Koluskap & His Brother, Malsum
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Koluskap and his younger twin brother, Malsum, were talking before they were born. “We must be born right away,” Malsum(1) said. “No, we must wait,” Koluskap replied. But he couldn’t stop Malsum, eager to get into the world, from bursting out through his mother’s side, killing her.
The two brothers brought themselves up and were always together until one day they tried their strength against each other to see if, even though they were twins, one might be more powerful. Malsum said to Koluskap, “How would a person kill you anyway? How could a person kill you?” Koluskap thought a long time and decided to pretend to give his brother the answer to his question. “Down feathers,” he said, knowing that feathers would only stun him, not kill him. “And how would you kill me?” Koluskap asked Malsum. The brother answered truthfully, “Cattails.”
They continued to test their strength, Koluskap always winning. Malsum didn’t like this and envied his brother. One night, Malsum got some down feathers and knocked Koluskap to the ground. When he woke up, Koluskap looked for some cattails thinking, “I must kill Malsum because he is dangerous.” When he got the chance, he struck him dead with the cattail.
1. wolf
