Chapter V: Kulóskap and the Witch

[_Passamaquoddy and Micmac_]

_Nequt Kulóskap meiaoet
Pechian kʾtakʾmikomnok. Nit kʾmʾtkinansnok
Neke bʾsʾnboek kʾchî Kiwaʿkwik._[39]

When Kulóskap the Master
Came into this world of ours,
Or the Land of the Wabanaki,
It was full of giants and monsters,
Sorcerers, dwarfs and demons,
Mighty beasts and men,
Fiends and the Indian devils,
And, worst of all, the witches,
And worst among them Pûjinskwes,
A word which means “The Pitcher.”

She could be fair when she would,
Fair as a rosy sky
With stars still beaming in it
In very early dawn;
Or terrible as a storm,
When it howls among the mountains,
And lightens in the midnight.

Now while the Master was young,
And had not gained the power
Which he won in riper age,
Pûjinskwes sought his love.
But he knew that she was evil,
So he fled away from her wooing,
And the wild-cat witch pursued him.
It was a dreadful flight,
Since to make their steps the longer
Both took the giant form,
Took it by magic power.

It was an awful storm,
A terrible storm in winter
When the wind is chasing the clouds;
It was like a frightful tempest
In summer when the lightning
Chases after the thunder.
Deep lay the snow on the earth;
Therefore they both wore snow-shoes;
But, when they came to the shore,
Kulóskap leaped from the mainland
Over the sea between
To the island of Grand Manan;
And so he escaped from the sorceress;
For the shoes which the Master wore
Were round and out of the common;
While those of the witch were long,
Long it is said and pointed,
And the marks of the two are still
To be seen deep pressed in the rocks
By the shore to this very day.

But for days and years thereafter
Pûjinskwes sought to slay him,
And she had terrible power,
The might of the Evil Witches
Which came from the early time.

Now ’tis the greater part
Of the Indian art of magic
To know what our foes are planning,
Planning and plotting against us,
And all their tricks and devices
Which they scheme in the darkened paths,
The darkened paths of Evil.
In knowing this, Kulóskap
Was the greatest and the first,
And, knowing new arts of magic,
Went far beyond them all.
For before his time all sorcerers
Went every one his way
Unheeding the ways of others,
Even in wickedness.
But Kulóskap first of all
Threw out his soul unto others
To find what others knew.

When the Lord was on the warpath
Seeking the sorcerer Winpe
Who had carried away his household,
He came to Ogomkeok
Where he found a great birch wigwam,
And, in the wigwam seated
Bending over a fire,
A strange old woman--a horror
Of all old hags and ugliest--
Trembling in every limb,
As if death stood at her elbow,
Dirty, ragged and loathsome,
He never had seen the like.

Then looking up at the Master
With bleared and pitiful stare,
She begged him to bring some fire-wood
Which he did indeed, while knowing
Who it was who was so disguised,
For he knew it was Pûjinskwes
And he laughed at her in his heart.

Then she said to him, “O stranger,
As thou art a man of mercy,
Pray free me from the _waagûkw_
From the monstrous terrible vermin
Which madden me by their bites!”
Now all the _waagûkw_ were devils,
The spirits of every poison,
Which she thought had such a power
As must even kill the Master.

But he foreseeing this
Had taken as he came
Cranberries from a swamp,
And bidding her bend over,
He took the imps from her hair,
And every one as he took it
Turned into a porcupine,
Or else a terrible toad.
When she asked him, “Have you found one?”
And, “I have,” replied the Master;
Then, “Crush it,” was her answer,
So then he crushed a berry,
And Pûjinskwes, hearing the sound,
Thought to herself: “The poison
Which is now upon his fingers
Will soon be in his heart,
And death will follow after.”

But Kulóskap put the devils
One by one as he found them
Under a wooden platter
Which was lying close beside him.
And as he did this he chanted
A song which put her to sleep,
A song of wonderful power.
So she slept until the morrow
And when she awoke, the Master
Was far away, and her devils,
Porcupines, toads and all,
Were swarming over the floor,
For they had upset the platter.
Then she was filled with fury
To think he despised her so
That he had not even cared
To kill her while a-sleeping.
Then she burst forth in madness,
Wild as the Indian devil
Forth in her own true figure
As beautiful as sin,
Wild as the wolverine;
And gathering up her imps,
And summoning all her power
Of magic by fiercer will,
Went forth to meet the Master.

Onward he went to the North
Till he came to a pass in the hills.
It was a great ravine
Wherein two monstrous beasts
Waylaid all travellers
And tore them limb from limb.
Straight at his dogs they flew;
He did but touch the dogs,
And speak a word of power,
When up they grew to size
Stupendous, so they seized
The beasts e’en as the wolf
Seizes a rabbit. Then
The fight was at an end.
These dogs had been so trained
That when called off they fought
More fiercely than before,
And when told not to bite
They ever bit the more.

Soon he came to the top
Of a high hill, and looking
Afar o’er all the land
Beheld, away in the distance,
A wigwam, and knew in his heart
That an enemy dwelt therein;
And coming to it he found
An old woman with two fair daughters.
But he knew at a glance that the mother
Was a witch among the witches,
And the one who sought his life.

The girls came to him greeting
With fond and pleasing glances,
Asking if he was hungry,
And offering him a dainty:
The entrails of a bear
Which, when turned and smoked and seasoned,
Are deemed by all delicious.
They are a common gift
Of Indian girls to their lovers,
For, when cast around the neck
As a necklace, it means “I love you.”
But these had been enchanted,
Poisoned by magic spells;
Had the Master taken them then
He would have lost his power.

Little they knew of the magic,
The new and wonderful magic
Of reading the thoughts of men,
Which the Lord had brought into the land,
Unknown to the witches of yore;
So as they came wooing round him
With smiles and wanton glances,
He smiled, as if all he wanted
Of them, was to be won!
So he took the gift which they offered,
But, instead of putting it on,
Cried out to his dogs, “_Cuss! cuss!_”
Which in Micmac means “Stop, stop!”
But which they had been trained to believe
Was, “Hie at them!” They flew at the witches
When both flashed up like fire
In the terrible form of devils,
As flaming female fiends.
Then came an awful tumult
Such as never before was seen
In the land of the Wabanâki;
All the earth and rocks around
Were rent in the dreadful tumult
And all the while the Master
Cried merrily to his dogs:
“Stop, stop! These are my sisters,
Let them alone! Be quiet!”
But the more he bade them be peaceful
The more they attacked the witches
And drove them at last away.

Then the Master entered the wigwam
Where Pûjinskwes sat waiting,
Waiting for him as dead,
Waiting for him as food.
So he said to her while smiling,
“Grandmother, are you hungry?
Do you love the links of a bear?
Then here are some.” He threw them
Around her neck and she died,
Died and became a devil.
Yet the sorcerers when devils
Ever rise to life again;
Ever rise to work men mischief,
For evil can never die.

Then the Master kept on his way
Till he met the giant Winpe--
The evil sorcerer Winpe
Whom he slew in terrible battle.
This is the song of the Micmacs,
Of the Master’s earlier deeds.

FOOTNOTES:

[39] When Kulóskap the Lord came into our land the country was full of great giants.