Please read the Legal Disclaimer.
A Tale Not Widely Known
Long ago and nigh upon the crystal headwaters of a river
known as Dances Down Mountain, there lived a clever people who
had created rivercraft from logs and had also developed the art of
propelling them with double-bladed paddles. These people often
paddled their vessels to where the river ran swiftly and played
there among the waves. Fittingly, their village was known as
Waterdance.
Now at this same time there lived a people downstream at a
place known as Where the Waters Run Slower. From this village
one day a man known as Seewon journeyed through the heavy
forest to Waterdance. From behind a large tree he watched in envy
as his upstream neighbors frolicked upon the river. This looks
like so much joy, he thought to himself. I will remember their
amazing creation and build many for my own people! I will then
be respected by all! He returned to his village and set about
building many of these rivercraft and double-bladed paddles.
When he had finished he called his people forth: "Come join me at
the river and we shall all dance the dance of joy upon the waters
just as the people from Waterdance do.” They joined him on the
river but try as they might, no one from the village known as
Where the Waters Run Slower could master the double-bladed
paddle. It seemed that a stroke taken on one side was strong and
with purpose while the stroke taken on the opposite side was weak,
clumsy and often resulted in capsize. One elder said, "It is so
strange: I paddle well upon the side of the hand with which I
scratch myself and eat my food yet the other side is slow and spills
me into the river!" One by one all the villagers found that they
could not use both blades and became angry at Seewon. An elder
said, "You must do something so we can also dance the dance of
joy upon the waters just as you’ve told us our upstream neighbors
do. If you fail, you shall be cast out of the village and be made to
forage on your own." With this thought weighing heavily upon his
mind, Seewon dragged his rivercraft and paddle to the top of a
high mountain and with paddle held overhead, prayed to the Great
Spirit: "Oh, Great Spirit, I beg of you to remedy this grievous
problem that I have brought upon myself and my people." A jagged bolt
of lightning flashed from the sky and seared one blade from the paddle
as he held it. Terrified, he dropped the paddle and ran down the
mountainside but stopped when he realized that he must still find an
answer. He slowly returned to the mountaintop and again prayed, "Oh,
Great Spirit, I beg of you to remedy--" FLASH BANG!!! A second blinding
bolt arrowed from the sky and shortened the remaining paddleshaft even
further. He then fell to his knees and gave thanks to the Great Spirit.
He returned to his village and called to his people. "Come,
see what I now have! It is a paddle with a simple, single blade and
therefore you will no longer have troubles upon the waters. However,
while in our rivercraft we must kneel in acknowledgment to the Great
Spirit and his gracious answer to our problem." An elder added, "And
perhaps to continuously kneel will also gain favor with the Great Spirit
and we will be always safe while we are upon the swift waters."
As time passed, the members of the village known as
Where the Waters Run Slower became fewer in number for there
were many other things they did not fully understand. Their
neighbors from Waterdance prospered and soon began to expand
their village downstream. The Waterdance people also began to
intermarry with the downstream villagers until there finally came the
day when almost all the young children were born bright-eyed and
grew up seemingly naturally adept at paddling their beloved
rivercraft by using the double-bladed paddle. However, on
occasion a much loved but obviously slower child would come
along, unable to master the physical and mental deftness required
to paddle with the double-bladed paddle. But this was a kind and
loving people and they wanted all to participate in the dance of joy
upon the waters. It was at these times that the keen elders would
retreat to the old hut located at the far edge of the village and bring
out the rivercraft fashioned for kneeling and its accompanying
paddle with the single-blade.
Even now as the descendants of these noble people spread
across the rivers of many lands, the occasional person with
traits of those from Where the Waters Run Slower can still be
seen. They dance the dance of joy upon the waters just as the
others do, but they are the ones who will be seen doing it . . . in
the rivercraft of Seewon.
Ken (S).
Return to previous page