Soon afterwards the Mangivik family received another visitor. This was the bellicose1 Gartok himself, whose heart had been touched by the fair Nootka.
Like his rival, he sat down opposite the maiden2, and stared at her impressively across the cooking-lamp. This would seem to be the usual mode of courtship among those children of the ice; but the girl’s mode of receiving the attentions of the second lover varied3 considerably4. She did not drop her eyes shyly under his gaze, but stared him full in the face by way of a slight rebuff. Neither did she prepare for him a savoury rib5, so that he was obliged to help himself—which he did with much coolness, for the laws of hospitality in Eskimo-land admit of such conduct.
After some desultory6 conversation between Gartok and his host, the latter asked if it was true that there was a talk of the tribe paying a visit to Whale River.
“Yes, it is true,” answered the young man. “I came to see you about that very thing, and to tell you that there is to be a meeting outside the big hut to-day. We shall want your advice.”
“Why do the young men wish to go there?” asked Mangivik.
“To get food, and wood for our spear-handles and sledges7, and berries, and to have a good time. Perhaps also to fight a little with the Fire-spouters.”
The youth glanced furtively10 at Mangivik as he concluded.
“To get food, and wood, and berries is good,” observed the old man; “but why fight with the Fire-spouters? We cannot conquer them.”
“You can ask that at the meeting. It is useless to ask it of me.”
“Good, I will do so. For my part, I am too old to go on long expeditions, either to hunt or fight—but I can give advice. Is Cheenbuk to be at the meeting?”
“Did you not know? Cheenbuk has already gone to the Whale River. We only propose to follow him. He may not like our business, but he’ll have to join us when we are there.”
Having picked his rib clean, and receiving no encouragement from Nootka to remain, Gartok rose and departed.
That afternoon there was a large meeting of the heads of families in front of what was known as the big hut. There was no formality about the meeting. Unlike the war councils of the Indians, it was a sort of free-and-easy, in which blubber and other choice kinds of food did duty for the red man’s pipe. The women, too, were allowed to sit around and listen—but not to speak—while the hunters discussed their plans.
Gartok, being the biggest, most forward, and presumptuous11 among them all, was allowed to speak first—though this was contrary to the wishes, and even the custom, of the tribe. He did not make a set speech. Indeed, no one thought of delivering an oration12. It was merely a palaver13 on a large scale.
“We want spear-handles,” said Gartok, “and wood for our kayak-frames, and deer for food, as well as birds and rabbit-skins for our underclothing.”
“That is true,” remarked one of the elderly men; “we want all these things, and a great many more things, but we don’t want fighting. There is no use in that.”
“Ho! ho!” exclaimed several voices in approval.
“But we do want fighting,” retorted Gartok firmly; “we want the pretty coloured things that the Fire-spouters sew on their clothes and shoes; also the iron things they have for cutting wood; and we want the spouters, which will make us more than a match for them in war; and we can’t get all these things without fighting.”
“Do without them, then,” observed Mangivik sharply; “why should we want things that we never had, and don’t need? Listen to me, young men—for I see by your looks that some of you would like a little fighting,—even if we had the spouting14 things, we could not make them spout8.”
“That is a lie!” exclaimed Gartok, with the simple straightforwardness15 peculiar16 to the uncivilised. “Once I met one of the Fire-spouters when I was out hunting at the Whale River. He was alone, and friendly. I asked him to show me his spouter9. He did so, but told me to be very careful, for sometimes it spouted17 of its own accord. He showed me the way to make it spout—by touching18 a little thing under it. There was a little bird on a bush close by. ‘Point at that,’ he said. I pointed19. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘look along the spouter with one eye.’ I put one end of it against my cheek and tried to look, but by accident I touched the little thing, and it spouted too soon! I never saw the little bird again; but I saw many stars, though it was broad daylight at the time.”
“Ho! hoo!” exclaimed several of the younger men, who listened to this narration20 with intense eagerness.
“Yes,” continued Gartok, who had the gift of what is called “the gab,” and was fond of exercising it,—“yes; it knocked me flat on my back—”
“Was it alive, then?” asked Anteek, who mingled21 that day with the men as an equal, in consequence of his having slain22 a walrus23 single-handed.
“No, it was not quite, but it was very nearly alive.—Well, when I fell the man laughed. You know his people are not used to laugh. They are very grave, but this one laughed till I became angry, and I would have fought with him, but—”
“Ay,” interrupted Anteek, “but you were afraid, for he had the spouter.”
Before Gartok could reply Mangivik broke in.
“Boo!” he exclaimed contemptuously, “it is of no use your talking so much. I too have been to the Whale River, and have seen the fire-spouters, and I know they are not nearly alive. They are dead—quite dead. Moreover, they will not spout at all, and are quite useless, unless they are filled with a kind of black sand which is supplied by the white men who sell the spouters. Go to the Whale River if you will, but don’t fight with any one—that is my advice, and my hair is grey.”
“It is white, old man, if you only saw it,” murmured Anteek, with native disrespect. He was too good-natured, however, to let his thoughts be heard.
“Come, Oolalik,” said Mangivik, “you are a stout24 and a wise young man, let us hear what you have got to say.”
“I say,” cried Oolalik, looking round with the air of a man who had much in his head, and meant to let it out, “I say that the man who fights if he can avoid it is a fool! Look back and think of the time gone away. Not many cold times have passed since our young men became puffed25 up—indeed, some of our old men were little better—and made a raid on the Fire-spouters of the Whale River. They met; there was a bloody26 fight; six of our best youths were killed, and numbers were wounded by the little things that come out of the spouters. Then they came home, and what did they bring? what had they gained? I was a boy at the time and did not understand it all; but I understood some of it. I saw the fighters returning. Some were looking very big and bold, as if they had just come from fighting and conquering a whole tribe of bears and walruses27. Others came back limping. They went out young and strong men; they came back too soon old, helped along by their companions. Two were carried—they could not walk at all. Look at them now!”
Oolalik paused and directed attention to what may be called an object-lesson—two men seated on his right hand. Both, although in the prime of life, looked feeble and prematurely28 old from wounds received in the fight referred to. One had been shot in the leg; the bone was broken, and that rendered him a cripple for life. The other had received a bullet in the lungs; and a constitution which was naturally magnificent had become permanently29 shattered.
“What do you think?” continued Oolalik. “Would not these men give much to get back their old strength and health?”
He paused again, and the men referred to nodded emphatically, as if they thought the question a very appropriate one, while some of the peacefully disposed in the assembly exclaimed “ho!” and “hoo!” in tones of approval.
“Then,” continued the speaker, “I passed by some of our huts and heard sounds of bitter weeping. I went in and found it was the wives and sisters of the men whose bodies lie on the banks of the Whale River. There would be reason in fighting, if we had to defend our huts against the Fire-spouters. Self-defence is right; and every one has a good word for the brave men who defend their homes, their women, and their children. But the Fire-spouters did not want to fight, and the men who lost their lives at the fight I am speaking of, threw them away for nothing. They will never more come home to provide their families with food and clothes, or to comfort them, or to play with the children and tell them of fights with the walrus and the bear when the nights are black and long. Most of those poor women had sons or man-relations to care for them, but there was one who had no relation to hunt for her after her husband was killed—only a little daughter to take care of her. I speak of old Uleeta, who is—”
“That is a lie!” cried Gartok, springing up and looking fierce. “Old Uleeta is, as you all know, my mother. She had me to hunt for her when father was killed, and she has me still.”
“You!” exclaimed Oolalik, with a look of scorn, “what are you? A hunter? No, only a fool who wants to be thought very brave, and would leave his mother and sister to the care of old men and boys while he goes away to fight with the Fire-spouters! No,” he continued, turning away from the angry young man with cool contempt, “old Uleeta has no son.”
Gartok was so taken aback with this behaviour of Oolalik, who was recognised as one of the gentlest and most peacefully disposed of the tribe, that he stood gaping30 for a moment in surprise. Then, observing the half-amused, half-contemptuous looks of the men around him, he suddenly caught up the unfinished handle of a spear that leaned against the wall of the hut beside him, and made a desperate blow with it at the head of Oolalik.
But that youth had expected some such demonstration31, and was prepared for it. Being very agile32, he made a step swiftly to one side, and the handle came down on the skull33 of a walrus which hung on the wall, with a violence that would have surprised its original owner had it been within.
Before the blow could be repeated Oolalik sprang towards his assailant.
Eskimos know nothing of a blow “straight from the shoulder,” but they know how to cuff34. Oolalik brought his open hand down on Gartok’s cheek with a pistol-shot crack that tumbled that fire-eater head over heels on the ground.
The man was too strong, however, to be knocked insensible in that way. He recovered himself, sitting-wise, with his mouth agape and his eyes astonied, while the whole assembly burst into a hearty35 fit of laughter. High above the rest was heard the juvenile36 voice of the delighted Anteek.
What the fire-eater thought we cannot tell, but he had the wisdom to accept his punishment in silence, and listened with apparent interest while Oolalik concluded his remarks.
The effect of this belligerent37 episode was to advance the cause of the peace-party considerably—at least for a time—and when the meeting broke up, most of the people returned to their various homes with a firm determination to leave the poor Fire-spouters alone.
But Gartok, who was still smarting under the disgrace to which he had been subjected at the hands of Oolalik, managed to rekindle38 and blow up the war-spirit, so that, two days later, a strong party of the more pugnacious39 among the young men of the tribe set off in their kayaks for the Whale River, taking with them a few of the women in one of their open boats or oomiaks—chiefly for the purpose of keeping their garments in repair.
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1
bellicose
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| adj.好战的；好争吵的 | |
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2
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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3
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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7
sledges
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| n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载 | |
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8
spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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9
spouter
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| 喷油井；捕鲸船；说话滔滔不绝的人；照管流出槽的工人 | |
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10
furtively
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| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
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11
presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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12
oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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13
palaver
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| adj.壮丽堂皇的；n.废话，空话 | |
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14
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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15
straightforwardness
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| n.坦白，率直 | |
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16
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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17
spouted
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| adj.装有嘴的v.（指液体）喷出( spout的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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18
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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19
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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20
narration
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| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
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21
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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22
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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23
walrus
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| n.海象 | |
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25
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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26
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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27
walruses
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| n.海象( walrus的名词复数 ) | |
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28
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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30
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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31
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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32
agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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33
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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34
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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35
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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36
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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37
belligerent
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| adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者 | |
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38
rekindle
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| v.使再振作；再点火 | |
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39
pugnacious
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| adj.好斗的 | |
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