292 G. Holm and Johan Petersen. 



sea-shore, it said to the grouse: "Why do you wear thick stockings 

 in tlie middle of summer?" Tlie grouse answered: "Why do you 

 carry an ituartit in the middle of summer?" The long-tailed duck 

 got angry at this, and proposed that they should wrestle. They now 

 seized hold of one another and began to wrestle. The duck dragged 

 the grouse down to the shore, and cast it out into the water. They 

 went on wrestling in the water, until they came below the surface; 

 here the grouse tore open the duck's breast, so that it died. The 

 grouse flew to land and cried in glee: "какегкакаГ' 



38. THE REINDEER AND PARPALIGAMIK UNIAKAGTALIK 

 (THE ANIMAL WITH THE IRON TAIL) 



told by Kntuluk. 



A man and an 'animal with iron tail' fparpaligamik unia- 

 kagtalikj were pursuing a young reindeer. The reindeer slipped into 

 a cave, and the man who got there first planted himself in front of 

 the opening, to prevent the animal with the iron tail going in after 

 it. When it came up, it asked the man to put his legs apart so that 

 it might get past; but the reindeer from within the cave said to the 

 man: "If you remain standing before the opening, I promise to do 

 you a service". The animal with the iron tail once more asked the 

 man to move; but the man would not. As the animal with the iron 

 tail went off, it said: "I wish you may never catch anything any 

 more". The reindeer now came out of the cave and said to the man: 

 "When it is winter, you must climb the mountain and take a pair 

 of breeches with you. When you have got under shelter of a large 

 stone behind which the snow has collected, you must scrape awaj' 

 the snow". 



The man was a good hunter, but after the animal with the iron 

 tail had told him that he should not catch anything any more, he 

 never brought home any game. In winter the man went up the 

 mountain, and, when he had got under shelter of a large stone be- 

 hind which the snow had collected, he did as the reindeer had told 

 him. As he scraped, a quantity of crow-berries came to light, and 

 he and his family lived on them the whole year through. 



