Page:The Netsilik Eskimos (1931).djvu/283

that all who would have good luck when hunting caribou or be certain of catching plenty of salmon must at all times treat her with the utmost respect.

She is the sovereign of all food and all warm clothing — and thus at once life's great menace and mankind's rich benefactor, all according to whether she is kindly disposed or hostile.

The giant Inugpasugssuk and his adoptive son, who was an ordinary human, were once out walking. They came to a lake covered. with ice, where they fell in with another giant, the enormous Inuaruvligasugssuk, who was even bigger than Inugpasugssuk. He was standing there fishing for salmon, horrible to look at, and then he had only two teeth in his mouth.

Inugpasugssuk and his foster son went up to him and saw that he had caught two salmon, giant salmon. They asked to be allowed. to eat with him, but as Inuaruvligasugssuk would give them none of his catch (annErfalErmät), they went back to the shore again and there Inugpasugssuk said to his foster son:

"Shout as loud as you can: aybay, he has only two teeth in his mouth!"

At first the foster son was afraid, but when Inugpasugssuk urged him, he shouted at the top of his voice:

"Aybay, he has only two teeth in his mouth!"

This he kept on shouting. At last Inuaruvligasugssuk became angry and shouted: "kigutinik matrǝrtǝrtǝq Arlinnarsiglarpoq na maginiagara kukilisAralugo: One gets tired of hearing him shouting about the two teeth, he who is no bigger than that one could have him between one's teeth like a shred of meat!"

Furious he waded to the shore, threw the two giant salmon down. on a rock, and they fell with such force that they made quite a hollow in it; and then Inugpasugssuk said to his foster son: "Now when we. start to wrestle, hamstring him!"

For though Inugpasugssuk was tall, he was no match for Inuaruvligasugssuk, neither in size nor in strength.

Then the two giants ran at each other and began to wrestle. It was easy to see that Inuaruvligasugssuk was the stronger. It was only when the boy had cut one of his hamstrings that the two contestants became equal. But then when the other had been cut, Inugpasugssuk threw him and killed hini. But before he died Inuaruvligasugssuk howled loudly: "Hó-hû, hó-hû, hó-hû, qoqulɛrpɔq."