Legends and Tales from Angmagsalik. 269 



you could get nothing to eat or drink, I gave you water and food?" 

 The old woman thought to herself: "Now that the child has eaten 

 its parents, it will also want to eat the others", and so she 

 crept in under a wooden scoop, which was her amulet, and which 

 therefore grew so big that it completely covered her. When the 

 foster-sister came out, she crept under the umiak, which lay on 

 the props. She had brought with her a bag, in which there was 

 a little stone knife. The big child now came up to his foster-sister 

 and said: "Now I have eaten up my parents; I wish I could eat my 

 brother and sister too!". The sister said: "Can you remember the 

 time when I gave you water and food?", whereupon the child went 

 away, and the sister came out again from under the boat. She was 

 pursued by the child, and when it came up to her, she said: "Can 

 you remember when the others gave you nothing, I gave you water 

 and foot?" The child answered: "Yes, but now that I have eaten 

 my parents, I want to eat my brother and sister too". The foster- 

 sister now took the knife out of the bag and said that it was to 

 grow big and cleave the child from the chin to the fork. She cast 

 it from her and heard the child exclaim : "Now I will eat j'ou", 

 and then give forth a shriek. She turned about and saw that the 

 child had been split in two; so she took the knife and returned it 

 to the bag. "That is the reason why stone knives are so dear^), 

 because one can do anything with them". 



She now went with her brother up inland and caught sight of 

 a house. Her brother said that he was thirsty; so they went into 

 the passage-way. Here they found a rattle^) hanging. The sister 

 took tke knife out from the bag, cut down the rattle, and flung it 

 out. When her brother had drunk some water, she asked: "Whose 

 rattle was it I cut down?" No answer came; she repeated her 

 question: "Whose rattle was it I cut down?" "Ehl eh\ it was per- 

 haps mine!" something shrieked, and a figure appeared that was 

 quite blue in the face. As it came towards them, the sister took 

 off her bearskin boot and hurled it at it. It shrieked, fell over, and 

 died. The sister and brother now went up inland again, and caught 

 sight of another house. Being thirsty, they went into the passage- 

 way, where there was something rattling; she took out her knife, 

 cut down the rattle, and flung it out. They went in and drank 

 some water, and she asked: "Whose rattle was it I cut down?" No 

 answer; she repeated the question and heard something shriek from 

 a dark corner: "jEh! ehl it must have been mine!". A figure came 



The narrator had sold me a stone knife that ver\' day. 

 Bones that rattled when they were touched. 



