🧚 Opening, part 9

Therefore they swore they would drown him, And dragged him down to the shore; He screamed like a mad magician, And fought like a wolverine, Tearing up trees and roots, Rending the rocks like a tempest; Yet at length they overpowered him, And took him in a canoe To the middle of the lake And throwing him in they watched him, Watched him as he was sinking Till he vanished far down below; And thinking him surely dead Returned to their homes rejoicing.1

Now on the next day at noon There was a glowing sunshine, And something was seen basking Upon a great flat rock About a mile from the shore.2 So two of the younger men Took a canoe and went forth To see what this might be.3 And when they came to the rock Just hanging over the water, Whom should they see but Mikchik A-dozing in the sunlight!4 But, seeing them coming to take him, He only said “Good-bye!”5 And rolled over into the lake Wherein it is said he is living Unto this very day.6 So in memory of this thing, All turtles in swamps or rivers When they see a man a-coming Tip-tilt them into the water With a _plump!7 _ which means “Good-bye!”-- Or which sounds like it in Indian[29]-- As their ancestor did of yore.8

The Turtle lived with his wife Happily, long and contented.9 Then it happened in after years That Kulóskap came one day To visit his uncle, and saw A babe which uttered a word.10 As ’twere in a childish cry: “Knowest thou what he is saying?”11 Inquired the Master smiling.12 “Truly not I,” said Mikchik, “For I deem it is in the language Which is spoken by the demons Or spirits of the air, Which ’tis said no mortal knoweth.”13 “Well, I think,” replied Kulóskap, “That he is talking of eggs For he cries ‘_Huwâh, Huwâh_’ As if he were trying to say _Wâhwun_--which means an egg In the Passamaquoddy tongue.”14 “But where are eggs to be found?”15 Inquired the uncle amazed.16 “Seek in the sand,” said the Master, Where he sought and found full many And greatly he marvelled at them.17 In memory of which and the Master, All the female turtles Lay eggs to this very day.18 L.19

FOOTNOTES:20

[27] When the Master left Newfoundland he came to Pictou.21

[28] It is usual to give as a mere matter of politeness terms of consanguinity to persons in conversation.22 Mikchik the Turtle appears in all the legends as a perfect Panurge or Falstaff, a worthless old scamp, who is nevertheless liked by everybody and privileged.23 P.24

[29] It is curious that in Italy a stone thrown into water is supposed by the sound which it makes to answer Yes or No to questions.25

V26

HOW MIKCHIK THE TURTLE WAS FALSE TO THE MASTER27

[_Passamaquoddy_]28

_Kulóskap meiawet.29 _[30]30

Kulóskap the Master Was lord of beasts and men Even the one as the other He ruled them one and all.31 Great indeed was his army His tribe indeed was the whole.32 In it the Golden Eagle Was a leading chief who married A female Caribou; And the Turtle, Kulóskap’s uncle, Married the only daughter Of the Eagle and Caribou.33 Of these things are many traditions, Many and very long, Which are told by the fire in winter; Old people knew these stories, The younger now forget them And the wisdom in them all.34

It is said that Mikchik the Turtle Was ever loved by his nephew, While another tradition tells That he was false to the Master: I know not how it may be, I can only tell the story As it was told to me.35

When the Turtle married, The Master bade him make A splendid feast, and for this He gave him wonderful power.36 Then he bade him go down to a point Of very great rocks by the sea Where whales were always found, And told him to bring a whale, And gave him the might to do so.37 But he set an appointed mark Or space, and said that he must not Go even an inch beyond it: So the Turtle went down to the sea, And caught a monstrous whale, And bore it up to the camp; It all seemed very easy, But he quite forgot that the power Was given him by the Master; So he took it all as his own.38

Like all men of his kind He was very vain and curious.39 So to see what would come of it He went beyond the mark While carrying the whale, And doing this he lost The strength on him bestowed; And sank beneath his burden Crushed by the mighty whale.40

Then many ran to the Master Saying that Turtle was dead, But he answered “Cut up the whale For the dead will soon revive.”41 So they cut it up and cooked it; And when the feast was ready, The Turtle came yawning on, And stretching out his leg Cried out: “How tired I am!42 Truly, I think I must Have overslept myself!”43 Then all men feared the Lord, For now they knew him a spirit, A spirit of terrible power.44

However it came to pass That the Turtle grew mightily All in his own conceit, And thought he could take the place Of the Master and reign in his stead; So he called together a council Of all the beasts, to find How Kulóskap might be slain.45 Greatly the Great One laughed When he had learned all this And little did he care.46

And knowing all that passed In their evil hearts, he went Disguised as an agèd squaw Into the Council Lodge.47 There were two witches there, The Porcupine and Toad, Bearing the human form; Of them he humbly asked How the Master was to die, And to him the Toad replied, “Well!48 What is that to thee?49 And what hast thou to do With such a thing as this?”50 “Truly I meant no harm,” Was all the Master said.51 And then he softly touched The tip of either’s nose.52 And rising, went his way.53 But when the witches looked At one another--both Screamed out in dire dismay For neither had a nose!54 Their faces were smooth and flat; So it came that the Porcupine And Toad, are to this day Noseless among the beasts.55 So the Council came to an end.56 L.57

FOOTNOTES:58

[30] Kulóskap the Master.59

VI60

HOW KULÓSKAP CONQUERED AKLIBIMO, THE GREAT BULLFROG61

[_Passamaquoddy_]62

_Piʾchce uskichinwi otenesis Pakichiotote pemtanikek.63 _[31]64

Long, long ago, Far, far away in the mountains An Indian village stood, Little known to other men; All lived therein at their ease, The men did well in their hunting The women worked at home, And all went well--save in _one_ thing And that one thing was this: That the town lay by a brook And except in the stream there was not A single drop of water In all the country round Save in the puddles of rain.65 No one of all these Indians Had ever found a spring, Yet they all were very fond Of a drink of good, clear water And that in their brook was good.66 So over it they grew dainty And were very proud of it.67

But after a time they saw That the brook was running low, Not only in summer time, But in autumn after the rains; And as the water fell Their spirits, too, sank low; But day by day it grew less, Until its bed was as dry As a dead bone is, which lies In the ashes of a fire.68

Now they had sometime heard That, far away in the hills Where none of them had been, There was another village Upon this very stream; But what kind of people dwelt Therein, no one could say; So, thinking that these folk Knew something about the drought, They sent a man to look Into the thing.69 Three days Onward and upward he went, Till on the third he came Unto the village where He found a solid dam Built over the rivulet So that no water could pass, But all was kept in a pond.70