The Blind Man and the Loon: The Story of a Tale

Appendix C: Knud Rasmussen’s Greenlandic Variants

191 Appendix C Knud Rasmussen’s Greenlandic Variants Knud Rasmussen collected ten Greenlandic (Group A) variants, but only two (SB 1375 and SB 1544) have been published to date, the former in Danish and the latter in English. The three texts that follow here are apparently the first in his collection ever to be published in Greenlandic (Kalaallisut). Texts have been transliterated into the new Kalaallisut orthography by Karolina Platou Jeremiassen (KPJ) of Nuuk and translated by her, then edited by Craig Mishler. In contrast to most Eskimo languages in Canada, Kalaallisut or Greenlandic is written with the Roman alphabet rather than the Inuktitut syllabary. For a detailed description of the orthography and a pronunciation guide, see http://www.omniglot.com/writing/greenlandic .htm. Respecting the look and feel of the longhand originals, we have not attempted to reconfigure these transcriptions from paragraphs into lines. The original page numbers are shown here in parentheses. 1. Oqaluttuaq utoqqannguamik Ulûak (SB 1496)1 Utoqqannguarooq paneqarlunilu erneqartoq, ukiilerpunngooq kisimiillutik, taamaallutinngooq taassuma utoqqannguup erni piniartigillualivillugu sinngagilerpaa: taamaallunigooq ernerata alissani iteqqumiittoq issingernialeraa arnaata piaaralugu isaasigut serparpaa tappingersillugulu. Qatanngutaatagooq arnap nalligingaaramiuk ullut tamaasa pisuttuuttarpaa, arnaataligooq taanna erninnguani piaaralugu immaarannguaq nerisittarpaa tassa sinngaginermit, najaataligooq arnamik terlinganit nerisittarpaa. Ilaannigooq ukiumi nanorsuup siornga meqqoqanngitsorsuup igalaannguatigut ameramininnguakkut itsuarpai, arnaatalu ernermi pisissia tigutippaa, namminerlu nanorsuarmut nalaartillugu, erneratalu pisissini qilugamiuk (page 1) APPENDIX C 192 piseriarpaa, pisorpallariallartoq arnaa oqarpoq: “Aa eqqut pisippat.” (Eqqut tassa umernerngup sinaakkutaa ameq) taannalu nanorsuaq uppeqaaq toqulluni. Taassumalu pisinnittup sianiginngilaa tappiitsuugami. Arnaatalu najaatalu amiialerpaat, naammassigamikku igalerput, qalammatalu taanna erninngua pilerpoq: “Sunaana sumit uusuarnersuaq naamavara.” Arnaata oqarfigaa: “Uilunnguinuku orsuutigissikkikka,” ernilu uilunnguanik tunillugu nerisassaanik , namminnerlu nanoq nerillugu. Ukiorsuaq taanna nanorsuaq nerisarilerpaat, taannalu nerisissanagu taassuminnga. Najannguatagooq nalligivallaaleraangamiuk tunuminut tigutilluni pisuttuuttarpaa , ilaannigooq upernalillaraa pisuttuaqatigalugu unillutik qummut qiviarniariartoq eqqorluinnarlugu (page 2) isaasigut anarpaat, anallarmani isini allarteriaramigit qaammaallalluni, kingullermik allarteriaramigit qangali ueratarpoq. Angerlaleramik najannguata oqaluttuutilerpaa nanorsuaq pisarigaa, namminnerlu nerisarigamikku oqarfigalugulu tappiitsuusaaginnaqqullugu tunumigullu tigutilluni ingerlappaa. Taamaalisimallugulu illuminnut eqquppaa arnartik igasoq nanuliorluni. Qalammata arnaata aasit uilunnguanik tunivaa nerisassaanik, aasit taanna oqalulerpoq: “Sumit una uusuarnersuaq naamavara?” Taamalu oqarluni nannup neqai uusut tikkuarpai. Aasiilli arnaa annilaangaarluni uisalerpoq oqarfigalugulu: “Tassa nannuttarsuarpit neqaa neriniarit.” Taannalu nerilerpoq naammatsilluaramilu aatsaat soraarpoq. (page 3) Upernallarmanngooq qilalukkat ingerlaalillarmata arni pilerpaa, alermik noqitsigiumallugu qeqqagut pitullugu avataralugu. Arnaata akueraa tamaanillu qilalukkat annersioramigit anginertarsuat naalippaa. Taannaqami arnaata noqquserpaa, kiisagooq artulersalerlugu arpasaqattaartalerpoq qaarsorsuakkut sissap tungaanut qilalugarsuullu nusullugu aallaruppaa, taannalu arnaa suaartaleqaaq: “Ulugaa kiputissaraa,” oqalukkaluaramilu tusarneqaqnngilaq, kiisalu qilalugarsuup nusullugu imaanut morsuuppaa, qilalugarsuarlu pueriartoq nuitsiariarluni allamik oqassanani: “Ulugaa kiputissaraa ,” kiisamigooq taamaalluni ipivoq. Taamaallaanngooq ernerata arni naalliutsimmani taamaalillugu akiniarpallarujaa. Naavoq. Oqaluttuartoq Sicelia Olsen allattoq Frederik Olsen. (page 4) APPENDIX C 193 1. A story about an old woman named Ulûak (SB 1496) Once there was an old woman who had a daughter and a son. They were going to stay over the winter all alone. Even though the old woman had the benefit of her son’s hunting, she became jealous of him. While her son tried to dry a piece of skin2 he took from the urine bucket, she purposely splashed him on his eyes with it, so he lost his sight. His sister felt sorry for him, and she walked with him every day. While his mother fed him just a little bit on purpose because of jealousy, his little sister gave him food whenever their mother turned her back. Once during the winter, a polar bear with no skin on its forehead looked inside through their little window, made of a piece of skin. So the mother took her son’s bow and handed it to her son, while she aimed at the polar bear. Her son straightened his bow and arrow (page 1) and shot the target. There was a falling noise, whereupon his mother said, “You hit the edge.” (The edge is the frame of their window, made of skin).3 Then that big bear fell down and died, but the one who shot the arrow didn’t know a thing, since he was blind. The mother and his sister started to take the skin off the bear. When they finished, they started to cook, and when the meat was cooked, the son said, “What is it I’m smelling? It smells like meat.” The mother answered, “It is just some common mussels,” and she gave her son a bit of mussel to eat, while she and her daughter ate the meat of the bear. Through the entire winter they ate the meat of the bear, but she never gave the son...