Three Volcanos: The Liar, The Witness, and The Fool

A moral tale of greed, lying, and mob justice.

I. Poxo'ce and Ieihaaciwatone are lovers, who lie together under the same tent. Poxo'ce is called to the caravan, and gathers his things in service. Ieihaaciwatone bids him farewell, and stays to fish in the waters. II. Xinatinthe is waiting at the edge of the mountains, using brush to wipe Poxo'ce's tracks away. If the tracks are missing, perhaps Poxo'ce cannot find his way home. As he schemes, Xinatinthe watches Ieihaaciwatone. III. When Ieihaaciwatone straightens with fish, she sees another has been watching. Xinatinthe says he has been gathering tinder, for he saw the work that she did. To ease her labors, he says, he bids her to share his smokehouse. IV. As the smoke grows, so does Xinatinthe's boasting. The longer the fish smoke, the less appetite Ieihaaciwatone is left with. "You may keep the fish when they are finished," and she bids her leave of Xinatinthe. V. Xinatinthe is furious, steaming and scheming. He kicks over the smokehouse, sending fish flying. The embers burn away his clothes, leaving him bare and humiliated. VI. Ieihaaciwatone has returned home to her tent. She has lain against the ground and gone to sleep empty. Xinatinthe, still steaming, has followed her footsteps. He watches her sleep in silence, plotting revenge. VII. Poxo'ce returns home, tired from travel. He sees Xinatinthe, unclothed in the darkness, his eyes on Ieihaaciwatone. Angry, Poxo'ce demands to know why he watches. VIII. Xinatinthe, the schemer, sees his opportunity. He boasts of laying with Ieihaaciwatone, of smoking her fish. His lies and truth tangle, and like tinder, they smolder and twist. IX. Poxo'ce grows angry, his head filled with heat. He cannot see past the steam in his head. The vapor pours from his mouth and fills the tent with smoke, smothering Ieihaaciwatone. In rage and loss, his spear chases Xinatinthe to the west, where the liar is brought down and beheaded. X. Poxo'ce throws the head far away from him. Still, Poxo'ce is angry, his head full of clouds. He too pulls his head from his shoulders, and throws it away. Still steaming and heavy, both heads roll away into the sea. XI. Xinatinthe, the gossip, lays fallen in the west. Ieihaaciwatone, the witness, is silenced by her sleep. Poxo'ce, the angered, still weeps from his shoulders. His head is troubled, far to the east. XII. Where tinder is built, fire will start. When lies will catch spread, even truth cannot breathe. When smoke is growing, bodies move in blindness.

Summary

The story of the three volcanoes details eruption history in dramatic retelling, as well as conveys a moral lesson.

Historical Basis

Truing within Ni'kashiga Mythology

Xinatinthe

Xinatinthe is an older, extinct volcano to the west, its slopes gentled by multiple collapses over time. From the southeast vantages of Poxo'ce and Ieihaaciwatone, the silhouette is said to look like a headless man crumpled on the ground. Much like in the story, Xinatinthe's volcanic anger occurred earlier in history, but only succeeded in collapsing and extinguishing the volcano. The navel of this volcano is plugged by a large stone from much earlier in its volcanic history. Though this stone is commonly known as The Spear of Poxo'ce, this pre-existing plug is sometimes referred to as Xinatinthe's Impotence, as his inability to erupt - to gain the attentions of Ieihaaciwatone - caused him the humiliation which led to his scheming for revenge. In Tongue, Xinatinthe is derived from the words "Xina," or to make hastily or hurriedly, and "Tinthe," a word for gossip. He is sometimes called The Liar. Devoid of year-round ice, Xinatinthe is also sometimes called "The Naked Lord," though mythological truing for this name is tenuous. This much older name lends credence to linguists who point to other names in the area as evidence of the linguistic influence of an older, lost civilization. Xinatinthe is notable for archeological ruins, as it is dotted with steles from this much, much earlier history. Myth suggests that removing all of these steles will awaken the Lord again, who will devastate the world in search for his head; in the area, it is common practice for lovers in mated pairs to hammer stakes into the slopes of Xinatinthe, to ward off the potential unwanted attentions of others from their beloved.

Ieihaaciwatone

Ieihaaciwatone is a younger, long dormant volcano to the north and west of Poxo'ce, in direct sight of Xinatinthe. From the vantage point of his slopes, her form is said to resemble that of a sleeping woman, with the four inner peaks suggesting the feet, knees, chest, and head. Her volcanic past is relatively gentle, with the four cones building onto each other into the mass that exists today, and volcanists suggest she may soon decline completely. Her name loosely translates to "She who gives/is witness," though she is sometimes called "The White Woman," for the year-round ice that covers most of her slopes, and is said to resemble the bloodless body of the dead.

Poxo'ce

Poxo'ce is the youngest volcano of the three. A large, cone-shaped volcano, Poxo'ce is notable for his "flat head" caused from the collapsed caldera. It has been one of the most active volcanoes in the southern Inbound Lands, and though it hasn't had major eruptions within recent history, the volcano continues to smoke, hence its name, which means "to shoot smoke." Because of its heat, Poxo'ce does not carry ice; even headless, his anger is said to be too much for him to truly die. The occasional emission of lava is where his body still attempts to bleed. In storytelling, the character of Poxo'ce is long known for his volatile temper, and in previous tales, he fails to conquer it. In this tale, events escalate as he throws both the head of Xinatinthe and his own still steaming head into the sea, unable to cope with the outcome of his anger. In following tales, the heads become the offshore area of The Narrow Isles. Still locked in anger after death, the two heads form the northern peaks of the island. Though dormant today, they continue to "breathe anger between each other," the views of their slopes hidden by dense cloudforest, whose mists obscure their better judgment.

Spread

The myth is common within the region of Ochi Maninhka , primarily within the lower states and isles, who have good views of the ranges.

Variations & Mutation

In adult audiences, the final verse is usually omitted, as it is taken as known. When retelling the story to younger audiences (or, when making a point among older listeners), the final verse is included. In some contemporary retellings, the character of Ieihaaciwatone is perceived as blameless, stripped of her agency by the disregard of others. Contemporary tradition finds an intriguing reframing of the narrative that critics the toxic sense of ownership that is displayed by both Xinatinthe and Poxo'ce, as both ignore Ieihaaciwatone's feelings on the issue despite it being centered on the status of their desired relationship with her. As both parties react to their own needs, Ieihaaciwatone is caught in the crossfire. In these framings, the last breath of Ieihaaciwatone is the voice of the final verse, stating the moral warnings in the hopes that someone else may be able to hear them, even if it is too late for the trio. In the western coastal area of Ochi Oxta, where Xinatinthe is located, some storytellers see Xinatinthe differently. In these, he is a stranger to the east, unaware of Poxo'ce. He falls in love with and is exploited by Ieihaaciwatone, but she treats him callously and expels him from her tent once she hears of Poxo'ce's return. In these variations, he is found naked outside her tent, begging for his belongings; when Poxo'ce finds him, the angry volcano kills both Xinatinthe and his unfaithful lover.

Cultural Reception

The Story of the Three Volcanoes serves a moral lesson about greed, lying, and mob justice. In the tale, all three share behavior that led to their undoing. Xinatinthe is killed because his pride and greed for both Ieihaaciwatone and revenge led to deception and rumor. His desire to look bigger leads to his downfall, and brings others down with him who believed. Even the small lies quickly spread out of control, and his inability to be honest with others and himself makes him a danger to all. Xinatinthe is a lesson in the value of honesty. Poxo'ce kills himself because of his anger and clouded judgment led to violence and thoughtless action. Rather than waking Ieihaawatone to ask her and trusting her response, he stews silently in his own anger, and the toxicity of this smothers her. Poxo'ce is a lesson in the value of trust, and of seeking answers instead of making assumptions. In more conservative retelling, Ieihaaciwatone dies because she "spoke sideways" and did not speak her true feelings to Xinatinthe; because she acted out of politeness instead of speaking directly, she left ambiguity that made him feel he could follow her. In these retellings, Ieihaaciwatone is a lesson in the value of forthrightness. Contemporary storytelling discussion, however, debates this perspective; scholars of the tale argue that Ieihaaciwatone is a blameless victim, who was not given agency to speak directly to either Xinatinthe or Poxo'ce, and so whose death cannot be construed as a punishment for it. All three characters also act out the consequences of mob justice: of getting overly emotional in an issue, and letting emotion guide action rather than reason, communication, and patience. In these cases, the power of rumor and reactionary behavior lead to a place where the opportunity to uncover truth is ignored, and where actions quickly spiral out of reasonable control. The tale also drives home the lasting effects of these scenarios. Even after the events are done and all the characters are dead, the bodies still lie as visible reminders of the horror, and the two heads of Xinatinthe and Poxo'ce still cloud the present where others walk, as physical metaphors for the personal, social, and generational trauma of such memories.

Poxo'ce : poh-GOH-oh-say : "To Shoot Smoke" Ieihaaciwatone : EE-EH-ee-hah-ci-WAH-tohn-eh : "She Who Bears Witness" Xinatinthe : GEEN-ah-teen-deh : "The Liar"

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