Classic Poem

At first, in that place, at all times, above the earth,
On the earth, was an extended fog, and there the great Manito was.
At first, forever, lost in space, everywhere, the great Manito was.
He made the extended land and sky.
He made the sun, the moon, the stars.
He made them all to move evenly.
Then the wind blew violently, and it cleared, and the water flowed off far and strong.
And groups of islands grew newly, and there remained.
Anew spoke the great Manito, a manito to manitos,
To beings, mortals, souls and all,
And ever after he was a manito to men, and their grandfather.
He gave the first mother, the mother of beings.
He gave the fish, he gave the turtles, he gave the beasts, he gave the birds.
But an evil Manito made evil beings only, monsters,
He made the flies, he made the gnats.
All beings were then friendly.
Truly the manitos were active and kindly
To those very first men, and to those first mothers; fetched them wives,
And fetched them food, when first they desired it.
All had cheerful knowledge, all had leisure, all thought in gladness.
But very secretly an evil being, a mighty magician, came on earth,
And with him brought badness, quarreling, unhappiness,
Brought bad weather, brought sickness, brought death.
All this took place of old on the earth, beyond the great tide-water, at the first.