CHAPTER XVI
THE TREE TRAP
Sometimes John Sassamon the interpreter accompanied the little prince to the groves. He had become one of John Eliot's preachers, and he spoke English well. He was a story-teller, and liked to tell stories in the lodges by the round fires and by the pioneer's open hearth.
On one occasion, when Roger and Metacomet had been begging him for another story, he told them the tale of "The Tree Trap."
"In the harvest moon.
"_Waupi_, the wind it was blowing, and blowing, whoo-oo. It was fall, Indian summer time, the time of Paupock, the partridge.
"It was night--the moon rose when the sun fell; she was a night sun. In the spring the moon shone all day--you could see her down in the cellar.
"It was the time of the Honk,--the wild goose. 'Honk, honk, honk.' He had talks in the ponds on whose banks the gentian grew. He talked in the clouds, when he led the forked geese to the north. He talked like this [softly] 'honk, honk, ker-honk.' That meant steer for the north. The north had silver nights at that time of the year.
"Mosk, the bear [the Dipper] grew bright then in the north, as Papone, the winter, was coming on.
"Little Wobin was a lively Indian boy--he set snares; he had a nature for setting snares--he liked to hear the animals cry out and beg for life in the snares.
"Wassoquat was the walnut tree. Wobin made bows of the walnut trees. It would bend and not break.
"That night as Wobin was sitting in his house--Wetu, the house--the trees began to thrash each other. There was a great walnut tree that spread its arms over the house--Wetu, the house.
"The tree was very old, and it began to creak, as the trees were thrashing each other in the wind--Waupi, the wind.
"And Wobin said, 'What makes the old walnut tree creak?'
"The tree creaked louder, and Wobin could not sleep. So he said--
"'I will go to the tree, and ask him what makes him cry out with the wind.'
"He went to the tree, and said--
"'O Wassoquat, Wassoquat, what makes you cry out?'
"And Wassoquat answered--
"'Come up to my mouth and see! Come up, O snare-setter, and see.'
"So Wobin climbed up to the mouth of the tree. The squirrels ran out of their nests of dry leaves when they heard him climbing, saying--
"'Run, run, the snare-setter, the snare-setter!'
"He reached the mouth of the tree. It was open, and he said--
"'Wassoquat, why do you shriek? I cannot sleep.'
"'I cannot sleep,' said the tree. 'I am thinking of the animals that you have snared, and caused to suffer. How would you like to be a snared deer?'
"Wobin laughed. Then the walnut tree--Wassoquat--gave a shriek that made the clouds scud over the moon--Munnannock, the moon.
"Wobin said--'What must I do to stop you from crying?'
"'Put your foot into my mouth,' said the tree.
"Then Wobin put his foot down into the throat of the tree, Wassoquat, and Wassoquat closed his mouth and held him there. Wobin, the snare-setter, found himself in a snare.
"'Wo-ough-wo-ough!' he cried. 'Oh, my leg, my leg! Let me go, wo-ough!'
"He was held there in terrible pain.
"'Wo-ough!' shrieked the snare-setter.
"The wolves heard him, the Moattoquas, and they gathered around the tree and barked at him; the Pequaus, the gray fox, came, and howled. The Passough, the wild cat, came, and shrieked with him.
"Then the beavers came up from the ponds, and they pitied him, and the king beaver said--
"'If you will never snare us any more, we will cut down the tree.'
"And they cut down the tree and Wobin always pitied thereafter a beast or bird in a snare."