E Pauline Johnson

Legends of Vancouver E Pauline Johnson

Book Excerpt: ...he turned insultingly deaf ears to their war cries; he ignored with arrogant indifference their paddle dips that encroached within his own coast waters, and he prepared, as a great Tyee should, to royally entertain his tribesmen in honor of his daughters."But seven suns before the great feast, these two maidens came before him, hand clasped in hand."'Oh! our father, ' they said, 'may we speak?'"'Speak, my daughters, my girls with the eyes of April, the hearts of June'" (early spring and early summer would be the more accurate Indian phrasing)."'Some day, Oh! our father, we may mother a man child, who may grow to be just such a powerful Tyee as you are, and for this honor that may some day be ours we have come to crave a favor of you--you, Oh! our father.'"'It is your privilege at this celebration to receive any favor your hearts may wish, ' he replied graciously, placing his fingers beneath their girlish chins. 'The favor is yours before you ask it, my daughters.'...