Peboan and Seegwum

Winter and Spring

Peboan and Seegwum

1.
Long ago an old man sat alone in his lodge
beside a frozen stream. The fire was dying out,
and it was near the end of winter.

Outside the lodge, the cold wind swept
before it the drifting snow.

So the old man sat alone, day after day,
until at last a young warrior entered
his lodge. He was fresh and joyous
and youthful.

2.
The old man welcomed him. He drew out his long pipe
and filled it with tobacco. He lighted it from the
dying embers of the fire. Then they smoked together.

3.
The old man said,"I blow my breath and the streams
stand still. The water becomes stiff and hard
like the stones."
"I breathe," said the warrior,"and flowers spring
up over the plain."
"I shake my locks," said the old man,"and snow
covers the land. Leaves fall from the trees. The
birds fly away. The animals hide. The earth
becomes hard."
"I shake my locks," said the young man, "and the
warm rain falls. Plants blossom; the birds return;
the streams flow."

4.
Then the sun came up over the edge of the Earth-
plain, and began to climb the trail through the
Sky-land. The old man slept.

Behold! The frozen stream nearby began to flow.
The fire in the lodge died out. Robins sat upon
the lodge poles and sang.

Then the warrior looked upon the sleeping old
man. Behold! It was Peboan, the Winter-maker.


Ojibway Tale of the Seasons