Читать книгу Animal Stories from Eskimo Land. Adapted from the Original Eskimo Stories Collected by Dr. Daniel S. Neuman онлайн

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Now there was one woman among his neighbors, who was very wise, although not a sorceress. This woman could sing about many things that no one else knew, so Ivango sent for her and told her to sing.

After a while she began. She told Ivango and his brothers that the whale had taken their sister to a far off country. This country, she said, was guarded by two great cliffs of solid rock, which could open wide apart and then come together again with a crash like thunder, crushing to death any living creature daring to venture between.

Ivango asked her what they must do to rescue their sister. She answered, “You must make a skin boat so swift that it will go faster than the swiftest bird can fly. When the boat is finished, kill a young seal and take it with you. When all is ready, I will go with you to tell you what to do.”

They thanked the woman very much and went to work to make the boat as soon as it was daylight. They worked as quickly as they could, for they were very anxious to rescue their sister. When they had finished, they took the boat down to the shore, and waited for a bird to come along. Presently they saw a beautiful gray gull with a white breast, sailing gracefully through the sky. They got into the boat and paddled along as fast as they could, but the gull was soon far ahead of them and they could not catch up with it at all. This was a dreadful disappointment, for it meant a long delay. They came back to land very much discouraged, but Ivango said, “We must not lose heart so easily. Let us go to work at once and take more care this time that we are doing our very best. It does not pay to be in too much of a hurry.”