Chapter VI: How Kulóskap Conquered Aklibimo, the Great Bullfrog

[_Passamaquoddy_]

_Piʾchce uskichinwi otenesis
Pakichiotote pemtanikek._[31]

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.
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.
So over it they grew dainty
And were very proud of it.

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.

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. 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.

Then, asking the village folk
Why they had done this evil,
Since ’twas of no use to them,
They said: “Go ask our chief,
It was he who ordered it.”

And when the messenger came
To see the Sagamore,
Behold, there lay before him,
Lazily in the mud,
A creature who was more
Of monster than of man--
Though truly in human form--
For he was immense in size,
In measure like a giant,
Fat, bloated, at all points
Most brutal to behold;
His great, round, yellow eyes
Stuck from his head as knots
Or knobsticks from a pine.
His mouth with stringy lips
Went well from ear to ear;
His feet were broad and flat,
With toes immensely long--
He was marvellous to behold!

And unto him the man
Set forth his just complaint,
To which the brute at first
Made no reply beyond
A most uncivil grunt
And a croak, but he said at last
In a loud, bellowing voice,
Such as we sometimes hear
At night from pond or pool:
“Do as you choose,
“Do as you choose,
“Do as you choose!
“What do I care?
“What do I care?
“What do I care?
“If you want water,
“If you want water,
“If you want water,
“Go somewhere else.”

Then the messenger told
How his people were pining
Near dead of their thirst,
Which seemed hugely to please
The monster, who grinned for joy,
Till at last he rose to his feet.
And, making a single spring
Of many rods to the dam,
Took an arrow and bored a hole
So that a little water
Just trickled out, and then cried:
“Up and begone,
“Up and begone,
“Up and begone!”
Then the messenger returned
In sorrow to his people,
Bringing them little joy,
And for a very few days
There was a little water,
Then it stopped and they suffered again.

Now these good Indians, who
Were the honestest fellows alive,
Best natured in all the world,
And never harmed any one
Except their enemies,
Were in a pickle indeed;
For sad it is to have
Nothing but water to drink;
But to want even that
When one is raging with thirst
Is worse than waiting for dinner
When we have no dinner to wait for.
Now this the Lord Kulóskap,
Who was merciful in heart
And knew all that was passing
In the hearts of his Indian children,
Observed, and pitying them
Came to them all at once;
For he ever came as the wind
And no man e’er wist how.

Now, just before he came,
These honest Indians
Had in a council resolved
To send their boldest man
Though ’twere to certain death,
Even unto the village
Where dwelt the evil chief
Who built the cursèd dam
Which kept the water with which
They slaked their thirst when they
Could get it--that is to say,
Whenever the water was running.
And when he got there, the brave
Was either to obtain
That the water-dam be cut,
Or, failing, do something desperate--
They knew not exactly what;
But it was expected by all
That if he were refused
He would paint the village with care
Of a deep vermilion hue,
Leaving on every lodge
Blood, and in this intent,
Should, armed at every point,
Go with his tomahawk,
His axe and scalping-knife
Singing his death-song, too,
As he went on his way;
And they were all agog.

Now the Master was greatly pleased
When he observed all this,
For nothing delighted him more
Than plucky, desperate deeds;
So he resolved that he
Would see to this thing himself.

Therefore he came to them--
The people of the town
Which was then so high and dry--
Looking so terribly fierce
That in all the land there was none
Who was half so horrible;
For he seemed to be ten feet high,
With a hundred wonderful plumes,
Feathers of red and black,
From his scalp-lock uprising;
His face fresh-painted like blood,
Green rings around his eyes,
While a very large clam-shell hung
From either ear, and behind,
A great spread eagle, which
Was awful to behold,
Flapped wings at every step;
So that the hearts of all
Beat as he entered the village,
For as simple Indians, they
Accounted that this must be
Either Lox, the Wolverine,
Or Michihant the Devil
Himself in person, who
Had turned to Indian form.
And the squaws declared that they
Had ne’er seen aught so fine,
Such a lovely, lovable man!

Then the Master having heard
The whole of their terrible tale,
Bade them cheer up, for he
Would soon set all to rights.
So without delay he went
Straight up the bed of the brook,
And coming to the town
Sat down, and bade a boy
Bring him some water to drink;
To which the boy replied
That not a drop could be had
In that town unless ’twere given
Out by the chief himself.

“Then go to your Sagamore,”
Said the Master, “and bid him hurry,
Or verily I will know
The reason why I wait.”
And when the boy had gone
There was no reply before
An hour, when the boy returned,
During which time the Master
Sat on a log and smoked.
Then at last the messenger
Came with a little cup
Which was only just half full
Of water, extremely foul.
Then the Master rose and said:
“Now I will go to your chief,
And I think that he soon will give
Far better water than this!”

And having come to the chief
He said, “Now give me to drink
And that of the best, at once,
Thou villainous Thing of Mud!”

Then the Sagamore in a rage
Bellowed: “Begone and find
Thy water where thou canst;”
When Kulóskap thrust his spear
At once into the beast,
Into his belly, lo!
Gushed forth a mighty stream,
For it was all the water
Which should have run in the brook--
He had taken it all to himself!

Then the Master, rising high
As any giant pine,
Caught the monster in his hand,
And crumpled in his back
With a mighty grip--and lo!
It was the Bull-Frog! Then
He hurled him with contempt
Into the stream to follow
The current ever on.

And ever since that time
The Bull-Frog’s back has borne
Those crumpled wrinkles which
Are in the lower part:
These are the print-marks made
By the Master’s awful squeeze.

Kulóskap then returned
Unto the town, but there
Found not a living soul,
For a marvellous thing had come
To pass while he was gone;
A thing which shall be heard
In every Indian’s speech
Through all the ages, as
’Tis told by all to-day.

For as these people were,
As I said, good simple folk,
They had talked together, just
As boys do at their play,
When they are hungry, thus:
“What would you like to have?”
When another will reply:
“Truly, I’d like to eat
A good hot venison steak,
With maple sugar and bear’s oil;”
“Nay, give me for my part
Some succotash and honey.”
Even so these villagers said:
“Suppose you really had
All the cold sparkling water
There is in the world, what then
Would you do with it?” One replied,
“I would live in the soft smooth mud,
And always be wet and cool.”

To which another said,
That he would plunge from the rocks
And dive in the deep cold stream,
Aye drinking as he dived.

And the third said: “I would be washed
Up and down with the rippling waves,
Living at will on land,
Or in the water;” Then
The fourth said: “None of you
Know how to wish, and I
Will teach you how. I’d live
In water all the time.
And forever swim in it!”

Now it chanced that these things were said
In the hour when, while it passes
Over the world, all the wishes
Which are uttered by men are granted.
And so it was with these Indians;
For the first became a leech,
The second a spotted frog,
The third a crab which is washed
Up and down with the tide,
And the fourth a fish which swims
A-drinking ever more.

Ere this, there had been in the world
None of the creatures which dwell
In the water, but now they were there
Of every kind. And the river
Came rushing and roaring on,
And they all went headlong down
Into the endless ocean,
To be washed into many lands,
And places all over the world,
Forever and ever more.

FOOTNOTES:

[31] Long ago, an Indian village stood far back in the mountains.