Language and Folklore. 377 
During my stay at Ammassalik I tried to get the song interpreted in 
consultation not only with some natives of Ammassalik (the reciter and the 
old woman Aleqaajik) but also with Johan Petersen and our West Greenland 
kivfak (maid servant) Abigael. 
The variants are chiefly due to Aleqaajik’s correction of the reciter’s 
phraseology and pronounciation, which shows that we have to reckon with 
individual nuances within the restricted domain of this dialect. Our West 
Greenland kivfak understood only some of the words, and could not even 
pronounce them correctly in East Greenlandic. I have scarcely been able to 
get in all the nuances in my translation. 
Refrain: Yajaja yaja ja hai jaja ehe: 
la ®na he: 1 Well, to be sure — ha! 
sarquütoa sin 2 I had had a poor kaiak trip as usual. 
piniarmedrali*® 3 Unlucky, as usual, with my sealing, 
aniniarmearali® 4 Without getting any spoil from my 
hunting, 
itsica”’ nak‘ twa 5 For I still have bad eyes. 
ase’ n'a takijiarse’’nanina 6 At last, nevertheless,—after some wait- 
ing I happened to catch sight of 
qajane” lar 7 Something which resembled a kaiak. 
kituian'e niwarrter (A) 8 (It was him) still eagerly engaged in 
cutting sea-weed, poor fellow, 
по‘т-ипа ca@iani* 9 Off that ness there: 
pinia!le'”na 10 Would that he there might have a 
catch, 
aninia‘'le-’na 11 Would that he there might get spoil! 
Pr 1„-ca'nartinik 12 Like one who always has bad eyes 
laki®n’ak'o 13 The first time I saw him 
ca'giniarnarpara 14 I placed myself at once before him 
(his kaiak). 
aia a’®talerpit (A) 15 [I said,| What is this? Are you about 
to paddle off? 
kiamut a’”talerpi* (A) 16 Are you about to travel northward ? 
ia‘ ®na ilergipulakaje a (А) 17 Oh, to be sure! Не is an inconsiderate 
person, 
ak'ernilik ilerqinulakaje‘a (A) 18 Akernilik is an inconsiderate person, 
qanitimik пта’?шагтеатй 19 What a pity that they were always 
so jealous of each other, 
pat-e-lua-’me:ame* 20 That they were always fighting each 
other, 
nukerqiwni® Паее-ша`?пйапек 21 That they were always wasting their 
sinews (strength)! 
And I myself, then — what a pity 
it was 
DD 
IND 
uwana qanitime 
