The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1876-07-25
AN EsQUIMAUX STORY.

There ~as woman who had a son
and daughter. As the sou grew I'D
4 be became hunter, and ore day he
killed a thong seal. from the skin IL
which he proposed 10 cut out some
thongs Bu, the mother wanted the
skin for Sone other purpose. and the
/ boy quarreled aboat It.
Then she went and pronounced =
I charm on ,h- -saIskin, aud when he
welt t. cnt it mp the end Of q shoIg
few NJ. struck bis eyes. aid made him
F. blind.
The winter came ou. they were desti-
tute Of seal m.st, and had 10 live en-
,irely or mussels. for the blind hunter
could go hunting no more
! Bat one day a bear appeared at the
j window and began 20 eat away the
window pane. which was made Of skin.
! The mother and daughter fled 10 the
other side Of the house. but the stripliny z
asked for his bow His sister gave il
/ aim for him, and then he shot and kill
ed the animal. The mother said, Thou
hast missed" But the sister whispered,
Thou hast killed the bear"
Trey then bad plenty of meat, but the
mother refused 10 give the boy any,
pretending as be had not killed the
bear there was none. and only gave him
mussels But the sister gave him her
| share Of the bear meat in secret.
Finally in the spring flock of wild
geese restored the boys sight. and he
resumed his hunting occupations
He. with his sister. used to 60 out on
! the edge of the ice, where the seals and
white whales "a kind of dolphin, were
seen. and be would kill them with his
harpoon. He had no hunting bladder
but used 10 tie the harpoon line round
his sisters waist instead, and when the
animal was struck they would drag il
upon the ice by means of the line.
One day he asked his sister,
"Dost thou like our mother -
She made no answer, but upon
bis repeating the questson she re-
piled
II am fonder of thee than OF
her"
Then to morrow" he replied, she
| shall serve us for bladder"
The next day he accordingly proposed
to his mother that she should help in the
hunt. and TO this sha consents without
the slightest suspicion He ties the line
round her waist as he had done to his
sister. But shes now begins to grow
frightened at "the look that is in his
eyes" aud when she sees him prepar-
ing to throw the harpoon she cries
'.My son, choose small whale,
choose small one"
Just then large white whale rises
TO the surface of the water at the edse
Of the ice near his feet. He throws
his harpoon into the animal and then
let's 60 the line.
The whale instantly begins to drag
his mother toward tho edge of the ice,
she struggling with all her might to get
free and crying out for knife TO cut
the line.
But the son only reproaches her with
her cruelty in having made bin blind,
and says: This il my revenge"
Then she cries out, 'Oh my nllo'
my sllo' II WAS that suckled thee, it
was l that sucked ,hcer' And this
| sue tut WhHtt
dra9s her into the water. She floats
for few moments on the surface, still
crying. "Oh my son. it was that suck
led thee. it was that suckled thee"
then disappears for ever.
The brother and sister gaze for lit
tie while at the spot where she went
down. and then, terror stricken, turn
aud flee.
But the cry Of their mother contln-
nes ringing in their cars. and follow
them wherever they go.
They finally fly from the village to
the interior of the country. far away
from any human kind. with this voice
still pursuing them. still ringing in
their ears: 1T was that sucked thee
| il WAS | that suckled thee like the
refrain of Macbeth shall sleep no
more" in Shskspeare's sublime trag-
edy.
They disappear, and notoiy who
| knew them ever seas or hears Of them
again.
But they are not dead
! Their death would not carry ont the
Esqnimaux idea. and the poet has added
one more Ia the tragedy in which there
is grandeur -of conception not un-
worthy Of Shakespeare himself
The event recorded in this act takes
! place . long time afterward; nobody
knows how long. /, may lie q hund-
red year: for all even the children
who knew the matricioes. have grown
| old aud Il. The tradition Of the
crime Is aln, Il forgo,ten.
The scene il laid Ill the interior of the
house of the aagakock. ar priest magician.
Ii is uight--a winter night in the Ar,ic.
with an Arctic moon throwing its CLAM
ar over the plains and mountains of ice
and snow Inside the house the priest
| magician i performing couiuration,
and the people are gathered around 81
lent aud trembling. listening To his
muttercd incantsiious
Suddenly they hear cry outside. and
the daenssaa says: Something evil is
approaching"
They 90 to the door and look out.
There they behold gigantic hunter a
| little distance away. standing in the
moonlight, His hair is as white as the
snow on which he stands. and il hangs
down over his shoulders in long silvery
locks.
But his face is black as night.
They watch him for moment. and
be gaxcs At them with burning eyes,
Then the dsgGtssl comes forward and
asks the stranger who he is and what he