Kumak the Sleepy Hunter

[Music] In this far northern land, where all men must be hunters, there once lived a man who was always sleepy. His name was Kumak. [Music] The great hunters of the village caught many seals and caribou, but not poor Kumak. [Music] He couldn't even catch a wife. None of the girls wanted to marry a sleepy hunter. [Music] One spring day, Kumak, late as usual, set out to hunt. The other hunters were already returning with their catch. [Music] [Music] As he paddled slowly along in his kayak, someone called for help. [Music] Who could it be? [Music] The hours passed, and the poor bachelor was nowhere to be seen. The happy girls made fun of him. They thought he had fallen asleep in some far away place. But, they were wrong. [Music] Very early each morning, all summer long, while the people of the village were peacefully sleeping in their tents, Kumak prepared to go hunting. He was a changed man. [Music] Kumak had become the greatest hunter of all. And the girls began to fight over him. Kumak chose the prettiest one to be his wife. Then, he went back for his seal, [Music] so that he could ask her to share it with him. [Music] [Music] Winter came, and for a long time they lived very happily. Every day, Kumak went out hunting. There were always fresh seals to cut up. [Music] He caught more and more and more. [Music] "There were too many seals." [Music] "You catch too many." she told him. "Why do you catch so many?" "Tell me. Tell me why." she nagged. At last, he told her the story of his adventure. "That day out hunting, I bravely rescued a magic man whose kayak had upset. He offered me his hunting gear, but I didn't take it, because I was always too sleepy to hunt. [Music] Then, the magic man asked me to follow him to his home in the land below the sea. [Music] [Applause] [Music] He praised me and told his friends that I was the man who had saved his life. As a reward, I would always be able to catch seals whenever I wanted to. I was happy to think of myself as a mighty hunter. [Music] But, they said I must be careful never to tell anyone what had happened that day. And I agreed never to tell. For if I ever told, I would become my old sleepy self again." And so he did, for he slept even beside the seal hole. His wife had no more skins to patch their ragged clothing. [Music] So, she ran away from him. [Music] Kumak heard voices. His wife had found a fly, and they planned to tease Kumak. "This fly will be your wife." "I don't want her. I don't like her eyes." "Will I do?" said a mosquito. "No, you bite." said Kumak. He squeezed through the opening because he wanted to talk to his wife. But his terrible sleepiness overcame him once more. [Music] And he slept all winter long. [Music] At last, the noise of the young birds awakened the sleepy hunter. The world was happy again. But the skin of his kayak had rotted away during the winter. [Music] Kumak was even worse off than before. [Music] And it was all because of his wife's curiosity. [Music]