Many old ditties are sung which either treat of the Tornit or are reported to have been sung by them. Some of them will be found in the linguistic account connected with my journey.
[THE WOMAN AND THE SPIRIT OF THE SINGING HOUSE.]
Once upon a time a woman entered the singing house when it was quite dark. For a long time she had wished to see the spirit of the house, and though the Inuit had warned her of the impending danger she had insisted upon her undertaking.
She summoned the spirit, saying, “If you are in the house, come here.” As she could not see him, she cried, “No spirit is here; he will not come.” But the spirit, though yet invisible, said, “Here I am; there I am.” Then the woman asked, “Where are your feet; where are your shins; where are your thighs; where are your hips; where are your loins?” Every time the spirit answered, “Here they are; there they are.” And she asked further, “Where is your belly?” “Here it is,” answered the spirit. “Where is your breast; where are your shoulders; where is your neck; where is your head?” “Here it is; there it is;” but in touching the head the woman all of a sudden fell dead. It had no bones and no hair ([p. 597]).
[THE CONSTELLATION UDLEQDJUN.]
Three men went bear hunting with a sledge and took a young boy with them. When they approached the edge of the floe they saw a bear and went in pursuit. Though the dogs ran fast they could not get nearer and all of a sudden they observed that the bear was lifted up and their sledge followed. At this moment the boy lost one of his mittens and in the attempt to pick it up fell from the sledge. There he saw the men ascending higher and higher, finally being transformed into stars. The bear became the star Nanuqdjung (Betelgeuse); the pursuers, Udleqdjun (Orion’s belt); and the sledge, Kamutiqdjung (Orion’s sword). The men continue the pursuit up to this day; the boy, however, returned to the village and told how the men were lost.
[ORIGIN OF THE ADLET AND OF THE QADLUNAIT.]
Savirqong, an old man, lived alone with his daughter. Her name was Niviarsiang (i.e., the girl), but as she would not take a husband she was also called Uinigumissuitung (she who would not take a husband). She refused all her suitors, but at last a dog, spotted white and red, whose name was Ijirqang, won her affection and she took him for a husband. They had ten children, five of whom were Adlet and five dogs. The lower part of the body of the Adlet was that of a dog and hairy all over, the soles excepted, while the upper part was that of a man. When the children grew up they became very voracious, and as the dog Ijirqang did not go out hunting at all, but let his father in law provide for the whole family, it was difficult for Savirqong to feed them. Moreover, the children were awfully clamorous and noisy; so at last the grandfather got tired of it, put the whole family into his boat, and carried them to a small island. He told the dog Ijirqang to come every day and fetch meat.
Niviarsiang hung a pair of boots round his neck and he swam across the narrow channel. But Savirqong, instead of giving him meat, filled the boots with heavy stones, which drowned Ijirqang when he attempted to return to the island.
The daughter thought of revenging the death of her husband. She sent the young dogs to her father’s hut and let them gnaw off his feet and hands. In return Savirqong, when Niviarsiang happened to be in his boat, threw her overboard and cut off her fingers when she held to the gunwale. As they fell into the sea they were transformed into seals and whales. At last he allowed her to climb into the boat.