But before he was let drop, and
when on high, he burst into a mocking song on what he saw, and the
words were as follows:--
"Kumut kenovek,
Telap tumun ek,
Stugach' kesenagasikel,
Yog wa egen'
Yog wa egeno
Telap tumen ek
Kumut ken ooik'
Stuga 'mkudomoos koon."
Our country all lost
Seems clearly to us
As though it were all spread with boughs.
Heigh ho, hay hum!
Heigh ho, hay hum!
Our country now lost
Seems now unto us
To be blue like the clear blue sky.
Hum, hum--tol de rol!
And when let fall, this graceless jackanapes in nowise ceased his
ribaldry; for while pretending to flap with his arms as if they were
wings, he imitated with his mouth, mockingly, the _wish! wish!_ of
the wide wings of the Culloo. Yet ere he touched the earth he uttered
one little magic spell, "Oh, spare my poor backbone!" And with that all
the trouble of all the birds went for nothing. Truly he was mashed to a
batter, and his blood and brains flew in every direction, like
raspberry pudding; but among the remains his backbone lay whole, and
this was his life.
And in a few days after his younger brother came by, who, seeing the
dire mess, exclaimed, "Hey, what is all this?" [Footnote: The dead body
of a sorcerer must lie until addressed by some human being. Then it
revives. This is suggestive of vampirism, which is well known to the
Indians.
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