Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19
WORK, DEATH AND SICK
NESS.
A Legend.

rms is legend current among the Sou+,
American Indians.
| God, they say. at first made men So that
| they had no need to work; they wanted
neither houses, nor clothes nor food. and
they all lived till they were a hundred. and
| did not know what Illness was like
When, after some time, God looked to GOO
10" people Were living, He saw that in
stead of being happy in their life thew had
pu@i lelea with one another, and. each car
ing for himself, had brought matters to
| such pass that, far from eniovinq ltfa
| they cursed it, w.
| Then God said to HIMSELF This cones of
their living separately, each for himself >,
Ana 10 change this state of things. God 81
arranged matters that it was impossible for
| people 10 live without working. TO avoid
suffering from cold and hunger, thew were
no" oolSed to build dwellings, and IN die
the ground and to grow and gather frlits
and grain.
| WORK VIII bring them together" thought
''od. They cannot make their tools a,d
SOW and gather their harvests. and snin and
weave. and make their clothes. each ono Inv,
himself oiie pS
Ut VIII make them understand that tho
more heartily they work together the ,,ora
! they viii obtain and the better thew win
ilFe; and this will unite them
Ilh me, passed on, and again God came +o
| were happy in their life ''iey
but lie found them living worse than ba-
Tore They worked together-that tbeI,
t 1870 not heip-but they did not all work
tosether, pelng broken up into ltfIe
| groups And each group tried To snatnh
WORK from another group, and thew hin
a otn one another, wasting time ard
sIensin IN thelr struggles, so that things
| went i'll with them all
Having seen that this, too was not we'll
Iou decided so to arrange things that men
should not know the time of their death.
| but might die al any moment: and no 49,
| nounced this to them ~ Gu
knowing that each of them NAV die at
any moment thought God, they will NOT.
I py srasplng at gains in a life that may end
| SO soon. spoil the hours of life that are al
| lotted to them o GU
| but IL turned out otherwise. When God
returned to see how people We're living He
saw that their life. was as bad as ever
| Those who were strongest avaiJ;n,
| themselves of the fact that men might die
Fat any time, subdued those who were
weaker khllng some and threatening 9TH
| efs. Ana II came about that only the
| strongest and their descendants did no
| work ana suffered from the WEAKNESS of
| ldieness, while those who were weaker had
! TO work beyond their strength and suffered
| from lack of rest Each re, or men feared
and hated the other. And the life of man
| became yet more unhappy
S1dNiiS seen All THIS, God, TO mend mat
| ters decided to make use of one last
means. He sent sickness of all kinds
| among men. God thought that when all
men We're exposed to sickness they would
understand that those who are we'll must
| have pity on those who sick and must
| help Them that when they themselves fall
| i'll, those who are well may in turn help
| them.
| And again God went away but when He
| came back to see how men lived now that
| they We're subject to sickness, He saw that
| their life was worse then before The very
| sickness that, in Gods purpose, should have
: united men had divided them more than
| before. Those men who We're strong enough
| to make others work for them forced them
also to attend to them in times of sickness.
| but did hot in their turn look after other
sick people. And those who were forced
| to work for others and to look after the
| sick We're so worn out with work that they
| had no time to look after their own sick
but left them without attendance Mo- e.
| over, people considered many of the Ill
| nesseS infectious, and, fearing to catch
them, they not only did not draw nearer to
| the sick, but even separated themselves
| from those who did attend the sick
| Then God said to Himself, IF even this
| means will not bring men to understand
wherein their happiness lies, then let them
be brought to 1t by their sufferings" And
/ God left men to themselves
And left to themselves. men lived long
before they understood that they could and
! should be happy Only in the very latest
/ times few Of them have begun to under
| stand that work ought not to be a buEbear
| for some and like galley-slavery for others.
but should be a common and happy occu-
/ patton, uniting all men. They have begun
/ to understand that with death constantly
threatening each one, the only reasonable