A TREASUBY OF ESKIMO TALES 



escape. He went down the river and arriveo 1 at 1 

 home after a long absence. 



During the summer other people had built 

 houses near the home of his aunt and there was a 

 small village instead of the one lone hut. He 

 walked among the buildings until he found his 

 aunt's house ; but when he entered, he frightened 

 her very much, for at first glance she thought it 

 was a skeleton, he had been starved and beaten so 

 long. 



When his aunt recognized him and had heard 

 his story, she said, " Oh, you poor boy! What 

 you must have suffered! I am full of rage at 

 those cruel villagers. I shall find some way to 

 revenge your wrongs ! " 



She sat thinking a while and then said to him, 

 " Bring me a piece of a small log." 



He brought the piece of wood and she whittled 

 and rubbed it into the form of an animal with 

 long teeth and long, sharp claws, and painted it 

 white on the throat and red on the sides. Then 

 they took the image to the edge of the stream and 

 placed it in the water. 



" Go now," she said to it, " and kill everyone 

 you find in the village where my boy was beaten." 



The image did not move. 



She took it out of the water and cried over it,, 

 96 



