22. Eme'mqut and Envious-One. 1

The next morning Eme'mqut saw Envious-One, and he said -to him, "Where did you see him? Let us go and visit him." Again they visited him, and said t o him. "Oh, wait! we are going to roast the omasum on a flat stone." Then Eme'mqut left Envious-One.

He began to busy himself with the omasum, and to roast it. He finished this. Then he went away. After some time he took a fine girl for a wife. Envious-One brought to his home his former (wife) Little U'weñ. After a long time they said to each other. "Come here! Let us compare the beauty of our wives!"

Envious-One said, "All right! I will bring her." After that every time again he rushes at his wife. She had an overcoat fringed with reindeer-mane. He took her along. While on the way, he washed her quite frequently with (liquid from) the chamber-vessel, and (by rubbing) forced the blood into her face.

Then those two came. Eme'mqut's wife was hidden. They were going to bring the wives. Envious-One fed his wife sumptuously, giving her plenty of whale-blubber. "Let us compare the beauty of our wives!"

They brought them in. "Ah, but she has long lashes! She has large buttocks!" All the time he kept jumping over to his wife and re-arranging the parting of her hair. "Oh, surely she will came out the victor!" Then they brought forth Eme'mqut's wife. Envious-One swooned at the first look.

He had a diarrhea from that whale-blubber. ² They took away the woman. Then he recovered his senses. He said, "I have slept." And really he began to eat

p. 94

again the matter vomited from his insides. They brought in the woman again. He swooned.

That vomited matter, which he tried to swallow came out again. They took her away. He recovered his senses, and ate again that matter vomited from his insides. Then (he said), "I do not want it. Go away! I have had enough!" The end.

Footnotes

93:1 p. 92 See p. 6. This is evidently a fragment of a larger tale, but the narrator knew no more.

93:2 It seems that he had eaten some whale-blubber with his wife.