And later he became a walrus, but found himself unable to dive down to the bottom; all he could do was to swim straight ahead through the water.
“Take off as if from the middle of the sky; that is what we do when we dive to the bottom,” said the others. And so he swung his hindquarters up to the sky, and down he went to the bottom. And his comrades taught him what to eat; mussels and little white stones.
Once also he was a raven. “The ravens never lack food,” he said, “but they often feel cold about the feet.”
Thus he lived the life of every beast on earth. And at last he became a seal again. And there he would lie under the ice, watching the men who came to catch him. And being a great wizard, he was able to hide himself away under the nail of a man’s big toe.
But one day there came a man out hunting who had cut off the nail of his big toe. And that man harpooned him. Then they hauled him up on the ice and took him home.
Inside the house, they began cutting him up, and when the man cast the mittens to his wife, Avôvang went with them, and crept into the body of the woman. And after a time he was born again, and became once more a man.
Papik, Who Killed His Wife’s Brother
There was once a man whose name was Papik, and it was his custom to go out hunting with his wife’s brother, whose name was Ailaq. But whenever those two went out hunting together, it was always Ailaq who came home with seal in tow, while Papik returned empty-handed. And day by day his envy grew.
Then one day it happened that Ailaq did not return at all. And Papik was silent at his home-coming.