United States or French Southern Territories ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
But Kiviung would not stay any longer with the horrid creature, and dared not wait to put on his stockings and boots. He rushed out of the house and had barely gotten out of the door when it clapped violently together, catching the tail of his jacket, which was torn off. Without stopping to look behind, he ran to his kayak and paddled away.
A year after his death she must do this again, and she must do the same thing whenever she happens to pass near the grave. Now we shall tell you some of the tales which the Eskimo mothers relate to their children. The first one is about Kiviung, the Rip Van Winkle of the Eskimos. An old woman lived with her grandson in a small hut.
But he was a log of driftwood which they had found on the beach. It had four branches like legs and arms. Every day about the time of low water they carried it to the beach and when the tide came in, it swam away. When night came it returned with eight large seals, two being fastened to each bough. Thus the log provided food for its wife, her mother, and Kiviung, and they lived in abundance.
He therefore climbed up to the window and looked through the peep-hole. On the bed sat a woman whose head and whose hands looked like big yellow-and-black spiders. She was sewing; and when she saw the dark shadow before the window she at first thought it was a cloud, but when she looked up and beheld a man, she grasped a big knife and arose, looking very angry. Kiviung waited to see no more.
Kiviung's wife was delighted to see him whom she had supposed dead. At first she seemed glad and then she seemed troubled. She had taken a new husband, but after thinking it over she returned to Kiviung, and they were very happy. In days of old an enormous man lived with other members of the Inuit tribe in a village beside a large inlet.
Then she said: "I will make a fire in the next room and cook a good supper." Kiviung thought she was a very good woman, and he was so hungry that he could scarcely wait for the supper. It seemed to him that she was a long time preparing it. When his stockings were dry he tried to take them from the frame in order to put them on. But as soon as he touched the frame it rose up out of his reach.
He tried in vain several times, and each time the frame rose up. He called the woman in and asked her to give him his stockings. "Take them yourself," she said. "There they are; there they are," and went out again. Kiviung was surprised at the change in her manner. He tried once more to take hold of his stockings, but with no better result.
They had been on a whaling excursion and were towing a large dead whale to their village. In the bow of one of the boats stood a stout young man who had harpooned the whale. He looked at Kiviung keenly and Kiviung looked at him. Then, of a sudden, they recognized each other. It was Kiviung's own son whom he had left a small boy, but who was now become a grown man and a great hunter.
The woman did not hear it at first, but Kiviung kept on conjuring the spirit and it rose right up through the floor roaring loudly. Then the old witch rushed in trembling with fear and gave Kiviung what he had asked for. "Here are your boots," she cried; "here are your slippers; here are your stockings. I will help you put them on."
Kiviung became rested and refreshed after his weary travels, and he enjoyed this life so well that he remained for a long time. One day, however, after they had launched the log as they had always done, it floated away and never came back. Then Kiviung went sealing every day for himself and the women, and he was so successful that they wished him to remain with them always.
Word Of The Day