Eskimo Folk-Tales. Various

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.

      To face p. 18

      “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.

1 Tupilak: a monster created by one having magic powers, who uses it to wreak vengeance on an enemy.

Qujâvârssuk

       Table of Contents

      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.

      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