--- title: Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 2 — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · full text with trees · page 2 description: Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 2, «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: (f) Nenebuc Wounds the Giant Lynx, Disguises Himself in a Toad’s Skin, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/12/page/2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/) / Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Oj… # Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 2 · page 2 [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/12/) **2** Then he told Owl, “You go and try to go around the world this time.[100](../../100/ "tree and pragmatics") If you eat, you won’t change colour but remain the same colour as you are now.[101](../../101/ "tree and pragmatics") But if you eat, you won’t come back here.”[102](../../102/ "tree and pragmatics") So Owl started flying.[103](../../103/ "tree and pragmatics") He came to the same lake, saw the dead fish and finished it.[104](../../104/ "tree and pragmatics") He ate a good meal and never returned.[105](../../105/ "tree and pragmatics") \[22\] But he didn’t change colour.[106](../../106/ "tree and pragmatics") Then Nenebuc let all the animals go from the raft.[107](../../107/ "tree and pragmatics") He started west and is there yet, lying on his back, singing and hammering at his wigwam poles, in place of drumming, all the time.[108](../../108/ "tree and pragmatics") He will stay there until he gets up again three years before the end of the world, when he will travel all over the world to see the animals and the Ojibwa again.[109](../../109/ "tree and pragmatics") He will not die until the end of the world.[110](../../110/ "tree and pragmatics") (2) Nenebuc Fragment.[111](../../111/ "tree and pragmatics") \[23\][112](../../112/ "tree and pragmatics") Once the Goose met Nenebuc and gave him two wings.[113](../../113/ "tree and pragmatics") He told him that if he flapped them he could fly with them, but that he must not look downwards while he flew.[114](../../114/ "tree and pragmatics") So Nenebuc took the wings and began flying.[115](../../115/ "tree and pragmatics") When he got very far up, he wondered how high he was and looked down.[116](../../116/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he tumbled down and down until he fell into a big hollow stump where he couldn’t get out.[117](../../117/ "tree and pragmatics") Soon two girls came along with an axe to get some wood and began cutting at the hollow pine in which Nenebuc was.[118](../../118/ "tree and pragmatics") They cut a hole and Nenebuc kept quiet, for he was hoping they would free him.[119](../../119/ "tree and pragmatics") When they looked in the hole, they saw his belly and they pulled out a hair.[120](../../120/ "tree and pragmatics") They went back to camp and told their father, “Here is a porcupine quill we found in a tree.”[121](../../121/ "tree and pragmatics") The old man looked at it and, laughing, said, “That’s not a porcupine quill, that’s a hair from Nenebuc’s groin!”[122](../../122/ "tree and pragmatics") (3) Nenebuc Transforms the Bear.[123](../../123/ "tree and pragmatics") \[24\][124](../../124/ "tree and pragmatics") Nenebuc in his tracks encountered the great Bear that killed and ate the Indians—so many of them that they feared they would all be killed.[125](../../125/ "tree and pragmatics") So Nenebuc went to the Bear and said, “You are eating so many of the Indians that they will all be gone soon.[126](../../126/ "tree and pragmatics") Now I am going to make you small and harmless.”[127](../../127/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he made him into the Squirrel and turned the Squirrel into the Bear, and the Bear, now in Squirrel’s shape, felt so badly that he cried until his eyebrows turned grey.[128](../../128/ "tree and pragmatics") That is the reason why to this day squirrels have grey eyelids.[129](../../129/ "tree and pragmatics") “Now,” said Nenebuc, “what will you eat?”[130](../../130/ "tree and pragmatics") The Bear, now a Squirrel, said he would continue to eat people, but he was so small that he could not do anything.[131](../../131/ "tree and pragmatics") “That is good,” said Nenebuc.[132](../../132/ "tree and pragmatics") “Now you can’t do any harm to the Indians.[133](../../133/ "tree and pragmatics") But you had better change your food.[134](../../134/ "tree and pragmatics") Just run up that black-spruce tree and taste the acorn seeds and then see whether you want to eat people any more.[135](../../135/ "tree and pragmatics") You are too small to eat people as you used to do.”[136](../../136/ "tree and pragmatics") So the Squirrel ran up the black-spruce tree and tasted the sweet seed of the cone.[137](../../137/ "tree and pragmatics") He liked it so well, it tasted so sweet, that he chose this for his food and said that he would not want anything better any more.[138](../../138/ "tree and pragmatics") That is his food to-day.[139](../../139/ "tree and pragmatics") (4) Wemicus.[140](../../140/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus had a very large family.[141](../../141/ "tree and pragmatics") Many of his children had married the different animals who lived in various parts of the surrounding country.[142](../../142/ "tree and pragmatics") By and by he had nearly all kinds of animals for his sons-in-law, and there were still a great many children left in his family.[143](../../143/ "tree and pragmatics") When winter came, Wemicus was unable to support his family, as there were too many of them.[144](../../144/ "tree and pragmatics") They were all living in one wigwam.[145](../../145/ "tree and pragmatics") One day Wemicus said to his wife, “We are all very hungry.[146](../../146/ "tree and pragmatics") I might go and see one of our sons-in-law; he might have some food.”[147](../../147/ "tree and pragmatics") Next morning he started out.[148](../../148/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus always tried to imitate the actions of everybody he saw.[149](../../149/ "tree and pragmatics") When he reached the home of his son-in-law Ninicip (Black Duck) he saw that he also had a large family.[150](../../150/ "tree and pragmatics") Ninicip was inside of his wigwam, and when he saw Wemicus coming, he told his wife, “You had better begin to get ready for company and boil water in the stone pail.”[151](../../151/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he jumped up upon the cross poles in his wigwam \[25\] and in vas lapidum sub se \[26\] defaecavit, telling his wife to stir up the contents of the pot.[152](../../152/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus apparently saw nothing of this.[153](../../153/ "tree and pragmatics") Then one of the children of Ninicip took spoons and, dipping them in the pot, said, “Soup, soup, soup, rice soup.”[154](../../154/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus tasted the soup, thought it tasted good, and decided that after this he would make soup in the same manner.[155](../../155/ "tree and pragmatics") The next morning, when Wemicus started for home, he was given some rice soup to take home to his children.[156](../../156/ "tree and pragmatics") Before leaving the wigwam of Ninicip, however, Wemicus had purposely left behind one of his mittens.[157](../../157/ "tree and pragmatics") One of the children saw the mitten and Ninicip’s wife sent the child to return it, bidding him not to go too close to Wemicus but to throw him the mitten.[158](../../158/ "tree and pragmatics") The child did the bidding of his mother and, when the mitten was thrown to Wemicus, he said, “Ask your father to come and see me,” and he named a certain day.[159](../../159/ "tree and pragmatics") On the way back home Wemicus thought, “I wonder what this soup tastes like when it is cold.[160](../../160/ "tree and pragmatics") I must try it.[161](../../161/ "tree and pragmatics") My children don’t need any of it, so I might as well eat it all.”[162](../../162/ "tree and pragmatics") So he ate all of the soup.[163](../../163/ "tree and pragmatics") When he reached his wigwam he said, “Ninicip and his family are starving also.[164](../../164/ "tree and pragmatics") To-morrow he will come to see us and perhaps he will bring us something.[165](../../165/ "tree and pragmatics") We had better fix up our wigwam.”[166](../../166/ "tree and pragmatics") Then they fixed up the wigwam in the same manner as that of Ninicip.[167](../../167/ "tree and pragmatics") The next day Ninicip came and they gave him the best place.[168](../../168/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus said to his wife, “We’ll get ready to eat now.[169](../../169/ "tree and pragmatics") Put some water in the stone pail.”[170](../../170/ "tree and pragmatics") “There is no use putting any water in the pail,” answered his wife, “we have nothing to cook.”[171](../../171/ "tree and pragmatics") “Well, bring the pail, anyway, and get some spoons,” said Wemicus.[172](../../172/ "tree and pragmatics") When the water began boiling, Wemicus jumped up on the cross-poles, in vas defaecavit, all over his children and the inside of the wigwam.[173](../../173/ "tree and pragmatics") Then Ninicip went out.[174](../../174/ "tree and pragmatics") His wife scolded Wemicus, saying, “You always do something like that.[175](../../175/ "tree and pragmatics") You must have seen someone do that.”[176](../../176/ "tree and pragmatics") Then Wemicus kept quiet and everything had to be cleaned up.[177](../../177/ "tree and pragmatics") The wife then invited Ninicip to come in again and he told her that he would fix up the meal.[178](../../178/ "tree and pragmatics") Igituo interum in vas defaecavit and they had good rice soup, and everyone, even Wemicus, had a good meal.[179](../../179/ "tree and pragmatics") The following morning Ninicip made soup for the family again and then went home.[180](../../180/ "tree and pragmatics") Soon Wemicus and his family were starving again and Wemicus said, “I must go and see my son-in-law, Muskrat.[181](../../181/ "tree and pragmatics") He lives not far away.”[182](../../182/ "tree and pragmatics") “All right,” said his wife and Wemicus set out.[183](../../183/ "tree and pragmatics") When he had almost reached Muskrat’s home, the little Muskrat children called out, “Our grandfather is coming.”[184](../../184/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus told Muskrat that he was starving and Muskrat said to his wife, “You had better make a fire in the hot sand.”[185](../../185/ "tree and pragmatics") So the fire was made, and Muskrat went out with a big sack made out of hide and returned with the sack full of ice, which he dumped into the hot ashes.[186](../../186/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus expected that it would explode but it only cooked nicely.[187](../../187/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus wondered what it was.[188](../../188/ "tree and pragmatics") Soon Muskrat said, “We are ready now,” and they took off the sand and there were a lot of nicely baked potatoes.[189](../../189/ "tree and pragmatics") Wemicus thought that was an easy way in which to live—just to get ice for potatoes.[190](../../190/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/12/) **2** - ← previous: [page 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/12/) - next →: [Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/13/) - ↑ back to [Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/)