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119 Works of Charles G. Leland

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“Vot ish Art? Id ish somedings to drink, objectively foregebrought in de Beaudiful. Doubtest dou? – denn read, ash I hafe read, de Dyonisiacs of Nonnus, and learn dat de oopboorstin of infinite worlds into edernal Light und mad goldnen Lofeliness – yea of dein own soul – is typifide only py de CUP. Vot! […]

Gent

Story type: Poetry

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“Wie kennt die stad waer alles nogVan Vlaenderens grootheid spreekt?Waer ontrouw, valschheid en bedrogVan schæmte nog verbleekt?”– Ledeganck. If I hat gold, as I hafe time,I tells you how ‘tvere shpent,On efery year I’d shtay a weekIn Vlanderen’s hoofstad, Gent.For, oh! de sveet wild veelins,In dat stad do mofe me so,Vhen I’d dink of all […]

IN dis boem, mein freund der Herr Breitmann hafe his fiews on art pefore-geset mit a deepness und shorthood vich is bropably oonliked in Aesthetik. Ve hafe here, within de circumcomprehensifeness of dirty-two lines, a théorie vitch – shortsomely exbressed – sends to der teufel efery dings ash vas efer gescribed pefore on kunst or […]

Leyden

Story type: Poetry

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TIS shveet to valk in Holland townsApout de twilicht tide,Vhen all ish shdill on proad canals,Safe vhere a poat may clide.Shdrange light on darkenin vater falls,In long soft lines afar,Der abenddroth on dunkelheit,Vitch shows – or hides – a star. De pridges risen all aroundtSo quaindly, left und right,Pedween each pridge und shattow, lies,A lemon […]

Oldt Flämisch. HET vas Mijn Heer van Torenborg,Ride oud oopon de sand,Und vait to hear a paardeken;Coom tromplin from de land.He vaited vhen de boeren volkVent oud oopon de plain,He vaited dill de veary crowsFlew nestwarts home acain. He vaited ash de wild fox vaitsIn long-some hoonger noth,He vaited dill de flitterin batsVere plack on […]

DER Breitmann sits in la Sorbonne,A note-pook in his hand,‘Tvas dere he vent to lectures,Und in oldt Louis le Grand.Id’s more ash two und dwendy yearsSince here I used mein pen;Oh, where ish all de characders,Dat I hafe known since denn? Der cratest boet efer vas,Der pest I efer known,Vent lecdures here, too, shoost like […]

Dictes moy – in what shpirit landIsh Clara Lafontaine?Or Pomaré, or La Frisette,Who blazed on soosh a train?Shveet Echo flings de quesdion pack,O’er lake or shdreamlet lone;All eartly peauty fades afay,Vhere ish dem lofed ones gone? Oh, vhere ish Lola Montez now,So loved in efery land?How oft I shmoked dose cigarettesShe rollt mit vairy hand!Dat […]

DERE woned once a studente,All in der Stadt Paris,[1]Whom jeder der ihn kennte,Der rowdy Breitmann hiess.He roosted in de rue La Harpe,Im Luxembourg Hotel,‘Twas shoost in anno ’48,Dat all dese dings pefel. Boot he who vouldt go hoontin nowTo find dat rue La Harpe,Moost hafe oongommon shpecdagles,Und look darnation sharp.For der Kaisar und his HausmannMit […]

“Vlaenderen, dag en nachtDenk ik aen u.Waer ik ook ben en vaer,Gy zyt my altyd naer.Vlaenderen, dag en nachtDenk ik aen u. Overal vrolykheid,Overal lust.Maegden van fier gelaet,Knapen zoo vroom en draet.Overal vrolykheid,Overal lust.”– Hoffmann von Fallersleben. VHEN sommer drees shake fort deir leafs,Ash maids shake out deir locks,Und singen mit de rifulets,Vitch ripplen round […]

Ostende

Story type: Poetry

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“Hupsa! jonker Jan,Die wel ruiter worden kan.” BOON tidings to der Breitmann cameAsh he at table end,Dere’s right goot fisch at Blankenberghe,Und oysters in Ostend.Denn to Ostland ve will reiten gaen,To Ostland o’er de sand,Dou und I mit pridle drawnFor dere ish de oyster land. Und vhen dey shtood bei Ostersee,Vhere de waters roar like […]

O HEAR a wondrous shdoryVot soundet like romance,How Breitmann mit four UhlansVas dake de town of Nantz.De Fräntschmen call it Nancy,[1]Und dey say its fery hardDat Nancy mit her soldiersVas getook py gorpral’s guard. Dey dink id vas King WilhelmAsh Hans ride in de down,Und like Odin in his glorieGazed derriply aroun’.Denn mit awfool condesenchenHe […]

HE sits in bivouacke,By fire, peneat’ de drees;A pottle of champagnerHeld shently on his knees;His lange Uhlan lanzeStuck py him in de sand;Vhile a goot peas-poodin’ sausageAdorn his oder hand. Und jungere UhlanenSit round mit oben mout’To hear der Breitmann’s shdoriesOf fitin in de Sout’Und he gife dem moral lessons,How pefore de battle pops:“Take a […]

For fear of some missed onder standings, I vould shtate, dat dis is only mean de last Barty dat der Coptain Breitmann has ge given – as yed. Pimepy I kess he gife anoder von, und if I kits an in- leading, or indrotuckshun, I kess I’ll go. I am von of de vellers dat […]

(1869.) “Recessit in Franciam.” “Et affectu pectoris,Et toto gestu corporis,Et scholares maxime,Qui festa colunt optime.”– Carmina Burana, 13th century. DER teufel’s los in Bal Mabille,Dere’s hell-fire in de air,De fiddlers can’t blay noding elseBoot Orphée aux Enfers:Vot makes de beoples howl mit shoy?Da capo – Bravo! – bis!!It’s a Deutscher aus Amerikà:Hans Breitmann in Paris. […]

SHOWING HOW MR. HIRAM TWINE “PLAYED OFF” ON SMITH.[1] Vide licet. Dere vas a fillage whose vote alone vouldt peApout enof to elegdt a man und give a mayority,So de von who couldt “scoop” dis seddlement vouldt make a lucky hit,But dough dey vere Deutschers, von und all, dey all go von on Schmit. Now […]

“Bjó foeri ek thér,Brynthings apaldr!Magni blandinnOk magentíri,Fullr er hann ljoda.”– Sigrdrîfurnál “Beer I bear to thee,Battle’s great apple-tree!Mingled with mightAnd with bright glory,All full of song.”– The Edda. THE VISION. “Dere vas vonce oopon a dimes a Frantchman who asket if a Sharman could hafe ésprit. Allowin for his pad shbellin, de reater will find […]

WHO vas efer hear soosh voonders,Holy breest or virshin nonn?As pefelled de Coptain Breitmann,Vhen he hoont an air-ballon.Der Bizzy[1] und der Dizzy,[2]Mit lothairingen und Lothair,Vas nodings to dis Deutscher,Who vent kitin troo de air. Id was in yar Nofember,In eighdeen sefendee,Der Breitmann vent a prowlin,By monden light vent he.In fillages desertedHe hear de Uhu moan;For […]

“Très estimé ami, – Ick seyn nock nit verdorb,Vielleickt Sie denck wohl kar, das ick sey tod gestorb,Ock ne Kott loben Danck, ick leb nock kanss wohl auf.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Naturlich wie Kespenst die off die Kasse keh.”– Deutsch-Franzos, Leipzig, 1736. Vot roombles down […]

ID hoppinet in de yar of crace, vhen all dese dings pegan,Dat Mishder Schmit, de shap who rooned acainsd der Breitmann,Vas a man who look like Mishder Twine so moosh dat beoples sayDey pliefe dey moost ge-brudert pe – Gott weiss in vot a vay! Und id vas also moosh be-marked – vhitch look shoost […]

Dere’s nodings in dis vorldt so pad, ash all oov us may learn,Boot may shange from dark to lighthood, if loock should dake a doorn;So it hoppinet mit Breitmann, who in spite of sin and Schmit,Gontrifed ad shoost dis yooncture do make a glucky hit. Dey hat sendet out some plackarts to de Deutsche burgers […]

Dis tale dat Schmit hafe sell de vight cot so mooch put apout,Dat many of his beoples vere in fery tupious toubt;‘Pove all, dose who were on de make, and easy change deir lodge,Und, pein awfool smart demselfs, pelieve in efery dodge. Vhen de meeding vas gesempled, und dey found no Schmit vas dere,Dey looket […]

Dornenlieder

Story type: Poetry

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I. FOR efery Rose dot ploome in spring,Dey say an maid is porn;For efery pain dot Rose vill makeDey say dere comes a dorn.Boot let dem say yoost vot dey will,Dis ding I will soopose,I’ll immer prick mein finger still,If I may pfluck die Ros’.Ach, Rosalein, du schöne mein,[1]Dot man vas nefer bornVot did deserfe […]

VEN de winter make oos shiferUnd de bonds is froze mit ice,To shlide und shkate on de rifer,Mit de poys und gals is nice.Ven de horses hafe deir bits on,Und de roats pe vite mit shnow,To vly in a sleigh like blitzenIs de yolliest dings I know. “Und its high, hooray!” saidt Breitmann“For de gals […]

The Magic Shoes

Story type: Poetry

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IT was stiller, dimmer twilight – amber toornin’ into gold,Like young maidens’ hairs get yellow und more dark as dey crow old;Und dere shtood a high ruine vhere de Donau rooshed along,All lofely, yet neclected – like an oldt und silent song. Out shpoke der Ritter Breitmann, “Ven I hafe not forgot,Ich kenn an anciendt […]

SHOWING HOW AND WHY IT WAS THAT IT NEVER APPEARED. “Uns ist in alten Maerenwunders viel geseitVon Helden lobebaeren,von grosser Arebeit.Von Festen und Hochzeiten,von Weinen und Klagen,Von kuehnen Recken Streiten,möht Ihr nun Wunder hören sagen.”– Der Nibelungen Lied. DO oos, in anciend shdory,Crate voonders ish peen toldOf lapors fool of glory,Of heroes bluff und bold;Of […]

DERR BREITMANN hear im TurkenreichVas fighten high und low,“Steh auf, oh Schwackenhammer mein!It’s dime for us to go.Zieh dein Kanonenstiefel an,Und schleife Dir das Schwert,Schon lang her han mer nichts gethan,Der Weg ist reitenswerth.”[1] “Oopon vitch side? I hartly knowBoot von side in dis war:Dere ist de holy Russ-landAll mit a holy Tsar;But I pe […]

Cobus Hagelstein

Story type: Poetry

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ICH bin ein Deutscher, und mein name is Cobus Hagelstein,[1]I coom from Cincinnàti, and I life peyond der Rhein;Und I dells you all a shdory dot makes me mad ash blitz,Pout how a Yankee gompany vas shvindle me to fits. I heardt apout dis gompany, und vished to see dot same,Das Lebensfeuerversicherunggesellschaft vos ids name;Dot […]

ASH on de Alapama biz,Deep sinnin long I sat,I dinks von ding for dinkinPy afery Diplomat;Und dat ist: dat voll many a dingVot ist de facto done,May pe de jure unbossible,Und officiél unknown, Von dimes in San Franciscus,Im Californian land,Among de CalifornamentsDere woned a Deutscher band;Und shief among dese heroesDere shone Herr Fritzerl Schnall,Who nefer […]

The Gypsy Lover

Story type: Poetry

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DOT vos a schwartz Zigeuner[1]Dot on a viddle played,Und oonderneat’ a fensterHe mak’t a serenade. Dot vos a lofely gountessWho heardt de gypsy blay’n.Said she, “Who make dot musikVot sound so wunderscheen?” Dot vos de schwartz ZigainerWho vos fery quick to twig;Und he song a mournvoll palladHow his hearts vos proken – big! Dot vos […]

“Sankt Martin war ein frommer MannTrank gerne Cerevisiam,Und hatt er kein PecuniamSo liess er seinen Tunicam.” (Comment by Herr Schwackenhammer.) VONCE oopon a dimes in Frankfort der Herr Breitemann exsberiencet an interfal pedween de periot ven he hat gespent de last remiddance he hat become from home, und de arrifal of de succedin wechsel, or […]

Breitmann In Rome

Story type: Poetry

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DERE’S lighds oopon de Appian,Dey shine de road entlang;Und from ein hundert tombs dere brummsA wild Lateinisch song;It rings from Nero’s goldnen haus;Evoe! – here he coom!Fly oud, ye mœnads, from your craves!-Hans Breitmann’s got to Rome! For vhile de lamp holts oud to purn,Or von goot shpark ish dere,Dere’s hope for all of dem […]

La Scala Santa

Story type: Poetry

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“Robusti sono i fatti.”– Discorso del Terremoto,del S. Alessandro Sardo.Venetia, A.D. 1586. IN San Gianni Lateran,Dey’ve cot a flight of shdairs,More woonderful ash nefer vas,As Latin pooks declares.For you kits your sins forgifen,If you glimes dem knee py knee;It’s such a gitten up a stairs,I nefer yet did see. Now as Breitmann vas a vaitinAmong […]

“Altri beva il Falerno, altri la Tolfa.. . . . . . . . Toscana re, ditePra ch’io parli dite.”Bacco in Toscano,di Francisco Redi. “Si regressum feci metroRetro ante, ante retro-Quid si graves sunt acuti?Si accentus fiant muti?Quid si placide, plene, planeFregi frontem Prisciani?-Sat est Verbum declinaviTitubo-titubas-titubavi.”Barnabæ Itinerarium. London, 1716. VON efenin ash der Breitmann […]

Amsterdam

Story type: Poetry

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TO Amsterd-m came BreitmannAll in de Kermes tide;Yonge Maegden allegaderFilled de straat on afery side.De meisjes in de straatenVere tantzin alle nacht long;Dere vas kissen, dere vas trinken,Mit a roar of Holland song. Who went into de straatenVen de sonn had gone his day,De Dootch gals quickly grapped himUnd tantzed him wild avay.Dere was der […]

HOW wunderschön das VaterlandIn audumn-life abbears;Vot rainpows gild ids vallies crand,Ven seen troo vallin tears.Und VON I’ll creet mit sang und klang,Und drown in goldnen wein;Old Deutschland’s cot her sohn again:Hans Breitmann’s on der Rhein. Und doughts ish schwell dat mighdy heart,Too awfool for make known;Ven dey shunt him from de railroat carUnd tropped him […]

“Were diu werlt alle min,Von deme mere unze an den Rin.Des wolt ih mih darben,Daz diu dame von EngellantLege an minen armen.”– Carmina Burana. AM Rhein! Acain am Rheine!In boat oopon der Rhein!De castle-bergs soft goldnenIm Abendsonnenschein,Mit lots of Rudesheimer,Und saitenklang und sang,Und laties singin lieder,Ash ve go sailin ‘long. Und von fair Englisch dameVas […]

( Alt Deutsch.) HE shtood peside de Kloster-place,Oopon de Rheinisch shore,Und dere he saw a lofely face,He’d seen in treams pefore. “Feinslieb, und will’st dou go mit me?Feinsllieb, make no delay;For rocks ish shdeep und vales ish teep,Und dings ish in de way.” “Und oh! how can I go mit dir,Or flyen out of land?Der […]

[The Author Asserts The Vast Intellectual Superiority Of Germans To Americans] DERE’S a liddle fact in hishdory vitch few hafe oondershtand,Deutschers are, de jure, de owners of dis land,Und I brides mineslf oonshpeak-barly dat I foorst make be-known,De primordial cause dat Columbus vas derivet from Cologne. For ash his name vas Colon, it fisiply does […]

BREITMANN IN KANSAS.[1] VONCE oopon a dimes, goot vhile afder der var vas ofer, der Herr Breitmann vent oud Vest, drafellin’ apout like efery dings – ” circuivit terram et perambulavit eam,” ash der Teufel said ven dey ask him: “How vash you und how you has peen?” Von efenings he vas drafel mit some […]

DER SCHWACKENHAMMER coom to down,Pefore de Fall vas past,Und by der Breitmann drawed he inAsh dreimals honored gast.“Led’s see de sighdts! In self und worldt,-Dere’s ‘sighdts’ for him, to see,Who Selbstanschauungsvermögen hat,”Said Breitemann, said he. Dey vented to de Opera Haus,Und dere dey vound em blayin’,Of Offenbach (der open brook ),His show spiel Belle Heléne.“Dere’s […]

VHEN ash de var vas ober, und Beace her shnow-wice vingsVas vafin’ o’er de coondry (in shpodts) like efery dingsUnd heroes vere revardtet, de beople all peganTo say ‘tvas shame dat nodings vas done for Breitemann. No man wised how id vas shtartet, or vhere de fore shlog came,Boot dey shveared it vas a cinder, […]

Denn for our Insdructions Comedy de ding vas protocollirt,By Docktor Emsig Grubler, who in Jena vonce studiret;Und for Breitmann his insdrugtions de comedy tid sayDat de All out-going from de Ones vash die first Morál Idée. Und de segondt crate Morál Idée dat into him ve rings,Vas dat government for every man moost alfays do […]

Dere in his crate corved oaken shtuhl der Breitemann sot he:He lookt shoost like de shiant in de Kinder hishdorie:Und pefore him, on de tische, was – vhere man alfays foundt it-Dwelf inches of good lager, mit a Bœmisch glass around it. De foorst vordt dat der Breitmann spoke he maked no sbeech or ign!De […]

Die Schone Wittwe

Story type: Poetry

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Die Schöne Wittwe[1] (DE POOTY VIDOW.) I. VOT DE YANKEE CHAP SUNG. DAT pooty liddle vidowVot ve dosh’nt vish to name,Ish still leben on dat liddle shtreet,A doin’ shoost de same.De glerks aroundt de gornersSomedimes goes round to zeeHow die tarlin’ liddle vitchy ees,Und ask ‘er how she pe.Dey lofes her ver’ goot liquœr,Dey lofes […]

“TUNC TAPFRE AUSFUHRERE STREITUM ET RITTRIS DIGNUM POTUERE ERIAGERE LOBUM.” “Hiltibraht enti Hadubrant.” DER FADER UND DER SON.[1] I DINKS I’ll go a vightin’” – outshpoke der Breitemann.“It’s eighdeen hoonderd fordy-eight since I kits swordt in hand;Dese fourdeen years mit Hecker all roostin’ I haf been,Boot now I kicks der Teufel oop and goes for […]

DER BREITMANN mit his gompanyRode out in Marylandt.“Dere’s nix to trink in dis countrie;ine droat’s as dry as sand.It’s light canteen und haversack,It’s hoonger mixed mit doorst;Und if ve had some lager beerI’d trink oontil I boorst.Gling, glang, gloria!Ve’d trink oontil ve boorst.[1] Herr Leut’nant, take a dozen men,Und ride dis land around!Herr Feldwebel, go […]

DER SHENERAL SHERMAN holts oop on his coorse,He shtops at de gross-road und reins in his horse.“Dere’s a ford on de rifer dis day we moost dake,Or elshe de grand army in bieces shall preak!”Vhen shoost ash dis vord from his lips had gone bast,There coomed a young orterly gallopin’ fast,Who gry mit amazement: “Herr […]

“Vides igitur, Collega carissime, visitationem canonicam esse rem haud ita periculosam, sed valde amoenam, si modo vinum, groggio et cibi praesto sunt.” – Novissimae Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum, Berolini F. Berggold, 1869. Epistola xxiii., p. 63. D’VAS near de state of Nashfille,In de town of Tennessee,Der Breitmann vonce vas quarderdMit all his cavallrie.Der Sheneral kept him […]

Der Freischuz

Story type: Poetry

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AIR – “Der Pabst lebt,” etc. WIE gehts, my frendts-if you’ll allow-I sings you rite afay shoost nowSome dretful shdories vitch dey callsDer Freyschütz, or de Magic Balls. Wohl in Bohemian land it cooms,Vhere folk trink prandy mate of plooms;[1]Dere lifed ein Yaeger-Maxerl Schmit-Who shot mit goons und nefer hit. Now dere vas von oldt […]

Wein Geist

Story type: Poetry

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I STOOMPLED oud ov a dafern,Breauscht mit a gallon of wein,Und I rooshed along de strassen,Like a derriple Eberschwein. Und like a lordly boar-pig,I doomplet de soper folk;Und I trowed a shtone droo a shdreed lamp,Und bot’ of de classes I proke. Und a gal vent roonin’ bast me,Like a vild coose on de vings,Boot […]

Die Speer die er thut führendie ist sehr gross und lang,Das sollt du glauben mire,gemacht von Vogelsgang.Sein Ross das ist die Heide,das sollt du glauben mir,Darauf er nun thut reiten,führwahr das sag ich dir.– Ein schön nerr Lied von dem Mai Und von dem Herbst. 16th century. I. PROLOGUE. HERR SCHNITZERL make a ph’losopede,Von of […]

The Picnic

Story type: Poetry

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DE picknock oud at Spraker’s Wood:-It melt de soul und fire de plood.Id sofly slid from cakes und cream;Boot busted oop on brandy shdeam. Mit stims of tender graceful ring,De gals begoon a song to sing;A bland mildt lied of olden dime-Deutsch vas die doon, und Deutsch de rhyme. Wi’s uff der Stross’ wenn’s finschter […]

Vhen der Herr Breitmann vas a yungling, he vas go bummin aroundt goot deal in de worldt, vestigatin human natur, roulant de vergne en vergne, ash de Fraentsch boet says: “goin from town to town;” seein beobles in gemixed sociedy, und learnin dose languages vitch ornamendt a drue moskopolite, or von whose kopf ish bemosst […]

I Gili Romaneskro

Story type: Poetry

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Schunava, ke baschno del a godla,Schunava Paschomàskro.Te del miro Dewel tumenDschavena Bachtallo.[3] Schunava opré to rukaChirikló ke gillela:Kamovéla but dives,Eh’me pale kamaveva. Apo je wa’wer divessesteSchunava pro gilaviben,M’akana me avava,Pro marzos, pro kuriben. So korava kuribente,So korava apre dróm;Me kanáv miri romni,So kamela la lákero rom. DRANSLATION. I hear de gock a growin!I hear de […]

Steinli Von Slang

Story type: Poetry

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I. DER watchman look out from his towerAsh de Abendgold glimmer grew dim,Und saw on de road troo de GauerTen shpearmen coom ridin to him:Und he schvear: “May I lose my next bitter,Und denn mit der Teufel go hang!If id isn’t dat pully young Ritter,De hell-drivin Steinli von Slang. “De vorldt nefer had any such […]

Si liceret te amareAd Suevorum magnum mareSponsam te perducerem– Tristicia Amorosa.Frau Aventiure,von J. V. Scheffel. VILL’ST dou learn die Deutsche Sprache?Denn set it on your card,Dat all the nouns have shenders,Und de shenders all are hard.Dere ish also dings called pronoms,Vitch id’s shoost ash vell to know;Boot ach! de verbs or time-words-Dey’ll work you bitter […]

HANS BREITMANN gife a barty;Dey had biano-blayin’,I felled in lofe mit a Merican frau,Her name vas Madilda Yane.She hat haar as prown ash a pretzel,Her eyes vas himmel-plue,Und vhen dey looket indo mine,Dey shplit mine heart in dwo. Hans Breitmann gife a barty,I vent dere you’ll pe pound;I valtzet mit Matilda Yane,Und vent shpinnen’ round […]

HANS BREITMANN shoined de Turners,Novemper in de fall,Und dey gifed a boostin’ benderAll in de Turner Hall.Dere coomed de whole GesangvereinMit der Liederlich Aepfel Chor,[1]Und dey blowed on de drooms and stroomed on de fifesTill dey couldn’t refife no more. Hans Breitmann shoined de Turners,Dey all set oop some shouts,Dey took’d him into deir Turner […]

By Hans Breitmann. Der noble Ritter HugoVon Schwillensaufenstein,Rode out mit shper and helmet,Und he coom to de panks of de Rhine. Und oop dere rose a meermaid,Vot hadn’t got nodings on,Und she say, “Oh, Ritter Hugo,Vhere you goes mit yourself alone?” And he says, “I rides in de creenwood,Mit helmet und mit shpeer,Til I coomes […]

De moon shines ofer de cloudlens,Und de cloudts plow ofer de sea,Und I vent to Coney Island,Und I took mein Schatz mit me.Mein Schatz, Katrina Bauer,I gife her mein heart und vortdt;Boot ve tidn’t know vot beoplesDe Dampfsschiff hafe cot on poard. De preeze plowed cool und bleasant,We looket at de townMit sonn-light on de […]

Muggahmaht’adem, the Dance of Old Age, Or the Magic of the Weewillmekq’ [Footnote: This mysterious being is called Wee-wil-li-ah-mek in Penobscot The correct pronounciation is very nearly Wee-wil-‘l-mekqu’ for both Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, but this would be a difficult utterence for any one who has never listened to the Algonquin soft gutturals. Mrs. W. Wallace […]

There was a man and his wife who had got together all they had for the fall hunt. They went up the St. John’s River; they left the village of Foxerbica; they went twenty-five miles beyond it. They passed the falls on the upper side to get some game. They cooked and ate. They got […]

(Micmac.) There was a chieftain in the days of yore. He had a great desire for a poor girl who was a servant, and who worked for him. To win this girl he first I most lose his wife. He took his wife afar into the woods to gather spruce-gum, and then left her there. […]

The Invisible One

Story type: Literature

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(Micmac.) There was once a large Indian village situated on the border of a lake,–Nameskeek’ oodun Kuspemku (M.). At the end of the place was a lodge, in which dwelt a being who was always invisible. [Footnote: In this Micmac tale, which is manifestly corrupted in many ways, the hero is said to be “a […]

How One of the Partridge’s Wives Became a Sheldrake Duck, and Why her Feet and Feathers are Red. N’karnayoo, of the old time, there was a hunter who lived in the woods. He had a brother, [Footnote: The word brother is so generally applied in adoption or friendship that it cannot here be taken in […]

The Mournful Mystery of the Partridge-witch; Setting Forth How a Young Man died from Love. Of the olden time. Two brothers went hunting in the autumn, and that as far as the head waters of the Penobscot, where they remained all winter. But in March their snow-shoes (agahmook, P.) gave out, as did their moccasins, […]

[How The Partridge Built Good Canoes For All The Birds, And A Bad One For Himself] When a partridge beats upon a hollow log he makes a noise like an Indian at work upon a canoe, and when an Indian taps at a canoe it sounds afar off like the drumming of a partridge, even […]

Once a man was traveling through the woods, and he heard afar off a sound as of footsteps beating the ground. So he sought to find the people that made it, and went on for a full week ere he came to them. And it was a man and his wife dancing about a tree, […]

(Passamaquoddy.) Far away, very far in the north, there dwelt by the border of a great lake a man and his wife. They had no children, and the woman was very beautiful and passionate. The lake was frozen over during the greater part of the year. One day when the woman cut away the ice, […]

The Mother Of Serpents

Story type: Literature

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(Passamaquoddy.) There was once a couple well advanced in years. They were powerful and rich in the Indian fashion, but they were unhappy because they had no children. This was near the river St. John’s, on the shore of a small lake. After the woman had gone in vain to all the medicine men and […]

(Passamaquoddy.) Of old times. There was a very beautiful woman. She turned the heads of all the men. She married, and her husband died very soon after, but she immediately took another. Within a single year she had five husbands, and these were the cleverest and handsomest and bravest in the tribe. And then she […]

(Passamaquoddy.) Pocumkwess, or Thoroughfare, is sixty-five miles from Campobello. There was an Indian village there in the old times. Two young Indian girls had a strange habit of absenting themselves all day every Sunday. No one knew for a long time where they went or what they did. But this was how they passed their […]

(Passamaquoddy.) Once a woman went to the edge of a lake [Footnote: It is impossible to distinguish in any Indian story between lake and sea.] and lay down to sleep. As she awoke, she saw a great serpent, with glittering eyes, crawl from the water, and stealthily approach her. She had no power to resist […]

(Passamaquoddy.) This is truly an old Indian story of old time. Once an Indian was whirled up by the roaring wind: he was taken up in a thunder-storm, and set down again in the village of the Thunders. [Footnote: This tale is transcribed, with very little alteration, from a manuscript collection of tales written in […]

(Passamaquoddy.) N’karnayoo. Of old times. Once an Indian went forth to hunt. And he departed from the east branch of the Penobscot, and came to the head of another branch that leads into the east branch, and this he followed even to the foot of Mount Katahdin. [Footnote: This minuteness of needless detail is very […]

Of the Girl who married Mount Katahdin, and how all the Indians brought about their own Ruin. (Penobscot.) Of the old time. There was once an Indian girl gathering blueberries on Mount Katahdin. And, being lonely, she said, “I would that I had a husband!” And seeing the great mountain in all its glory rising […]

The Girl-Chenoo

Story type: Literature

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(Micmac.) Of the old time. Far up the Saguenay River a branch turns off to the north, running back into the land of ice and snow. Ten families went up this stream one autumn in their canoes, to be gone all winter on a hunt. Among them was a beautiful girl, twenty years of age. […]

(Passamaquoddy.) What the Micmacs call a Chenoo is known to the Passamaquoddies as a Kewahqu’ or Kewoqu’. And this is their origin. When the k’tchi m’teoulin, or Great Big Witch, [Footnote: When legends from the Anglo-Indian manuscript collection of Mitchell are given, many of the phrases or words in the original are retained, without regard […]

(Micmac and Passamaquoddy.) Of the old time. An Indian, with his wife and their little boy, went one autumn far away to hunt in the northwest. And having found a fit place to pass the winter, they built a wigwam. The man brought home the game, the woman dressed and dried the meat, the small […]

[AMAZING ADVENTURES OF MASTER RABBIT WITH THE OTTER, THE WOODPECKER GIRLS, AND MOOIN THE BEAR ALSO A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS CHASE, IN WHICH HE FOOLED LUSIFEE, THE WILD CAT] I. How Master Rabbit sought to rival Keeoony, the Otter . Of old times, Mahtigwess, the Rabbit, who is called in the Micmac tongue […]

How Lox Told A Lie

Story type: Literature

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(Passamaquoddy.) Lox had a brother, who had married a red squaw. When she was touched the red color rubbed off. The brother kept this wife in a box. One day, returning, the brother saw that Lox had red fingers. “Aha!” he cried, in a rage, “you have taken my wife out of the box.” But […]

The Mischief Maker. a Tradition of the Origin of the Mythology of the Senecas. A Lox Legend. (Seneca.) An Indian mischief maker was once roving about. He saw that he was approaching a village, and said, “How can I attract attention?” Seeing two girls coming from the wigwams, he pulled up a wild plum-bush and […]

(Micmac and Passamaquoddy.) Somewhere in the forest lived Lox, with a small boy, his brother. When winter came they went far into the woods to hunt. And going on, they reached at last a very large and beautiful lake. It was covered with water-fowl. There were wild geese and brant, black ducks and wood-ducks, and […]

how Master Lox As a Raccoon Killed the Bear and the Black Cats and performed other Notable Feats of Skill, all to his Great Discredit. (Passamaquoddy.) Now of old time there is a tale of Hespuns, the Raccoon, according to the Passamaquoddy Indians, but by another record it is Master Lox, to whom all Indian […]

(Passamaquoddy.) Kusk, the Crane, had two brothers. One of these was Lox, the Wolverine, or Indian Devil. And his other brother was Koskomines, the Blue Jay. Kusk was very lazy, and one day, being hungry, thought he would go and get a dinner from Lox. Lox served him a kind of pudding-soup in a broad, […]

How Master Lox Played a Trick On Mrs. Bear, Who Lost Her Eyesight and had her eyes opened. (Micmac.) Don’t live with mean people if you can help it. They will turn your greatest sorrow to their own account if they can. Bad habit gets to be devilish second nature. One dead herring is not […]

(Passamaquoddy.) Of old times it came to pass that Master Lox, the Wolverine, or Indian Devil, he who was slain many times and as often rose from the dead, found himself deeply down in luck; for he was crossing a wide and dismal heath in winter-time, being but poorly provided in any way for travel. […]

Of the Surprising and Singular Adventures of two Water Fairies who were also Weasels, and how they each became the Bride of a Star. Including the Mysterious and Wonderful Works of Lox, the Great Indian Devil, who rose from the Dead. (Micmac and Passamaquoddy.) Wee-zig-yik-keseyook. “Of old times.” Far back in the forest, by a […]

In the long ago time when people lived always in the early red morning, before sunrise, before the Squid to neck was peopled as to-day, Glooskap went very far north, where all was ice. He came to a wigwam. Therein he found a giant, a great giant, for he was Winter. Glooskap entered; he sat […]

How Glooskap Is Making Arrows, and Preparing for a Great Battle. The Twilight of the Indian Gods. (Passamaquoddy.) “Is Glooskap living yet?” “Yes, far away; no one knows where. Some say he sailed away in his stone canoe beyond the sea, to the east, but he will return in it one day; others, that he […]

How Glooskap Went to England and France, and Was the First to Make America known to the Europeans. (Passamaquoddy.) There was an Indian woman: she was a Woodchuck (Mon-in-kwess, P.). She had lost a boy; she always thought of him. Once there came to her a strange boy; he called her mother. He had a […]

How the Great Glooskap Fought the Giant Sorcerers At Saco, and turned them into Fish. (Penobscot.) N’karnayoo, of old times: Woodenit atok hagen Glusgahbe. This is a story of Glooskap (P.) There was a father who had three sons and a daughter: they were m’teoulin, or mighty magicians; they were giants; they ate men, women, […]

how the Lord of Men and Beasts Strove with the Mighty Wasis, and Was shamefully defeated. (Penobscot.) Now it came to pass when Glooskap had conquered all his enemies, even the Kewahqu’, who were giants and sorcerers, and the m’teoulin, who were magicians, and the Pamola, who is the evil spirit of the night air, […]

How Glooskcap conquered the Great Bull-Frog, and in what Manner all the Pollywogs, Crabs, Leeches, and other Water Creatures were created. (Passamaquoddy and Micmac.) N’karnayoo, of old times, there was an Indian village far away among the mountains, little known to other men. And the dwellers therein were very comfortable: the men hunted every day, […]

How Glooskap Bound Wuchowsen, the Great Wind-bird, and Made All the Waters in all the World Stagnant. (Passamaquoddy.) The Indians believe in a great bird called by them Wochowsen or Wuchowsen, meaning Wind-Blow or the Wind-Blower, who lives far to the North, and sits upon a great rock at the end of the sky. And […]

(Passamaquoddy.) You know At-o-sis, the Snake? Well, the worst of all is Rattlesnake. Long time ago the Rattlesnakes were saucy Indians. They were very saucy. They had too much face. They could not be put down by much, and they got up for very little. When the great Flood was coming Glooskap told them about […]

The Tale of Glooskap As Told By Another Indian. Showing How the Toad and Porcupine lost their Noses. (Micmac.) In the old time. Far before men knew themselves, in the light before the sun, Glooskap and his brother were as yet unborn; they waited for the day to appear. Then they talked together, and the […]

Of old time it befell that Glooskap had an enemy, an evil man, a sinful beast, a great sorcerer. And this man, after trying many things, made himself a great serpent, hoping so to slay the Master. Of old time Glooskap met a boy whose name was ‘Nmmokswess, the Sable. [Footnote: Evidently no other than […]

(Micmac.) Of old time. Now when it was noised abroad that whoever besought Glooskap could obtain the desire of his heart, there were three men who said among themselves, “Let us seek the Master.” So they left their home in the early spring when the bluebird first sang, and walked till the fall frosts, and […]

(Micmac.) N’karnayoo: wood-enit-atokhagen Glooskap. Of the old times: this is a story of Glooskap. Now there went forth many men unto Glooskap, hearing that they could win the desires of their hearts; and all got what they asked for, in any case; but as for having what they wanted, that depended on the wisdom with […]

How a Certain Wicked Witch Sought to Cajole the Great and Good Glooskap, and of her Punishment. (Micmac.) N’karnayoo, of old time. Once it came to pass that Glooskap met with an evil witch, and she had made herself like unto a fair young girl, and believed that he could not know who she was. […]

How Glooskap made a Magician of a Young Man, who aided another to win a Wife and do Wonderful Deeds (Micmac.) It is well known unto all Indians who still keep the true faith of the olden time that there are wondrous dwellers in the lonely woods, such as elves and fairies, called by the […]

(Micmac.) N’kah-nee-oo. In the old time (P.) Glooskap came to Pulewech Munegoo (M., Partridge Island), and here he met with Kitpooseagunow, [Footnote: Kitpooseagunow, “one born after his mother’s death,” is a magician-giant, who plays in the Algonquin mythology a part only inferior to that of Glooskap, whom he in every way resembles. Both are benevolent, […]

How Glooskap, Leaving the World, All the Animals Mourned for Him, and how, ere he departed, he gave Gifts to Men. (Micmac.) Now Glooskap had freed the world from all the mighty monsters of an early time: the giants wandered no longer in the wilderness; the cullo terrified man no more, as it spread its […]

the Story of Glooskap As Told in a Few Words By a Woman of the Penobscots. “Glus-gahbe gave names to everything. He made men and gave them life, and made the winds to make the waters move. The Turtle was his uncle; the Mink, Uk-see-meezel, his adopted son; and Monin-kwessos, the Woodchuck, his grandmother. The […]

(Micmac, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot.) Over all the Land of the Wabanaki there is no place which was not marked by the hand of the Master. And it is to be seen on hills and rivers and great roads, as well as mighty rocks, which were in their day living monsters. For there is a very wonderful […]

How Glooskap made his Uncle Mikchich, the Turtle, into a Great Man, and got him a Wife. Of the Turtles’ Eggs, and how Glooskap vanquished a Sorcerer by smoking Tobacco. [Footnote: This legend of the tortoise is carefully compiled from six different versions: the narration of Tomah Josephs, a Passamaquoddy; the Anglo-Indian manuscript, already cited; […]

(Micmac.) Now it is told in another tradition–and men tell even this differently–that pitche, in these old times (P.) Glooskap’s seven neighbors, who were all so many different animals, took away his family, and that he followed them, even as it has been written, unto Newfoundland. And when he came there it was night, and, […]

(Micmac.) When Glooskap was pursuing Win-pe, he one day on Uktukamkw saw from afar flying over water the Kwe-moo (M.), or Loons. And thrice did their chief make the circle of the lake, coming near to the land of men and beasts every time, as if he would fain seek somewhat. Then Glooskap asking him […]

How the Story of Glooskap and Pook-jin-skwess, the Evil Pitcher, Is told by the Passamaquoddy Indians. [Footnote: In this story Glooskap is called Pogumk, the Black Cat or Fisher, that is, a species of wild cat, while Martin is a N’mockswess, sable. There seems to be no settled idea as to what was the totem […]

Of the Dreadful Deeds of the Evil Pitcher, Who Was Both Man and Woman, and how she fell in love with Glooskap, and, being scorned, became his Enemy. Of the Toads and Porcupines, and the Awful Battle of the Giants. (Passamaquoddy.) When Glooskap came into the world it abounded in giants, monsters, sorcerers and witches, […]

How Win-pe the Sorcerer, Having Stolen Glooskap’s Family, Was By Him pursued, and how, Glooskap for a Merry Jest cheated the Whale. Of the Song of the Clams, and how the Whale smoked a Pipe. (Micmac.) N’kah-ne-oo. In old times (P.), in the beginning of things, men were as animals and animals as men; how […]

Of the Great Deeds Which Glooskap Did for Men; How He Named the Animals, and who they were that formed his Family. (Passamaquoddy.) Woodenit atbk-hagen Gloosekap: [Footnote: Passamaquoddy.] this is a story of Glooskap. It is told in traditions of the old time that Glooskap was born in the land of the Wabanaki, which is […]

how Glooskap Made the Elves and Fairies, and Then Man of an Ash Tree, and last of all, Beasts, and of his Coming at the Last Day. (Passamaquoddy.) Glooskap came first of all into this country, into Nova Scotia, Maine, Canada, into the land of the Wabanaki, next to sunrise. There were no Indians here […]

Now the great lord Glooskap, who was worshiped in after-days by all the Wabanaki, or children of light, was a twin with a brother. As he was good, this brother, whose name was Malsumsis, or Wolf the younger, was bad. Before they were born, the babes consulted to consider how they had best enter the […]

The study of magic as it is believed in or understood by the Indians of America is extremely interesting, for it involves that of all supernaturalism or of all religion whatever. But if we, declining all question as to the origin of monotheism, limit ourselves definitely to what is known of Shamanism alone, we shall […]

Another magic means was the influencing high and mysterious powers. Of this the following is an admirable illustration:– Tumilkoontaoo, or the Broken Wing. (Micmac.) An Indian family lived on the sea-shore. They had two sons; the eldest of these was married, and had many small children. They lived by fishing; they chiefly caught eels. It […]

The magicians of all countries, be they of Africa, Asia, or North America, are invariably represented by travelers as holding their flock in subjection, and never being doubted as to power or skill. But there are skeptics or Agnostics among the men of the woods as well as among those of civilized cities. There are […]

The Giant Magicians

Story type: Literature

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[There is a Micmac legend which is so magical and mystical, so inspired with Eskimo Shamanism, that it would not be remarkable if it had been originally a sacred song. This is The Giant Magicians.] There was once a man and his wife who lived by the sea, far away from other people. They had […]