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How Lox came to Grief by trying to catch
a Salmon. (Passamaquoddy.) Kusk, the Crane, had two
brothers. One of these was Lox, the Wolverine, or Indian Devil. And his other
brother was Koskomines, the Blue Jay. Kusk was very lazy, and one
day, being hungry, thought he would go and get a dinner from Lox. Lox served
him a kind of pudding-soup in a broad, flat platter. Poor Kusk could hardly get
a mouthful, while Lox hipped it all up with ease. Soon after, Kusk made a fine
soup, and invited Lox to dinner. This he served up in a jug, a long cylinder.
None of it had Lox. Kusk ate it all. The next day the pair went
to dine with Blue Jay. Blue Jay said, "Wait till I get our food."
Then he ran out on a bough of a tree which spread over a river, and in a minute
fished out a large salmon. "Truly," thought Lox, "that is easy
to do, and I can do it." So the next day he invited
the Blue Jay and Crane to feed with him. Then he, too, ran down to the river
and out on a tree, and, seeing a fine salmon, caught at it with his claws. But
he had not learned the art, and so fell into the river, and was swept away by
the rushing current. This is one of AEsop's
fables Indianized and oddly eked out with a fragment from a myth attributed to
both Manobozho and the Wabanaki Rabbit. As the Wolverine has a great
resemblance to Loki, it may be here observed that, while he dies in trying to
catch a salmon, "Loki, in the likeness of a salmon, cast himself into the
waterfall of Franangr." which was effectively his last act in life before
being captured by the gods, as told in the Edda. Otter, in the Edda, caught a
salmon, and was then caught by Loki. There is, of course, great confusion here,
but the Indian tale is a mere fragment, carelessly pieced and indifferently
told. Lox is, like Loki, fire and perishes by water. |