The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang Edited by Mrs. Lang |
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Chinook and Chinok
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 | The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang |  |
176
Chinook and Chinok
Chinook and Chinok were magicians of merit
Who each of them kept a familiar spirit;
They lived, we should tell you, a long while ago,
Between the Red Men and the wild Eskimo;
And the feats of the common magicians they'd mock,
Of the noisy Pow-wow, and the dark Angekok,
But the best of good friends were Chinook and Chinok!
Who each of them kept a familiar spirit;
They lived, we should tell you, a long while ago,
Between the Red Men and the wild Eskimo;
And the feats of the common magicians they'd mock,
Of the noisy Pow-wow, and the dark Angekok,
But the best of good friends were Chinook and Chinok!
It was nothing to either to fly in the air,
To float like a fish, or to climb like a bear.
It was nothing to either to change by a wish,
His foes into fowls, and his friends into fish!
Thought Chinook, ‘I shall ask old Chinok to a feast,
And charm him, for fun, to the shape of a beast,
And when I have laughed at his fright till I'm black,
Why—dear old Chinok! I will alter him back’.
So he sent to Chinok, and he asked him to dine.
Thought Chinok to himself, ‘I've an artful design,
For I'll change old Chinook to some sort of beast,
And I'll soon charm him back at the end of the feast!’
To float like a fish, or to climb like a bear.
It was nothing to either to change by a wish,
His foes into fowls, and his friends into fish!
Thought Chinook, ‘I shall ask old Chinok to a feast,
And charm him, for fun, to the shape of a beast,
And when I have laughed at his fright till I'm black,
Why—dear old Chinok! I will alter him back’.
So he sent to Chinok, and he asked him to dine.
Thought Chinok to himself, ‘I've an artful design,
For I'll change old Chinook to some sort of beast,
And I'll soon charm him back at the end of the feast!’
177
So they met, and their medicine-bags laid on the shelf;
But each had a powder he kept to himself—
A powder for making his friend look absurd
By changing him into a beast or a bird;
While each in his medicine-bag stored up another,
By which he'd restore his old shape to his brother.
But each had a powder he kept to himself—
A powder for making his friend look absurd
By changing him into a beast or a bird;
While each in his medicine-bag stored up another,
By which he'd restore his old shape to his brother.
Then both, when they settled serenely to eat,
Dropped a pinch of the powder unseen on the meat;
And Chinook with a grin, began making his mock:
‘Why, you're changing’, he cried, ‘to a badger, Chinok!’
And Chinok, who felt rather uneasy, cried ‘Look,
You are changing yourself to a toad, my Chinook!’
Dropped a pinch of the powder unseen on the meat;
And Chinook with a grin, began making his mock:
‘Why, you're changing’, he cried, ‘to a badger, Chinok!’
And Chinok, who felt rather uneasy, cried ‘Look,
You are changing yourself to a toad, my Chinook!’
Then each of them longed to return to himself,
But the bags with the powders were high on the shelf;
And the badger can't climb, and the toad could not hop
To the shelf where the medicine-bags lay on the top;
So the pair could not reach them by hook or by crook,
And a badger and toad are Chinok and Chinook!
But the bags with the powders were high on the shelf;
And the badger can't climb, and the toad could not hop
To the shelf where the medicine-bags lay on the top;
So the pair could not reach them by hook or by crook,
And a badger and toad are Chinok and Chinook!
Yes, a toad and a badger those worthies remain,
And the moral of all is uncommonly plain,
That good luck never comes to a person who pokes
At a host or a guest his dull practical jokes!
And the moral of all is uncommonly plain,
That good luck never comes to a person who pokes
At a host or a guest his dull practical jokes!
| The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang | |