Long ago, in a village in Eskimo Land, there lived a man with his wife
and five sons, of whom they were very proud.
One day the oldest son came to his father and said, “Father we have
always been in the same place, and seen the same kind of people. I think
it is time for me to go in search of another village and see something
of the world.”
So bidding them all goodby, he took his hunting knife and his strong bow
with a quiver full of arrows and went away.
The next day the second son said that he must go after his brother. So
he went too; and after him the third. At last the fourth followed the
others and the parents found themselves alone with the youngest son, who
was only a boy. He of course wanted to go to find his brothers, and the
father and mother, who were already very sad at losing four boys, had
hard work to keep him at home. They shut him in the house, and took
turns watching that he did not get away.
One day, however, the mother fell asleep and the boy, who had been
waiting for a chance, slipped out of the house and ran as fast as he
could go. After he had run far enough to feel sure they could not catch
him, he made the image of a man out of birchbark and fastened it to the
top of his parka hood, where it stood up very high and white. Having
done this he went merrily on his way.
After walking a long time he saw a huge house, with an enormous giant
standing out in front of it. Beside the giant hung a drum. This drum was
a big box, with seal intestine stretched over the ends, and all around
the edge of it was bone, as sharp as a knife. The Eskimos use drums for
their ceremonial dances, but the boy had never seen such a big one as
this. On the ground all about the giant were the bones and skulls of the
men he had devoured.
The little fellow was so frightened he wanted to run away, but it was
too late, for the giant had already seen him and shouted to him that he
must dance. The boy obeyed, and while he was dancing the giant beat upon
the drum and sang a long song. When he came to the end of the song, he
gave a mighty shout and hurled the drum at the boy’s head. Whizzing
through the air, the drum struck the arm of the birchbark image and
broke it off; then the boy took the drum and sang the giant’s song. When
he had finished, he threw the drum back and it cut off one of the
giant’s arms. They kept throwing the drum back and forth at each other
until at last the image was broken, and the giant fell dead. The
birchbark image had saved the boy’s life, because the giant mistook it
for the boy and threw the drum at it every time.
The boy was terribly proud of himself; indeed, he could hardly believe
he had killed that great giant, and he waited a little way off until he
saw that the giant did not move; then he went into the house. When he
got inside he heard a sound of crying that seemed to come from under the
floor. There, in a deep pit, he found his four brothers, who were being
kept by the giant for a great feast that was to take place the next day.
If the boy had come two days later he would have found nothing left of
his brothers but their bones.
You may be sure the four boys were happy to be saved from such a cruel
fate, and they could not praise their brother enough for his cleverness
and courage.
Bringing the great drum with them, they hurried back as fast as they
could to their parents.
After that they were all content to stay at home and hunt walruses and
whales; for they had had enough of going abroad in search of adventure.