“The country inhabited by the Samoides is the most cold and dreary that can be imagined. The snow lasts for nine months of the year; the storms are almost incessant for a great part of the time, and in winter the cold is so intense as to freeze brandy, though the people contrive to thaw it again. But the most wonderful thing is this: the sun sets in November, and does not rise again till the next May; so the night is six months long! The moon, however, shines a great part of the time, and it is never dark during that period. The northern lights, sometimes called aurora borealis, are very brilliant, and it is easy to read by them. The Samoides, however, have no books; they spend most of their time in winter in sitting in their huts and telling long stories. I will tell you one, which an old fisherman said he had heard repeated in one of their dwellings while he was staying with them.
“There was once upon a time an old Samoide fisherman that had the most beautiful daughter that ever was seen. She was very short and very fat, and her skin shone like blubber oil; her eyes were small and black; her teeth were large, and of a beautiful yellow hue. Her hair, also, was yellow, and being matted together, hung down in a thick mass upon her shoulders.
“This fair girl was of an olive color, and such were her charms that all the young men who saw her fell desperately in love with her, save one. This latter was a fisherman, and famous for his skill in every species of adventurous sport. He was very dexterous in spearing the seal and sea otter, in managing the seal-skin boat, and in driving the reindeer sledge over the snow.
“Now, although the beautiful lady, whose name was Lis, enslaved all others, this hero of the fishhook and spear set her charms at nought; and, as the fates are very whimsical, the beautiful girl, disdaining the addresses of all besides, became desperately enamored of him. She took every opportunity in her power to please and fascinate him, but all to no purpose. Loord, for that was the name of the fisherman, resisted her advances, and in fact treated her with marked neglect, if not disdain.
“This appeared very wonderful to everybody, and especially to Lis, who made up her mind that some evil-minded spirit had bewitched Loord, and thus enabled and disposed him to resist her charms. She therefore determined to go to an island at some distance in the ocean, where she had an uncle living, and, under pretence of visiting him, to consult a famous sorcerer, or magician, who dwelt there, and, if possible, to obtain his counsel in the matter.
“Now Lis was well skilled in the arts of managing a boat; so she determined to go alone. She got into a boat made of seal-skins, and set forth upon the sea, having bade her friends farewell, who were at the landing to take leave of her. It was expected that she would return the next day—but she came not; the second day, the third, and the fourth, passed away, but the beautiful Lis did not return. At length some anxiety existed among her friends as to her welfare, and even the interest of Loord was roused. He determined to set forth in search of her; and that very day, entering his seal-skin boat, he departed for the magician’s island.
“It is important to observe that, previous to starting, Loord, who generally avoided brandy, took a large draught, by the advice of an aged fisherman, not so much to exclude the cold as to keep out witchcraft.
“Things went pretty well with Loord in the first part of his voyage, but after a while, according to his account of the matter on his return, as he began to approach the magician’s island, he caught a glimpse of it, but it was bobbing up and down like a porpoise before a squall. He kept his eye upon it steadily for some time, when at last it sunk, and did not rise again. Loord used all his strength to reach the place, and finally came to it, and the water was whirling and boiling round; but not a bit of an island was to be seen. Loord sailed over and over the place, and waited a long time to see if he could not pick up somebody, and particularly the beautiful Lis, but he found no one.
“Loord at last returned; he had been gone all day, and it was late at night when he reached his home. He was in a bewildered state, but told his story as I have related it. It was intimated to him that perhaps the brandy got into his head, and that the island’s being sunk was all a mistake; but he laughed at the idea. In a few days, however, a boat came from the magician’s isle, and behold the beautiful Lis was in it, as well and as charming as ever. Her friends came to see her, and her lovers returned, and all congratulated her upon her good looks, and upon her escape from being carried to the bottom of the sea with the magician’s island. This made her stare, upon which they told her the adventure of Loord.
“It being now ascertained that the island of the magician was still standing in its place, Loord became an object of general ridicule; and as he was no longer a hero in the estimation of the people, Lis began to think she could live without him. Accordingly, when she met him she tossed up her head, and passed him by with disdain. This brought Loord to his senses, and he began to see that Lis was very beautiful, and pretty soon he found out that he could not live without her. So he wooed her, but at first she would not listen to him; after a great deal of teazing, however, she consented, and they were married; but ever after, if anything went wrong, Lis would jeer him about the magician’s island, that bobbed up and down like a porpoise before a storm, and at last went down to the bottom! This would always bring Loord to terms; and, in short, by means of this affair, Lis not only got her husband, but she used the story ever after to manage him; for it gave her a power over him like that of a strong bit in the mouth of a headstrong horse.