|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 4
"But I care for thee, Annadoah," Papik protested.
"And well do I know thou art a brave lad, but seek thou another maiden;
thou dost not touch my heart, Papik, and thy fingers are very, very
long."
With native spontaneity, Papik laughed and turned shoreward. As he
passed the assembled maidens he paused momentarily and greeted them.
He made a brief proposal of marriage to Ahningnetty, a fat maiden, and
was met with laughter.
"Go on, Long Fingers," one called. "How wilt thou strike the bear when
thy fingers are gone? How wilt thou seek the musk ox when _ookiah_
hath bitten off thy feet?"
The maiden who spoke was extremely thin.
"Ha, ha!" Papik returned. "How wilt thou warm thy husband when the
winter comes? How wilt thou warm the little baby when thou art like
the bear after a famished winter, thou maid of skin and bones!"
"Long-nose! Long-nose! may thy nose freeze!" she called.
The other maidens laughed and gibed at her. In anger she fled into her
_tupik_, or tent. Being very thin she, too, like Papik, suffered from
the bar sinister of nature. For, in selecting a wife, a native comes
down to the practical consideration of choosing a maid who will likely
grow fat, so that, during the long cold winters, her body will be a
sort of human radiator to keep the husband and children warm. So love,
you see, in this region, is largely influenced by an instinctive
knowledge of natural economies.
As he launched his kayak, Ootah turned toward Annadoah.
"Thou art the sun, Annadoah!" he called.
"And thou the moon, Ootah," she replied. "I shall await thee, Ootah!
Bring thou back fat and blubber, Ootah, to warm thy fires, Ootah." And
she laughed gaily. Then she turned her back to Ootah, bent her head
coyly and did not turn around again. To Ootah this was a good
augury--for when a maiden turns her back upon a suitor she thinks
favorably of him. This is the custom.
Ootah felt a new strength in his veins. He felt himself master of all
the prey in the sea.
At the entrance of the tent of Sipsu, the _angakoq_, or native
magician, stood Maisanguaq, one of the rivals for the hand of Annadoah.
His face twisted with jealous rage as he heard Annadoah calling to the
speeding Ootah. His narrow eyes glittered vindictively. Turning on
his heel he entered Sipsu's dwelling place.
Sipsu sat on the floor near his oil lamp. When Maisanguaq entered he
did not stir. He was as still, as grotesque, as evil-looking as the
tortured idols of the Chinese; like theirs his eyes were beadlike,
expressionless, dull; such are the eyes of dead seal. His face was
brown and cracked like old leather, and was covered with a crust of
dirt; his gray-streaked hair was matted and straggled over his face; it
teemed with lice. He held his knotty hands motionless over the flame
of his lamp. His nails were long and curled like sharp talons. As
Maisanguaq saw him he could not repress a shudder.
Sipsu was feared, and as correspondingly hated, by the tribe. They
brought to him, it is true, offerings of musk ox meat and walrus
blubber when members fell ill. But that was the urge of necessity. Of
late years Sipsu's conjurations for recovery had resulted in few cures;
his heart was not in them; but with greater vehemence did he enter upon
seances of malediction. With almost unerring exactness he prophesied
many deaths. For this the tribe did not love him. Nor did Sipsu love
the tribe; especially did he hate the youthful, and those who courted
and were newly wed. When Maisanguaq touched his shoulder, he turned
with a growl.
"Canst thou invoke the curse of death upon one who goes hunting upon
the seas?"
Through the rheum of years Sipsu's eyes gleamed.
The aged, gnarled thing found voice. It was hollow and thin.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|