),
the Night-Walker, shone over all, that the two brides lay in an oak
opening of the forest, and looked at P'ses'muk, the Stars, and talked
about them even as children might do. And one said to the other, "If
those Stars be men, which would you have for a husband?" "By my faith,"
replied the other," it should be that little red, twinkling fellow, for
I like the little stars best." "And I," said the other, "will wed the
Wisawaioo P'ses'm (P.), the Great Yellow Star, for I love the large
stars." And, saying this in jest, they fell asleep.
But many a word spoken in jest is recalled in earnest, as these brides
learned when they awoke, and found themselves married again in the
Indian manner, at only a word. For she who had wished for the Great
Yellow Shining Star, as she opened her eyes, heard a man's voice say,
"Take care, or you will upset my war-paint!" [Footnote: Sekroon (red
ochre).] And lo, there lay by her side a great and handsome man, very
noble, with large and lustrous eyes. [Footnote: In the Passamaquoddy
version of this tale, given me by Tomah Josephs, the brides awake in
Star-Land. The husbands are both elderly men, and he who is the Yellow
Star has bright yellow corners to his eyes, while the other has red. In
another the Yellow Star is called Wobeyu, the White. While they are all
distinctly forms of one tale, the three differ so much that I have had
great difficulty in reconstituting what appears to be the Original
legend.
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