Alaskan and Mackenzie Delta Traditions 67 a 



gave a small piece to the Eskimo and ate all the rest himself. Then he said 

 to his guest, "You saw the second house over there. Two women are living 

 there, giants like myself. They have one son who has only one tooth. Those 

 two women are always trying to kill me. Tomorrow you must take a copper 

 adze and stand outside the door and sing: 



ajnak maljok ijmyak atautamik kiyutdroaq 

 "Two women, their son has only one old tooth." 



The Eskimo said, "Very well." So the giant broke a small fragment from his 

 great copper adze and made of it a smaller adze that the Eskimo could handle 

 more easily; then they lay down to sleep. 



Next morning the Eskimo went outside and, standing near the door, called out: 



"There are two women with one son, and he has only one old tooth." 



Immediately two giantesses with breasts full of milk rushed out of the other 

 house. They did not wait to put on their coats, but ran into the giant's house 

 and shouted, "Where is that son of yours?" "I have no son," he repHed. "But 

 someone called out just now, 'There are two women with one son, and he has 

 only one old tooth.' " "It may be so," he said. "I don't know. I heard a 

 noise too, but you see there is no one here." The women went out again, but as 

 soon as the first one emerged the Eskimo struck her on the heel with the copper 

 adze and slew her. He killed the second one in the same way. The floor was 

 flooded with water and dirt which put out the fire. 



The giant and the Eskimo then went to the giantesses' house and the giant 

 tore out the window. Entering, they found an old man with one tooth lying 

 on the sleeping platform. The giant dipped up water from a great pot and 

 poured it down the old man's throat until his stomach was distended like a 

 huge bag. Then the giant squeezed him till he burst and so died. 



After they were all slain, the giant turned to the Eskimo and said, "Thank 

 you, my nephew." But the Eskimo went outside, and, when the giant followed, 

 he struck him also on the heel with the copper adze and slew him. 



Cf. Petitot, p. 97f. 



37. The Youth who Went in Search of a Wife 

 (Told by Fred, an Eskimo of Nome, Alaska) 



Once near Tapqaq there lived two young men with their widowed mother. 

 One day the two went inland and came upon a rabbit which they shot. After 

 extracting their arrows they tied a cord around it and took it home. Their mother 

 was very pleased with their success; she cut up the rabbit and boiled it, and 

 they ate it that same evening. The next morning the lads went along the river 

 bank, and saw a caribou grazing there. They stalked it very cautiously, crawl- 

 ing flat along the ground until they were within range, then both toget'jer 

 launched their arrows; the caribou fell dead. They ran up, pulled out their 

 arrows, cut up their victim and carried it home to their mother. She was im- 

 mensely pleased and said, "That's fine, my sons, well done; we shan't be hungry 

 for a while now." They had a hearty meal that evening before going to bed. 

 As they were turning in for the night one lad said to the other, "I think I'll go 

 seal-hunting by myself tomorrow." "I'll go with you," said the other; "Two 

 are better than one." So after breakfast they both went out on to the ice. 

 A seal was basking in the sun beside its hole. Cautiously they crept up and 

 harpooned it, then tied a rope round its neck and dragged it home. "Thank 

 you," said their mother; "This is splendid," and she took the seal, cut it up 

 and boiled some of the meat at once. "Supper is ready," she said, and they all 

 sat down and ate. The next day one of the young men said to the other, "I am 

 going inland to hunt." "I shall go out on the ice again," replied the other. 

 So they went off, and the one brought home a caribou while the other brought 



