Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore | Page 7

in the fire, holding it there until the steam came out of the end.[11] While the Snake was watching the process of straightening the stick and the exit of the steam, Black Cat told Sable that he should strike the Snake over the head. The Sable sought out the most crooked stick he could find, and then returned to the wigwam where the Snake was. The Snake said the stick was too crooked. The Sable replied, "I can straighten it," and held it in the fire.[12] When it was hot he struck the Snake on the head and blinded him.[13] The Snake then followed the Sable, and, as he passed over the hemlock trunk, Black Cat killed him, and they cut him in small fragments. Black Cat and Sable called all the animals and birds to the feast; the caribous, wild horses, and swift animals and birds were first to arrive at the feast. The Turtle was the last, and got only the blood. Then the Black Cat and Sable returned home to Cooloo, whose wife was Pookjinsquess. She thought she would like to have for her husband Black Cat if she could get rid of Cooloo. But Black Cat offended Pookjinsquess and made her angry. To make way with him she invited him to go with her for gulls' eggs. She took him across the water in a canoe to an island which was very distant. There they filled baskets with eggs and started home in the canoe. A large, very beautiful bird flew over them. They both shot their arrows at it. The bird fell, and Black Cat jumped into the water to get what they had shot. When he got to where the bird fell he could not find it. Pookjinsquess went off, singing as she went the following song, which has been written out from the phonographic record by Mr. Cheney, and left Black Cat on the island.
[Footnote 10: Probably Sable had a m' toulin, or magic power, and his song was heard by Black Cat, although miles away beyond hills and mountains.]
[Footnote 11: Evidently to excite the curiosity of the Snake.]
[Footnote 12: The fire was outside the wigwam, and the Snake put his head out of the wigwam, when he was struck. Possibly the Snake watched the process of straightening the stick through curiosity, and was off his guard.]
[Footnote 13: In another story which was told me, Glooscap turned the eyes of the Snake white in the following manner:--
"Once on a time Glooscap was cooking something in his wigwam, and the Snake wished to see what it was. So the Snake crawled up the outside of the wigwam and looked down through the smoke-hole into the cooking vessel. But Glooscap, who was stirring the pot of cooking food, held in his hand a great ladle. He noticed the Snake peering in at the smoke-hole, and, filling the bowl of the ladle full of the hot food, threw it into the eyes of the Snake. From that time the eyes of the Snake have been white."]
[Music illustration:
Er tim lee ber nits nah o o o o Wait for me.
Nick ne ar ber yer nay ey.--]
I think there are internal evidences of the antiquity of this song, although the English sentence, "Wait for me," shows the modern character of certain of the words. This sentence seems to supply the place of unknown Indian words. Several Indians assured me that the song was old. According to Leland, Pookjinsquess sang the following words when she left Black Cat:--
Niked ha Pogump min nekuk Netsnil sagamawin!
Which he translates,--
I have left the Black Cat on an island; I shall be the chief of the Fishers now.
The best I can make out of the phonographic record given me by Peter Selmore of the words which she sang is,--
> > > > Er tin le ber nits nah o o o o. Wait for me. Nick ne ar ber yer hay ey.
The second line sounds like the English "Wait for me," but is not distinct. The end of the first line is violently explosive. The third line ends in a word expressive of strong feeling, possibly revenge.
In a version of this story by Leland, Pookjinsquess leaves Black Cat on the island, and paddles away, singing songs. In his story, Black Cat was carried off from the island by the Fox, who swam out to get him.
Black Cat called to the gulls to defile Pookjinsquess with their dung. They flew over her, and as she looked up they covered her face with bird-lime.[14] They then burst out in a laugh, which they still have, when they saw how changed her face was.
[Footnote 14: According to the narrator, the bird that did this was a very large one. Possibly it was Cooloo, the offended husband of