PAGE 3
Of The Dreadful Deeds Of The Evil Pitcher, Who Was Both Man And Woman
by
Then again he sang, and once more a whale carried him over. And now he knew that he was indeed coming to what he sought, for in the deserted camp he found the embers of a fire, still smoking. Advancing rapidly, he saw near the next camp Martin, seeking wood to burn. The youth and the old Dame Bear had been most cruelly treated by Win-pe, and they were nearly starved, but Martin’s clothes were good. [Footnote: There is a reason for this singular detail. Nancy Jeddore, the Indian from whom Mr. Rand learned one version of this legend, informed him that the Martin, thin at all times, always has a fine fur, however starved he may be. Dying with hunger, he is always well dressed.] And Martin was so sunk in sorrow that he did not hear Glooskap call him, and not till the Master threw a small stick at him did he look up, and even then he thought it had fallen from a tree. Then, seeing him, he cried out with joy; but Glooskap, who was hiding in the woods, bade him be silent. “Wait till it is dark,” he said, “and I will go to your wigwam. Now you may go home and tell your grandmother.”
In the other story (M.) it is narrated that as Martin with the grandmother were on the road, and Dame Bear bore him as almost a babe on her back, he turned his head and saw Glooskap following them, and cried out,–
“Where, oh where,
Where is my brother?
He who fed me often
On the marrow of the moose!”
And she replied,–
“Alas for thee, boy!
He is far, far away;
You will see him no more.”
But the little fellow, seeing him again, sang as before, and Dame Bear, turning her head and beholding her Master, was so moved that she fainted and fell to the ground. Then Glooskap raised her in his arms, and when she had recovered she related how cruelly they had been treated by Win-pe. And Glooskap said, “Bear with him yet a little while, for I will soon pay him in full for what he has done.”
Then the Master bade the old woman go back to the camp with Martin, and say nothing. It was the youth’s duty to go for water and tend the baby in its swinging cot. And Glooskap told him all that he should do. When he should bring water he must mix with it the worst filth, and so offer it to Win-pe, the sorcerer.
And even as he ordered it was done, and Martin meekly offered the foul drink to the evil man, who at the smell of it cried aloud, “Uk say!” (M., Oh, horror!) and bade him bring a cleaner cup. But Martin, bearing the babe, threw it into the fire, and, running to the spot where Glooskap hid, cried out, “Nse-sako! nse-sako!” (M., My brother! my brother!) Win-pe, pursuing him, said, “Cry out to him; your brother cannot help you now. He is far away from here, on the island where I left him. Cry out well, for now you must die!” All this had been done that Win-pe’s power might be put to sleep by anger, and his mind drawn to other things. And the Master rose before him in all his might, and stepped forward, while Win-pe drew backward a pace to recover his strength. And with great will the Master roused all the magic within him, and, as it came, he rose till his head was above the tallest pine; and truly in those days trees were giants beyond those of this time. But the lord of men and beasts laughed as he grew till his head was far above the clouds and reached the stars, and ever higher, till Win-pe was as a child at his feet. And holding the man in scorn, and disdaining to use a nobler weapon, he tapped the sorcerer lightly with the end of his bow, like a small dog, and he fell dead.