Chapter III: Kulóskap and the Fool

[_Micmac_]

_Kes saak: Nigumaach ut
Agunudumâkun Klûskâbel._[20]

“Of the old times the tale is,
A story of Kulóskap,”
Unto whom there went full many
When they heard that all could have
Whatever they desired;
And truly he gave them all
Whate’er it was they asked for,
But whether they got their wish
Depended on the wisdom
Which they showed when it was won.

Now the Master liked it not
If, when he had plainly told
What it was that one must do,
That man should double on him
Or quibble, or disobey.
So then it came to pass
That a certain fool of the kind
Who never can do aught
Without a twist or a turn
In his own peculiar way,
Went a long journey to ask
A favor of the Lord.
His trials were many and sore;
He came unto a chain
Of mountains exceeding high,
In a dark and lonely land
Wherein no sound was heard;
And the ascent was hard
As climbing a slippery pole.
And the going down
Or descent on the other side
Was more ungrateful still,
For ’twas all a precipice
With broken, crumbly edge
Which overhung a gulf;
Yet it was worse beyond.
For there the road led on
Between the hideous heads
Of two great serpents, which
Did almost touch their lips,
And darted terrible tongues
At those who went between.
And yet again ’twas worse
When the way passed under a wall,
The awful Wall of Death
Which hung like a dreadful cloud
Over a dismal plain,
Rising and falling at times;
Yet when, no one could know.
So those who were beneath
When it fell and struck the ground
Were ever crushed to death.

Yet he escaped all this
And came to the Master’s home
Where he was well received,
And dwelt for many days;
And when the Master asked
What ’twas that he would have?
He answered, “If my Lord
Will give me a medicine
Which will cure me of every ill,
I shall be well content.”
And he asked for nothing more.
Then the Master gave to him
A little package, and said:
“Herein is that which thou seek’st
But I charge thee solemnly
That thou lettest not thine eyes
Behold what is therein,
Till thou shalt have reached thy home.”
So he thanked the Lord, and left.

Yet he was not far away
Ere he longed to open the gift,
And test the medicine,
And still more the Master’s truth.
And so he said to himself:
“If this be all deceit,
It was very shrewdly planned,
To bid me not open it
Until I should be at home.
Tush! If the medicine
Is really what I required
It cannot lose its power.
In truth I will test it now.”
So he opened it--when lo!
All that which was therein
Fell to the ground and spread
As water, everywhere,
And then like a summer mist
As quickly melted away.
So when he returned to his home
He was mocked by one and all.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] This is a story about Kulóskap of long ago.