Knud Rasmussen

“ And as she would not come out again, her husband thrust in a great piece of walrus meat, and she chewed and gnawed at it to her heart's content.
"Come out, come out, for I will never hurt you any more," he said. But she had grown so afraid of him that she never came out any more, and so she died where she was at last—the old sneak! ”

“ Another time he heard a mussel at the bottom of the sea crying:
"Here is a mussel that wishes to see you; come down to the bottom; row your kayak straight down through the water—this way!"
That mussel wanted to eat him. But he did not heed it. Then at last one day he saw an old woman, and rowed towards her, and came up to her. ”

“ It was a fox, and they set off in chase, but driving at furious speed up a mountain of screw-ice, they were dashed down and killed. Only two men escaped, and they made their way onward and told what had come to the rest.
And it was the soul of Avôvang, whom nothing could wound, that had changed, first into a seal and then into a fox, and thus brought about the death of his enemies. And afterwards he made up his mind to let himself be born in the shape of every beast on earth, that he might one day tell his fellow-men the manner of their life. ”

“ And a little time after, he was bitten to death by the ghost of Alátaq, coming upon him in the shape of a bear. His daughter, who was outside at that time, heard the cries, and went in to tell of what she had heard, but just as she came into the house, behold, she had quite forgotten all that she wished to say. And this was because that vengeful spirit had by magic means called down forgetfulness upon her. ”

“ And when they swam out, there was one of the fjord seals which she liked so much that she plucked a few of the hairs from its back, that she might have it to make breeches of when it was caught.
And when all this had been done, she went home, and went to rest without saying a word.
When they awoke next morning, the sea was quite dark ahead, and all the ice had gone. But when the villagers came out, she said to them:
“Do not kill more than one; if any of you should kill two, he will never kill again.” ”

“ But at last it grew so strong, that it nearly always made the children cry. And when it had grown so strong the grown-up people began to play with it, and they helped the old woman in this way, in making the bear grow stronger. But after a time not even grown men dared play with it, so great was its strength, and then they said to one another:
"Let us take it with us when we go out hunting. It may help us to find seal."
And so one day in the dawn, they came to the old woman's window and cried:
"Little bear, come and earn a share of our catch; come out hunting with us, bear." ”

“ 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. ”

“ One day when the bear came home as usual from hunting, the old foster-mother said:
"Whenever you meet with men, treat them as if you were of one kin with them; never seek to harm them unless they first attack." ”

“ ONCE in the days of our forefathers, a man went out along the coasts, making search for his son. For that son had gone out in his kayak and had not returned.
One day he saw a giant beside a great glacier, and rowed up to him then. When he had entered the house, the giant drew forth a drum, a beautiful drum with a skin that had been taken from the belly of a man. Now the giant was about to give him this drum, but at the same time he felt such a violent desire to eat him up, that he trembled all over. ”

“ Then at last the stranger came out, and he took that seal by the flipper with one hand, and carried it up that way.
"What strength, what strength! The man is a giant indeed," cried the little folk. And they fell to work cutting up the seal, but to them it seemed as if they were cutting up a huge walrus, so hard did they find it to cut up that little seal. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And now he understood that the dog had made it a custom to attack the inland-dwellers and bring back their legs to its master. He could see that the legs were legs of inland-dwellers, for they wore hairy boots.
And it is from this giant dog that the inland-dwellers got their great fear of all dogs. It would always appear suddenly at the window, and drag them out. But it was a good thing that something happened to frighten the inland-dwellers, for they had themselves an evil custom of carrying off lonely folk, especially women, when they had lost their way in the fog. ”

“ But men say that after those girls had become spirits, they returned to the places of men, frightening many to death. They came first of all to their father and mother, because of the trouble they had made. The only one they did not kill was a woman bearing a child on her back. And they let her live, that she might tell how terrible they were. And tales are now told of how terrible they were.
When the thunder spirits come, even the earth itself is stricken with terror. And stones, even those which lie on level ground, and not on any slope at all, roll in fear towards men. ”

“ And at last, after a long time, he found her living with the worm, who had taken human form.
But now it was revealed that this worm was the man's old enemy. For he had once, long before, burned a worm, and it was the soul of that worm which had now taken human form. He could even see the marks of burning in its face.
Now the worm challenged the man to pull arms, and they wrestled. But the man found the worm very easy to master, and soon he won. After that he went out, no longer caring for his wife at all. ”

“ Then the Moon Man called his dog to life again, and made ready to leave that place. And he took his team and cast the dogs up into the air one by one, and they never came down again, and at last there was the whole team of sledge dogs hovering in the air.
"May I come and visit you in the Moon?" asked the Obstinate One. For he suddenly felt a great desire to do so.
"Yes, come if you please," said the Moon Man. "But when you see a great rock in your way, take great care to drive round behind it. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And when they found Papik, he was cut about in every part. Eyes, nose and mouth and ears were hacked away, and the scalp torn from his head.
Thus that old woman took vengeance for the killing of her son Ailaq.
And so it was our fathers used to tell: when any man killed his fellow without good cause, a monster would come and strike him dead with fear, and leave no part whole in all his body.
The people of old times thought it an ill thing for men to kill each other. ”

“ And now the husband began eagerly to search for such a one. He came home bringing wizards with him, and bade them try what they could do, and when they could not find the child, he let them go without giving them so much as a bite of meat. ”

“ When Pâtussorssuaq's wife saw this, she snatched up her needle and sewing ring, and fled away, following the shadow of the tent, over the hills to the place where her parents lived. She had not even time to put on her skin stockings, and therefore her feet grew sore with treading the hills. On her way up inland she saw people running about with their hoods loose on their heads, as is the manner of the inland folk, but she had no dealings with them, for they fled away. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ TUNGUJULUK AND SAUNIKOQ
Tungujuluk and Saunikoq were men from one village. And both were wizards. When they heard a spirit calling, one would change into a bear, and the other into a walrus.
Tungujuluk had a son, but Saunikoq had no children.
As soon as his son was old enough, Tungujuluk taught him to paddle a kayak. At this the other, Saunikoq, grew jealous, and began planning evil. ”

“ And at last a monster came up out of the sea; a monster in the shape of a dog, and said:
"Why are you sewing, you who are still in mourning?"
"My husband will not listen to me, for he is so obstinate," she said.
And then the mighty dog sprang ashore and fell upon that husband.
But that Obstinate One was not abashed; as usual, he thought he would get his own way, and his way now was to kill the dog. And they fought together, and the dog was killed. ”

“ 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!” ”

“ There must be a strong man among us!"
"Who can it be that is so strong?"
"Here is the mighty one, without a doubt," said Umerdlugtoq, pointing to little Kâgssagssuk. But this he said only in mockery. And a little time after this, the people about the village began to call out that three bears were in sight—exactly as the giant had said. Kâgssagssuk was inside, drying his boots. ”

“ The aim of the Eskimo storyteller 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ Then came the master of that house, as usual, and hauled him down by the nostrils. And afterwards, when he went to lie down among the dogs, his wicked grandmother beat him and them together, as was her custom. Altogether as if there were no strong man in the village at all. ”

“ The child grew up, and when it was a little grown up, it could hear the children playing on the earth up above, and it said:
"I should like to go up and see."
"When you have grown stronger, then you may go," said his mother. And then the boy began practising feats of strength, with stones. And at last he was able to pick up stones as big as a chest, and carry them into the house. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And then all the young unmarried girls ran into their houses.
“And the wifeless man has made a catch,” one cried.
And hardly had the evening begun to fall when the wifeless man went to rest, and hardly had the light appeared when the wifeless man went out hunting, long before his fellows. Hardly had the sun appeared in the sky, when the wifeless man came home with three seals. ”

“ But one day when he was starting out with his sledge, fear came upon him, and he dared not go alone. And as his son would not go with him willingly, he took him, and bound him to the uprights of the sledge, and carried him so.
He never returned alive. ”