🧚 Opening, part 5 · page 2

The dark and evil demon, The sprite of the night-air, Pʾmûla named by some, From whom the gift had come, Swooped down from clouds on high, And bore his soul away To the dwelling place of darkness And men heard of him no more.45

Now ’tis a thing well known To all the Indians Who keep the holy faith Of the good olden time, That there are wondrous dwellers Deep in the silent woods, Such as the elves and fairies Who are called by different names; In Micmac Wigŭladŭmūchŭk But by the Passamaquoddy Wʾnâgʾméswuk.46 They Can work strange deeds and sing Such songs of magic power As charm the wildest beasts And tame the wolf and bear And soothe the wolverine.47 From them and them alone Are brought the magic pipes, Or flutes, which sometimes pass To sorcerers or great braves.48 When these are played upon Women who hear the tone Are all bewitched with love, And the moose and caribou Follow the winning sound, Yes, even to their death; And when the forest elves Are pleased with anyone They make of him an elf E’en like unto themselves.49

Back in the olden time There was an Indian town In which dwelt two young men, Kekwâjû the Badger, And the other Kâktugwââsis, The Little Thunder.50 They Chanced to hear that Kulóskap Would give to anyone Whatever he desired:51

And so they went their way On the long pilgrimage For many years, until They reached the wondrous isle Where the great Master dwelt, Where first they met Dame Bear, Then Marten, and at last The mighty Lord himself Who welcomed them with grace.52

Then all sat down to a meal, But all that was placed before them Was one small dish of meat, A very tiny morsel.53 Then the elder of the pilgrims, A reckless jolly fellow, Thinking it was a joke And that he was mocked for sport, Cut off nearly all the meat, And ate it.54 Then what was left Grew at once to its former size; So it went on, and all Ate all that they desired, And found the food of the best, And when the meal was over The dish was as full as before.55

Now of these two, the Badger Had set his heart on becoming A wigʾladʾmûch or fairy, Which would give him magic power While the other wished to win A very beautiful girl, The daughter of a chief, A most powerful Sagamore, Who set such cruel tasks To all who came to woo her That all who had made the trial Thus far had come to their deaths.56

Then the Master took the Badger Who sought initiation Into the occult art, And by a wondrous trick Covered him all with filth And put him to utter shame Then led him down to the river Where he washed him clean, and gave him A beautiful change of clothing.57 And, combing his hair, placed on it A fillet of wondrous virtue; For when he had bound it on He became a wigʾladʾmûch A fairy and enchanter, No longer a common mortal, But one of the elfin world.58 [18]59

And as he wished to excel In magic song and music, The Master gave him a flute, Which would charm all living beings; And, singing, he bade him join In the air, and as he did so, He found he knew all the art; And from that day, thereafter, He had a wondrous voice.60

Now to seek the beautiful girl It was needful that the lover Should sail far over the sea; And during this adventure The Būʾūin or magician Was charged to take all care Of Kâktugwââs, the Thunder; And therefore he begged the Master To lend him his canoe, To which Kulóskap answered, “I will gladly lend it to thee If thou’lt honestly return it When thou needest it no more.61 For I tell thee in very truth I never yet did intrust it To any mortal man But what in the end I had to Go after it myself.”62

Then the Badger solemnly swore That, as he was an honest Indian, He would, when the need was over, Indeed return the canoe.63 For never in all his life Had he stolen any _Kwédŭn_ (Canoe) nor borrowed anything Without returning it promptly.64

But when they came to the bay There was no canoe to be seen, But not very far away, There arose a little island Of granite which was covered With pine-trees, tall and waving.65 “See--that is my canoe!”66 The Master said to them smiling, And when he took them on it They found that it was indeed A great and large canoe With lofty masts, and sails-- So the two went forth rejoicing.67

Then they sailed on and came To a large and beautiful island Where they carefully hid the canoe.68 Ere long they came to a village That of the Sagamore, The father of the girl For whom many had lost their lives.69 And, having come to his wigwam, They entered and were welcomed And placed on the seat of honor, And sat at the evening meal.70 Now ’tis of old the custom When an Indian seeks a wife, Be it from her father or friends, He makes small ado about it, And only utters two words Which mean in the Micmac language: “I am tired of living alone.”71

And the Sagamore hearing this, Consented that Little Thunder Should marry her whom he sought, But on several conditions-- The first that he should slay And bring to him the head Of a certain horrible monster, Like to a wingless dragon, The dreadful and horned Chipíchkâm.72 So this was agreed upon, Then the strangers went to their cabin And all the world to sleep.73

All save the wise Būʾūin Who soon arose from his bed, And went alone and afar, Till he came to the den of the monster In a gaping gulf in the ground.74 Over the hole he laid A mighty log, and began The magic dance round the den; Then the serpent or great Chipíchkâm, Hearing the call, came forth, Putting out his head from the hole, And weaving it about After the manner of snakes.75 While he was doing this, He rested his head for an instant On the over-arching log, When, with a blow of his hatchet The Indian severed the neck; Then, taking the head by one Of its shining yellow horns, He bore it to his friend Who gave it in the morning Unto the chief, who said: “This time I fear indeed, That I must lose my child, Yet thou hast more to do.”76

More indeed, for the chief Said, “Look at yonder hill, I fain would see my son Coast down it on a sled.”77 Now the hill was indeed a mountain.78 Its sides were very steep, Ragged with rocks and holes And terrible with trees And rough with snow and ice.79

Then they brought out two toboggans, One for the strangers.80 This The Badger should direct; While on the other sat Two great and powerful men, And these were Būʾūinuk Or sorcerers who were skilled In sledding, and they hoped To see the others soon Fall out upon the ground, And then to run over them.81