Reading Notes - Eskimo Folk-Tales: Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother, Part B

·      Papik would often go out hunting with his wife’s brother, Ailaq

·      However, when they went hunting, only Ailaq returned with a seal while Papik returned with nothing

·      One day, Ailaq did not return, and Ailaq’s mother stated to Papik that he had killed Ailaq

·      Papik denied her claim, but she cried out that he indeed killed Ailaq and that she would eat him alive for what he did

·      The old woman decided to avenge her son as a ghost, so she made preparations to die

o   She let the tide cover her as she lay on the shore with her bearskin coverlet

·      At first Papik did not go hunting out of fear of the old woman’s threat, but he eventually forgot about it and began to go hunting again

·      Papik was out on the ice by the breathing holes some distance away from two others

·      The other two heard the sound of a cry moving towards Papik, and a fog descended on the ice

o   They also heard someone crying out in fear and another shout of fury  - they decided that a monster had come to eat Papik

·      The two ran towards the land and told anyone that they encountered to return to their homes

·      Everyone gathered in one home, and they all heard the monster coming closer

o   They were so scared that they huddled close, so close that one boy was pushed into a tub full of blood so that wherever they went, the boy left a trail of blood

·      One man commented that they should kill the boy because he was leaving a trail for the monster, but the others had pity and let him live

·      They could see the monster – none of the dogs would bark at the bear (the monster) because they knew it wasn’t real

·      It wasn’t until an old woman yelled at the dogs to bark at the bear that everyone reacted

o   The dogs began barking and the hunters harpooned it

·      When they went to cut up the bear, they noticed its human bones and the old woman’s coverlet as its skin

·      They traced back their steps to Papik, and they saw that everything cut up, including Papik

o   The old woman had gotten her revenge

·      Moral: if you kill a man without a good reason, a monster will come and strike you dead with fear and leave no part of your body intact 

 Tupiq. Source: Wikipedia.

Bibliography: This story can be found here. Story source: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).