The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eskimo Folktales, by Unknown This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Eskimo Folktales Author: Unknown Editor: Knud Rasmussen Translator: W. Worster Release Date: May 23, 2009 [EBook #28932] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESKIMO FOLKTALES *** Produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Eskimo Folk-Tales [Contents] [2] Man and wife from Angmagssalik. Man and wife from Angmagssalik. Eskimo Folk-Tales Collected by Knud Rasmussen Edited and rendered into English by W. Worster With illustrations by native Eskimo artists Gyldendal 11 Burleigh St., Covent Garden, London, W.C. 2 Copenhagen Christiania 1921 [Contents] [5] Introduction These stories were collected in various parts of Greenland, taken down from the lips of the Eskimo story-tellers themselves, by Knud Rasmussen, the Danish explorer. No man is better qualified to tell the story of Greenland, or the stories of its people. Knud Rasmussen is himself partly of Eskimo origin; his childhood was spent in Greenland, and to Greenland he returned again and again, studying, exploring, crossing the desert of the inland ice, making unique collections of material, tangible and otherwise, from all parts of that vast and little-known land, and his achievements on these various expeditions have gained for him much honour and the appreciation of many learned societies. But it is as an interpreter of native life, of the ways and customs of the Eskimos, that he has done his greatest work. “Kunúnguaq”—that is his native name—is known throughout the country and possesses the confidence of the natives to a superlative degree, forming himself, as it were, a link between them and the rest of the world. Such work, as regards its hither side, must naturally consist to a great extent of scientific treatises, collections of facts and specimens, all requiring previous knowledge of the subject for their proper comprehension. These have their great value as additions to the sum of human knowledge, but they remain unknown to the majority of men. The present volume is designed to be essentially a popular, as distinct from a scientific work. The original collection of stories and legends made by Knud Rasmussen under the auspices of the Carlsberg Foundation has never yet been published. In making the present selection, I have endeavoured to choose those which are most characteristic and best calculated to give an idea of the life and thought of the people. The clearest variants have been chosen, and vague or doubtful passages omitted, so as to render the narratives easily understandable for the ordinary reader. In many cases also, the extreme outspokenness of the primitive people concerned has necessitated further editing, in respect of which, I can confidently refer any inclined to protest, to the unabridged English version, lodged with the Trustees of the Carlsberg Foundation in Copenhagen, for my defence. For the rest, I have endeavoured to keep as closely as possible to the spirit and tone of the originals, working from the Eskimo text and Knud Rasmussen’s Danish version side by side. The illustrations are by native Eskimo artists. They are not drawn to illustrate the particular stories, but represent typical scenes and incidents such as are there described. In the selection of these, preference has been given to those of unusual character, as for instance those dealing with the “tupilak” theme, and matters of wizardry or superstition generally, which the reader would find more difficult to visualize for himself than ordinary scenes of daily life. As regards their contents, the stories bring before us, more clearly, perhaps, than any objective study, the daily life of the Eskimos, their habit of thought, their conception of the universe, and the curious “spirit world” which forms their primitive religion or mythology. In point of form they are unique. The aim of the Eskimo story-teller is to pass the time during the long hours of darkness; if he can send his hearers to sleep, he achieves a triumph. Not infrequently a story- teller will introduce his chef-d’œuvre with the proud declaration that “no one has ever heard this story to the end.” The telling of the story thus becomes a kind of contest between his power of sustained invention and detailed embroidery on the one hand and his hearers’ power of endurance on the other. Nevertheless, the stories are not as interminable as might be expected; we find also long and short variants of the same theme. In the present selection, versions of reasonable length have been preferred. The themes themselves are, of course, capable of almost infinite expansion. In the technique of an ordinary novel there is a certain balance, or just proportion, between the amount of space devoted to the various items, scenes and episodes. The ordinary reader does not notice it as a rule, for the simple reason that it is always there. The Eskimo stories are magnificently heedless of such proportion. Any detail, whether of fact or fancy, can be expanded at will; a journey of many hundred miles may be summarized in a dozen words: “Then he went away to the Northward, and came to a place.” Thus with the little story of the Man who went out to search for his Son; the version here employed covers no more than a few pages, yet it is a record of six distinct adventures, threaded on to the main theme of the search. It is thus a parallel in brief to the “Wandering” stories popular in Europe in the Middle Ages, when any kind of journey served as the string on which to gather all sorts of anecdote and adventure. The story of Atungait, who goes on a journey and meets with lame people, left-handed people, and the like, is an example of another well-known classical and mediæval type. The mythical stories present some interesting features when compared with the beliefs and folk-lore of other peoples. The legend of the Men who travelled round the World is based on a conception of the world as round. There is the tradition of a deluge, but here supported by geological evidence which is appreciated by the natives themselves: i.e. the finding of mussel shells on the hills far inland. The [Contents] [6] [7] principle of the tides is recognized in what is otherwise a fairy tale; “There will be no more ebb-tide or flood if you strangle me,” says the Moon Man to the Obstinate One. The constellation of the Great Bear is explained in one story, the origin of Venus in another. The spirits of the departed are “stellified” as seen in “The Coming of Men.” There seems to be a considerable intermingling of Christian culture and modern science in the general attitude towards life, but these foreign elements are coated over, as it were, like the speck of grit in an oyster, till they appear as concentrations of the native poetic spirit that forms their environment. We find, too, constant evidence of derivation from the earliest, common sources of all folk-lore and myth; parallels to the fairy tales and legends of other lands and other ages. There is a version of the Bluebeard theme in Ímarasugssuaq, “who, it is said, was wont to eat his wives.” Instances of friendship and affection between human beings and animals are found, as in the tale of the Foster- mother and the Bear. Various resemblances to well-known fairy tales are discernible in such stories as that of the Eagle and the Whale, where the brothers set out to rescue their sisters from the husbands who hold them captive. Here too, we encounter that ancient and classical expedient of fugitives; throwing out objects behind to check pursuit. The conception of the under-world, as shown in the story of Kúnigseq and others, is a striking example of this kinship with ancient and well-known legends. Kúnigseq comes to the land of shades, and meets there his mother, who is dead. But she must not kiss him, for “he is only here on a visit.” Or again: “If you eat of those berries, you will never return.” The under-world is partly an Elysium of existence without cares; partly Dantesque: “Bring ice when you come again, for we thirst for cold water down here.” And the traveller who has been away from earth for what seems an hour, finds that years of earthly time have passed when he returns. Spirits of the departed appearing to their kin upon earth do so with an injunction “not to tell.” (In England we write to the newspapers about them.) Magic powers or gifts are lost by telling others how they came. Spirit gifts are made subject to some condition of restraint: “Choose only one and no more.” “If you kill more than one seal to-day, you will never kill seal again hereafter.” The technique of the fairy tale is frequently apparent. One test fulfilled is followed by the demand for fulfilment of another. Qujâvârssuk, having found the skeleton as instructed, is then sent off to search for a lamb stone. This, of course, apart from its æsthetic value as retardation, is particularly useful to the story-teller aiming principally at length. We also find the common progression from one great or splendid thing to other greater or more splendid; a woman appears “even more finely dressed than on the day before.” English children will perhaps remember Hans Andersen’s dog with “eyes as big as saucers ... eyes as big as Rundetaarn.” The use of “magic power” is of very frequent occurrence; it seems, indeed, to be the generally accepted way of solving any difficulty. As soon as the hero has been brought into a situation from which no ordinary way of escape appears, it then transpires—as an afterthought—that he is possessed of magic powers, when the rest, of course, is easy. A delightful instance of the extent to which this useful faculty can be watered down and yet remain effective is seen in the case of the village where no wizard can be found to help in time of famine, until it is “revealed” that Íkardlítuarssuk “had formerly sat on the knee of one of those present when the wizards called up their helping spirits.” In virtue of which very distant connection he proceeds to magic away the ice. There is a general tendency towards anthropomorphic conception of supernatural beings. The Moon Man has his stock of harpoons like any mortal hunter; the Mountain Spirit has a wife and children. The life and domestic arrangements of “spirits” are mostly represented as very similar to those with which the story-teller and his hearers are familiar, much as we find, in early Italian paintings, Scriptural personages represented in the costume and environment of the artist’s own place and period. The style of narrative is peculiar. The stories open, as a rule, with some traditionally accepted gambit. “There was once a man ...” or “A fatherless boy lived in the house of the many brothers.” The ending may occasionally point a sort of moral, as in the case of Ukaleq, who after having escaped from a Magic Bear, “never went out hunting bear again.” But the usual form is either a sort of equivalent to “lived happily ever after,” or a frank and direct intimation: “Here ends this story,” or “That is all I know of so-and-so.” Some such hint is not infrequently necessary, since the “end” of a story often leaves considerable scope for further development. It is a characteristic feature of these stories that one never knows what is going to happen. Poetic justice is often satisfied, but by no means always (Kâgssagssuk). One or two of them are naïvely weak and lacking in incident; we are constantly expecting something to happen, but nothing happens ... still nothing happens ... and the story ends (Puagssuaq). It is sometimes difficult to follow the exact course of a conversation or action between two personages, owing to the inadequate “he” which is used for both. The story-teller, while observing the traditional form, does not always do so uncritically. Occasionally [8] [9] he will throw in a little interpolation of his own, as if in apology: “There was once a wifeless man —that is the way a story always begins.” Or the entertainer starts off in a cheerfully familiar style: “Well, it was the usual thing; there was a Strong Man, and he had a wife. And, of course, he used to beat her....” Here and there, too, a touch of explanation may be inserted. “This happened in the old days,” or “So men thought in the olden time.” There is a general recognition of the difference between old times and new. And the manner in which this difference is viewed reveals two characteristic attitudes of mind, the blending of which is apparent throughout the Eskimo culture of to-day. There is the attitude of condescension, the arrogant tolerance of the proselyte and the parvenu: “So our forefathers used to do, for they were ignorant folk.” At times, however, it is with precisely opposite view, mourning the present degeneration from earlier days, “when men were yet skilful rowers in ’kayaks,’ or when this or that might still be done ’by magic power.’” And it is here, perhaps, that the stories reach their highest poetic level. This regret for the passing of “the former age,” whether as an age of greater strength and virtue, greater courage and skill, or as the Golden Age of Romance, is a touching and most human trait. It gives to these poor Eskimo hunters, far removed from the leisure and security that normally precede the growth of art, a place among the poets of the world. W. W. Worster. Contents Introduction The two Friends who set off to travel round the world The coming of Men, a long, long while ago Nukúnguasik, who escaped from the Tupilak Qujâvârssuk Kúnigseq The woman who had a bear as a foster-son Ímarasugssuaq, who ate his wives Qalagánguasê, who passed to the land of Ghosts Isigâligârssik The Insects that wooed a wifeless man The very obstinate man The Dwarfs The Boy from the Bottom of the Sea, who frightened the people of the house to death The Raven and the Goose When the Ravens could speak Makíte Asalôq Ukaleq Íkardlítuarssuk The Raven who wanted a wife The man who took a Vixen to wife The great bear The man who became a star The woman with the iron tail How the fog came The man who avenged the widows The man who went out to search for his son Atungait, who went a-wandering Kumagdlak and the living arrows The Giant Dog The Inland-dwellers of Etah The man who stabbed his wife in the leg The soul that lived in the bodies of all beasts Papik, who killed his wife’s brother Pâtussorssuaq, who killed his uncle The men who changed wives Artuk, who did all forbidden things [10] [11] [Contents] Page 5 15 16 18 20 38 40 44 46 49 52 56 60 64 66 67 68 71 73 75 77 79 81 82 83 [12] 84 86 88 90 93 95 97 98 100 104 107 109 110 The thunder spirits Nerrivik The wife who lied Kâgssagssuk, the homeless boy who became a strong man Qasiagssaq, the great liar The Eagle and the Whale The two little Outcasts Atdlarneq, the great glutton Ángángŭjuk Âtârssuaq Puagssuaq Tungujuluk and Saunikoq Anarteq The Guillemot that could talk Kánagssuaq The sources of the various legends Illustrations Man and wife from Angmagssalik Making a tupilak. Note the bones of various animals used: The monster is on the point of coming to life Hunter in kayak. The creature behind is a monster that frightens all the seal away Hunters encountering Sarqiserasak, a dangerous troll, who rows in a half kayak himself, and upsets all he meets with his paddle Wizard preparing for a “spirit fight.” He is bound head to knees and hands behind; the magic drum resting on his foot is beating itself. Bird’s wings are fastened to his back “Inland-dweller” armed with bow and arrow An “inland-dweller,” half dog, half human, pointing out a settlement for destruction A tupilak frightening a man to death in his kayak Evil spirit entering a house Wizard calling up a “helping spirit” Flying race between two wizards, one of whom, unable to keep up, has fallen to earth, and is vainly begging the other to stop Angiut, a “helping spirit,” who knows all about everywhere Eskimo Folk-Tales The Two Friends Who Set Off to Travel Round the World Once there were two men who desired to travel round the world, that they might tell others what was the manner of it. This was in the days when men were still many on the earth, and there were people in all the lands. Now we grow fewer and fewer. Evil and sickness have come upon men. See how I, who tell this story, drag my life along, unable to stand upon my feet. The two men who were setting out had each newly taken a wife, and had as yet no children. They made themselves cups of musk-ox horn, each making a cup for himself from one side of the same beast’s head. And they set out, each going away from the other, that they might go by different ways and meet again some day. They travelled with sledges, and chose land to stay and live upon each summer. It took them a long time to get round the world; they had children, and they grew old, and then their 111 113 115 117 123 130 133 136 139 142 146 148 150 152 154 157 [13] [Contents] Frontispiece To face page 18 34 34 50 70 96 96 116 140 148 148 [15] [Contents] children also grew old, until at last the parents were so old that they could not walk, but the children led them. And at last one day, they met—and of their drinking horns there was but the handle left, so many times had they drunk water by the way, scraping the horn against the ground as they filled them. “The world is great indeed,” they said when they met. They had been young at their starting, and now they were old men, led by their children. Truly the world is great. The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago Our forefathers have told us much of the coming of earth, and of men, and it was a long, long while ago. Those who lived long before our day, they did not know how to store their words in little black marks, as you do; they could only tell stories. And they told of many things, and therefore we are not without knowledge of these things, which we have heard told many and many a time, since we were little children. Old women do not waste their words idly, and we believe what they say. Old age does not lie. A long, long time ago, when the earth was to be made, it fell down from the sky. Earth, hills and stones, all fell down from the sky, and thus the earth was made. And then, when the earth was made, came men. It is said that they came forth out of the earth. Little children came out of the earth. They came forth from among the willow bushes, all covered with willow leaves. And there they lay among the little bushes: lay and kicked, for they could not even crawl. And they got their food from the earth. Then there is something about a man and a woman, but what of them? It is not clearly known. When did they find each other, and when had they grown up? I do not know. But the woman sewed, and made children’s clothes, and wandered forth. And she found little children, and dressed them in the clothes, and brought them home. And in this way men grew to be many. And being now so many, they desired to have dogs. So a man went out with a dog leash in his hand, and began to stamp on the ground, crying “Hok—hok—hok!” Then the dogs came hurrying out from the hummocks, and shook themselves violently, for their coats were full of sand. Thus men found dogs. But then children began to be born, and men grew to be very many on the earth. They knew nothing of death in those days, a long, long time ago, and grew to be very old. At last they could not walk, but went blind, and could not lie down. Neither did they know the sun, but lived in the dark. No day ever dawned. Only inside their houses was there ever light, and they burned water in their lamps, for in those days water would burn. But these men who did not know how to die, they grew to be too many, and crowded the earth. And then there came a mighty flood from the sea. Many were drowned, and men grew fewer. We can still see marks of that great flood, on the high hill-tops, where mussel shells may often be found. And now that men had begun to be fewer, two old women began to speak thus: “Better to be without day, if thus we may be without death,” said the one. “No; let us have both light and death,” said the other. And when the old woman had spoken these words, it was as she had wished. Light came, and death. It is said, that when the first man died, others covered up the body with stones. But the body came back again, not knowing rightly how to die. It stuck out its head from the bench, and tried to get up. But an old woman thrust it back, and said: “We have much to carry, and our sledges are small.” [16] [Contents] [17] For they were about to set out on a hunting journey. And so the dead one was forced to go back to the mound of stones. And now, after men had got light on their earth, they were able to go on journeys, and to hunt, and no longer needed to eat of the earth. And with death came also the sun, moon and stars. For when men die, they go up into the sky and become brightly shining things there. Nukúnguasik, Who Escaped from the Tupilak1 Nukúnguasik, it is said, had land in a place with many brothers. When the brothers made a catch, they gave him meat for the pot; he himself had no wife. One day he rowed northward in his kayak, and suddenly he took it into his head to row over to a big island which he had never visited before, and now wished to see. He landed, and went up to look at the land, and it was very beautiful there. And here he came upon the middle one of many brothers, busy with something or other down in a hollow, and whispering all the time. So he crawled stealthily towards him, and when he had come closer, he heard him whispering these words: “You are to bite Nukúnguasik to death; you are to bite Nukúnguasik to death.” And then it was clear that he was making a Tupilak, and stood there now telling it what to do. But suddenly Nukúnguasik slapped him on the side and said: “But where is this Nukúnguasik?” And the man was so frightened at this that he fell down dead. And then Nukúnguasik saw that the man had been letting the Tupilak sniff at his body. And the Tupilak was now alive, and lay there sniffing. But Nukúnguasik, being afraid of the Tupilak, went away without trying to harm it. Now he rowed home, and there the many brothers were waiting in vain for the middle one to return. At last the day dawned, and still he had not come. And daylight came, and then as they were preparing to go out in search of him, the eldest of them said to Nukúnguasik: “Nukúnguasik, come with us; we must search for him.” And so Nukúnguasik went with them, but as they found nothing, he said: Making a tupilak. Note the bones of various animals used. The monster is on the point of coming to life. Making a tupilak. Note the bones of various animals used. The monster is on the point of coming to life. To face p. 18 [18] [Contents] 1 “Would it not be well to go and make search over on that island, where no one ever goes?” And having gone on to the island, Nukúnguasik said: “Now you can go and look on the southern side.” When the brothers reached the place, he heard them cry out, and the eldest said: “O wretched one! Why did you ever meddle with such a thing as this!” And they could be heard weeping all together about the dead man. And now Nukúnguasik went up to them, and there lay the Tupilak, still alive, and nibbling at the body of the dead man. But the brothers buried him there, making a mound of stones above him. And then they went home. Nukúnguasik lived there as the oldest in the place, and died at last after many years. Here I end this story: I know no more. Tupilak: a monster created by one having magic powers, who uses it to wreak vengeance on an enemy. Qujâvârssuk A strong man had land at Ikerssuaq. The only other one there was an old man, one who lived on nothing but devil-fish; when the strong man had caught more than he needed, the old man had always plenty of meat, which was given him in exchange for his fish. The strong one, men say, he who never failed to catch seal when he went out hunting, became silent as time went on, and then very silent. And this no doubt was because he could get no children. The old one was a wizard, and one day the strong one came to him and said: “To-morrow, when my wife comes down to the shore close by where you are fishing, go to her. For this I will give you something of my catch each day.” And this no doubt was because he wanted his wife to have a child, for he wished greatly to have a child, and could not bring it about. The old man did not forget those words which were said to him. And to his wife also, the strong one said: “To-morrow, when the old one is out fishing, go you down finely dressed, to the shore close by.” And she did it as he had said. When they had slept and again awakened, she watched to see when the old one went out. And when he rowed away, she put on her finest clothes and followed after him along the shore. When she came in sight of him, he lay out there fishing. Then eagerly she stood up on the shore, and looked out towards him. And now he looked at her, and then again out over the sea, and this went on for a long time. She stood there a long time in vain, looking out towards him, but he would not come in to where she was, and therefore she went home. As soon as she had come home, her husband rowed up to the old one, and asked: “Did you not go to my wife to-day?” The old one said: “No.” And again the strong one said a second time: “Then do not fail to go to her to-morrow.” But when the old one came home, he could not forget the strong man’s words. In the evening, the strong one said that same thing again to his wife, and a second time told her to go to the old one. [19] [20] [Contents] [21] They slept, and awakened, and the strong man went out hunting as was his wont. Then his wife waited only until the old one had gone out, and as soon as he was gone, she put on her finest clothes and followed after. When she came in sight of the water, the old one was sitting there in his boat as on the other days, and fishing. Now the old one turned his head and saw her, and he could see that she was even more finely dressed than on the day before. And now a great desire of her came over him, and he made up his mind to row in to where she was. He came in to the land, and stepped out of his kayak and went up to her. And now he went to her this time. Then he rowed out again, but he caught scarcely any fish that day. When only a little time had gone, the strong man came rowing out to him and said: “Now perhaps you have again failed to go to my wife?” When these words were spoken, the old one turned his head away, and said: “To-day I have not failed to be with her.” When the strong one heard this, he took one of the seals he had caught, and gave it to the old man, and said: “Take this; it is yours.” And in this way he acted towards him from that time. The old one came home that day dragging a seal behind him. And this he could often do thereafter. When the strong one came home, he said to his wife: “When I go out to-morrow in my kayak, it is not to hunt seal; therefore watch carefully for my return when the sun is in the west.” Next day he went out in his kayak, and when the sun was in the west, his wife went often and often to look out. And once when she went thus, she saw that he had come, and from that moment she was no longer sleepy. As the strong one came nearer and nearer to land, he paddled more and more strongly. Now his wife went down to that place where he was about to land, and turned and sat down with her back to the sea. The man unfastened his hunting fur from the ring of his kayak, and put his hand into the back of the kayak, and took out a sea serpent, and struck his wife on the back. At this she felt very cold, and her skin smarted. Then she stood up and went home. But her husband said no word to her. Then they slept, and awakened, and then the old one came to them and said: “Now you must search for the carrion of a cormorant, with only the skeleton remaining, for your wife is with child.” And the strong one went out eagerly to search for this. One day, paddling southward in his kayak, as was his custom, he started to search all the little bird cliffs. And coming to the foot of one of them, he saw that which he so greatly wished to see; the carrion of a big cormorant, which had now become a skeleton. It lay there quite easy to see. But there was no way of coming to the place where it was, not from above nor from below, nor from the side. Yet he would try. He tied his hunting line fast to the cross thongs on his kayak, and thrust his hand into a small crack a little way up the cliff. And now he tried to climb up there with his hands alone. And at last he got that skeleton, and came down in the same way back to his kayak, and got into it, and rowed away northward to his home. And almost before he had reached land, the old one came to him, and the cormorant skeleton was taken out of the kayak. Now the old one trembled all over with surprise. And he took the skeleton, and put it away, and said: “Now you must search for a soft stone, which has never felt the sun, a stone good to make a lamp of.” And the strong man began to search for such a stone. Once when he was on this search, he came to a cliff, which stood in such a place that it never felt the sun, and here he found a fine lamp stone. And he brought it home, and the old one took it and put it away. A few days passed, and then the strong one’s wife began to feel the birth-pangs, and the old one went in there at once with his own wife. Then she bore a son, and when he was born, the strong man said to the old one: [22] [23] “This is your child; name him after some dead one.”1 “Let him be named after him who died of hunger in the north, at Amerdloq.” This the old one said. And then he said: “His name shall be Qujâvârssuk!” And in this way the old one gave him that name. Now Qujâvârssuk grew up, and when he was grown big enough, the strong man said to the old one: “Make a kayak for him.” Now the old one made him a kayak, and the kayak was finished. And when it was finished, he took it by the nose and thrust him out into the water to try it, but without loosing his hold. And when he did this, there came one little seal up out of the water, and others also. This was a sign that he should be a strong man, a chief, when the seals came to him so. When he drew him out of the water, they all went down again, and not a seal remained. Now the old one began to make hunting things. When they were finished, and there was nothing more to be done in making them, and he thought the boy was of a good age to begin going out to hunt seal, he said to the strong one: “Now row out with him, for he must go seal hunting.” Then he rowed out with him, and when they had come so far out that they could not see the bottom, he said: “Take the harpoon point with its line, and fix it on the shaft.” They had just made things ready for their hunting and rowed on farther, when they came to a flock of black seal. The strong one said to him: “Now row straight at them.” And then he rowed straight at them, and he lifted his harpoon and he threw it and he struck. And this he did every day in the same manner, and made a catch each time he went out in his kayak. Then some people who had made a wintering place in the south heard, in a time of hunger, of Qujâvârssuk, the strong man who never suffered want. And when they heard this, they began to come and visit the place where he had land. In this way there came once a man who was called Tugto, and his wife. And while they were there—they were both great wizards—the man and his wife began to quarrel, and so the wife ran away to live alone in the hills. And now the man could not bring back his wife, for he was not so great a wizard as she. And when the people who had come to visit the place went away, he could do nothing but stay there. One day when he was out hunting seal at Ikerssuaq, he saw a big black seal which came up from the bottom with a red fish in its mouth. Now he took bearings by the cliffs of the place where the seal went down, and after that time, when he was out in his kayak, he took up all the bird wings that he saw, and fastened all the pinion feathers together. Tugto was a big man, yet he had taken up so much of this that it was a hard matter for him to carry it when he took it on his back, and then he thought it must be enough for that depth of water. At last the ice lay firm, and when the ice lay firm, he began to make things ready to go out and fish. One morning he woke, and went away over land. He came to a lake, and walked over it, and came again on to the land. And thus he came to the place where lay that water he was going to fish, and he went out on the ice while it was still morning. Then he cut a great hole in the ice, and just as he cast out the weight on his line, the sun came up. It came quite out, and went across the sky, all in the time he was letting out his line. And not until the sun had gone half through the day did the weight reach the bottom. Then he hauled up the line a little way, and almost before it was still, he felt a pull. And he hauled it up, and it was a mighty sea perch. This he killed, but did not let down his line a second time, for in that way it would become evening. He cut a hole in the lower jaw of the fish, and put in a cord to carry it with. And when he took it on his head, it was so long that the tail struck against his heel. Then in this manner he walked away, and came to land. When he came to the big lake he had walked over in the morning, he went out on it. But when he had come half the way over, the ice began to [24] make a noise, and when he looked round, it seemed to him that the noise in the ice was following him from behind. Now he went away running, but as he ran he fainted suddenly away, and lay a long time so. When he woke again, he was lying down. He thought a little, and then he remembered. “Au: I am running away!” And then he got up and turned round, but could not find a break in the ice anywhere. But he could feel in himself that he had now become a much greater wizard than before. He went on farther, and chose his way up over a little hilly slope, and when he could see clearly ahead, he perceived a mighty beast. It was one of those monsters which men saw in the old far-off times, quite covered with bird-skins. And it was so big that not a twitch of life could be seen in it. He was afraid now, and turned round, until he could no longer see it. Then he left that way, and came out into another place, where he saw another looking just the same. He now went back again in such a manner that it could not find him, but then he remembered that a wizard can win power to vanish away, even to vanish into the ground, if he can pull to pieces the skin of such a monster. When his thoughts had begun to work upon this, he threw away his burden and went towards it and began to wrestle with it. And it was not a long time before he began to tear its covering in pieces; the flesh on it was not bigger than a thumb. Then he went away from it, and took up his burden again on his head, and went wandering on. When he was again going along homewards, he felt in himself that he had become a great wizard, and he could see the door openings of all the villages in that countryside quite close together. And when he came home, he caused these words to be said: “Let the people come and hear.” And now many people came hurrying into the house. And he began calling up spirits. And in this calling he raised himself up and flew away towards his wife. And when he came near her in his spirit flight, and hovered above her, she was sitting sewing. He went straight down through the roof, and when she tried to escape through the floor he did likewise, and reached her in the earth. After this, she was very willing when he tried to take her home with him, and he took her home with him, and now he had his wife again, and those two people lived together until they were very old. One winter, the frost came, and was very hard and the sea was frozen, and only a little opening was left, far out over the ice. And hither Qujâvârssuk was forced to carry his kayak each day, out to the open water, but each day he caught two seals, as was his custom. And then, as often happens in time of dearth, there came many poor people wandering over the ice, from the south, wishing to get some good thing of all that Qujâvârssuk caught. Once there came also two old men, and they were his mother’s kinsmen. They came on a visit. And when they came, his mother said to them: “Now you have come before I have got anything cooked. It is true that I have something from the cooking of yesterday; eat that if you will, while I cook something now.” Then she set before them the kidney part of a black seal, with its own blubber as dripping. Now one of the two old men began eating, and went on eagerly, dipping the meat in the dripping. But the other stopped eating very soon. Then Qujâvârssuk came home, as was his custom, with two seals, and said to his mother: “Take the breast part and boil it quickly.” For this was the best part of the seal. And she boiled it, and it was done in a moment. And then she set it on a dish and brought it to those two. “Here, eat.” And now at last the one of them began really to eat, but the other took a piece of the shoulder. When Qujâvârssuk saw this, he said: “You should not begin to eat from the wrong side.” And when he had said that, he said again: “If you eat from that side, then my catching of the seals will cease.” But the old man became very angry in his mind at this order. Next morning, when they were about to set off again southward, Qujâvârssuk’s mother gave them as [25] [26] much meat as they could carry. They went home southward, over the ice, but when they had gone a little way, they were forced to stop, because their burden was so heavy. And when they had rested a little, they went on again. When they had come near to their village, one said to the other: “Has there not wakened a thought in your mind? I am very angry with Qujâvârssuk. Yesterday, when we came there, they gave us only a kidney piece in welcome, and that is meat I do not like at all.” “Hum,” said the other. “I thought it was all very good. It was fine tender meat for my teeth.” At these words, the other began again to speak: “Now that my anger has awakened, I will make a Tupilak for that miserable Qujâvârssuk.” But the other said to him: “Why will you do such a thing? Look; their gifts are so many that we must carry the load upon our heads.” But that comrade would not change his purpose, not for all the trying of the other to turn him from it. And at last the other ceased to speak of it. Now as the cold grew stronger, that opening in the ice became smaller and smaller, at the place where Qujâvârssuk was used to go with his kayak. One day, when he came down to it, there was but just room for his kayak to go in, and if now a seal should rise, it could not fail to strike the kayak. Yet he got into the kayak, and at the time when he was fixing the head on his harpoon, he saw a black seal coming up from below. But seeing that it must touch both the ice and the kayak, it went down again without coming right to the surface. Then Qujâvârssuk went up again and went home, and that was the first time he went home without having made a catch, in all the time he had been a hunter. When he had come home, he sat himself down behind his mother’s lamp, sitting on the bedplace, so that only his feet hung down over the floor. He was so troubled that he would not eat. And later in the evening, he said to his mother: “Take meat to Tugto and his wife, and ask one of them to magic away the ice.” His mother went out and cut the meat of a black seal across at the middle. Then she brought the tail half, and half the blubber of a seal, up to Tugto and his wife. She came to the entrance, but it was covered with snow, so that it looked like a fox hole. At first, she dropped that which she was carrying in through the passage way. And it was this which Tugto and his wife first saw; the half of a black seal’s meat and half of its blubber cut across. And when she came in, she said: “It is my errand now to ask if one of you can magic away the ice.” When these words were heard, Tugto said to his wife: “In this time of hunger we cannot send away meat that is given. You must magic away the ice.” And she set about to do his bidding. To Qujâvârssuk’s mother she said: “Tell all the people who can come here to come here and listen!” And then she began eagerly going in to the dwellings, to say that all who could come should come in and listen to the magic. When all had come in, she put out the lamp, and began to call on her helping spirits. Then suddenly she said: “Two flames have appeared in the west!” And now she was standing up in the passage way, and let them come to her, and when they came forward, they were a bear and a walrus. The bear blew her in under the bedplace, but when it drew in its breath again, she came out from under the bedplace and stopped at the passage way. In this manner it went on for a long time. But now she made ready to go out, and said then to the listeners: “All through this night none may yawn or wink an eye.” And then she went out. At the same moment when she went out, the bear took her in its teeth and flung her out over the ice. Hardly had she fallen on the ice again, when the walrus thrust its tusks into her and flung her out across the ice, but the bear ran along after her, keeping beneath her as she flew through the air. Each time she fell on the ice, the walrus thrust its tusks into her again. It seemed as if the outermost islands suddenly went to the bottom of the sea, so quickly did she move outwards. They were now almost out of sight, and not until they could no longer see the land did the walrus and the bear leave her. Then she could begin again to go towards the land. [27] [28] When at last she could see the cliffs, it seemed as if there were clouds above them, because of the driving snow. At last the wind came down, and the ice began at once to break up. Now she looked round on all sides, and caught sight of an iceberg which was frozen fast. And towards this she let herself drift. Hardly had she come up on to the iceberg, when the ice all went to pieces, and now there was no way for her to save herself. But at the same moment she heard someone beside her say: “Let me take you in my kayak.” And when she looked round, she saw a man in a very narrow kayak. And he said a second time: “Come and let me take you in my kayak. If you will not do this, then you will never taste the good things Qujâvârssuk has paid you.” Now the sea was very rough, and yet she made ready to go. When a wave lifted the kayak, she sprang down into it. But as she dropped down, the kayak was nearly upset. Then, as she tried to move over to the other side of it, she again moved too far, and then he said: “Place yourself properly in the middle of the kayak.” And when she had done so, he tried to row, for it was his purpose to take her with him in his kayak, although the sea was very rough. Then he rowed out with her. And when he had come a little way out, he sighted land, but when they came near, there was no place at all where they could come up on shore, and at the moment when the wave took them, he said: “Now try to jump ashore.” And when he said this, she sprang ashore. When she now stood on land, she turned round and saw that the kayak was lost to sight in a great wave. And it was never seen again. She turned and went away. But as she went on, she felt a mighty thirst. She came to a place where water was oozing through the snow. She went there, and when she reached it, and was about to lay herself down to drink, a voice came suddenly and said: “Do not drink it; for if you do, you will never taste the good things Qujâvârssuk has paid you.” When she heard this she went forward again. On her way she came to a house. On the top of the house lay a great dog, and it was terrible to see. When she began to go past it, it looked as if it would bite her. But at last she came past it. In the passage way of the house there was a great river flowing, and the only place where she could tread was narrow as the back of a knife. And the passage way itself was so wide that she could not hold fast by the walls. So she walked along, poising carefully, using her little fingers as wings. But when she came to the inner door, the step was so high, that she could not come over it quickly. Inside the house, she saw an old woman lying face downwards on the bedplace. And as soon as she had come in, the old woman began to abuse her. And she was about to answer those bad words, when the old woman sprang out on to the floor to fight with her. And now they two fought furiously together. They fought for a long time, and little by little the old woman grew tired. And when she was so tired that she could not get up, the other saw that her hair hung loose and was full of dirt. And now Tugto’s wife began cleaning her as well as she could. When this was done, she put up her hair in its knot. The old woman had not spoken, but now she said: “You are a dear little thing, you that have come in here. It is long since I was so nicely cleaned. Not since little Atakana from Sârdloq cleaned me have I ever been cleaned at all. I have nothing to give you in return. Move my lamp away.” And when she did so, there was a noise like the moving of wings. When she turned to look, she saw a host of birds flying in through the passage way. For a long time birds flew in, without stopping. But then the woman said: “Now it is enough.” And she put the lamp straight. And when that was done, the other said again: “Will you not put it a little to the other side?” And she moved it so. And then she saw some men with long hair flying towards the passage way. When she looked closer, she saw that it was a host of black seal. And when very many of them had come in this manner, she said: “Now it is enough.” And she put the lamp in its place. Then the old woman looked over towards her, and said: “When you come home, tell them that they must never more face towards the sea when they empty [29] [30] their dirty vessels, for when they do so, it all goes over me.” When at last the woman came out again, the big dog wagged his tail kindly at her. It was still night when Tugto’s wife came home, and when she came in, none of them had yet yawned or winked an eye. When she lit the lamp, her face was fearfully scratched, and she told them this: “You must not think that the ice will break up at once; it will not break up until these sores are healed.” After a long time they began to heal slowly, and sometimes it might happen that one or another cried in mockingly through the window: “Now surely it is time the ice broke up and went out to sea, for that which was to be done is surely done.” But at last her sores were healed. And one day a black cloud came up in the south. Later in the evening, there was a mighty noise of the wind, and the storm did not abate until it was growing light in the morning. When it was quite light, and the people came out, the sea was open and blue. A great number of birds were flying above the water, and there were hosts of black seal everywhere. The kayaks were made ready at once, and when they began to make them ready, Tugto’s wife said: “No one must hunt them yet; until five days are gone no one may hunt them.” But before those days were gone, one of the young men went out nevertheless to hunt. He tried with great efforts, but caught nothing after all. Not until those days were gone did the witch-wife say: “Now you may hunt them.” And now the men went out to sea to hunt the birds. And not until they could bear no more on their kayaks did they row home again. But then all those men had to give up their whole catch to Tugto’s house. Not until the second hunting were they permitted to keep any for themselves. Next day they went out to hunt for seal. They harpooned many, but these also were given to Tugto and his wife. Of these also they kept nothing for themselves until the second hunting. Now when the ice was gone, then that old man we have told about before, he put life into the Tupilak, and said to it then: “Go out now, and eat up Qujâvârssuk.” The Tupilak paddled out after him, but Qujâvârssuk had already reached the shore, and was about to carry up his kayak on to the land, with a catch of two seals. Now the Tupilak had no fear but that next day, when he went out, it would be easy to catch and eat him. And therefore, when it was no later than dawn, it was waiting outside his house. When Qujâvârssuk awoke, he got up and went down to his kayak, and began to make ready for hunting. He put on his long fur coat, and went down and put the kayak in the water. He lifted one leg and stepped into the kayak, and this the Tupilak saw, but when he lifted the other leg to step in with that, he disappeared entirely from its sight. And all through the day it looked for him in vain. At last it swam in towards land, but by that time he had already reached home, and dr...