NELSOX] THE FIRE BALL THE LAND OF DARKNESS 511 



growling and snarling about the apparition, distracting its attention so 

 that the young man was able to dart by and run as fast as he could 

 toward the village. When he had gone part of the way he was again 

 stopped by the tungMk, and at the same time a voice from overhead 

 said, &quot;Untie his feet; they are bound with cord;&quot; but he was too 

 badly frightened to obey. He then threw his other mitten, and it, too, 

 changed into a dog, delaying the tunghdk as the first one had doue. 



The young man ran off as fast as he could, and fell exhausted near 

 the kashim door as the tunghdk came up. The latter passed very near 

 without seeing him and went into the house, but finding no one there, 

 came out and went away. The young man then got up and went home, 

 but did not dare to tell his mother what he had seen. The following 

 day he went fishing again, and on his way came to a man lying in 

 the path whose face and hands were black. When he drew near, the 

 black man told him to get on his back and close his eyes. He obeyed, 

 and in a short time was told to open his eyes. When the young man did 

 this he saw just before him a house and near it a fine young woman. She 

 spoke to him, saying, &quot;Why did you not do as I told you the other night 

 when the tungliak pursued you ?&quot; and he replied that he had been 

 afraid to do it. The woman then gave him a magic stone as an amulet 

 to protect him from the tungliiit in the future, and the black man again 

 took him on his back, and when he opened his eyes he was at home. 



After this the young man claimed to be a shaman, but he thought 

 continually of the beautiful young woman he had seen, so that he did 

 not have much power. At last his father said to him, &quot;You are no 

 shaman; you will make me ashamed of you; go somewhere else.&quot; The 

 next morning the young man left the village at daybreak, and was never 

 heard of again. 



THE LAND OF DARKNESS 



(From Sledge island) 



Very long ago there lived on Aziak (Sledge) island a man with his 

 wife and little son. The husband loved his wife very much, but was so 

 jealous of her that frequently without cause he treated her very badly. 

 After a time the wife became so unhappy that she preferred to die rather 

 than live with him longer. Going to her mother, who lived near by, 

 she related all her troubles. The old woman listened to the complaints 

 and then told her daughter to take a sealskin and rub it with the excre 

 ment of three ptarmigans and three foxes; then to fill a wooden dish 

 with food and with her child upon her back to go and meet her husband, 

 and perhaps all might be well with her. 



Doing as she was directed, she went down to the shore to meet her 

 husband. When he came within hearing, however, he began to scold 

 and abuse her as usual, telling her to go home at once and he would 

 give her a beating as soon as he got there. When the poor woman 

 heard this she ran to the edge of a low bluff overhanging the sea, and 



