ÂTÂRSSUAQ

Eskimo Folk-Tales, by Knud Rasmussen, [1921], at sacred-texts.com

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ÂTÂRSSUAQ

ÂTÂRSSUAQ had many enemies. But his many enemies tried in vain to hurt him, and they could not kill him.

 Then it happened that his wife bore him a son. Âtârssuaq came back from his hunting one day, and found that he had a son. Then he took that son of his and bore him down to the water and threw him in. And waited until he began to kick out violently, and then took him up again. And so he did with him every day for long after, while the child was growing. And thus the boy became a very clever swimmer.

 And one day Âtârssuaq caught a fjord seal, and took off the skin all in one piece, and dried it like a bladder, and made his son put it on when he went swimming.

 One day he felt a wish to see how clever the boy had become. And said to him therefore:

 "Go out now and swim, and I will follow after you."

 And the father brought down his kayak and set it in the water, and his son watched him. And then he said:

 "Now you swim out." And he made his father follow him out to sea, while he swam more and more under water. As soon as he came to the surface, his father rowed to where he was, but every time he took his throwing stick to cast a small harpoon, he disappeared.

 And when his father thought they had done this long enough, he said:

 "Now swim back to land, but keep under water as much as you can."

 The son dived down, but it was a long time before he came up again. And now his father was greatly afraid. But at last the boy came up, a long way off. And then he rowed up to where he was, and laid one hand on his head, and said:

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 "Clever diver, clever diver, dear little clever one."

 And then he sniffed.

 And a second time he said to him:

 "Now swim under water a very long way this time."

 So he dived down, and his father rowed forward an the time, to come to the place where he should rise, and feeling already afraid. His face moved as if he were beginning to cry, and he said:

 "If only the sharks have not found him!" And he had just begun to cry when his son came up again. And then they went in to land, and the boy did not dive any more that day.

 So clever had he now become.

 And one day his father did not come back from his hunting. This was because of his enemies, who had killed him. Evening came, and next morning there was a kayak from the north. When it came in to the shore, the boy went down and said:

 "To-morrow the many brothers will come to kill you all."

 And the kayak turned at once and went back without coming on shore. Night passed and morning came. And in the morning when the boy awoke, he went to look out, and again, and many times. Once when he came out he saw many kayaks appearing from the northward. Then he went in and said to his mother:

 "Now many kayaks are coming, to kill us all."

 "Then put on your swimming dress," said his mother.

 And he did so, and went down to the shore, and did not stop until he was quite close to the water. When the kayaks then saw him, they all rowed towards him, and said:

 "He has fallen into the water."

 When they came to the place where he had fallen in, they all began looking about for him, and while they were doing this, he came up just in front of the bone shoeing on the nose of one of the kayaks which lay quite away from the rest. When they spied him, each tried to outdo the others, and cried:

 "Here he is!"

 But then he dived down again. And this he continued to do. And in this manner he led all those kayaks out to the open sea, and when they had come a great way out, they sighted an iceberg which had run aground. When Âtârssuaq's son came to this, he climbed p. 144 up, by sticking his hands into the ice. And up above were two large pieces. And when he came close to the iceberg, he heard those in the kayaks saying among themselves:

 "We can cut steps in the ice, and climb up to him."

 And they began cutting steps in the iceberg, and at last the ice pick of the foremost came up over the edge. But now the boy took one of the great pieces of ice and threw it down upon them as they crawled up, so that it sent them all down again as it fell. And again he heard them say:

 "It would be very foolish not to kill him. Let us climb up, and try to reach him this time."

 And then they began crawling up one after another. But now the boy began as before, shifting the great piece of ice. And he waited until the head of the foremost one came up, and then he let it fall. And this time he also killed all those who had climbed on to the iceberg, after he had so lured them on to follow him.

 But the others now turned back, and said:

 "He will kill us all if we do not go."

 And now the boy jumped down from the iceberg and swam to the kayaks and began tugging at their paddles, so that they turned over. But the men righted themselves again with their throwing sticks. And at last he was forced to hold them down himself under water till they drowned. And soon there were left no more of all those many kayaks, save only one. And when he looked closer, he saw that the man had no weapon but a stick for killing fish. And he rowed weeping in towards land, that man with no weapon but a stick. Then the boy pulled the paddle away from him, and he cried very much at that. Then he began paddling with his hands. But the boy gripped his hands from below, and then the man began crying furiously, and dared no longer put his hands in the water at all. And weeping very greatly he said:

 "It is ill for me that ever I came out on this errand, for it is plain that I am to be killed."

 The boy looked at him a little. And then said:

 "You I will not kill. You may go home again." And he gave him back his paddle, and said to him as he was rowing away:

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 "Tell those of your place never to come out again thinking to kill us. For if they do not one of them will return alive."

 Then Âtârssuaq's son went home. And for some time he waited, thinking that more enemies might come. But none ever came against them after that time.