Atondido Stories
evening an old man came along. "What are you doing here?"
asked the man. "I am looking for my sister," said the boy; "some
time ago she sickened and died and I am lonely without her, and
I want to find her and bring her back." And the man said, "Some
time ago she whom you seek passed this way. If you wish to
find her you must undertake a dangerous journey." The boy an-
swered that he would gladly risk any dangers to find his sister,
and the old man said, "I will help you. Your sister has gone to
the Land of Shadows far away in the Country of Silence which
lies out yonder in the Island of the Blest. To reach the Island you
must sail far into the West, but I warn you that it is a perilous
journey, for the crossing is always rough and your boat will be
tossed by tempests. But you will be well repaid for your trouble,
for in that land nobody is ever hungry or tired; there is no death
and no sorrow; there are no tears, and no one ever grows old."
Then the old man gave the boy a large pipe and some tobac-
co and said, "This will help you in your need." And he brought
him to where a small canoe lay dry upon the beach. It was a
wonderful canoe, the most beautiful the boy had ever seen. It
was cut from a single white stone and it sparkled in the red twi-
light like a polished jewel. And the old man said, "This canoe
will weather all storms. But see that you handle it carefully, and
when you come back see that you leave it in the cove where you
found it."
Soon afterwards, the boy set out on his journey. The moon
was full and the night was cold with stars. He sailed into the
West over a rough and angry sea, but he was in no danger, for
his canoe rode easily on the waters. All around him he saw in
the moonlight many other canoes going in the same direction
and all white and shining like his own. But no one seemed to be
guiding them, and although he looked long at them not a person
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