OCR Text |
Show II! I . ~ . - , guage, and its tran sla~ion by ?ath~ r ?prard is a cla ssic in ceremo- · n.j.·al "Navajo-- alanguage tn;:l i: dJ_t~ f8r s tr om r. onve rs a t :~oL (;~. 1 Nuvajo even more than does the E:l gl.:' sn of t r·e Kj.ng Jame;:; Vers ion .. or of the Book of Common Prayer from current AlIleri can . The congregation 0.11 stood, silent and a tten ti ve, throughout. dy sermon, sham (~lessly dependent upam FatVrer Berard' 5 phras eology., had bE-:en L ,bori ously constructed and l earned: it told the story of man's sin and of Godls loving Redemption, of the Annunciatlon to our LadY,of the Nativity, the visit of the shepherds,and of the significance of this great festival. I thought that at flrst some of the young bloods were inelined to a cCivalier sort of amusement,they laughed and repeated phrases after me, But Navajos laugh not only as we do for B.InUSCment, but as a sign of pleasure, and maybe they were not just makini fun of my mispronunciations. In any event, I paid mo attention to the mild disturbance: the story itself is so gripping and compelling that soon [:.11 were listening , spellbound. We who have been brought up from childhood on these tales can ha rd.ly imagine what they mean when presented for the first time to intelligent and unpre judiced minds. But for the gentle squalling of a few babies in theircr~dle-boards, I soon had the floor without competition, and ·I felt that it ViaS a real Victory for the Infant King. -~::,~.~.-::s:-...5::"'.;; .. ~I.> Our "He?ulars ~r joined in sinf;;lng the -.!:::-#?--..... < ~~--'.',!!, rest of the Ordlnary of the L1;:lSS, and :// ~ 1/'l during the ablutions they sang "Silent Iii ~~7, Night" in Nc,vajo--one of the few songs ,:); r-v-.., 0l thE'; school children had learned well e- \ I ~'~ 1/ ~.,.J ~. ''- ..:; \~f nough to Si~l g Wl thout b c:~ng l ed,. so V ~ (. ")- ._ ':. ,i,,~~ ,\}! th~~ t :r:ow, Wl th Brot,he:;r f:'1lchL. e ! 1 l eadcr- \ /1 l'~~ ,./\ !~ '<t:1 shlp,lt wa.s very e ff ectlv.::: •. And after ~(\~ ?:.-tJ.\ (~! ~ :: / it'! Ma ss the u~uo.l prayers ~n Navajo-:-Our .~t . __ .. ____ -----::=;:;.:::::.;-') 1 U Fa ther, Heal I:Iary , I bell8ve, In tnt; Name. . ---- ,,- .. ,--,---,,-.--.-~-' . Although the snow had long since ceased io t~ ll, the ground was still white,and getting wet as the sun burnt away the cl.ouds. With this gr ea t company of guests, we had to abandon our revised plans and went baCK to the original id (~ a. The Navajos quickly made clearings and started fir es; we handed out t wo sheep carcases and .the 'flour, and soon the meat was roasting or boiling merrily, o.nd the vvomen were deftly patting the brGad into pan-c'lkE: siz e . Meanwhlle we got ready for the movi e-show. The school house is not as large as the Mission House,but be tt er adapted for showing pictures on a screEm; w!2 had darkened the windows ViTi th roofirt;.paper and now we took out all furniture except a table for the proj ector. With s~hool benches and tables in place, we consider t wenty-four our capacity, and we thought for a while we would ha.ve to run two performances-- but all thought of that vonished as 72 Navajos of assorted sizes solemnly trooped in and sat,squatted or stood in place for the show. Nobody was taking any chanc (;s on a second shawl Most of them had never s oen a motion picture in their lives; certainly norehad ever seen hims elf or his fri ends on the screen, and you may b8 sure it was nn experience not soon to be forgotten! They f airly shouted with mirth, and would no doubt have rolled on the floor, had there buen any floor available for the pur-pose. I tried to make a running commentary , spite of a v0ry hoarse thooa t, but it was hardly n8C l3SSi'try in the loc al sc enes which took up the greater part of tho program. They c211ed out the names of everybody who appeared in the pictures, and l aughed as if at the very best joke . ever cracked! We also showed a r~el |