And now that men had begun to be fewer, two old women began to speak thus:
“Better to be without day, if thus we may be without death,” said the one.
“No; let us have both light and death,” said the other.
And when the old woman had spoken these words, it was as she had wished. Light came, and death.
It is said, that when the first man died, others covered up the body with stones. But the body came back again, not knowing rightly how to die. It stuck out its head from the bench, and tried to get up. But an old woman thrust it back, and said:
“We have much to carry, and our sledges are small.”
For they were about to set out on a hunting journey. And so the dead one was forced to go back to the mound of stones.
And now, after men had got light on their earth, they were able to go on journeys, and to hunt, and no longer needed to eat of the earth. And with death came also the sun, moon and stars.
For when men die, they go up into the sky and become brightly shining things there.
Nukúnguasik, Who Escaped from the Tupilak1
Nukúnguasik, it is said, had land in a place with many brothers. When the brothers made a catch, they gave him meat for the pot; he himself had no wife.
One day he rowed northward in his kayak, and suddenly he took it into his head to row over to a big island which he had never visited before, and 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
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
