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Japanese
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04:50 |
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J01 |
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Words and Their Stories -- a program in Special English. Nothing man has
created is more beautiful than words. They tell much about a people. Every
word has its own story. Where did it come from? And how did it get into
the language?
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J02 |
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Today's words are "Indian summer." No one knows where the words, "Indian
summer," came from, or how they got started. We are sure that the phrase
was well-known by the year 1778 because Crèvecoeur, the French writer,
wrote about it. Crèvecoeur who became an American citizen said this: "A
severe frost follows the autumn rains. This prepares the ground to receive
the snows of winter, but before the snows come, the earth turns warm once
again, and there are a few days of smoke and mildness called Indian
summer."
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J03 |
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There is a story about Indian summer that goes back to the very first
settlers of the New World. The first frost meant winter was coming to
these settlers. Snow would soon follow. The Indians seeing the settlers
preparing for winter told them not to hurry -- the weather would turn warm
again, mild breezes would blow, and the sky turn soft and smoky. And so it
did -- the sun became hot, and a bright warm haze flowed over the fields
and woods. The settlers remembering the words of the Indians called these
wonderful periods "Indian summer."
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J04 |
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But the Indians have their own stories about this late period of warm
weather. One of their stories is about a great god called Nanahbozhoo.
Nanahbozhoo lived at the North Pole. There he sat upon his white throne
and looked down upon the world and the deeds of his people. Nanahbozhoo
always fell asleep when winter set in, but before doing so, he lit his
great pipe and smoked tobacco for many days. The smoke arising from his
pipe flowed down over the earth and produced the beautiful Indian summer.
It was the smoke that made the land look hazy, warm, and enjoyable.
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J05 |
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Another Indian story says that Indian summer is not caused by the god,
Nanahbozhoo of the north, but by the god, Shawondasee of the south.
Shawondasee was a sad god because he had lost the love of a tall and
beautiful Indian maiden. This story caught the imagination of the American
poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and in 1855 he included the story of
Shawondasee in his poem, The Song of Hiawatha.
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J06 |
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"Shawondasee, fat and lazy,
Had his dwelling far to the southward.
In the drowsy dreamy sunshine,
In the never-ending Summer.
He it was who sent the wood-birds,
Filled the sky with dreamy softness,
Brought the tender Indian Summer
To the melancholy northland,
In the dreary Moon of Snow-shoes."
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J07 |
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Since Longfellow, other poems and even songs have been written about
Indian summer. For there is something about this period of warm weather
that gives people a lift and makes them feel warm and happy before the
long snows of winter come.
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Voice of America
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