32 A Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



TRANSLATIONS 



1. The Orphan Boy 

 (Translation of Text I. Told by Angotitsiaq, an Eskimo of Point Hope) 



At Point Hope an old woman and her grandson were living all by themselves 

 on the seashore. The other people had gone inland and along the coast, leaving 

 these two alone. The old grandmother always managed to get plenty of food, 

 but her grandson had no idea whence she obtained it. However, he saw a little 

 house covered with earth on the outside. The caribou, wolverine and wolf skins 

 that men brought in his grandmother sewed together into a bundle and stored 

 away in a bag. When they got up in the morning she found all her skins cleaned 

 and dressed. This gave them skins in abundance for their clothes and sleeping 

 gear. After a time the people who had gone away returned, but the old woman 

 and her grandson were now very wealthy, possessing all these wolverine, wolf, 

 and caribou skins. A lot of people settled down in the place, and the orphan 

 boy became their chief and married another rich man's daughter. When the 

 whaling season came round he had a fine boat of his own. The men went out in 

 their boats and secured five whales, which they took home and the old woman 

 divided up amongst the people. The orphan and his wife had a child, a boy, 

 whom the old grandmother used to take to sleep with her. Not until this boy 

 grew up did the old woman die, and then she turned into an eiderduck, while 

 the boy's parents, the orphan and his wife, lived on to a ripe old age. 



2. The Owl and the Squirrel 

 (Translation of Text II. Told by Pautcana, a Barrow Eskimo man) 



There was a squirrel outside its hole, and an owl went over to it. The squirrel 

 at once darted inside. The owl called to it to come out, saying, "Squirrel, come 

 out and play; it is warm in the sun." But the squirrel answered, "You will 

 only block up my hole." Still the owl called out, "Come out and play," till at 

 last the squirrel did come out. Immediately the owl planted itself in front of 

 its hole. Thereupon the squirrel said, "I am going to dance beautifully. You 

 sing for me." So the owl sang, "This squirrel's burrow I have blocked it, squirrel, 

 squirrel." The squirrel made a dart towards its hole with a sharp squeak, 

 but the owl stood directly in the entrance and stopped it. "Ha, ha," said the 

 owl, "How do you think you will get in?" "Oh, I wasn't trying to get in," 

 replied the squirrel, "I was merely darting for this piece of grass." Then it 

 added, "Come, cousin, spread your legs out and sing for me while I dance. 

 Close your eyes too. I am covered with fat all over, right to the tip of my tail." 

 So the owl spread apart its legs and closed its eyes, singing, "This squirrel's 

 burrow I have blocked, squirrel, squirrel. This squirrel's burrow I have . . . " 

 The squirrel darted for the hole, squeaking "tsi tsi tsi," but as it squeezed 

 through between the owl's legs, the bird snapped off the tip of its tail, which it 

 carried away home andhur g upto the ceihng. The squirrel was in sore trouble, and 

 wept, then sent its children over to the owl to ask for its tail again. The children 

 went over, stood outside the bird's house and sang, "My mother says she wants 

 the tip of her tail back again." But from within the owl made answer, "Let 

 her come for it herself." The children went back and told their mother, "He 

 says, go and get it yourself." Then the squirrel picked up ,a stone and said, 

 "Here, take this and give it to him for an eye." So the children went back and 

 sang again, "My mother says she wants the tip of her tail again. This, she says, 

 will serve for an eye." The owl took the stone, thinking it was an eye, and 

 restored the tail. 



Cf. Nos. 19 and 43. 



