Long ago there was an Eskimo family living in a place quite by
themselves, and far away from any village.
The father had been killed by a caribou some years before, so the
widowed mother was alone with her two sons. They had been little boys
when the father died, but now they were young men and fine hunters.
Every day they used to go hunting. Always they brought back game of some
kind, so the family lived on the fat of the land.
At that time there were many caribou, which in those days had long sharp
teeth and could bite and kill people. Men used to hunt them with bows
and arrows and spears.
One day the two young men went out to hunt as usual, but this time they
did not return.
Days passed and they did not come. Their poor mother was sad and
anxious, waiting for them. Every day she looked about and watched and
waited, but still they did not come home. She did not dare to go far
from the house to search for them, for she was afraid of the fierce
caribou with their sharp teeth.
One day as she was watching, always hoping to see her sons coming back,
a big crow came flying by. She called out, “Crow, Crow, can you tell me
where are my two boys?”
And the crow said, “Yes, I know where your two boys are.” Then he flew
up still higher and circled about saying, “Caw, caw!” and the poor
mother was nearly frantic for fear that he would fly away without
telling her.
“O please come back!” she cried; but he flew a little higher, teasingly
saying, “Caw, caw! Wouldn’t you like to know?”
The woman went into her house and brought a piece of seal blubber and
held it up.
“I will give you this, Crow, if you tell me where to find them.”
Lazily the crow floated down and perched on the ground nearby.
“Give it to me,” said he.
“Tell me first,” said she.
So cocking his head on one side he said, “All right, I will tell you,
but your sons are both dead. The caribou killed them with their long
teeth.”
The poor mother was in despair, but she remembered to give the crow his
meat, and as he was about to fly away, she said, “Crow, if you will show
me the way to my sons, I will feed you whenever you come.”
So the crow told her where to go, but he said, “You will never feed me
again if you go there, because the caribou will tear you with their
teeth.”
Then he flapped his big black wings and said, “Caw, caw!” And the woman
thought he was laughing at her.
Going into the house, she covered herself all over with the red juice of
cranberries. It is very sour and tastes very bad. Her whole parka was
stained bright red with it; even her mukluks and mittens. Then, without
taking a weapon of any kind, she started off for the place where the
crow had told her she would find her boys.
It was a long way, and many caribou came after her and caught her parka
in their teeth and tried to bite her, but as soon as they tasted the
cranberry juice it was so terribly sour all their teeth fell out,
leaving them unable to bite any more.
When the mother came to where her two sons were lying, they seemed to be
asleep and covered with wounds from the bites of the caribou.
Crying, “Wake up, wake up!” in a loud voice, she kicked the soles of
their feet, first one then the other. As she did this, each one in turn
sat up and opened his eyes. They were very happy to see their mother,
and she rejoiced to find them alive. Then she helped them to their feet
and took them home and nursed them back to health.
As soon as their wounds healed, the boys went hunting as before, but
without fear, for from that time on, the caribou have never had any long
teeth.