pays, tu te trompe, respondent-ils, où les terres sont conjointes en quelque endroict, ou bien il y a quelque passage guayable par où passent nos ames: & de faict nous apprenons que l'on n'a peu encore passer du costé du Nord, c'est à cause (leur repartis-ie) des grãds froids qui sont en ces mers, que si vos ames prẽnent cette route elles seront glacées & toutes roides de froid, deuant qu'elles arriuent en leurs villages.
Furthermore, the Savages persuade themselves that not only men and other animals, but also all other things, are endowed with souls, and that all the souls are immortal;[17] they imagine the souls as shadows of the animate objects; never having heard of anything purely spiritual, they represent the soul of man [59] as a dark and sombre image, or as a shadow of the man himself, attributing to it feet, hands, a mouth, a head, and all the other parts of the human body. Hence this is the reason that they say the souls drink and eat, and therefore they give them food when any one dies, throwing the best meat they have into the fire; and they have often told me that the next morning they find meat which has been gnawed during the night by the souls. Now, having declared to me this fine article of their faith, I propound to them several questions. "First, where do these souls go, after the death of man and other creatures?" "They go," they say, "very far away, to a large village situated where the Sun sets." "All your country," I say to them (meaning America), "is an immense Island, as you seem to know; how is it that the souls of men, of animals, of hatchets, of knives, of kettles,—in short, the souls of all things that die or that are used, can cross the water to go to this great village that you place where the sun sets? do they [60] find ships all ready to embark them and take them over the water?" "No, they go on foot," they answer me, "fording the water in some places." "And how," I respond; "can they ford the great Ocean which you know is so deep, for it is this great sea which surrounds your country?" "Thou art mistaken," they answer; "either the lands are united in some places, or there is some passage which is fordable over which our souls pass; and, indeed, we know that no one has yet been able to pass beyond the North coast." "It is because (I answer them) of the great cold in those seas, so that if your souls take this route they will be frozen and all stiff from cold, before they reach their villages."
Secondement ie leur demande, que mangeoient ces [178] pauures ames, faisant vn si long chemin, elles mangent des escorces, dirent-ils, & du vieux bois qu'elles trouuent dans les forests, ie ne m'estonne pas, leur respõdis-je, si vous auez si peur de la mort, & si vous la fuiez tant, il n'y a guere de plaisir d'aller manger du vieux bois & des escorces en l'autre vie.
Secondly, I ask them, "What do these poor souls eat, making so long a journey?" "They eat bark," they said, "and old wood which they find in the forests." "I am not astonished," I replied, "that you are so afraid of death, that you shun it so greatly; there is hardly any pleasure in going and eating old wood and bark in another life."
[61] Tiercement. Que font ces ames estant arriuées au lieu de leur demeure? pendant le iour elles sont assises tenans leur deux coudes sur leur deux genoux, & leur testes entre leur deux mains, posture assés ordinaire aux Sauuages malades: pendant la nuict elles vont & viennent, elles trauaillent, elles vont à la chasse, ouy mais, repartis-ie, elles ne voient goutte la nuict, tu es vn ignorant, tu n'as point d'esprit, me firent ils, les ames ne sont pas comme nous, elles ne voyent goutte pendant le iour, & voyent fort clair pendant la nuict, leur iour est dans les tenebres de la nuict, & leur nuict dans la clarte du iour.
[61] Thirdly: "What do these souls do when they arrive at their dwelling place?" "During the daytime, they are seated with their two elbows upon their two knees, and their heads between their two hands, the usual position of sick Savages; during the night, they go and come, they work, they go to the chase." "Oh, but they cannot see at all during the night," I rejoined. "Thou art an ignoramus, thou hast no sense," they answered; "souls are not like us, they do not see at all during the day, and see very clearly at night; their day is in the darkness of the night, and their night in the light of the day."
En quatriesme lieu, à quoy chassent ces pauures ames pendant la nuict? elles chassent aux ames des Castors, des Porcs epics, des Eslans, & des autres animaux, se seruãs de l'ame des raquettes, pour marcher sur l'ame de la neige, qui est en ce pays là: bref elles se seruent des ames de toutes choses, comme nous nous seruõs icy des choses mesmes. Or quant elles ont tué l'ame d'vn Castor, ou d'vn autre animal, ceste ame meurt elle tout a faict, ou bien a elle vne autre ame qui s'en aille en quelque [62] autre village? Mon sorcier demeura court à cette demande; & cõme il a de l'esprit, voyant qu'il s'alloit enferrer s'il me respõdoit directemẽt, il esquiua le [180]coup: car s'il m'eut dit que l'ame mouroit entierrement, ie luy aurois dit que quand on tuoit premierement l'animal, son ame mouroit à mesme temps: s'il m'eust dit que ceste ame auoit vne ame qui s'en alloit en vn autre village, ie luy eusse fait voir que chaque animal auroit selon sa doctrine plus de vingt, voire plus de cent ames, & que le mõde deuoit estre remply de ces villages où elles se retirent, & que cepẽdãt on n'en voyoit aucun. Cognoissant dõc qu'il s'alloit engager, il me dit, tais toy, tu n'as point d'esprit, tu demande des choses que tu ne sçais pas toy-mesme, si i'auois esté en ces pays-là, ie te respondrois.
"In the fourth place, what are these poor souls hunting during the night?" "They hunt for the souls of Beavers, Porcupines, Moose, and other animals, using the soul of the snowshoes to walk upon the soul of the snow, which is in yonder country; in short, they make use of the souls of all things, as we here use the things themselves." "Now, when they have killed the soul of a Beaver, or of another animal, does that soul die entirely, or has it another soul which goes to some [62] other village?" My sorcerer was nonplused by this question; and as he is quick-witted, he dodged the question, seeing that he was going to involve himself if he answered me directly; for if he had answered me that the soul would die entirely, I would have told him that when they first killed the animal its soul would have died at the same time; if he had answered that this soul had a soul which went away into another village, I would have shown him that every animal would have, according to his doctrine, more than twenty, indeed more than a hundred souls, and that the world would have to be full of these villages to which they withdrew, and yet no one had ever seen one of them. Recognizing that he was about to entangle himself, he said to me, "Be silent, thou hast no sense; thou askest things which thou dost not know thyself; if I had ever been in yonder country, I would answer thee."
En fin ie luy dis que les Europeans nauigeoient par tout le monde, ie leur declaray, & leur fis voir par vne figure ronde, quel estoit le pays où le soleil se couche à leur regard, l'asseurant qu'on n'auoit point trouué ce grand village, que tout cela n'étoit que resueries, que les ames des hommes seulement estoiẽt [63] immortelles, & que si elles estoient bõnes, elles s'en alloient au ciel, que si elles estoient meschantes, elles descendoient dans les enfers pour y estre brulées à iamais, & que chacun receuroit selon ses œuures. En cela, dit-il, vous mentez vous autres, d'assigner diuers endroicts pour les ames, elles vont en vn mesme pays, du moins les nostres: car deux ames de nos cõpatriotes sont reuenuë autresfois de ce grand village, & no9 ont appris tout ce que ie t'ay dit, puis elles s'en retournerent en leur demeure: ils appellent la voye lactée, Tchipaï mesKenau, le chemin des ames, pource qu'ils pensent que les ames se guindent par cette voye pour aller en ce grand village.