Reading Notes: The Fairy Bride, Part B
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| The Fairy Bride |
Once there was a beautiful girl Neen-I-zu, the only daughter of an Indian chief who lived on the of the Lake Superior. Neen-I-zu mean "My Dear Life." It was plain that her parents loved her very much and did everything that they could do to make her happy and protect her from danger.
There was one thing that made them worried. Neen-i-zu was a favorite with the other young girls of the village and joined them in their play. Her favorite moments were when she got time for herself and walked in the forest or to follow some dim trail that led to the heart of the small hills. Sometimes she would go off on herself by herself for many hours and when she returned, her eyes had the look of one who has dwelt in the secret places and seen things strange and mysterious. Some people would call her "romantic." Others would say she is a "dreamer." What was it that she saw and heard during those long lonely walks in the secret places of the hills? Was it faires? She did not say. But her mother, who wanted her to be more like other girls, who wished to see her marry and settle down, was much disturbed in mind.
Magical little fairies, Pil-Wudjies, were believed to live in the sand dunes where she would often walk. The sand-hills made by grasshopper, when he danced so crazily at Man-a-bo-zho's wedding, creating the mounds that stand to this very day. These faires loved their home very much, Indians seldom visited these hills. In the summer, they would gather in little bands and play pranks. Then when the night came, they would make haste to hide in a grove of pine-trees known as the Manito Wac, or the Wood of the spirits.
No one would ever see them but the fishermen who would pass by on their canoes. They could hear their calls and laughs. When they would try to get close to them, they would disappear into the forest. The only evidence that the fairies were there was the feet print left on the sand of a little lake in the hills.
If the disbelievers needed more evidence, further proof was quickly supplied by the fishermen and hunters who were victims of their tricks. The fairies would never harm anyone but their pranks were quite mischievous. Even after this, some people would still not believe in their existence.
Neen-i-zu had her own ideas of these little fairies. She had heard the stories of old Lagoo. One of the stories was the story of a hppy land, a place far away from where no one cried or suffered. She dreamed of this land and wished to find this place where there was no suffering or care. where was this magical place?
When she would be tired laying in bed small little gnomes unseen to the human eye would come out of their hiding place. They crawled on her face and would tap her on her forehead- till her eyelids closed, and she sought the Happy Land in her dreams.
She thought of the little fairies, Puk-Wudjies, on the sandy beach of the lake, and had heard their meerry laughter ring out in the grove of pines. Was it there in that place she asked herself or were they messengers, sent to tell mortals of the Happy Land if they wished to enter?
she came to think that they were the way to the Happy Lands. She would often make her way to the meadow bordering on the spirit wood and she would sit there gazing into the grove. Perhaps the Pik-wudijes would understand and tell the fairies whom they served. then someday a fairy would appear at the edge of the pines and beckon her to come. That would surely happen she thought. If she wished it hard and long enough, they would complete her wishes.
So, sitting there, hoping for the appearance of a fairy. During this time she would compose the words of a song and set it to the music the pines would make when the wind stirs their branches. Then she sang: Spirit of the laughing leaves,
Fairy of the forest pine,
Listen to the maid who grieves
For that happy land of thine.
From your haunt in summer glade
Hasten to your mournful maid.
was it only her high hopes that she would seem to hear the closing words of her song echoed from deep in the forest? or was it the faires mocking her?
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