Passamaquoddy

Piʿchedog Laʿtogwesnuk.

Far away, very far in the North, There dwelt by a great fair lake An Indian and his wife, A very beautiful woman Given to strange wild dreams; Passion was in her blood.

The lake was frozen over For many months in the year; One day, when she cut away The ice, she saw in the water A pair of wonderful eyes Steadily gazing at her; Bright eyes which charmed her so That she could not move a hand; Then she saw a handsome face And a graceful slender young man, Who rose from the glittering water, And he himself, like it, Glittered from head to foot; On his breast were nʾskemanul, Or shining silvery plates.

He said, “I am Aʿtosis, The King of all the Serpents”; Little she cared for his nature, She talked with him of love, She returned his fond embraces; Every day she came to meet him, And often in the night.

Her husband noticed that often She strayed away from home, And asked her, why she wandered? She answered, “To get fresh air.”

The weather grew ever warmer; The ice from the lake had melted, Grass, flowers and leaves were growing. The woman patiently waited Till her husband was asleep; Then she stole away in silence From the one whom she kissed no more Unto her serpent lover Whom she kissed with all her heart.

The husband greatly suspecting, Resolved to watch her wandering. And so, to avert suspicion, Said, “Stay here in the wigwam, For I shall be gone three days To hunt the deer in the forest.” But at the end of the second He came again to the wigwam, And found that she was absent. As he sat, re-kindling the fire, She entered. He saw upon her Bright shining silver scales; He asked her what ’twas that glittered? She answered, “My silver brooches.”

He said. “I must go again To be absent hunting to-morrow.” He went to the top of a hill Overlooking the lake, where he watched her. She went and sat by the shore; Then rose afar in the water What seemed to his sight to be A shining flake of ice, But when it came to the shore ’Twas a tall and slender man All clad, as it seemed, in silver. The woman leapt up and embraced him, And gave him many kisses.

The husband in awe and anger Went forth to other people, And left his wife forever; But soon her father and mother Came to her home to see her, And dwelt with her many days. And every day, when returning From an absence they knew not whither, She brought them furs and venison, With fish and fowl in plenty.

They asked her whence she had it? She answered, “I have another, A husband who suits me better Than him whom first I married. This one can give me all. He is a better hunter.” She sent them away with presents, With many silver bracelets, With many ear-rings and brooches And said: “Do not return Till the ice is here in winter.”

When they returned they found her White as a silver lily: Her Indian hue had faded; And soon she gave birth to offspring But her children all were serpents. Then the parents went away; But even as they left her She said: “When you come again You will see me but never know me!”

Years after three Indian hunters Who had heard this wondrous story Sought by the lake for the wigwam. It was standing still, but empty, But all the wood about it Was full of great black serpents Which from the grass uprising Would look them in the face Then glide away in silence. L.