Passamaquoddy

Kulóskap meiawet.

Kulóskap the Master Was lord of beasts and men Even the one as the other He ruled them one and all. Great indeed was his army His tribe indeed was the whole. 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. 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.

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.

When the Turtle married, The Master bade him make A splendid feast, and for this He gave him wonderful power. 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. 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.

Like all men of his kind He was very vain and curious. 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.

Then many ran to the Master Saying that Turtle was dead, But he answered “Cut up the whale For the dead will soon revive.” 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! Truly, I think I must Have overslept myself!” Then all men feared the Lord, For now they knew him a spirit, A spirit of terrible power.

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. Greatly the Great One laughed When he had learned all this And little did he care.

And knowing all that passed In their evil hearts, he went Disguised as an agèd squaw Into the Council Lodge. 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! What is that to thee? And what hast thou to do With such a thing as this?” “Truly I meant no harm,” Was all the Master said. And then he softly touched The tip of either’s nose. And rising, went his way. But when the witches looked At one another—both Screamed out in dire dismay For neither had a nose! Their faces were smooth and flat; So it came that the Porcupine And Toad, are to this day Noseless among the beasts. So the Council came to an end. L.