Glooscap the great chief, and other stories - ElectricCanadian.com

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LEGENDS OF GLOOSCAP 249
"You are not large enough," said the Great
Chief. "Eeturn to your home in the ocean.
Then Glooscap sang his magic song once
more. Soon there came Bootup, the largest
whale in all the ocean. Glooscap stepped upon
her back, and she bore him swiftly away over
the sea.
Now as Bootup sped across the ocean she be
gan to think that if she went so fast she might
run upon the shore, or come to a place where
the water was shallow, and she could not get
out again. This was just what Glooscap
wanted her to do.
As Bootup came near the shore she kept ask
ing Glooscap whether he could see the land.
But Glooscap always answered:
"No."
Then Bootup would go on again as fast as
she could. But soon Bootup saw clam shells
under the water, and she was more afraid than
ever. She called out:
"My grandson, does not the land show itself
in the distance like a bow-string?"
"We are still far from land," said Gloos
cap. So she went on, until the water was so
shallow that they could hear the clams sing
ing
Ṅow these clams were enemies of Glooscap;
and they were singing to Bootup, urging her to
throw him into the sea and drown him. She