harpoons strike forever in the darkness!" Maisanguaq replied
rancorously. "May the wrath of the spirits descend upon him!"

"May Ootah's tongue fasten to his mouth--may it be as the tongues of
dead _ahmingmah_ (musk oxen)," chanted Sipsu. "May he never speak--may
Annadoah never hear his voice," chorused Maisanguaq.

"May Ootah lose his _pungo_ (dogs); may they all die!"

Maisanguaq, caught by the evil contagion, began to sway his body in
rhythm to the weird dance.

"May Ootah become a cripple! May he break his bones! May he lie
helpless for years! May his shadow leave him! May he suffer with the
greatest of all pains!"

As he uttered this terrible curse, desiring that Ootah's shadow,
wherein exists the soul, might depart from his still-living body, and
thus cause the most excruciating bodily anguish, Sipsu sank exhausted
to the ground. He writhed in a paroxysm.

"May Ootah die slowly; may his legs die, may his hands die--yea, may
the spirits of his body be severed from one another as ice fields in
the breaking; may the spirit of his hands, the spirit of his feet, the
spirit of his lungs, the spirit of his head, the spirit of his heart
wander apart--may they be torn asunder as the clouds in a storm! May
they wander apart forever seeking and may they never find themselves!
May Ootah suffer as never suffered the unhappy dead!"

And Maisanguaq's deep voice growled hatefully: