YASHPEH
International Folktales Collection
The Ocean-Spider |
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo |
Tradition: Inuit, Eskimo |
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A kayaker in the firth of Godthaab once, at a place where no shoal was known to exist, saw the bottom quite close to him. He then suddenly recollected to have heard old people talking of the ocean-spider, a most dangerous animal to the kayakers. Presently he discovered a monstrous eye, and at the distance of about a kayak-paddle's length from it a similar one, and on tearing away from the spot a terrible gap made its appearance. Indeed, if he had been a less skilled kayaker, he would never have got off alive. |
Of this tale only the principal parts have been selected, and are given here in a very fragmentary form. |
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