A long time ago there was a poor little orphan boy who had no protector
and was maltreated by all the inhabitants of the village. He was not
even allowed to sleep in the hut, but lay outside in the cold passage
among the dogs, who were his pillows and his quilt. Neither did they
give him any meat, but flung old, tough walrus hide at him, which he was
compelled to eat without a knife. A young girl was the only one who
pitied him. She gave him a very small piece of iron for a knife, but
bade him conceal it well or the men would take it from him. He did so,
putting it into his urethra. Thus he led a miserable life and did not
grow at all, but remained poor little Qaudjaqdjuq. He did not even dare
to join the plays of the other children, as they also maltreated and
abused him on account of his weakness.
[Illustration: FIG. 537. Qaudjaqdjuq is maltreated by his enemies.
Drawn by Qeqertuqdjuaq, an Oqomio.]
[Illustration: FIG. 538. The man in the moon comes down to help
Qaudjaqdjuq.]
When the inhabitants assembled in the singing house Qaudjaqdjuq used to
lie in the passage and peep over the threshold. Now and then a man would
lift him by the nostrils into the hut and give him the large urine
vessel to carry out (Fig. 537). It was so large and heavy that he was
obliged to take hold of it with both hands and his teeth. As he was
frequently lifted by the nostrils they grew to be very large, though he
remained small and weak.
[Illustration: FIG. 539. The man in the moon whipping Qaudjaqdjuq.]
[Illustration: FIG. 540. Qaudjaqdjuq has become Qaudjuqdjuaq.]
At last the man in the moon,[11] who had seen how badly the men behaved
towards Qaudjaqdjuq, came down to help him. He harnessed his dog[12]
(Fig. 538) Tirie´tiang to his sledge and drove down. When near the hut
he stopped and cried, “Qaudjaqdjuq, come out.” Qaudjaqdjuq answered,
“I will not come out. Go away!” But when he had asked him a second and a
third time to come out, he complied, though he was very much frightened.
Then the man in the moon went with him to a place where some large
bowlders were lying about and, having whipped him (Fig. 539), asked, “Do
you feel stronger now?” Qaudjaqdjuq answered: “Yes, I feel stronger.”
“Then lift yon bowlder,” said he. As Qaudjaqdjuq was not yet able to
lift it, he gave him another whipping, and now all of a sudden he began
to grow, the feet first becoming of an extraordinary size (Fig. 540).
Again the man in the moon asked him: “Do you feel stronger now?”
Qaudjaqdjuq answered: “Yes, I feel stronger;” but as he could not yet
lift the stone he was whipped once more, after which he had attained a
very great strength and lifted the bowlder as if it were a small pebble.
The man in the moon said: “That will do. To-morrow morning I shall send
three bears; then you may show your strength.”
[Footnote 11: The man in the moon is the protector of orphans.]
[Footnote 12: By a mistake of the Eskimo who made the drawings,
four dogs are harnessed to the sledge. According to his own
explanation the dappled one ought to be the only dog.]
He returned to the moon, but Qaudjaqdjuq, who had now become
Qaudjuqdjuaq (the big Qaudjaqdjuq), returned home tossing the stones
with his feet and making them fly to the right and to the left. At night
he lay down again among the dogs to sleep. Next morning he awaited the
bears, and, indeed, three large animals soon made their appearance,
frightening all the men, who did not dare to leave the huts.
Then Qaudjuqdjuaq put on his boots and ran down to the ice. The men who
looked out of the window hole said, “Look here, is not that Qaudjaqdjuq?
The bears will soon make way with him.” But he seized the first by its
hind legs and smashed its head on an iceberg, near which it happened to
stand. The other one fared no better; the third, however, he carried up
to the village and slew some of his persecutors with it. Others he
pressed to death with his hands or tore off their heads (Fig. 541),
crying: “That is for abusing me; that is for your maltreating me.” Those
whom he did not kill ran away, never to return. Only a few who had been
kind to him while he had been poor little Qaudjaqdjuq were spared, among
them the girl who had given him the knife. Qaudjuqdjuaq lived to be a
great hunter and traveled all over the country, accomplishing many
exploits.
[Illustration: FIG. 541. Qaudjuqdjuaq killing his enemies.]