text: Jack London The Acorn-Planter A California Forest Play (1916) 
   
   
     
   ARGUMENT 
   
       In the morning of the world, while his tribe 
       makes its camp for the night in a grove, Red 
       Cloud, the first man of men, and the first man 
       of the Nishinam, save in war, sings of the duty 
       of life, which duty is to make life more abundant. 
       The Shaman, or medicine man, sings of 
       foreboding and prophecy. The War Chief, who 
       commands in war, sings that war is the only 
       way to life. This Red Cloud denies, affirming 
       that the way of life is the way of the acorn- 
       planter, and that whoso slays one man slays 
       the planter of many acorns. Red Cloud wins 
       the Shaman and the people to his contention. 
   
       After the passage of thousands of years, again 
       in the grove appear the Nishinam. In Red 
       Cloud, the War Chief, the Shaman, and the 
       Dew-Woman are repeated the eternal figures 
       of the philosopher, the soldier, the priest, and 
       the woman--types ever realizing themselves 
       afresh in the social adventures of man. Red 
       Cloud recognizes the wrecked explorers as 
       planters and life-makers, and is for treating 
       them with kindness. But the War Chief and 
       the idea of war are dominant The Shaman 
       joins with the war party, and is privy to the 
       massacre of the explorers. 
   
       A hundred years pass, when, on their seasonal 
       migration, the Nishinam camp for the night in 
       the grove. They still live, and the war formula 
       for life seems vindicated, despite the imminence 
       of the superior life-makers, the whites, who are 
       flooding into California from north, south, east, 
       and west--the English, the Americans, the 
       Spaniards, and the Russians. The massacre by 
       the white men follows, and Red Cloud, dying, 
       recognizes the white men as brother acorn-planters, 
       the possessors of the superior life-formula 
       of which he had always been a protagonist. 
   
       In the Epilogue, or Apotheosis, occur the 
       celebration of the death of war and the triumph 
       of the acorn-planters. 
   
   
  PROLOGUE 
   
       Time.  In the morning of the world. 
   
       Scene.  A forest hillside where great trees stand with wide spaces between. A stream flows from a spring that bursts out of the hillside. It is a place of lush ferns and brakes, also, of thickets of such shrubs as inhabit a redwood forest floor. At the left, in the open level space at the foot of the hillside, extending out of sight among the trees, is visible a portion of a Nishinam Indian camp. It is a temporary camp for the night. Small cooking fires smoulder. Standing about are withe-woven baskets for the carrying of supplies 
  and dunnage. Spears and bows and quivers of arrows lie about. Boys drag in dry branches for firewood. Young women fill gourds with water from the stream and proceed about their camp tasks. A number of older women are pounding acorns in stone mortars with stone pestles. An old man and a Shaman, or priest, look expectantly up the hillside. All wear moccasins and are skin-clad, primitive, in their garmenting. Neither iron nor woven cloth occurs 
  in the weapons and gear. 
   
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Looking up hillside.) 
       Red Cloud is late. 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (After inspection of hillside.) 
       He has chased the deer far. He is patient. 
       In the chase he is patient like an old man. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       His feet are as fleet as the deer's. 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (Nodding.) 
       And he is more patient than the deer. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Assertively, as if inculcating a lesson.) 
       He is a mighty chief. 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (Nodding.) 
       His father was a mighty chief. He is like to 
       his father. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (More assertively.) 
       He is his father. It is so spoken. He is 
       his father's father. He is the first man, the 
       first Red Cloud, ever born, and born again, to 
       chiefship of his people. 
   
       {Old Man} 
       It is so spoken. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       His father was the Coyote. His mother was 
       the Moon. And he was the first man. 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (Repeating.) 
       His father was the Coyote. His mother was 
       the Moon. And he was the first man. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       He planted the first acorns, and he is very 
       wise. 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (Repeating.) 
       He planted the first acorns, and he is very 
       wise. 
   
        (Cries from the women and a turning of 
       faces. Red Cloud appears among his 
       hunters descending the hillside. All 
       carry spears, and bows and arrows. 
       Some carry rabbits and other small 
       game. Several carry deer) 
   
   
       PLAINT OF THE NISHINAM 
   
       Red Cloud, the meat-bringer! 
       Red Cloud, the acorn-planter! 
       Red Cloud, first man of the Nishinam! 
       Thy people hunger. 
       Far have they fared. 
       Hard has the way been. 
       Day long they sought, 
       High in the mountains, 
       Deep in the pools, 
       Wide 'mong the grasses, 
       In the bushes, and tree-tops, 
       Under the earth and flat stones. 
       Few are the acorns, 
       Past is the time for berries, 
       Fled are the fishes, the prawns and the grasshoppers, 
       Blown far are the grass-seeds, 
       Flown far are the young birds, 
       Old are the roots and withered. 
       Built are the fires for the meat. 
       Laid are the boughs for sleep, 
       Yet thy people cannot sleep. 
       Red Cloud, thy people hunger. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Still descending.) 
       Good hunting! Good hunting! 
   
       {Hunters} 
       Good hunting! Good hunting! 
   
        (Completing the descent, Red Cloud 
       motions to the meat-bearers. They throw 
       down their burdens before the women, 
       who greedily inspect the spoils.) 
   
   
       MEAT SONG OF THE NISHINAM 
   
       Meat that is good to eat, 
       Tender for old teeth, 
       Gristle for young teeth, 
       Big deer and fat deer, 
       Lean meat and fat meat, 
       Haunch-meat and knuckle-bone, 
       Liver and heart. 
       Food for the old men, 
       Life for all men, 
       For women and babes. 
       Easement of hunger-pangs, 
       Sorrow destroying, 
       Laughter provoking, 
       Joy invoking, 
       In the smell of its smoking 
       And its sweet in the mouth. 
   
        (The younger women take charge of the meat, 
       and the older women resume their acorn-pounding.) 
   
        (Red Cloud approaches the acorn-pounders 
       and watches them with pleasure. 
       All group about him, the Shaman to the 
       fore, and hang upon his every action, his 
       every utterance.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       The heart of the acorn is good? 
   
       {First Old Woman} 
        (Nodding.) 
       It is good food. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       When you have pounded and winnowed and 
       washed away the bitter. 
   
       {Second Old Woman} 
       As thou taught'st us, Red Cloud, when the 
       world was very young and thou wast the first man. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       It is a fat food. It makes life, and life is good. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       It was thou, Red Cloud, gathering the acorns 
       and teaching the storing, who gavest life to the 
       Nishinam in the lean years aforetime, when the 
       tribes not of the Nishinam passed like the dew 
       of the morning. 
   
        (He nods a signal to the Old Man.) 
   
       {Old Man} 
       In the famine in the old time, 
       When the old man was a young man, 
       When the heavens ceased from raining, 
       When the grasslands parched and withered, 
       When the fishes left the river, 
       And the wild meat died of sickness, 
       In the tribes that knew not acorns, 
       All their women went dry-breasted, 
       All their younglings chewed the deer-hides, 
       All their old men sighed and perished, 
       And the young men died beside them, 
       Till they died by tribe and totem, 
       And o'er all was death upon them. 
       Yet the Nishinam unvanquished, 
       Did not perish by the famine. 
       Oh, the acorns Red Cloud gave them! 
       Oh, the acorns Red Cloud taught them 
       How to store in willow baskets 
       'Gainst the time and need of famine! 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Who, throughout the Old Man's recital, has 
       nodded approbation, turning to Red 
       Cloud.) 
   
       Sing to thy people, Red Cloud, the song of 
       life which is the song of the acorn. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Making ready to begin) 
       And which is the song of woman, O Shaman. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Hushing the people to listen, solemnly) 
       He sings with his father's lips, and with the 
       lips of his father's fathers to the beginning of time 
       and men. 
   
   
       SONG OF THE FIRST MAN 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       I am Red Cloud, 
       The first man of the Nishinam. 
       My father was the Coyote. 
       My mother was the Moon. 
       The Coyote danced with the stars, 
       And wedded the Moon on a mid-summer night 
       The Coyote is very wise, 
       The Moon is very old, 
       Mine is his wisdom, 
       Mine is her age. 
       I am the first man. 
       I am the life-maker and the father of life. 
       I am the fire-bringer. 
       The Nishinam were the first men, 
       And they were without fire, 
       And knew the bite of the frost of bitter nights. 
       The panther stole the fire from the East, 
       The fox stole the fire from the panther, 
       The ground squirrel stole the fire from the fox, 
       And I, Red Cloud, stole the fire from the ground squirrel. 
       I, Red Cloud, stole the fire for the Nishinam, 
       And hid it in the heart of the wood. 
       To this day is the fire there in the heart of the wood. 
       I am the Acorn-Planter. 
       I brought down the acorns from heaven. 
       I planted the short acorns in the valley. 
       I planted the long acorns in the valley. 
       I planted the black-oak acorns that sprout, that sprout! 
       I planted the  sho-kum  and all the roots of the ground. I planted the oat and the barley, the beaver-tail grass-nut, 
  The tar-weed and crow-foot, rock lettuce and ground lettuce, 
       And I taught the virtue of clover in the season of blossom, 
       The yellow-flowered clover, ball-rolled in its yellow dust. 
       I taught the cooking in baskets by hot stones from the fire, 
       Took the bite from the buckeye and soap-root 
       By ground-roasting and washing in the sweetness of water, 
       And of the manzanita the berry I made into flour, 
       Taught the way of its cooking with hot stones in sand pools, 
       And the way of its eating with the knobbed tail of the deer. 
       Taught I likewise the gathering and storing, 
       The parching and pounding 
       Of the seeds from the grasses and grass-roots; 
       And taught I the planting of seeds in the Nishinam home-camps, 
       In the Nishinam hills and their valleys, 
       In the due times and seasons, 
       To sprout in the spring rains and grow ripe in the sun. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Hail, Red Cloud, the first man! 
   
       {The People} 
       Hail, Red Cloud, the first man! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Who showedst us the way of our feet in the world! 
   
       {The People} 
       Who showedst us the way of our feet in the world! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Who showedst us the way of our food in the world! 
   
       {The People} 
       Who showedst us the way of our food in the world! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Who showedst us the way of our hearts in the world! 
   
       {The People} 
       Who showedst us the way of our hearts in the world! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Who gavest us the law of family! 
   
       {The People} 
       Who gavest us the law of family! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The law of tribe! 
   
       {The People} 
       The law of tribe! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The law of totem! 
   
       {The People} 
       The law of totem! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       And madest us strong in the world among men! 
   
       {The People} 
       And madest us strong in the world among men! 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Life is good, O Shaman, and I have sung but 
       half its song. Acorns are good. So is woman 
       good. Strength is good. Beauty is good. So is 
       kindness good. Yet are all these things without 
       power except for woman. And by these things 
       woman makes strong men, and strong men make 
       for life, ever for more life. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (With gesture of interruption that causes 
       remonstrance from the Shaman but which 
       Red Cloud acknowledges.) 
   
       I care not for beauty. I desire strength in 
       battle and wind in the chase that I may kill my 
       enemy and run down my meat. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Well spoken, O War Chief. By voices in 
       council we learn our minds, and that, too, is 
       strength. Also, is it kindness. For kindness 
       and strength and beauty are one. The eagle in 
       the high blue of the sky is beautiful. The salmon 
       leaping the white water in the sunlight is beautiful. 
       The young man fastest of foot in the race 
       is beautiful. And because they fly well, and leap 
       well, and run well, are they beautiful. Beauty 
       must beget beauty. The ring-tail cat begets 
       the ring-tail cat, the dove the dove. Never 
       does the dove beget the ring-tail cat. Hearts 
       must be kind. The little turtle is not kind. 
       That is why it is the little turtle. It lays its 
       eggs in the sun-warm sand and forgets its young 
       forever. And the little turtle is forever the 
       Kttle turtle. But we are not little turtles, 
       because we are kind. We do not leave our young 
       to the sun in the sand. Our women keep our 
       young warm under their hearts, and, after, they 
       keep them warm with deer-skin and campfire. 
       Because we are kind we are men and not little 
       turtles, and that is why we eat the little turtle 
       that is not strong because it is not kind. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Gesturing to be heard.) 
       The Modoc come against us in their strength. 
       Often the Modoc come against us. We cannot 
       be kind to the Modoc. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       That will come after. Kindness grows. First 
       must we be kind to our own. After, long after, 
       all men will be kind to all men, and all men will 
       be very strong. The strength of the Nishinam 
       is not the strength of its strongest fighter. It is 
       the strength of all the Nishinam added together 
       that makes the Nishinam strong. We talk, you 
       and I, War Chief and First Man, because we are 
       kind one to the other, and thus we add together 
       our wisdom, and all the Nishinam are stronger 
       because we have talked. 
   
        (A voice is heard singing. Red Cloud 
       holds up his hand for silence.) 
   
   
       MATING SONG 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
       In the morning by the river, 
          In the evening at the fire, 
       In the night when all lay sleeping, 
          Torn was I with life's desire. 
       There were stirrings 'neath my heart-beats 
          Of the dreams that came to me; 
       In my ears were whispers, voices, 
          Of the children yet to be. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (As Red Cloud sings, Dew-Woman 
       steals from behind a tree and approaches 
       him.) 
   
       In the morning by the river 
          Saw I first my maid of dew, 
       Daughter of the dew and dawnlight, 
          Of the dawn and honey-dew. 
       She was laughter, she was sunlight, 
          Woman, maid, and mate, and wife; 
       She was sparkle, she was gladness, 
          She was all the song of life. 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
       In the night I built my fire, 
          Fire that maidens foster when 
       In the ripe of mating season 
          Each builds for her man of men. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       In the night I sought her, proved her, 
          Found her ease, content, and rest, 
       After day of toil and struggle 
          Man's reward on woman's breast. 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
       Came to me my mate and lover; 
          Kind the hands he laid on me; 
       Wooed me gently as a man may, 
          Father of the race to be. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Soft her arms about me bound me, 
          First man of the Nishinam, 
       Arms as soft as dew and dawnlight, 
          Daughter of the Nishinam. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       She was life and she was woman! 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
       He was life and he was man! 
   
       {Red Cloud} and Dew-Woman 
   
        (Arms about each other.) 
       In the dusk-time of our love-night, 
          There beside the marriage fire, 
       Proved we all the sweets of living, 
          In the arms of our desire. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Angrily.) 
       The councils of men are not the place for 
       women. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Gently.) 
       As men grow kind and wise there will be 
       women in the councils of men. As men grow 
       their women must grow with them if they would 
       continue to be the mothers of men. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       It is told of old time that there are women in 
       the councils of the Sim. And is it not told that 
       the Sun Man will destroy us? 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Then is the Sun Man the stronger; it may be 
       because of his kindness and wiseness, and because 
       of his women. 
   
       {Young Brave} 
       Is it told that the women of the Sun are good 
       to the eye, soft to the arm, and a fire in the heart 
       of man? 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Holding up hand solemnly.) 
       It were well, lest the young do not forget, to 
       repeat the old word again. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Nodding confirmation.) 
       Here, where the tale is told. 
   
        (Pointing to the spring.) 
       Here, where the water burst from under the heel 
       of the Sun Man mounting into the sky. 
   
        (War Chief leads the way up the hillside 
       to the spring, and signals to the Old Man 
       to begin) 
   
       {Old Man} 
       When the world was in the making, 
       Here within the mighty forest, 
       Came the Sun Man every morning. 
       White and shining was the Sun Man, 
       Blue his eyes were as the sky-blue, 
       Bright his hair was as dry grass is, 
       Warm his eyes were as the sun is, 
       Fruit and flower were in his glances; 
       All he looked on grew and sprouted, 
       As these trees we see about us, 
       Mightiest trees in all the forest, 
       For the Sun Man looked upon them. 
   
       Where his glance fell grasses seeded, 
       Where his feet fell sprang upstarting-- 
       Buckeye woods and hazel thickets, 
       Berry bushes, manzanita, 
       Till his pathway was a garden, 
       Flowing after like a river, 
       Laughing into bud and blossom. 
       There was never frost nor famine 
       And the Nishinam were happy, 
       Singing, dancing through the seasons, 
       Never cold and never hungered, 
       When the Sun Man lived among us. 
   
       But the foxes mean and cunning, 
       Hating Nishinam and all men, 
       Laid their snares within this forest, 
       Caught the Sun Man in the morning, 
       With their ropes of sinew caught him, 
       Bound him down to steal his wisdom 
       And become themselves bright Sun Men, 
       Warm of glance and fruitful-footed, 
       Masters of the frost and famine. 
   
       Swiftly the Coyote running 
       Came to aid the fallen Sun Man, 
       Swiftly killed the cunning foxes, 
       Swiftly cut the ropes of sinew, 
       Swiftly the Coyote freed him. 
   
       But the Sun Man in his anger, 
       Lightning flashing, thunder-throwing, 
       Loosed the frost and fanged the famine, 
       Thorned the bushes, pinched the berries, 
       Put the bitter in the buckeye, 
       Rocked the mountains to their summits, 
       Flung the hills into the valleys, 
       Sank the lakes and shoaled the rivers, 
       Poured the fresh sea in the salt sea, 
       Stamped his foot here in the forest, 
       Where the water burst from under 
       Heel that raised him into heaven-- 
       Angry with the world forever 
       Rose the Sun Man into heaven. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Solemnly.) 
       I am the Shaman. I know what has gone 
       before and what will come after. I have passed 
       down through the gateway of death and talked 
       with the dead. My eyes have looked upon the 
       unseen things. My ears have heard the 
       unspoken words. And now I shall tell you of 
       the Sun Man in the days to come. 
   
        (Shaman stiffens suddenly with hideous 
       facial distortions, with inturned eye-balls 
       and loosened jaw. He waves his arms 
       about, writhes and twists in torment, as 
       if in epilepsy.) 
   
        (The Women break into a wailing, inarticulate 
       chant, swaying their bodies to the 
       accent. The men join them somewhat 
       reluctantly, all save Red Cloud, who 
       betrays vexation, and War Chief, who 
       betrays truculence.) 
   
        (Shaman, leading the rising frenzy, with 
       convulsive shiverings and tremblings tears 
       of his skin garments so that he is quite 
       naked save for a girdle of eagle-claws 
       about his thighs. His long black hair 
       flies about his face. With an abruptness 
       that is startling, he ceases all movement 
       and stands erect, rigid. This is greeted 
       with a low moaning that slowly dies 
       away.) 
   
   
       CHANT OF PROPHECY 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The Sun never grows cold. 
       The Sun Man is like the Sun. 
       His anger never grows cold. 
       The Sun Man will return. 
       The Sun Man will come back from the Sun. 
   
       {People} 
       The Sun Man will return. 
       The Sun Man will come back from the Sun. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       There is a sign. 
       As the water burst forth when he rose into the sky, 
       So will the water cease to flow when he returns from the sky. 
       The Sun Man is mighty. 
       In his eyes is blue fire. 
       In his hands he bears the thunder. 
       The lightnings are in his hair. 
   
       {People} 
       In his hands he bears the thunder. 
       The lightnings are in his hair. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Sun Man is white. 
       His skin is white like the sun. 
       His hair is bright like the sunlight.' 
       His eyes are blue like the sky. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Sun Man is white. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The Sun Man is mighty. 
       He is the enemy of the Nishinam. 
       He will destroy the Nishinam. 
   
       {People} 
       He is the enemy of the Nishinam. 
       He will destroy the Nishinam. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his hand. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his hand. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       In the day the Sun Man comes 
       The water from the spring will no longer flow. 
       And in that day he will destroy the Nishinam. 
       With the thunder will he destroy the Nishinam. 
       The Nishinam will be like last year's grasses. 
       The Nishinam will be like the smoke of last year's campfires. 
       The Nishinam will be less than the dreams that trouble the sleeper. 
       The Nishinam will be like the days no man remembers. 
       I am the Shaman. 
       I have spoken. 
   
        (The People set up a sad wailing.) 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Striking his chest with his fist.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
   
        (The People cease from their wailing and 
       look to the War Chief with hopeful 
       expectancy.) 
   
       {War Chief} 
       I am the War Chief. In war I command. 
       Nor the Shaman nor Red Cloud may say me nay 
       when in war I command. Let the Sun Man 
       come back. I am not afraid. If the foxes snared 
       him with ropes, then can I slay him with spear- 
       thrust and war-club. I am the War Chief. In 
       war I command. 
   
        (The People greet War Chief's pronouncement 
       with warlike cries of approval.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       The foxes are cunning. If they snared the Sun Man 
       With ropes of sinew, then let us be cunning 
       And snare him with ropes of kindness. 
       In kindness, O War Chief, is strength, much strength. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Red Cloud speaks true. In kindness is strength. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       I am the War Chief. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       You cannot slay the Sun Man. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       I am the War Chief. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The Sun Man fights with the thunder in his hand. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       I am the War Chief. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (As he speaks the People are visibly wan by 
       his argument.) 
   
       You speak true, O War Chief. In war you 
       command. You are strong, most strong. You 
       have slain the Modoc. You have slain the Napa. 
       You have slain the Clam-Eaters of the big water 
       till the last one is not. Yet you have not slain 
       all the foxes. The foxes cannot fight, yet are 
       they stronger than you because you cannot slay 
       them. The foxes are foxes, but we are men. 
       When the Sun Man comes we will not be cunning 
       like the foxes. We will be kind. Kindness and 
       love will we give to the Sun Man, so that he will 
       be our friend. Then will he melt the frost, pull 
       the teeth of famine, give us back our rivers of 
       deep water, our lakes of sweet water, take the 
       bitter from the buckeye, and in all ways make 
       the world the good world it was before he left us. 
   
       {People} 
       Hail, Red Cloud, the first man! 
       Hail, Red Cloud, the Acorn-Planter! 
       Who showed us the way of our feet in the world! 
       Who showed us the way of our food in the world! 
       Who showed us the way of our hearts in the world! 
       Who gave us the law of family, 
       The law of tribe, 
       The law of totem, 
       And made us strong in the world among men! 
   
        (While the People sing the hillside slowly 
       grows dark.) 
   
   
       ACT I 
   
        (Ten thousand years have passed, and it is 
       the time of the early voyaging from Europe 
       to the waters of the Pacific, when the 
       deserted hillside is again revealed as the 
       moon rises. The stream no longer flows 
       from the spring. Since the grove is used 
       only as a camp for the night when the 
       Nishinam are on their seasonal migration 
       there are no signs of previous camps.) 
   
        (Enter from right, at end of day's march, 
       women, old men, and Shaman, the 
       women bending under their burdens of 
       camp gear and dunnage) 
   
        (Enter from left youths carrying fish-spears 
       and large fish) 
   
        (Appear, coming down the hillside, Red 
       Cloud and the hunters, many carrying 
       meat.) 
   
        (The various repeated characters, despite 
       differences of skin garmenting and decoration, 
       resemble their prototypes of the prologue.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Good hunting! Good hunting! 
   
       {Hunters} 
       Good hunting! Good hunting! 
   
       {Youths} 
       Good fishing! Good fishing! 
   
       {Women} 
       Good berries! Good acorns! 
   
        (The women and youths and hunters, as they 
       reach the campsite, begin throwing down 
       their burdens) 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
        (Discovering the dry spring.) 
       The water no longer flows! 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Stilling the excitement that is immediate 
       on the discovery.) 
       The word of old time that has come down to 
       us from all the Shamans who have gone before! 
       The Sun Man has come back from the Sun. 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
        (Looking to Red Cloud.) 
       Let Red Cloud speak. Since the morning of 
       the world has Red Cloud ever been reborn with 
       the ancient wisdom to guide us. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Save in war. In war I command. 
   
        (He picks out hunters by name.) 
       Deer Foot... Elk Man... Antelope. Run 
       through the forest, climb the hill-tops, seek down 
       the valleys, for aught you may find of this Sun Man. 
   
        (At a wave of the War Chief's hand the 
       three hunters depart in different directions.) 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
       Let Red Cloud speak his mind. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Quietly) 
       Last night the earth shook and there was a 
       roaring in the air. Often have I seen, when the 
       earth shakes and there is a roaring, that springs 
       in some places dry up, and that in other places 
       where were no springs, springs burst forth. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Shamans told it of old. 
       The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his hand. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his hand. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The roaring in the air was the thunder of the 
       Sun Man's return. Now will he destroy the 
       Nishinam. Such is the word. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Hoh! Hoh! 
   
        (From right Deer Foot runs in.) 
   
       {Deer Foot} 
        (Breathless.) 
       They come! He comes! 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Who comes? 
   
       {Deer Foot} 
       The Sun Men. The Sun Man. He is their 
       chief. He marches before them. And he is 
       white. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       The Sun Man is white. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Carries he the thunder in his hand? 
   
       {Deer Foot} 
        (Puzzled) 
       He looks hungry. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Hoh! Hoh! The Sun Man is hungry. It 
       will be easy to kill a hungry Sun Man. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       It would be easy to be kind to a hungry Sun 
       Man and give him food. We have much. The 
       hunting has been good. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Better to kill the Sun Man. 
   
        (He turns upon People, indicating most 
       commands in gestures as he prepares the 
       ambush, making women and boys conceal 
       all the camp outfit and game, and 
       disposing the armed hunters among the 
       ferns and behind trees till all are hidden.) 
   
       {Elk Man and Antelope} 
        (Running down hillside) 
       The Sun Man comes. 
   
        (War Chief sends them to hiding places) 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Preparing himself to hide) 
       You have not hidden, O Red Cloud. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Stepping into shadow of big tree where he 
       remains inconspicuous though dimly 
       visible) 
       I would see this Sun Man and talk with him. 
   
        (The sound of singing is heard, and War 
       Chief conceals himself) 
   
        (Sun Man, with handful of followers, singing 
       to ease the tedium of the march, enter 
       from right. They are patently survivors 
       of a wrecked exploring skip, making their 
       way inland) 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       We sailed three hundred strong 
          For the far Barbaree; 
       Our voyage has been most long 
          For the far Barbaree; 
             So--it's a long pull, 
             Give a strong pull, 
       For the far Barbaree. 
   
       We sailed the oceans wide 
          For the coast of Barbaree; 
       And left our ship a sinking 
          On the coast of Barbaree; 
             So--it's a long pull, 
             Give a strong pull, 
          For the far Barbaree. 
   
       Our ship went fast a-lee 
          On the rocks of Barbaree; 
       That's why we quit the sea 
          On the rocks of Barbaree. 
             So--it's a long pull, 
             Give a strong pull, 
          For the far Barbaree. 
   
       We quit the bitter seas 
          On the coast of Barbaree; 
       To seek the savag-ees 
          Of the far Barbaree. 
             So--it's a long pull, 
             Give a strong pull, 
          For the far Barbaree. 
   
       Our feet are lame and sore 
          In the far Barbaree; 
       From treading of the shore 
          Of the far Barbaree. 
             So--it's a long pull, 
             Give a strong pull, 
          For the far Barbaree. 
   
       A weary brood are we 
          In the far Barbaree; 
       Sea cunies of the sea 
          In the far Barbaree. 
             So--it's a long pull, 
             Give a strong pull, 
          For the far Barbaree. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Who alone carries a musket, and who is 
       evidently captain of the wrecked company) 
       No farther can we go this night. Mayhap 
       to-morrow we may find the savages and food. 
   
        (He glances about.) 
       This far world grows noble trees. We shall sleep 
       as in a temple. 
   
       {First Sea Cuny} 
        (Espying Red Cloud, and pointing.) 
       Look, Captain! 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Making the universal peace-sign, arm 
       raised and out, palm-outward.) 
       Who are you? Speak. We come in peace. 
       We kindness seek. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Advancing out of the shadow.) 
       Whence do you come? 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       From the great sea. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       I do not understand. No one journeys 
       on the great sea. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       We have journeyed many moons. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Have you come from the sun? 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       God wot! We have journeyed across the 
       sun, high and low in the sky, and over the sun 
       and under the sun the round world 'round. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (With conviction.) 
       You come from the Sun. Your hair is like 
       the summer sunburnt grasses. Your eyes are 
       blue. Your skin is white. 
   
        (With absolute conviction.) 
       You are the Sun Man. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (With a shrug of shoulders.) 
       Have it so. I come from the Sun. I am the 
       Sun Man. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Do you carry the thunder in your hand? 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Nonplussed for the moment, glances at 
       his musket, then smiles.) 
       Yes, I carry the thunder in my hand. 
   
        (War Chief and the Hunters leap 
       suddenly from ambush. Sun Man 
       warns Sea Cunies not to resist. War 
       Chief captures and holds Sun Man, 
       and Sea Cunies are similarly captured 
       and held. Women and boys appear, and 
       examine prisoners curiously.) 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! I have captured the 
       Sun Man! Like the foxes, I have captured 
       the Sun Man!--Deer Foot! Elk Man! The 
       foxes held the Sun Man. I now hold the Sun 
       Man. Then can you hold the Sun Man. 
   
        (Deer Foot and Elk Man seize the Sun 
       Man.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (To Shaman.) 
       He said he came in kindness. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Sneering.) 
       In kindness, with the thunder in his hand. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Deflected to partisanship of War Chief 
       by War Chief's success.) 
       By his own lips has he said it, with the thunder 
       in his hand. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       You are the Sun Man. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Shrugging shoulders.) 
       My names are many as the stars. Call me 
       White Man. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       I am Red Cloud, the first man. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Then am I Adam, the first man and your 
       brother. 
   
        (Glancing about.) 
       And this is Eden, to look upon it. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       My father was the Coyote. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       My father was Jehovah. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       I am the Fire-Bringer. I stole the fire from 
       the ground squirrel and hid it in the heart of 
       the wood. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Then am I Prometheus, your brother. I 
       stole the fire from heaven and hid it in the heart 
       of the wood. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       I am the Acorn-Planter. I am the Food- 
       Bringer, the Life-Maker. I make food for 
       more life, ever more life. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Then am I truly your brother. Life-Maker 
       am I, tilling the soil in the sweat of my brow 
       from the beginning of time, planting all manner 
       of good seeds for the harvest. 
   
        (Looking sharply at Red Cloud's skin 
       garments.) 
       Also am I the Weaver and Cloth-Maker. 
   
        (Holding out arm so that Red Cloud may 
       examine the cloth of the coat) 
       From the hair of the goat and the wool of 
       the sheep, and from beaten and spun grasses, 
       do I make the cloth to keep man warm. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Breaking in boastfully.) 
       I am the Shaman. I know all secret things. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       I know my pathway under the sun over all 
       the seas, and I know the secrets of the stars 
       that show me my path where no path is. I 
       know when the Wolf of Darkness shall eat the 
       moon. 
   
        (Pointing toward moon.) 
       On this night shall the Wolf of Darkness eat 
       the moon. 
   
        (He turns suddenly to Red Cloud, 
       drawing sheath-knife and passing it 
       to him.) 
   
       More, O First Man and Acorn-Planter. I am 
       the Iron-Maker. Behold! 
   
        (Red Cloud examines knife, understands 
       immediately its virtue, cuts easily a strip 
       of skin from his skin garment, and is 
       overcome with the wonder of the knife.) 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Exhibiting a long bow.) 
       I am the War Chief. No man, save me, has 
       strength to bend this bow. I can slay farther 
       than any man. 
   
        (A huge bear has come out among the 
       bushes far up the hillside) 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       I, too, am War Chief over men, and I can 
       slay farther than you. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Hoh! Hoh! 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Pointing to bear) 
       Can you slay that with your strong bow? 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Dubiously) 
       It is a far shot. Too far. No man can slay 
       a great bear so far. 
   
        (Sun Man, shaking off from his arms the 
       hands of Deer Foot and Elk Man, 
       aims musket and fires. The bear falls, 
       and the Nishinam betray astonishment 
       and awe) 
   
        (At a quick signal from War Chief, 
       Sun Man is again seized. War Chief 
       takes away musket and examines it.) 
   
       {Shaman} 
       There is a sign. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       He carries the thunder in his hand. 
       He slays with the thunder in his hand. 
       He is the enemy of the Nishinam. 
       He will destroy the Nishinam. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       There is a sign. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       In the day the Sun Man comes, 
       The waters from the spring will no longer flow, 
       And in that day will he destroy the Nishinam. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Exhibiting musket.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! I have taken the Sun Man's 
       thunder. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Now shall the Sun Man die that the Nishinam 
       may live. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       He is our brother. He, too, is an acorn- 
       planter. He has spoken. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       He is the Sun Man, and he is our eternal 
       enemy. He shall die. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       In war I command. 
   
        (To Hunters.) 
       Tie their feet with stout thongs that they 
       may not run. And then make ready with bow 
       and arrow to do the deed. 
   
        (Hunters obey, urging and thrusting the 
       Sea Cunies into a compact group behind 
       the Sun Man.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Shaman I am not. 
       I know not the secret things. 
       I say the things I know. 
       When you plant kindness you harvest kindness. 
       When you plant blood you harvest blood. 
       He who plants one acorn makes way for life. 
       He who slays one man slays the planter of a 
       thousand acorns. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Shaman I am. 
       I see the dark future. 
       I see the Sun Man's death, 
       The journey he must take 
       Through thick and endless forest 
       Where lost souls wander howling 
       A thousand moons of moons. 
   
       {People} 
       Through thick and endless forest 
       Where lost souls wander howling 
       A thousand moons of moons. 
   
        (War Chief arranges Hunters with their 
       bows and arrows for the killing.) 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (To Red Cloud.) 
       You will slay us? 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Indicating War Chief.) 
       In war he commands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Addressing the Nishinam) 
       Nor am I a Shaman. But I will tell you true 
       things to be. Our brothers are acorn-planters, 
       cloth-weavers, iron-workers. Our brothers are 
       life-makers and masters of life. Many are our 
       brothers and strong. They will come after us. 
       Your First Man has spoken true words. When 
       you plant blood you harvest blood. Our brothers 
       will come to the harvest with the thunder 
       in their hands. There is a sign. This night, 
       and soon, will the Wolf of Darkness eat the 
       moon. And by that sign will our brothers come 
       on the trail we have broken. 
   
        (As final preparation for the killing is 
       completed, and as Hunters are arranged 
       with their bows and arrows, 
       Sun Man sings.) 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Our brothers will come after, 
          On our trail to farthest lands; 
       Our brothers will come after 
          With the thunder in their hands. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
             Loud will be the weeping, 
             Red will be the reaping, 
             High will be the heaping 
          Of the slain their law commands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Givers of law, our brothers, 
          This is the law they say: 
       Who takes the life of a brother 
          Ten of the slayers shall pay. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers will come after, 
          On our trail to farthest lands; 
       Our brothers will come after 
          With the thunder in their hands. 
             Loud will be the weeping, 
             Red will be the reaping, 
             High will be the heaping 
          Of the slain their law commands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Our brothers will come after 
          By the courses that we lay; 
       Many and strong our brothers, 
          Masters of life are they. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers will come after 
          On our trail to farthest lands; 
       Our brothers will come after 
          With the thunder in their hands. 
             Loud will be the weeping, 
             Red will be the reaping, 
             High will be the heaping 
          Of the slain their law commands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Plowers of land, our brothers, 
          Of the hills and pleasant leas; 
       Under the sun our brothers 
          With their keels will plow the seas. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers will come after, 
          On our trail to farthest lands; 
       Our brothers will come after 
          With the thunder in their hands. 
             Loud will be the weeping, 
             Red will be the reaping, 
             High will be the heaping 
          Of the slain their law commands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Mighty men are our brothers, 
          Quick to forgive and to wrath, 
       Sailing the seas, our brothers 
          Will follow us on our path. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers will come after, 
          On our trail to farthest lands; 
       Our brothers will come after 
          With the thunder in their hands. 
             Loud will be the weeping, 
             Red will be the reaping, 
             High will be the heaping 
          Of the slain their law commands. 
   
        (At signal from War Chief the arrows 
       are discharged, and repeatedly 
       discharged. The Sun Men fall. The War 
       Chief himself kills the Sun Man.) 
   
        (In what follows, Red Cloud and Dew- 
       Woman stand aside, taking no part. 
       Red Cloud is depressed, and at the 
       same time is overcome with the wonder 
       of the knife which he still holds.) 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Brandishing musket and drifting stiff- 
       legged, as he sings, into the beginning 
       of a war dance of victory.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       I have slain the Sun Man! 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       I hold his thunder in my hand! 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       Greatest of War Chiefs am I! 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       I have slain the Sun Man! 
   
        (The dance grows wilder.) 
   
        (After a time the hillside begins to darken) 
   
       {Dew-Woman} 
        (Pointing to the moon entering eclipse) 
       Lo! The Wolf of Darkness eats the Moon! 
   
        (In consternation the dance is broken off 
       for the moment) 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Reassuringly) 
       It is a sign. 
       The Sun Man is dead. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Recovering courage and resuming dance.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man is dead! 
   
       {People} 
        (Resuming dance.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man is dead! 
   
        (As darkness increases the dance grows 
       into a saturnalia, until complete darkness 
       settles down and hides the hillside.) 
   
   
  ACT II 
   
        (A hundred years have passed, when the 
       hillside and the Nishinam in their 
       temporary camp are revealed. The spring 
       is flowing, and Women are filling gourds 
       with water. Red Cloud and Dew- 
       Woman stand apart from their people.) 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Pointing.) 
       There is a sign. 
       The spring lives. 
       The water flows from the spring 
       And all is well with the Nishinam. 
   
       {People} 
       There is a sign. 
       The spring lives. 
       The water flows from the spring. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Boastingly.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       All is well with the Nishinam. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       It is I who have made all well with the Nishinam. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
   
       I led our young men against the Napa. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       We left no man living of the camp. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
   
       {Shaman} 
       Great is our War Chief! 
       Good is war! 
       No more will the Napa hunt our meat. 
       No more will the Napa pick our berries. 
       No more will the Napa catch our fish. 
   
       {People} 
       No more will the Napa hunt our meat. 
       No more will the Napa pick our berries. 
       No more will the Napa catch our fish. 
   
       {War Chief} 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The War Chiefs before me made all well with 
       the Nishinam. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The War Chief of long ago slew the Sun Man. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man said his brothers would come after. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man lied. 
   
       {People} 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man lied. 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man lied. 
   
       {Shaman} 
        (Derisively.) 
       Red Cloud is sick. He lives in dreams. Ever 
       he dreams of the wonders of the Sun Man. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       The Sun Man was strong. The Sun Man was 
       a life-maker. The Sun Man planted acorns, 
       and cut quickly with a knife not of bone nor 
       stone, and of grasses and hides made cunning 
       cloth that is better than all grasses and hides. 
       --Old Man, where is the cunning cloth that is 
       better than all grasses and hides? 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (Fumbling in his skin pouch for the doth.) 
       In the many moons aforetime, 
       Hundred moons and many hundred, 
       When the old man was the young man, 
       When the young man was the youngling, 
       Dragging branches for the campfire, 
       Stealing suet from the bear-meat, 
       Cause of trouble to his mother, 
       Came the Sun Man in the night-time. 
       I alone of all the Nishinam 
       Live to-day to tell the story; 
       I alone of all the Nishinam 
       Saw the Sun Man come among us, 
       Heard the Sun Man and his Sun Men 
       Sing their death-song here among us 
       Ere they died beneath our arrows, 
       War Chief's arrows sharp and feathered-- 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Interrupting braggartly.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
   
       {Old Man} 
        (Producing cloth.) 
       And the Sun Man and his Sun Men 
       Wore nor hair nor hide nor birdskin. 
       Cloth they wore from beaten grasses 
       Woven like our willow baskets, 
       Willow-woven acorn baskets 
       Women make in acorn season. 
   
        (Old Man hands piece of cloth to Red 
       Cloud.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Admiring cloth.) 
       The Sun Man was an acorn-planter, and we 
       killed the Sun Man. We were not kind. We 
       made a blood-debt. Blood-debts are not good. 
   
       {Shaman} 
       The Sun Man lied. His brothers did not come 
       after. There is no blood-debt when there is no 
       one to make us pay. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       He who plants acorns reaps food, and food is 
       life. He who sows war reaps war, and war is death. 
   
       {People} 
        (Encouraged by Shaman and War Chief 
       to drown out Red Cloud's voice.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man is dead! 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       The Sun Man and his Sun Men are dead! 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Shaking his head.) 
       His brothers of the Sun are coming after. 
       I have reports. 
   
        (Red Cloud beckons one after another of 
       the young hunters to speak) 
   
       {First Hunter} 
       To the south, not far, I wandered and lived 
       with the Petaluma. With my eyes I did not 
       see, but it was told me by those whose eyes had 
       seen, that still to the south, not far, were many 
       Sun Men--war chiefs who carry the thunder in 
       their hands; cloth-makers and weavers of cloth 
       like to that in Red Cloud's hand; acorn-planters 
       who plant all manner of strange seeds that ripen 
       to rich harvests of food that is good. And there 
       had been trouble. The Petaluma had killed 
       Sun Men, and many Petaluma had the Sun Men 
       killed. 
   
       {Second Hunter} 
       To the east, not far, I wandered and lived with 
       the Solano. With my own eyes I did not see, 
       but it was told me by those whose eyes had seen, 
       that still to the east, not far, and just beyond the 
       lands of the Tule tribes, were many Sun Men-- 
       war chiefs and cloth-makers and acorn-planters. 
       And there had been trouble. The Solano had 
       killed Sun Men, and many Solano had the Sun Men killed. 
   
       {Third Hunter} 
       To the north, and far, I wandered and lived 
       with the Klamath. With my own eyes I did 
       not see, but it was told me by those whose eyes 
       had seen, that still to the north, and far, were 
       many Sun Men--war chiefs and cloth-makers 
       and acorn-planters. And there had been trouble. 
       The Klamath had killed Sun Men, and many 
       Klamath had the Sun Men killed. 
   
       {Fourth Hunter} 
       To the west, not far, three days gone I 
       wandered, where, from the mountain, I looked 
       down upon the great sea. With my own eyes 
       I saw. It was like a great bird that swam upon 
       the water. It had great wings like to our great 
       trees here. And on its back I saw men, many 
       men, and they were Sun Men. With my own 
       eyes I saw. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       We shall be kind to the Sun Men when they 
       come among us. 
   
       {War Chief} 
        (Dancing stiff-legged.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       Let the Sun Men come! 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       We will kill the Sun Men when they come! 
   
       {People} 
        (As they join in the war dance.) 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       Let the Sun Men come! 
       Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! 
       We will kill the Sun Men when they come. 
   
        (The dance grows wilder, the Shaman and 
       War Chief encouraging it, while Red 
       Cloud and Dew-Woman stand sadly at 
       a distance.) 
   
        (Rifle shots ring out from every side. Up 
       the hillside appear Sun Men firing rifles. 
       The Nishinam reel to death from their 
       dancing.) 
   
        (Red Cloud shields Dew-Woman with 
       one arm about her, and with the other arm 
       makes the peace-sign) 
   
        (The massacre is complete, Dew-Woman 
       and Red Cloud being the last to fall. 
       Red Cloud, wounded, the sole survivor, 
       rests on his elbow and watches the Sun 
       Men assemble about their leader) 
   
        (The Sun Men are the type of pioneer 
       Americans who, even before the discovery 
       of gold, were already drifting across the 
       Sierras and down into Oregon and 
       California with their oxen and great wagons. 
       With here and there a Rocky Mountain 
       trapper or a buckskin-clad scout of the 
       Kit Carson type, in the main they are 
       backwoods farmers. All carry the long 
       rifle of the period.) 
   
        (The Sun Man is buckskin-clad, with long 
       blond hair sweeping his shoulders.) 
   
       {Sun Men} 
        (Led by Sun Man.) 
       We crossed the Western Ocean 
          Three hundred years ago, 
       We cleared New England's forests 
          Three hundred years ago. 
             Blow high, blow low, 
             Heigh hi, heigh ho, 
       We cleared New England's forests 
          Three hundred years ago. 
   
       We climbed the Alleghanies 
          Two hundred years ago, 
       We reached the Susquehanna 
          Two hundred years ago. 
             Blow high, blow low, 
             Heigh hi, heigh ho, 
       We reached the Susquehanna 
          Two hundred years ago. 
   
       We crossed the Mississippi 
          One hundred years ago, 
       And glimpsed the Rocky Mountains 
          One hundred years ago. 
             Blow high, blow low, 
             Heigh hi, heigh ho, 
       And glimpsed the Rocky Mountains 
          One hundred years ago. 
   
       We passed the Rocky Mountains 
          A year or so ago, 
       And crossed the salty deserts 
          A year or so ago. 
             Blow high, blow low, 
             Heigh hi, heigh ho, 
       And crossed the salty deserts 
          A year or so ago. 
   
       We topped the high Sierras 
          But a few days ago, 
       And saw great California 
          But a few days ago. 
             Blow high, blow low, 
             Heigh hi, heigh ho, 
       And saw great California 
          But a few days ago. 
   
       We crossed Sonoma's mountains 
          An hour or so ago, 
       And found this mighty forest 
          An hour or so ago. 
             Blow high, blow low, 
             Heigh hi, heigh ho, 
       And found this mighty forest 
          An hour or so ago. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Glancing about at the slain and at the giant 
       forest.) 
       Good the day, good the deed, and good this 
       California land. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Not with these eyes, but with other eyes in my 
       lives before, have I beheld you. You are the 
       Sun Man. 
   
        (The attention of all is drawn to Red 
       Cloud, and they group about him and the 
       Sun Man.) 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Call me White Man. Though in truth we 
       follow the sun. All our lives have we followed 
       the sunset sun, as our fathers followed it before 
       us. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       And you slay us with the thunder in your hand. 
       You slay us because we slew your brothers. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
        (Nodding to Red Cloud and addressing 
       his own followers) 
       You see, it was no mistake. He confesses it. 
       Other white men have they slain. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       There will come a day when men will not slay 
       men and when all men will be brothers. And in 
       that day all men will plant acorns. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       You speak well, brother. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Ever was I for peace, but in war I did not command. 
       Ever I sought the secrets of the growing 
       things, the times and seasons for planting. Ever 
       I planted acorns, making two black oak trees 
       grow where one grew before. And now all is 
       ended. Oh my black oak acorns! My black 
       oak acorns! Who will plant them now? 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Be of good cheer. We, too, are planters. 
       Rich is your land here. Not from poor soil can 
       such trees sprout heavenward. We will plant 
       many seeds and grow mighty harvests. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       I planted the short acorns in the valley. I 
       planted the long acorns in the valley. I made 
       food for life. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       You planted well, brother, but not well enough. 
       It is for that reason that you pass. Your fat 
       valley grows food but for a handful of men. We 
       shall plant your fat valley and grow food for ten 
       thousand men. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Ever I counseled peace and planting. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Some day all men will counsel peace. No 
       man will slay his fellow. All men will plant. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       But before that day you will slay, as you have 
       this day slain us? 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       You killed our brothers first. Blood-debts must 
       be paid. It is man's way upon the earth. But 
       more, O brother! We follow the sunset sun, and 
       the way before us is red with war. The way 
       behind us is white with peace. Ever, before 
       us, we make room for life. Ever we slay the 
       squalling crawling things of the wild. Ever we 
       clear the land and destroy the weeds that block 
       the way of life for the seeds we plant. We are 
       many, and many are our brothers that come after 
       along the way of peace we blaze. Where you 
       make two black oaks grow in the place of one, 
       we make an hundred. And where we make one 
       grow, our brothers who come after make an 
       hundred hundred. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Truly are you the Sun Man. We knew about 
       you of old time. Our old men knew and sang of 
       you: 
   
       White and shining was the Sun Man, 
       Blue his eyes were as the sky-blue, 
       Bright his hair was as dry grass is, 
       Warm his eyes were as the sun is, 
       Fruit and flower were in his glances, 
       All he looked on grew and sprouted, 
       Where his glance fell grasses seeded, 
       Where his feet fell sprang upstarting 
       Buckeye woods and hazel thickets, 
       Berry bushes, manzanita, 
       Till his pathway was a garden, 
       Flowing after like a river 
       Laughing into bud and blossom. 
   
   
       SONG OF THE PIONEERS 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze. 
          Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain 
             Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands; 
       In place of war's alarums, peaceful days; 
          Above the warrior's grave the golden grain 
             Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       We cleared New England's flinty slopes and plowed 
       Her rocky fields to fairness in the sun, 
       But fared we westward always for we sought 
       A land of golden richness and we knew 
       The land was waiting on the sunset trail. 
       Where we found forest we left fertile fields, 
       We bridled rivers wild to grind our corn, 
       The deer-paths turned to roadways at our heels, 
       Our axes felled the trees that bridged the streams, 
       And fenced the meadow pastures for our kine. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze; 
          Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain 
          Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands; 
       In place of war's alarums, peaceful days; 
          Above the warrior's grave the golden grain 
             Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       Beyond the Mississippi still we fared, 
       And rested weary by the River Platte 
       Until the young grass velveted the Plains, 
       Then yoked again our oxen to the trail 
       That ever led us west to farthest west. 
       Our women toiled beside us, and our young, 
       And helped to break the soil and plant the corn, 
       And fought beside us in the battle front 
       To fight of arrow, whine of bullet, when 
       We chained our circled wagons wheel to wheel. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze; 
          Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain 
             Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers hands; 
       In place of war's alarums, peaceful days; 
          Above the warrior's grave the golden grain 
             Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands. 
   
       {Sun Man} 
       The rivers sank beneath the desert sand, 
       The tall pines dwarfed to sage-brush, and the grass 
       Grew sparse and bitter in the alkali, 
       But fared we always toward the setting sun. 
       Our oxen famished till the last one died 
       And our great wagons rested in the snow. 
       We climbed the high Sierras and looked down 
       From winter bleak upon the land we sought, 
       A sunny land, a rich and fruitful land, 
       The warm and golden California land. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
       Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze; 
          Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain 
             Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands; 
       In place of war's alarums, peaceful days; 
       Above the warrior's grave the golden grain 
          Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands. 
   
        (The hillside begins to darken.) 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
        (Faintly.) 
   
       The darkness is upon me. You are acorn- 
       planters. You are my brothers. The darkness 
       is upon me and I pass. 
   
       {Sun Men} 
        (As total darkness descends.) 
       Our brothers follow on the trail we blaze; 
          Where howled the wolf and ached the naked plain 
             Spring bounteous harvests at our brothers' hands; 
       In place of war's alarums, peaceful days; 
          Above the warrior's grave the golden grain 
             Turns deserts grim and stark to laughing lands. 
   
   
  EPILOGUE 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Good tidings! Good tidings 
       To the sons of men! 
       Good tidings! Good tidings! 
       War is dead! 
   
        (Light begins to suffuse the hillside, revealing 
       Red Cloud far up the hillside in a 
       commanding position on an out-jut of 
       rock.) 
       Lo, the New Day dawns, 
       The day of brotherhood, 
       The day when all men 
       Shall be kind to all men, 
       And all men shall be sowers of life. 
   
        (From every side a burst of voices.) 
       Hail to Red Cloud! 
       The Acorn-Planter! 
       The Life-Maker! 
       Hail! All hail! 
       The New Day dawns, 
       The day of brotherhood, 
       The day of man. 
   
        (A band of Warriors appears on hillside.) 
       Warriors 
       Hail, Red Cloud! 
       Mightier than all fighting men! 
       The slayer of War! 
       We are not sad. 
       Our eyes were blinded. 
       We did not know one acorn planted 
       Was mightier than an hundred fighting men. 
       We are not sad. 
       Our red work was when 
       The world was young and wild. 
       The world has grown wise. 
       No man slays his brother. 
       Our work is done. 
       In the light of the new day are we glad. 
   
        (A band of Pioneers and Sea Explorers 
       appears.) 
   
       Pioneers and Explorers 
       Hail, Red Cloud! 
       The first planter! 
       The Acorn-Planter! 
       We sang that War would die, 
       The anarch of our wild and wayward past. 
       We sang our brothers would come after, 
       Turning desert into garden, 
       Sowing friendship, and not hatred, 
       Planting seeds instead of dead men, 
       Growing men to manhood in the sun. 
   
        (A band of Husbandmen appear, bearing 
       fruit and sheaves of grain and corn.) 
   
       {Husbandmen} 
       Hail, Red Cloud! 
       The first planter! 
       The Acorn-Planter! 
       The harvests no more are red, but golden, 
       We are thy children. 
       We plant for increase, 
       Increase of wheat and corn, 
       Of fruit and flower, 
       Of sheep and kine, 
       Of love and lovers; 
       Rich are our harvests 
       And many are our lovers. 
   
       {Red Cloud} 
       Death is a stench in the nostrils, 
       Life is beauty and joy. 
       The planters are ever brothers. 
       Never are the warriors brothers; 
       Their ways are set apart, 
       Their hands raised each against each. 
       The planters' ways are the one way. 
       Ever they plant for life, 
       For life more abundant, 
       For beauty of head and hand, 
       For the voices of children playing, 
       And the laughter of maids in the twilight 
       And the lover's song in the gloom. 
   
       {All Voices} 
       Hail, Red Cloud! 
       The first planter! 
       The Acorn-Planter! 
       The maker of life! 
       Hail! All hail! 
       The New Day dawns, 
       The day of brotherhood, 
       The day of man! 
   
   
       THE END 
   
   
   
   Publication Date: May 30th 2008 https://www.bookrix.com/-bx.london