But it whispered, bending downward,
“Take my boughs, O Hiawatha!”
Down he hewed the boughs of cedar
Shaped them straightway to a framework,
Like two bows he formed and shaped them,
Like two bended bows together. 
“Give me of your roots, O Tamarack! 
Of your fibrous roots, O Larch Tree! 
My canoe to bind together,
So to bind the ends together,
That the water may not enter,
That the river may not wet me!”
And the Larch with all its fibers
Shivered in the air of morning,
Touched his forehead with its tassels,
Said, with one long sigh of sorrow,
“Take them all, O Hiawatha!”
From the earth he tore the fibers,
Tore the tough roots of the Larch Tree. 
Closely sewed the bark together,
Bound it closely to the framework. 
“Give me of your balm, O Fir Tree! 
Of your balsam and your resin,
So to close the seams together
That the water may not enter,
That the river may not wet me!”
And the Fir Tree, tall and somber,
Sobbed through all its robes of darkness,
Rattled like a shore with pebbles,
Answered wailing, answered weeping,
“Take my balm, O Hiawatha!”
And he took the tears of balsam,
Took the resin of the Fir Tree,
Smeared therewith each seam and fissure,
Made each crevice safe from water. 
“Give me of your quills, O Hedgehog! 
I will make a necklace of them,
Make a girdle for my beauty,
And two stars to deck her bosom!”
From a hollow tree the Hedgehog,
With his sleepy eyes looked at him,
Shot his shining quills, like arrows,
Saying, with a drowsy murmur,
Through the tangle of his whiskers,
“Take my quills, O Hiawatha!”
From the ground the quills he gathered,
All the little shining arrows,
Stained them red and blue and yellow,
With the juice of roots and berries;
Into his canoe he wrought them,
Round its waist a shining girdle. 
Round its bows a gleaming necklace,
On its breast two stars resplendent. 
Thus the Birch Canoe was builded
In the valley, by the river,
In the bosom of the forest;
And the forest’s life was in it,
All its mystery and its magic,
All the lightness of the birch tree,
All the toughness of the cedar,
All the larch’s supple sinews;
And it floated on the river,
Like a yellow leaf in autumn,
Like a yellow water lily.

Longfellow.

From “Song of Hiawatha.”  Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Publishers.

[Illustration:]

* * * * *

MOON OF LEAVES, month of May.

SHEER, straight up and down.

TAMARACK, the American larch tree.

FISSURE, a narrow opening; a cleft.

What does Hiawatha call the bark of the birch tree?

Where did he get the balsam and resin?  What use did he put these to?

What are the drops of balsam called?  Why?

NOTE.—­“The bark canoe of the Indians is, perhaps, the lightest and most beautiful model of all the water craft ever invented.  It is generally made complete with the bark of one birch tree, and so skillfully shaped and sewed together with the roots of the tamarack, that it is water-tight, and rides upon the water as light as a cork.”