Now there were two leading men in the settlement. The elder one had three sons, the younger two sons and a daughter. The two sons of the younger chief always returned home after hunting. Now the orphan boy would visit the different houses in order to get food. Whenever he entered the dance-house, the younger chief would tell him to sit in the back, and the people would then give him some food when it was distributed around. But whenever he went to the elder chief’s house, one of the sons would make scornful remarks, telling him that he was wearing his boots out, and that he was a burden because he had no one to hunt for him. The boy would wait for someone to give him a little food, but in vain; in the end, he would always leave empty-handed. But at the younger chief’s house he could always obtain some food, which he used to conceal under his clothes while he went on to another house. This was how he procured food for himself and his grandmother.

    One day the boy heard that the son of the younger chief had failed to return. So he asked his grandmother, “Grandmother, do you whether there are any other settlements in our neighbourhood?” “No,” the old woman answered, “I don’t know of any.” “The people in this place are a useless lot,” continued the boy; “The young men are afraid to go out and find out what is happening.” “What!” said his grandmother, “Do you think you could do any better than they?” And the boy answered, “Well, as long as I don’t encounter an invisible spirit, I at least shall not be killed.”

    The old woman had told him that she did not know whether there were any other settlements, but now, thinking that it did not matter much whether he escaped alive or not, she said to him, “There are people living on an island, and among them is a man named Inuqaqnailaq [meaning: “one with whom others cannot live,” i.e., a cut-throat]. If you travel eastward you will see the dark land-sky.”

    The boy merely said “Oh,” and went away to the younger chief’s house. “Chief,” he said, “I want to go and look for the man who killed your son, but I have no clothes.” The chief was weeping for the death of his son and did not hear him, so the boy spoke to him again. Then the man told his daughter to bring in some of his own clothes, and the girl went out and brought him in some new garments. But the boy said again, “I want some soft clothes as well.” The chief invited him to stay and eat, but he declined. However, the daughter gave him some good fawn-skin clothing, whereupon he took his departure towards evening, carrying his old clothes along with him.

    He journeyed by night, but one morning he examined the route ahead of him and travelled all that day, until towards evening he came upon men’s tracks in the snow, one following the other. He looked out to sea, and saw a dark land-sky, so, remembering his grandmother’s words, he travelled towards it. After a time he came in sight of land and stopped to put on his soft warm clothes. Then, leaving his other new suit behind, he continued his journey.

    As he drew near the island he heard people playing foot-ball, so be put on his old clothes. They saw him, and came running towards him, hallooing to one another, “There’s a man over there.” One was a long way ahead of the rest, and as soon as he came up he cried, “Oh, I thought the stranger was some fine-looking man and it’s this rascal.” The rest said the same when they came up. Then they all turned back to the settlement, the men merely walking, though the boy was compelled to run to keep up with them.

    One man came up to him and said, “What is it you want? You were all right in your home. You are not frozen, are you?” But the orphan asked him, “What his become of the chief’s son? That is what I came to find out.” “Inuqaqnailaq killed him the other day,” the other man replied. They were still talking on that subject when they reached the settlement. There the orphan put on his fine soft clothes, so that people said to one another, “That boy has fine clothes.” He told them that the chief had given them to him just as he wis leaving.

    One of the men then invited him over to his house to eat, and the boy accepted. Going inside, they found a woman cutting up black-skin [i. e. the skin of the whale]. She gave some of it to the boy, and he was still eating when two men called from outside, “Inuqaqnailaq wants to see the orphan.” “Very well,” the boy responded. These two men expressed great sympathy for him, and before he went over thy told him to be on his guard. The boy stood and watched them enter the house first, then entered himself and stood on the floor beside the door. Up on the platform, lying on top of the skins, were Inuqaqnailaq and his son, Savikpak. Inuqaqnailaq said to the boy, “I thought it was some fine-looking stranger who had come, and it’s this rascal. What idea did you have in mind that brought you?”

    The orphan told him that he wanted to find out what had become of the chief’s son, whereupon Inuqaqnailaq answered, “Oh, the dogs have eaten him, and they are going to eat you too.” “No,” said the boy, “It’s you and your son that they will eat.” “Indeed,” replied Inuqaqnailaq, “Wouldn’t our visitor become a great man if they did? But then orphan boys are taught to speak in that way. Come, let your fine talking help you now.” But the orphan breathed on the son, who was driven towards Inuqaqnailaq, and both men moved towards the knife. The son began to scream, and the orphan held them both off by the hair of their heads until it was all pulled out. He spoke to Inuqaqnailaq, upbraiding him and threatening to kill his son, so that Inuqaqnailaq began to weep and caught hold of the son. But the orphan hewed him to pieces, then pushed the father also against the knife, and cut off his head and hacked him to pieces.

    All the people in the settlement rejoiced. The orphan ate a little food, then set out for his home early in the morning. Everyone was afraid to approach him, for he was immensely powerful; in this contest with Inuqaqnailaq he had not exerted half his full strength. Following his old trail home, he reached his kinsmen, and told the chief that he had thrown the murderer of his son to the dogs to devour, whereupon the chief gave him his daughter in marriage. Her brother became much attached to him, and the family made him very wealthy. A few days afterwards they were joined by the inhabitants of the settlement he had just visited, and all lived together. The boy’s grandmother never went outside of her house.