Part 10

"Where did you get that tow-line?" they asked.

"I have had it a long time," he answered, "but have never used it before to-day."

After they had hauled the seal to land, his wife cut out the belly part, and when that was done, she shared out so much blubber and meat to the others that there was hardly anything left for themselves. And then she set about cooking a meal, with a shoulder-blade for a lamp, and another for a pot. And every time a kayak came in, they told the newcomer that Qasiagssaq had got a big black seal.

At last there was but one kayak still out, and when that one came in, they told him the same thing: "Qasiagssaq has actually got a big seal."

But this last man said when they told him:

"I got a big black seal to-day, and hauled it up on an island. But when I went back to fetch it, it was gone."

The others said again:

"The tow-line which Qasiagssaq was using to-day was furnished with toggles of pure narwhal tusk."

Later in the evening, Qasiagssaq heard a voice calling in at the window:

"You, Qasiagssaq, I have come to ask if you will give back that tow-line."

Qasiagssaq sprang up and said:

"Here it is; you may take it back now."

But his wife, who was beside him, said:

"When Qasiagssaq does such things, one cannot but feel shame for him."

"Hrrrr!" said Qasiagssaq to his wife, as if to frighten her. And after that he went about as if nothing had happened.

One day when he was out in his kayak as usual, he said:

"What is the use of my being out here, I who never catch anything?"

And he rowed in towards land. When he reached the shore, he took off his breeches, and sat down on the ground, laying one knee across a stone. Then he took another stone to serve as a hammer, and with that he hammered both his knee-caps until they were altogether smashed.

And there he lay. He lay there for a long time, but at last he got up and went down to his kayak, and now he could only walk with little and painful steps. And when he came down to his kayak, he hammered and battered at that, until all the woodwork was broken to pieces. And then, getting into it, he piled up a lot of fragments of iceberg upon it, and even placed some inside his clothes, which were of ravens' skin. And so he rowed home.

But all this while two women had been standing watching him.

His wife was looking out for him as usual, shading her eyes with her hands, and when at last she caught sight of his kayak, and it came nearer, she could see that it was Qasiagssaq, rowing very slowly. And when then he reached the land, she said:

"What has happened to you now?"

"An iceberg calved."

And seeing her husband come home in such a case, his wife said to the others:

"An iceberg has calved right on top of Qasiagssaq, so that he barely escaped alive."

But when the women who had watched him came home, they said:

"We saw him to-day; he rowed in to land, and took off his breeches and hammered at his knee-caps with a stone; then he went down to his kayak and battered it to bits, and when that was done, he filled his kayak with ice, and even put ice inside his clothing."

But when his wife heard this, she said to him:

"When Qasiagssaq does such things, one cannot but feel shame for him."

"Hrrrr!" said Qasiagssaq, as if to frighten her.

After that he lay still for a long while, waiting for his knees to heal, and when at last his knees were well again, he began once more to go out in his kayak, always without catching anything, as usual. And when he had thus been out one day as usual, without catching anything, he said to himself again:

"What is the use of my staying out here?"

And he rowed in to land. There he found a long stone, laid it on his kayak, and rowed out again. And when he came in sight of other kayaks that lay waiting for seal, he stopped still, took out his two small bladder floats made from the belly of a seal, tied the harpoon line to the stone in his kayak, and when that was done, he rowed away as fast as he could, while the kayaks that were waiting looked on. Then he disappeared from sight behind an iceberg, and when he came round on the other side, his bladder float was gone, and he himself was rowing as fast as he could towards land. His wife, who was looking out for him as usual, shading her eyes with her hands, said then:

"But what has happened to Qasiagssaq?"

As soon as a voice could reach the land, Qasiagssaq cried:

"Now you need not be afraid of breaking the handles of your knives; I have struck a great walrus, and it has gone down under water with my two small bladder floats. One or another of those who are out after seal will be sure to find it."

He himself remained altogether idle, and having come into his house, did not go out again. And as the kayaks began to come in, others went down to the shore and told them the news:

"Qasiagssaq has struck a walrus."

And this they said to all the kayaks as they came home, but as usual, there was one of them that remained out a long time, and when at last he came back, late in the evening, they told him the same thing: "Qasiagssaq, it is said, has struck a walrus."

"That I do not believe, for here are his bladder floats; they had been tied to a stone, and the knot had worked loose."

Then they brought those bladder floats to Qasiagssaq and said:

"Here are your bladder floats; they were fastened to a stone, but the knot worked loose."

"When Qasiagssaq does such things, one cannot but feel shame for him," said his wife as usual.

"Hrrrr!" said Qasiagssaq, to frighten her.

And after that Qasiagssaq went about as if nothing had happened.

One day he was out in his kayak as usual at a place where there was much ice; here he caught sight of a speckled seal, which had crawled up on to a piece of the ice. He rowed up to it, taking it unawares, and lifted his harpoon ready to throw, but just as he was about to throw, he looked at the point, and then he laid the harpoon down again, saying to himself: "Would it not be a pity, now, for that skin, which is to be used to make breeches for my wife, to be pierced with holes by the point of a harpoon?"

So he lay alongside the piece of ice, and began whistling to that seal. [12] And he was just about to grasp hold of it when the seal went down. But he watched it carefully, and when it came up again, he rowed over to it once more. Now he lifted his harpoon and was just about to throw, when again he caught sight of the point, and said to himself: "Would it not be a pity if that skin, which is to make breeches for my wife, should be pierced with holes by the point of a harpoon?" And again he cried out to try and frighten the seal, and down it went again, and did not come up any more.

Once he heard that there lived an old couple in another village, who had lost their child. So Qasiagssaq went off there on a visit. He came to their place, and went into the house, and there sat the old couple mourning. Then he asked the others of the house in a low voice:

"What is the trouble here?"

"They are mourning," he was told.

"What for?" he asked.

"They have lost a child; their little daughter died the other day."

"What was her name?"

"Nipisartángivaq," they said.

Then Qasiagssaq cleared his throat and said in a loud voice:

"To-day my little daughter Nipisartángivaq is doubtless crying at her mother's side as usual."

Hardly had he said this when the mourners looked up eagerly, and cried:

"Ah, how grateful we are to you! [13] Now your little daughter can have all her things."

And they gave him beads, and the little girl's mother said:

"I have nothing to give you by way of thanks, but you shall have my cooking pot."

And when he was setting out again for home, they gave him great quantities of food to take home to his little girl. But when he came back to his own place, his fellow-villagers asked:

"Wherever did you get all this?"

"An umiak started out on a journey, and the people in it were hurried and forgetful. Here are some things which they left behind them."

Towards evening a number of kayaks came in sight; it was people coming on a visit, and they had all brought meat with them. When they came in, they said:

"Tell Qasiagssaq and his wife to come down and fetch up this meat for their little girl."

"Qasiagssaq and his wife have no children; we know Qasiagssaq well, and his wife is childless."

When the strangers heard this, they would not even land at the place, but simply said:

"Then tell them to give us back the beads and the cooking pot."

And those things were brought, and given back to them.

Then Qasiagssaq's wife said as usual:

"Now you have lied again. When you do such things, one cannot but feel shame for you."

"Hrrrr!" said Qasiagssaq, to frighten her, and went on as if nothing had happened.

Now it is said that Qasiagssaq's wife Qigdlugsuk had a mother who lived in another village, and had a son whose name was Ernilik. One day Qasiagssaq set out to visit them. He came to their place, and when he entered into the house, it was quite dark, because they had no blubber for their lamp, and the little child was crying, because it had nothing to eat. Qasiagssaq cleared his throat loudly and said:

"What is the matter with him?"

"He is hungry, as usual," said the mother.

Then said Qasiagssaq:

"How foolish I was not to take so much as a little blubber with me. Over in our village, seals are daily thrown away. You must come back with me to our place."

Next morning they set off together. When they reached the place, Qasiagssaq hurried up with the harpoon line in his hand, before his wife's mother had landed. And all she saw was that there was much carrion of ravens on Qasiagssaq's rubbish heap. Suddenly Qasiagssaq cried out:

"Ah! One of them has got away again!"

He had caught a raven in his snare. His wife cooked it, and their lamp was a shoulder-blade, and another shoulder-blade was their cooking pot, and when that meat was cooked, Qigdlugsuk's mother was given raven's meat to eat. Afterwards she was well fed by the other villagers there, and next morning when she was setting out to go home, they all gave her meat to take with her; all save Qasiagssaq, who gave her nothing.

And time went on, and once he was out as usual in his kayak, and when he came home in the evening, he said:

"I have found a dead whale; to-morrow we must all go out in the umiak and cut it up."

Next day many umiaks and kayaks set out to the eastward, and when they had rowed a long way in, they asked:

"Where is it?"

"Over there, beyond that little ness," he said.

And they rowed over there, and when they reached the place, there was nothing to be seen. So they asked again:

"Where is it?"

"Over there, beyond that little ness."

And they rowed over there, but when they reached the place, there was nothing to be seen. And again they asked:

"Where is it? Where is it?"

"Up there, beyond the little ness."

And again they reached the place and rowed round it, and there was nothing to be seen.

Then the others said:

"Qasiagssaq is lying as usual. Let us kill him."

But he answered:

"Wait a little; let us first make sure that it is a lie, and if you do not see it, you may kill me."

And again they asked:

"Where is it?"

"Yes ... where was it now ... over there beyond that little ness."

And now they had almost reached the base of that great fjord, and again they rounded a little ness farther in, and there was nothing to be seen. Therefore they said:

"He is only a trouble to us all: let us kill him."

And at last they did as they had said, and killed him.

THE EAGLE AND THE WHALE

In a certain village there lived many brothers. And they had two sisters, both of an age to marry, and often urged them to take husbands, but they would not. At last one of the men said:

"What sort of a husband do you want, then? An eagle, perhaps? Very well, an eagle you shall have."

This he said to the one. And to the other he said:

"And you perhaps would like a whale? Well, a whale you shall have."

And then suddenly a great eagle came in sight, and it swooped down on the young girl and flew off with her to a high ledge of rock. And a whale also came in sight, and carried off the other sister, carrying her likewise to a ledge of rock.

After that the eagle and the girl lived together on a ledge of rock far up a high steep cliff. The eagle flew out over the sea to hunt, and while he was away, his wife would busy herself plaiting sinews for a line wherewith to lower herself down the rock. And while she was busied with that work, the eagle would sometimes appear, with a walrus in one claw and a narwhal in the other.

One day she tried the line, with which she was to lower herself down; it was too short. And so she plaited more.

But as time went on, the brothers began to long for their sister. And they all set to work making crossbows.

And there was in that village a little homeless boy, who was so small that he had not strength to draw a bow, but must get one of the others to draw it for him every time he wanted to shoot. When they had made all things ready, they went out to the place where their sister was, and called to her from the foot of the cliff, telling her to lower herself down. And this she did. As soon as her husband had gone out hunting, she lowered herself down and reached her brothers.

Towards evening, the eagle appeared out at sea, with a walrus in each claw, and as he passed the house of his wife's brothers, he dropped one down to them. But when he came home, his wife was gone. Then he simply threw his catch away, and flew, gliding on widespread wings, down to where those brothers were. But whenever the eagle tried to fly down to the house, they shot at it with their bows. And as none of them could hit, the little homeless boy cried:

"Let me try too!"

And then one of the others had to bend his bow for him. But when he shot off his arrow, it struck. And when then the eagle came fluttering down to earth, the others shot so many arrows at it that it could not quite touch the ground.

Thus they killed their sister's husband, who was a mighty hunter.

But the other sister and the whale lived together likewise. And the whale was very fond of her, and would hardly let her out of his sight for a moment.

But the girl here likewise began to feel homesick, and she also began plaiting a line of sinew threads, and her brothers, who were likewise beginning to long for their sister, set about making a swift-sailing umiak. And when they had finished it, and got it into the water, they said:

"Now let us see how fast it can go."

And then they got a guillemot which had its nest close by to fly beside them, while they tried to outdistance it by rowing. But when it flew past them, they cried:

"This will not do; the whale would overtake us at once. We must take this boat to pieces and build a new one." And so they took that boat to pieces and built a new one.

Then they put it in the water again and once more let the bird fly a race with them. And now the two kept side by side all the way, but when they neared the land, the bird was left behind.

One day the girl said as usual to the whale: "I must go outside a little."

"Stay here," said her husband, that great one.

"But I must go outside," said the girl.

Now he had a string tied to her, and this he would pull when he wanted her to come in again. And hardly had she got outside when he began pulling at the string.

"I am only just outside the passage," she cried. And then she tied the string by which she was held, to a stone, and ran away as fast as she could down hill, and the whale hauled at the stone, thinking it was his wife, and pulled it in. The brothers' house was just below the hillside where she was, and as soon as she came home, they fled away with her. But at the same moment, the whale came out from the passage way of its house, and rolled down into the sea. The umiak dashed off, but it seemed as if it were standing still, so swiftly did the whale overhaul it. And when the whale had nearly reached them, the brothers said to their sister:

"Throw out your hairband."

And hardly had she thrown it out when the sea foamed up, and the whale stopped. Then it went on after them again, and when it came up just behind the boat, the brothers said: "Throw out one of your mittens."

And she threw it out, and the sea foamed up, and the whale pounced down on it. And then she threw out the inner lining of one of her mittens, and then her outer frock and then her inner coat, and now they were close to land, but the whale was almost upon them. Then the brothers cried:

"Throw out your breeches!"

And at the same moment the sea was lashed into foam, but the umiak had reached the land. And the whale tried to follow, but was cast up on the shore as a white and sun-bleached bone of a whale.

THE TWO LITTLE OUTCASTS

There were two little boys and they had no father and no mother, and they went out every day hunting ptarmigan, and they had never any weapons save a bow. And when they had been out hunting ptarmigan, the men of that place were always very eager to take their catch.

One day they went out hunting ptarmigan as usual, but there were none. On their way, they came to some wild and difficult cliffs. And they looked down from that place into a ravine, and saw at the bottom a thing that looked like a stone. They went down towards it, and when they came nearer, it was a little house. And they went nearer still and came right to it. They climbed up on to the roof, and when they looked down through the air hole in the roof, they saw a little boy on the floor with a cutting-board for a kayak and a stick for a paddle. They called down to him, and he looked up, but then they hid themselves. When they looked down again, he was there as before, playing at being a man in a kayak. A second time they called to him, and then he ran to hide. And they went in then, and found him, sobbing a little, and pressing himself close in against the wall.

And they asked him:

"Do you live here all alone?"

And he answered: "No, my mother went out early this morning, and she is out now, as usual."

They said:

"We have come to be here with you because you are all alone."

And when they said this, he ventured to come out a little from the wall.

In the afternoon, the boy went out again and again and when he did so, they looked round the inside of the house, which was covered with fox skins, blue and white.

At last the boy came in, and said:

"Now I can see her, away to the south."

They looked out and saw her, and she seemed mightily big, having something on her back. And she came quickly nearer.

Then they heard a great noise, and that was the woman throwing down her burden. She came in hot and tired, and sat down, and said:

"Thanks, kind little boys. I had to leave him alone in the house, as usual, and now you have stayed with him while I was fearing for him on my way."

Then she turned to her son, and said:

"Have they not eaten yet?"

"No," said the boy. And when he had said that, she went out, and came in with dried flesh of fox and reindeer, and a big piece of suet. And very glad they were to eat that food. At first they did not eat any of the dried fox meat, but when they tasted it, they found it was wonderfully good to eat.

Now when they had eaten their fill, they sat there feeling glad. And then the little boy whispered something in his mother's ear.

"He has a great desire for one of your sets of arrows, if you would not refuse to give it." And they gave him that.

In the evening, when they thought it was time to rest, a bed was made for them under the window, and when this was done the woman said:

"Now sleep, and do not fear any evil thing."

They slept and slept, and when they awoke, the woman had been awake a long time already.

And when they were setting off to go home again, she paid them for their arrows with as much meat as they could carry; and when they went off, she said:

"Be sure you do not let any others come selling arrows."

But in the meantime, the people of the village had begun to fear for those two boys, because they did not come home. When at last they appeared in the evening, many went out to meet them. And it was a great load they had to carry.

"Where have you been?" they asked.

"We have been in a house with one who was not a real man."

They tasted the food they had brought. And it was wonderfully good to eat.

"That we were given in payment for one set of arrows," they said.

"We must certainly go out and sell arrows, too," said the others.