Page 9 - Old Tales of Sorcery Remembered

ISSUE : Issue 30

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1981/12/1

Marguerite Gallant: There was this fellow, Pierre, he was working at The Point. And this fellow--I think it was the head clerk in the store--says, "Don't go home tonight, because you'll be afraid." "Oh," he said, "I'm afraid of nothing." "Well," he said, "you're going to be afraid tonight." He said, "If I'm afraid, it won't be of you, anyway, because I'm not afraid of you." And he said, "You're going to be afraid." And then the old man started to come home, and when he got to the cliff here--there was something that rolled down the cliff and it almost knocked him down. And it was an iron pot. And it was rolling and it was almost knocking him down. And this old fel? low had made himself what you call a flam? beau- -with bark. And, you know, it was burning. He says, "You better not let me get you because I'll burn you." And all of the sudden he caught him by the ear--he came too near and he caught him by the han? dle of the pot. (He caught the pot by the handle?) Yes. It was one of those iron pots that had little legs, you know. He rubbed the flambeau between his legs and beat around his ears and here and there. And the next day.... (He rubbed it around the handles of the pot?) Yeah. (And be? tween the legs of the pot?) Yeah. And then he let it go. And he said he didn't see the pot afterward. But the next day the clerk at the store was very, very sick, and he had sores behind his ears and his legs were sore--and no wonder. Yours would've been sore, don't you think so? (So the story was that he had made himself into the pot?) Yes. He turned himself into a pot and came to chase old Pierre. But Pi? erre wasn't afraid of him. He said, "I nev? er enjoyed myself so much. You can go home and go to bed now." J. J. Deveaux: They take any kind of shape, to scare you. But they cannot hurt you like that. If he takes the shape of an ani- mal, he can't hurt you. Or the shape of anybody. But he can scare you. What Mar? guerite told you, about taking the shape of a pot--the pot cannot hurt him, but can try to scare him. That's just like the one where the little horse died--he took the shape of another man, to go and tell him. He didn't want that man to know who he was. Marie Deveau: And then after that there was one man--and he was from Cheticamp. (We'll call him The Acadian.) He was going from one house to another--he was*going on a Sunday when the man would be at church-- if the wife would have stayed with the children. There was always somebody home. I remember one time he came here after eve? rybody was gone to church. And he wanted to know if my first husband, Charlie, wanted some baskets--he was making potato baskets--and I told him I didn't know if CollierYinn ??'Glace Bay 28 Newly Renovated Units For Reservations. Phone 849-9333 FABULOUS HANDKNITS WEAVING APPLE DOLLS TOYS CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS WOODCRAFTS OPEN YEAR'ROUND SOUVENIRS Monday - Saturday, 9-5 CHRIStSas'rOOM ''''-''' ' '"' certificates CERAMICS POTTERY QUILTS Island Crafts 335 George St., Sydney, Nova Scotia Phone: (902) 539-6474 or 564-5527 Agoodpercentag • of the people who come to CentralTrust, come because they get a gpod percent. We help people appreciate their money more. Some put it in our high interest sav- ' ings accounts. Some invest in our QIC's and Debentures. Some take advantage of our no charge chequing, our personal loans, business loans or mortgage loans. Some call on us for all of the above. Centrallhist IT Mcffiey afpneciatm. • 225 Charlotte Street, Sydney, N.S. Tei. 539-9210 Branches throughout the Atlantic Provinces, Alberta and Ontario (9)

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