The Eternal Maiden | Page 5

from the bar
sinister of nature. For, in selecting a wife, a native comes down to the
practical consideration of choosing a maid who will likely grow fat, so
that, during the long cold winters, her body will be a sort of human
radiator to keep the husband and children warm. So love, you see, in
this region, is largely influenced by an instinctive knowledge of natural
economies.
As he launched his kayak, Ootah turned toward Annadoah.
"Thou art the sun, Annadoah!" he called.
"And thou the moon, Ootah," she replied. "I shall await thee, Ootah!
Bring thou back fat and blubber, Ootah, to warm thy fires, Ootah." And
she laughed gaily. Then she turned her back to Ootah, bent her head
coyly and did not turn around again. To Ootah this was a good
augury--for when a maiden turns her back upon a suitor she thinks
favorably of him. This is the custom.

Ootah felt a new strength in his veins. He felt himself master of all the
prey in the sea.
At the entrance of the tent of Sipsu, the angakoq, or native magician,
stood Maisanguaq, one of the rivals for the hand of Annadoah. His face
twisted with jealous rage as he heard Annadoah calling to the speeding
Ootah. His narrow eyes glittered vindictively. Turning on his heel he
entered Sipsu's dwelling place.
Sipsu sat on the floor near his oil lamp. When Maisanguaq entered he
did not stir. He was as still, as grotesque, as evil-looking as the tortured
idols of the Chinese; like theirs his eyes were beadlike, expressionless,
dull; such are the eyes of dead seal. His face was brown and cracked
like old leather, and was covered with a crust of dirt; his gray-streaked
hair was matted and straggled over his face; it teemed with lice. He
held his knotty hands motionless over the flame of his lamp. His nails
were long and curled like sharp talons. As Maisanguaq saw him he
could not repress a shudder.
Sipsu was feared, and as correspondingly hated, by the tribe. They
brought to him, it is true, offerings of musk ox meat and walrus blubber
when members fell ill. But that was the urge of necessity. Of late years
Sipsu's conjurations for recovery had resulted in few cures; his heart
was not in them; but with greater vehemence did he enter upon seances
of malediction. With almost unerring exactness he prophesied many
deaths. For this the tribe did not love him. Nor did Sipsu love the tribe;
especially did he hate the youthful, and those who courted and were
newly wed. When Maisanguaq touched his shoulder, he turned with a
growl.
"Canst thou invoke the curse of death upon one who goes hunting upon
the seas?"
Through the rheum of years Sipsu's eyes gleamed.
The aged, gnarled thing found voice. It was hollow and thin.
"Ha, thou art Maisanguaq," his toothless jaws chattered. "Thou bearest
no one good will. Seldom dost thou smile. For this I like thee."
He laughed harshly. Maisanguaq impatiently repeated his question:
"Can Sipsu invoke the great curse? Ha, what dost thou mean? Art thou
a fool? Have not many died upon the word of Sipsu, Sipsu whose
spirits never desert him! Harken! Did not Sipsu go unto the mountains
in his youth? Did he not hear the hill spirits speaking? Did he not carry

food to them, and wood and arrow points for weapons? And in ookiah
(winter) did they not strike? Did they not kill one Otaq, who hated
Sipsu? Did Sipsu not go unto the lower land of the dead--did he not
speak to those who freeze in the dark? Yea, did Sipsu not learn how the
world is kept up, and the souls of nature are bound together? And hath
he not the power to separate them, yea, as a man from his shadow?"
"Thou evil-tongued wretch, well doth Maisanguaq believe thee! Here--I
promise thee meat. I follow Ootah upon the chase. There are walrus on
the sea. Invoke the curse of destruction upon Ootah--and I will give
thee meat for the long winter."
"Ootah--Ootah--yah--hah! Ootah!" Sipsu snapped the name viciously.
"With joy shall I bring the great evil unto Ootah. For hath he not
despised my art, hath he not scoffed at my spirits! But thou--what
reason hast thou to desire his death?"
"Ootah findeth favor with Annadoah," said Maisanguaq briefly. "I
would she never make his kamiks (boots)."
"Yea, and she shall not. She shall not!" the old man shrieked in a
sudden access of rage. "So saith Sipsu, whose spirits never fail."
Lying on the floor Sipsu closed his eyes and, moving his head up and
down, called repeatedly:
"Quilaka Nauk! Quilaka Nauk! Where are my spirits? Where are my
spirits?"
Presently he rose, and swaying his