Then men ran to Glooskap, saying that Turtle was dead. But the Master
answered, "Cut up the Whale; he who is now dead will revive." So they
cut it up; (and when the feast was ready) Turtle came in yawning, and
stretching out his leg he cried, "How tired I am! Truly, I must have
overslept myself." Now from this time all men greatly feared Glooskap,
for they saw that he was a spirit.
It came to pass that the Turtle waxed mighty in his own conceit, and
thought that he could take Glooskap's place and reign in his stead. So
he held a council of all the animals to find out how he could be slain.
The Lord of Men and Beasts laughed at this. Little did he care for
them!
And knowing all that was in their hearts, he put on the shape of an old
squaw and went into the council-house. And he sat down by two witches:
one was the Porcupine, the other the Toad; as women they sat there. Of
them the Master asked humbly how they expected to kill him. And the
Toad answered savagely, "What is that to thee, and what hast thou to do
with this thing?" "Truly," he replied, "I meant no harm," and saying
this he softly touched the tips of their noses, and rising went his
way. But the two, witches, looking one at the other, saw presently that
their noses were both gone, and they screamed aloud in terror, but
their faces were none the less flat. And so it came that the Toad and
the Porcupine both lost their noses and have none to this day.
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