Chapter IV: The Three Brothers Who Became Trees

[_Passamaquoddy and Micmac_]

_Nequt nikt nsapihioak udelabasinia unachihonamihánia
Kelhosilichil naga omsnamnia eli-bawatmotit uch negum._[21]

There were three brothers, who
Had made the pilgrimage
To seek the Lord of Life,
And win their wishes. One
Was wondrous great and tall,
The tallest in the land;
Of this he was right proud,
For he was one of those
Who slyly put soft clay
Into their moccasins
That they may be admired
By folk of lesser size,
And win the love of squaws.
And his hair was plastered up
To stand on high, and on
The summit of it was
A very long turkey tail;
But what this man desired
Was to be taller still.
The second brother asked
That he might ever live
Where he might behold the land
And all the beauty of it,
And do naught else save rest
In peace forever more.
And the third one asked to live
Unto a great old age,
And ever be in health
Till he should pass away.

Now when they came to the isle
They found three lodges there,
And in two of them were men
Who are not spoken of
In any of the tales
Which I have ever heard:
In one dwelt Kulpujot--
A wondrous one indeed!
For there is not a bone in him,
Yet every spring and autumn
He is “rolled over with hand-spikes”
By order of the Lord;
And this is what his name
Means in the Micmac tongue.
In the autumn he is turned
Over towards the West,
But in spring towards the East;
And the meaning of it all
Is the seasons of the year
As they follow in their course.

He with his breath alone
Can sweep all armies forth,
And with his looks alone
Perform most wondrous things;
This means what weather can do
With sunshine, frost and ice,
Which are felt in everything.

And in the other dwelt
Kuhkw, which in Micmac means,
The Earthquake. This great man
Can pass beneath the ground,
And make the mountains shake,
And tremble by his power.

Now when the Lord had heard
What it was that they desired,
He bade the Earthquake come
And put them with their feet
Fast planted in the ground.
And when ’twas done, the three
At once were turned to trees;
To pines, as one tale tells,
Or cedars, as some say;
In either case each man
Received what he required.

Thus, he who would be tall
Became exceeding great,
For his head rose o’er the wood
Even as a giant pine;
Nor was the top-feather forgotten;
It waves in the wind to this hour.
And on a summer day
Who listens in a pine wood,
May hear the trees a murmuring
In the soft Indian tongue
All of the olden time:
(“_Î nĭl etuchi nek mʾkilaskîtap
Î nĭl etuchi nek mʾkiluskíjin_”)
“Oh, I’m such a great man!
Oh, I’m such a big Indian!”

And the second brother, who wished
To remain in peace in the land,
So stays, for while his roots
Are in the ground he _must_ do so;
And the third, who fain would live
To the end in perfect health,
Unless they’ve cut him down
Is standing as of yore.

FOOTNOTES:

[21] Once there were three brothers who went to see the Lord of Life and get their wishes from him.