70 AN ESKIMO VILLAGE 



turned the latch and pushed open the door, and his 

 -RTinkled face came peering into the room. 



" Aksunai " (Be strong), he said, in his deep bass 

 voice. 



" Aksunai," said I. 



"Ah," said old Kornelius, "ah, but I have 

 weighty words to say." 



"Sit down," said I, "and you shall speak;" 

 and the old man sat on the little bench by the door. 



"Weighty words," he said, "weighty words. 

 But if it is impossible, kujanna (never mind) if my 

 words do not please you I will not be annoyed but, 

 if it is not impossible may I have your old boat ?" 



And then old Kornelius told his story, sitting at 

 first on the little green bench, but soon standing 

 before me and looking in my face a story of a 

 summer day, and of the life that the Eskimos live in 

 the summer-time. 



" I had a boat," he said, "a good boat, but it 

 was lost. Many times did I go to the fishing in my 

 boat, for it was a good boat and small, such as I 

 could row with ease, and it was enough for the two 

 of us, myself and Maria my wife ; and we fished 

 together many days. But it was three days ago, 

 when the big storm blew. I knew that it would blow, 

 for my bones ached that morning ; but the morning 

 was calm and the sea was still, and I knew that 

 there would be many codfish on such a day. So I 

 said to my wife, 'Maria, let us fish,' and Maria 

 said, * Ahaila ' (Yes) ; and we took the two lines 

 with their jiggers (weighted hooks), and we un- 



