LAPLESCHEl RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 137 



FREE TRANSLATION. 

 1. 



Ta-xtsi-e,* ta-xtsi-e, O, little creature, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



Ta-xtsi-e, O, little creature, 



Close to a black oak, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



Close to a red oak, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



Between two trees, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



4. 



Close to a dark oak, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



Close to a gray oak, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



6. 



Amidst the stunted oaks, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



Amidst the bunch grasses, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



8. 



Close to the little brook, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



9. 



Upon the summit of a hill, 



I have found thee, ta-xtsi-e, ta-xtsi-e. 



Songs of the Act of Weeping. 



The group following the Deer Songs is called Wa'-i" Xa-ge Wa-tho", 

 which, freely translated, means Songs of the Act of Weeping. A 

 similar act took place at the ceremony of smoking the sacred animal 



* Ta'-xtsi is the archaic name for the deer. It appears only in these ceremonials. The modem name 

 is Xa. The Omaha, a closely related tribe, still use the old name fa'-xtsi. The words for brook, wa-tsi'- 

 shka.in the eighth stanza, and pa-he', hill, in the ninth stanza, are archaic words in the Osage language 

 but are yet used among the Omaha. 



