Eskimo Folk Tales Part 24

"Here is the mighty one, without a doubt," said Umerdlugtoq, pointing to little Kagssagssuk. 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. Kagssagssuk was inside, drying his boots. And while all the others were shouting eagerly about the place, he said humbly:

"If only I could borrow a pair of indoor boots from some one."

And at last, as he could get no others, he was obliged to take his grandmother's boots and put them on.

Then he went out, and ran off over the hard-trodden snow outside the houses, treading with such force that it seemed as if the footmarks were made in soft snow. And thus he went off to meet the bears.

"Hau! Look at Kagssagssuk. Did you ever see...."

"What is come to Kagssagssuk; what can it be?"

Umerdlugtoq was greatly excited, and so astonished that his eyes would not leave the boy. But little Kagssagssuk grasped the biggest of the bears--a mother with two half-grown cubs--grasped that bear with his naked fists, and wrung its neck, so that it fell down dead. Then he took those cubs by the back of the neck and hammered their skulls together until they too were dead.

Then little Kagssagssuk went back homeward with the biggest bear over his shoulders, and one cub under each arm, as if they had been no more than hares. Thus he brought them up to the house, and skinned them; then he set about building a fireplace large enough to put a man in. For he was now going to cook bears' meat for his grandmother, on a big flat stone.

Umerdlugtoq, that great man, now made haste to get away, taking his wives with him.

And Kagssagssuk took that old grandmother who was wont to beat him, and cast her on the fire, and she burned all up till only her stomach was left. His other grandmother was about to run away, but he held her back, and said:

"I shall now be kind to you, for you always used to dry my boots."

Now when Kagssagssuk had made a meal of the bears' meat, he set off in chase of those who had fled away. Umerdlugtoq had halted upon the top of a high hill, just on the edge of a precipice, and had pitched their tent close to the edge.

Up came Kagssagssuk behind him, caught him by the nostrils and held him out over the edge, and shook him so violently that his nostrils burst. And there stood Umerdlugtoq holding his nose. But Kagssagssuk said to him:

"Do not fear; I am not going to kill you. For you never used to kill me."

And then little Kagssagssuk went into the tent, and called out to him:

"Hi, come and look! I am in here with your wives!"

For in the old days, Umerdlugtoq had dared him even to look at them.

And having thus taken due vengeance, Kagssagssuk went back to his village, and took vengeance there on all those who had ever ill-treated him. And some time after, he went away to the southward, and lived with the people there.

It is also told that he got himself a kayak there, and went out hunting with the other men. But being so strong, he soon became filled with the desire to be feared, and began catching hold of children and crus.h.i.+ng them. And therefore his fellow-villagers harpooned him one day when he was out in his kayak.

All this we have heard tell of Kagssagssuk.

QASIAGSSAQ, THE GREAT LIAR

Qasiagssaq, men say, was a great liar. His wife was called Qigdlugsuk. He could never sleep well at night, and being sleepless, he always woke his fellow-villagers when they were to go out hunting in the morning. But he never brought home anything himself.

One day when he had been out as usual in his kayak, without even sight of a seal, he said:

"It is no use my trying to be a hunter, for I never catch anything. I may as well make up some lie or other."

And at the same moment he noticed that one of his fellow-villagers was towing a big black seal over to an island, to land it there before going out for more. When that seal had been brought to land, Qasiagssaq rowed round behind the man, and stole it, and towed it back home.

His wife was looking out for him, going outside every now and then to look if he were in sight. And thus it was that coming out, she caught sight of a kayak coming in with something in tow. She shaded her eyes with both hands, one above the other, and looked through between them, gazing eagerly to try if she could make out who it was. The kayak with its seal in tow came rowing in, and she kept going out to look, and at last, when she came out as usual, she could see that it was really and truly Qasiagssaq, coming home with his catch in tow.

"Here is Qasiagssaq has made a catch," cried his fellow-villagers. And when he came in, they saw that he had a great black seal in tow, with deep black markings all over the body. And the tow-line was thick with trappings of the finest narwhal tusk.

"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 sh.o.r.e, 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'