Page:The Cambridge History of American Literature, v4.djvu/212

 624 Non-English Writings II supposed acts. The Shaman brings thunder by mimic thunder of his drum ; he secures the return of summer by enacting the annual victory of heat and light over cold and darkness; he increases the fertility of the earth by performing reproductive acts amid solemn ceremonies. It is possible that some such notion of promoting the welfare of the tribe may have been at the bottom of the performance at stated intervals of the pageant play of tribal history. But in most cases it has been superseded by motives of festivity and commemoration, and in part by those appetites for Eesthetic enjoyment which we satisfy in modern drama. The Indian is an excellent actor. Mirth-provoking mimicry and impromptu pantomime are the universal accompaniments of tribal leisure. Commemorative festivals frequently take the form of the Italian commedia delV arte, in which an old story is played anew with traditional "business" and improvised lines. In the history of one of the pueblos of the Rio Grande valley, there used to be celebrated a periodic community drama, which, given time to develop, might have resulted in a farce comedy of the sort which undoubtedly gave rise to, or at least suggested, the comedies of Aristophanes. The story relates that on an occasion when all the men of the pueblo were away on a buffalo hunt the women discovered an enemy party approaching. Hastily dressing themselves as men, the women stole upon their foes while they were still some distance from the pueblo, and by a show of force frightened them away. At the festival of this event, men and women change places for the whole of that day, wearing one another's clothes, assuming one another's duties, men at the ovens and women flourishing weapons. At some point in the day's events there is a re-enactment of the incident that gave rise to the celebration, in excellent panto- mime, enriched by recollected "hits" of other days. This sort of thing was usual throughout tribal life, and there is reason to believe that in the more advanced cultures it gave rise to more or less fixed comedy forms, some of which may yet be recovered in Mexico and Peru. Among our own Navaho Indians, parts of the Night Chant seem to be of this character. Unfortunately, however, the quality of the humour is such that it cannot be offered here. That such comedy, popular and