The Story Of Thickhead - An Ancient Tale For The Ages

The story of thickhead.

You know,

This is one of my favorite stories because I think every family or many families or just about everybody knows someone that they might describe as being a thickheaded person,

A person who doesn't learn very well all the time.

And usually in my family,

That's me.

But this is a very old story that comes from Canada.

I'm not sure which tribe,

But it's very,

Very old.

Very old.

So three brothers lived with their old Indian mother in the forest near the sea.

Their father had long been dead.

And at his death,

He had very little of the world's goods to his credit.

And so his widow and her sons were very,

Very poor,

The three brothers and their mother.

And in the place where they dwelt,

The game was not plentiful.

And to get food enough to keep them from wanting,

They had to go very far into the forest.

Now the youngest boy was smaller and weaker than the others.

And when the two older sons went far away to hunt,

They always left him behind.

And even though he always wished to accompany them,

They would never let him go.

He instead had to do all the work about the house.

And all day long,

He gathered wood in the forest and carried water from the stream.

And even when his brothers went out in springtime to draw sap from the maple trees,

He was never permitted to go with them.

Because he was always making mistakes and doing foolish things.

So his brothers called him thickhead.

And all the people around said he was a simpleton because of his slow and funny ways.

His mother alone was kind to him.

And she would always tell him,

They may laugh at you and call you a fool,

But you will prove to be wiser than all of them yet.

For so it was told to me by a forest fairy at your birth.

Now the chief of all the people in the tribe had a beautiful daughter who had many suitors,

Men who wanted to marry her.

But her father spurned them all from his door and said,

Oh,

My daughter is not yet of age to marry.

And when her time of marriage comes,

She will only marry the man who can make great profit from hunting.

Now the two older sons of the old woman decided that one of them must win the girl because they were excellent hunters.

So they prepared to set out on a great hunting expedition far away in the northern forest.

For it was now autumn and the hunter's moon had come.

And the youngest boy wanted to go with them,

For he had never been far from home and he wished to see the world.

And his mother even said that he might go.

But his brothers were very angry when they heard his request and they said,

Oh,

Much good,

Thickhead can do us in the chase.

He will only bring us bad luck.

He is not a hunter and a drudge fit only for the fireside.

But his mother commanded them to grant the boy's wish and they had to obey.

So the three brothers set out for the north country,

The two older brothers grumbling loudly because they were accompanied by the boy they thought a fool.

Now the two older brothers had good success in the hunting and chase and they killed many animals,

Deer and rabbits and otters and beavers.

And they came home bearing a great quantity of dried meat and skins.

And they each thought,

Now we have begun to prove our prowess to the chief.

And if we succeed as well next year,

When the hunter's moon comes again,

One of us will surely win his daughter when she is old enough to marry.

But all the youngest boy brought home as a result of this large journey into the game country,

All he brought was a large earthworm,

As thick as his finger and it was about as long as his arm.

And it was the biggest earthworm he had ever seen.

And he thought it a great curiosity as well as a great discovery.

And he was so busy watching it that each day he had no time to hunt.

And when he brought it home in a box,

His brothers said to their mother,

What did we tell you about thickhead?

He has now surely proved himself a fool.

He has caught only a fat earthworm in all these weeks.

And they noised it about abroad in the village and all the people laughed loudly at the simpleton until thickhead's hunt became a byword in all the land.

But the mother's,

But the boy's mother only smiled and said,

He will surprise them all yet.

And the boy kept the earthworm in a tiny pen just outside the door of his home.

But one day a large duck came waddling along and sticking her bill over the little fence of the pen,

She quickly gobbled up the worm and the boy was very angry.

And he went up to the man who owned the duck and said,

Your duck ate my pet worm.

I want my worm.

Well,

The man offered to pay him whatever price he asked,

But the boy said,

I do not want your price.

I want my worm.

But the man said,

How can I give you your worm when my duck has eaten it up?

It is gone forever.

And the boy said,

It is not gone.

It is in the duck's belly.

So I must have the duck.

Then to avoid further trouble,

The man gave Thickhead the duck.

For he thought to himself,

What is the use of arguing with a fool?

So the boy took the duck home and kept it in a little pen near his home with a low fence around it.

And he tied a great weight to its foot so that it could not fly away.

And he was quite happy,

For he thought,

Now I have both my worm and a duck.

But one day a fox came prowling along looking for food.

And he saw the fat tuck tied by the foot in the little pen.

And he said to himself,

What a great fortune.

There is a choice meal just for me.

And in a twinkling he was over the fence,

The duck quacked and made a great noise,

But she was soon silenced.

And the fox had just finished eating up the duck when the boy who had heard the quacking came running out of the house.

And the fox was smacking his lips after his good meal.

And he was too slow in getting away.

And the boy fell to beating him with a stout club and soon killed the fox and threw his body into the yard behind the house.

And he thought,

That is not so bad.

First I had a worm.

Now I have a duck.

And now I have a fox.

Well,

That night an old wolf came through the forest in search of food.

That wolf was very hungry.

And in the bright moonlight he saw the dead fox just lying in the yard.

And so the wolf pounced upon it and greedily devoured it until not a trace of it was left.

But the boy saw him.

And before he could get away,

He came stealthily upon the wolf and killed him with a blow of his axe.

I am surely in good luck,

Said the boy.

For now I have the worm and the duck and the fox and the wolf.

But the next day,

When he told his brothers of his good fortune and his great skill,

They laughed at him loudly and said,

Much good a dead wolf will do you.

Before two days have passed,

It will be but a foul-smelling thing,

And we shall have to bury it deep.

You are indeed a great fool.

The boy pondered for a long time over what they had said.

And he thought,

Perhaps they are right.

The dead wolf cannot last long.

I will save the skin.

So he skinned the wolf and dried the skin and made a drum from it.

For the drum was one of the few musical instruments of the Indians in those old times.

And they beat it loudly at all their dances and festivals.

And they still do today.

The boy beat the drum each evening and made a great noise.

And he was very proud because he had the only drum in the whole village.

And one day the chief sent for him and said to him,

I want to borrow your drum for this evening.

I am having a great gathering to announce to all the land that my daughter is now of age to marry,

And that suitors may now seek her hand in marriage.

But we have no musical instruments.

And I want your drum.

And I myself will beat it at the dance.

So thickhead brought his drum to the chief's house.

But he was not very well pleased because he was not invited to the feast.

And while his brothers were among the favored guests,

He said to chief,

Chief,

Be careful.

Do not tear the skin of my drum,

For I can never get another one like it.

My worm and my duck and my fox and my wolf have all helped to make it.

The next day he went for his drum.

But of course the chief had struck it too hard and had split it open so that it would now make no more sound.

And it was ruined beyond repair.

And the chief offered to pay the boy a great price for it.

But the boy said,

I do not want your price.

I want my drum.

Give me back my drum for my worm and the duck and the fox and the wolf are all in it.

And the chief said,

How can I give you back your drum when it is broken?

It is gone forever.

But I will give you anything you desire in exchange for it.

And since you do not like the price I offer,

You may name your own price and you shall have it.

And the boy thought to himself,

Here is a chance for good fortune.

Now I will surprise my brothers.

And he said,

Since you cannot give me my drum,

I will take your daughter in marriage in exchange.

The chief was much perplexed,

But he was an honorable man and was true to his word.

So he gave his daughter to thickhead and they were married.

And the girl brought him much treasure and they lived very happily.

And his brothers were much amazed and angered because they had failed.

But his mother said,

I told you he was wiser than you and that he would outwit you yet although you called him thickhead and a fool.

For the forest fairy had said it to me at his birth.