THE GIANT MOLE
Art Eskimo Legend by LELA OMAN
“If this keeps up we will have
no more hunters. Did you ever
stop to think that oogruknuk
(mole' could be killed? Surely
there must be some way of killing
so enormous an animal.”
Koevruvuck was in earnest in
his speculation. His older brother,
Kuenoluck, who had excited cari
bou into coming close enough so
that they milled around them and
could be attacked with the spear,
was sitting on a hump watching
his younger brother skinning one
of the caribou catch.
He had “twahtook” (stripped to
the waist, man stamping and
shouting and going around in a
circle to excite the caribou, to
frenzied caribou the surface tilts
toward the shouting man and
make them mill around in a wide
circle until the circle become
small and the hunters can spear
them without leaving their
ground) and was resting.
When he made no answer,
Koevruvuck kept on, “There is
death for every living thing, as
well as limit to evei'ything. If we
do not take the matter into our
hands, who will? Fine, brave hun
ters are- not born every day, and
the two whom it had just eaten
were two of our strongest and :
bravest.”
He s’cod up to face his brother I
who did no' make an ansv/er. He 1
was the yo.mg -r of the two, and |
had a reputation of an instigator
of their deeds. They were known
to be kind to the weak and always
deal justly with the ones who be
came nuisance in their commun
ity.
At this time there were many
wild animals that roamed the
land. And this giant mole prob
ably was one of the prehistoric
beasts that was yet to be plunged
into extinction.
Behind Kewalik Lagoon there
are endless rolling hills. These
hills were these brothers’ hunting
grounds. Further down south
there are many lakes. Some of
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them large enough to harbor an
I animal so great in size as the giant
i mole. Directly east of Deering was
! this particular lake, home of this
I mole.
Few days later the two brothers
| stationed themselves On one of the
I low hills behind Deering, to study
| the mole’s habits.
The bright, warm summer days
were turning into a colorful
Autumn. Cool darkness of night
was getting longer and longer
with each passing of day.
Koevruvuck ond Kueniluck no
ticed the animal’s every move. It
slept in the darkness of night and
what it lived on were animals that
came to the large lake for a drink.
Most of the day it submerged it
self in the water with just its
head showing so it looked like a
little island of sandbar. When it
is sunning itself it looked like a
good-sized knoll. With the surface
becoming confused in many colors
it was well camouflaged with its
brown, mousy fur.
Each day found the two broth
ers closer to the animal. One
morning, as they watched it, a
herd of caribou came to the edge
of the lake. By now the giant mole
was in its attacking position. The
caribou were unaware of it. As
the first thirsty caribou touched
its muzzle to the water, the giant
mole opened its great jaws and
wi:h no effort crushed its head.
Before the rest of the caribou
could make a getaway it killld a
few more in the same manner.
“What a magnificent creature!
If only it would leave mankind
alone. One can see that it is a
meat eater, and we are meat.”
The more talkative of the two
brothers, Koevruvuck, was im
pressed by the mole’s mighty
jaws.
The following night the broth
ers took turns sleeping. They felt
that they were too close to the
mole to give way to sleep com
pletely and not be on the watch,
and the creature that they kept a
surveillance on might prove un
predictive. At the crack of dawn
they made ready for an attack.
The east wind was blowing soft
ly and was in their favor. The
mole would not catch their scent
until they were upon it. Koevru
vuck was to be in his kayak and
act as a decoy. When the mole
notice him they were sure it would
chase him and Koenoluck was to
swim after it. On the west shore
of the lake they spoke parting
words:
“If one of us is killed the other
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will be killed also. He can only
kill us once and from there we
will go on. Whatever happens we
will bo together.”
Ko'enoluck, the older brother,
| talked of their souls that will go
on after parting from their bodies.
As they talked they saw the
giant mole yawn. Its enormous
upper jaw hung itself in midair
for a moment and against the
crack of dawn the mighty jaw
seemed as if it belonged to the
far-away horizon.
“It is awake now,” Koevruvuck
whispered, as he paddled away
from the shore.
Kuenoluck, stripped to the
waist, held his knife between his
teeth. When he got directly be
'| hind the mole he waved to his
I brother as a sign to make him
; draw the mole’s attentoin. Koev
ruvuck, who was already in the
I middle of the lake, beat the top
l of his kayak with his paddle. With
i one great leap oogruknuk (mole)
I was in the water. Close behind
j him Koevnoluck, with mighty
i strokes, swam swiftly, and the
animal did not notice him. If the
mole had there would have been
a terrific battle in the water.
The man in the kayak speeded
for the opposite shore and every
time he looked back the mole
came closer and closer. Just be
fore he jumped out of his kayak
onto the solid ground he heard
the crushing noise of the kayak’s
frame as the ferocious animal
closed its jaws on it. This gave
him time to pull his knife out of
its case and he was in a position
to face his attacker.
There was an ear-splitting
squeal as the mole came upon its
prey. Koevruvuck thought he was
finished when all his world
seemed filled with an enormous
mouth fringed with spear-like
teeth. Just as he was about to
spring backwards, the animal was
jerked from behind and the jaws
snapped shut with a bang on thin
air.
As it turned its head to' look
behind, he grabbed one of the
front paws and stabbed at the
joint next to the feet. His brother
was doing likewise to one of the
hind legs. They rushed the mole.
It would snap at the one at the
front feet; still it would have to
turn to go for the one at his hind
leg. There was slashing of sinews
that was robbing great muscles of
strength, and the severed veins
spurted with hot blood.
To Koevruvuck the battle seemed
like an eternity of nightmare. He
was almost dropping from ex
haustion, still he did not dare let
go of the paw he was holding,
which now was down to the bone.
“I can’t keep this up any long
er!” he yelled to his brother.
“You’ve got to,” the man at
the hind leg yelled back to him.
He was in the water up to his
knees and all around him the
water was diluted with blood. The
animal was getting weaker and
weaker as its life blood ebbed
away. When the breathing stopped
the brothers sat down to rest.
The sun was high in the sky.
So they had battled with the
giant mole from the crack of dawn
till the sun rode high over the
horizon.
They examined the carcass. The
measurement of the bridge be
tween the eyes was wide as the
length from a tall man’s nose to
the tip of his fingers.
Pan-Am Gets
First Of New
DC-6B Airliners
SEATTLE, IP—'The first of a
fleet of new DC - 6B transports
which Pan American World Air
ways will fly on its Seattle-Alaska
run arrived Thursday night. It’s
going to -be used for crew train
ing purposes. Regular flights in
the big new four-engined planes
are to begin January 24th.
Pan - Am says the new planes
will enable the firm to fly non
stop between Seattle and Fair
banks in six hours. And the new
flying time to Juneau will take
only four hours and 40 minutes,
with a stop at Ketchikan.
For the first few weeks of the
new service, the DC-6B flights
will be operated only three times
a week to Fairbanks and five
times a week to southeastern
Alaska.
Pan American says it is. ask
ing the CAB for a reduction in
fares from Seattle to Alaska. The
new fares — if approved — would
cut the cots of a ticket from Fair
banks to Seattle down from $90
to $80, and the Seattle - Juneau
fare from $55 to $53. If these new
fares are approved, they’ll be put
into effect Jan. 24.
Early Day Mayor of
Chicago Dies at Age 93
CHICAGO, CP—Carter H. Har
rison, 93, who was mayor of Chi
cago five terms and whose life
was an integral part of the city’s
stormy history, died Christmas
Day.
Harrison and his father—also
Carter H. Harrison — governed
Chicago for 22 of its first 72 years.
The family believed this was a
record unequalled anywhere in
the'country.
Harrison, a Democrat, also serv
ed as collector of inte-rnal revenue
from 1933 until 1944, when he
retired.
Wild boars imported from Eu
rope by sportsmen now run wild
in Tennessee, North Carolina and
California.
u
What Do You Know
About New Years?
1. Have Americans always had
their year begin on Jan. 1?
2. What is the Jewish New
Year called?
3. Is New Year’s Day a legal
holiday in all 48 states?
4. Why was the god Janus hon
ored in ancient Rome on the first
day of the year?
5. How do the Chinese celebrate
their New Year?
6. A major league baseball club
manager, an FBI executive and
at least two movie actors were
born on New eYar’s Day. Name
one.
7. What is the name of the cal
endar that restored Jan. 1 to its
position as New Year’s Day?
8. An old English New Year’s
custom was for husbands to give
their wives money to buy a year’s
supply of what household article?
9. Is it still the custom to give
gifts on New Year’s Day?
10. What is the Wassail bowl?
ANSWERS
1. No. American colonies’ years
began on March 25 until 1752
when England adopted the Gre
gorian calendar.
2. Rosh Hashapah. It falls be
tween Sept. 6 and Oct. 5.
3. Yes.
4. Janus, god of gates, had two
faces — one looking in the past,
the other in the future.
5. Firecrackers, parades.
6. Hank Greenberg, J. Edgar
Hoover, Dana Andrews, Charles
Bickford.
7. Gregorian calendar, in 1582.
8. Pins.
9. No.
10. Bowls of spiced ale around
which old English families gath
ered at New Year’s to drink each
other’s health. Wassail comes
from the old Saxon phrase “Wass
hael,” meaning “To your health.”
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