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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Imperialist Bastard V: Angutivuan Taina

"Angutivaun Taina"

Song of the Returning Hunter (Esquimaux)
"Quiquern"--The Second Jungle Book
Our gloves are stiff with the frozen blood,
Our furs with the drifted snow,
As we come in with the seal--the seal!
In from the edge of the floe.

Au jana! Aua! Oha! Haq!
And the yelping dog-teams go;
And the long whips crack, and the men come back,
Back from the edge of the floe!

We tracked our seal to his secret place,
We heard him scratch below,
We made our mark, and we watched beside,
Out on the edge of the floe.

We raised our lance when he rose to breathe,
We drove it downward--so!
And we played him thus, and we killed him thus,
Out on the edge of the floe.

Our gloves are glued with the frozen blood,
Our eyes with the drifting snow;
But we come back to our wives again,
Back from the edge of the floe!

Au jana! Aua! Oha! Haq!
And the loaded dog-teams go;
And the wives can hear their men come back,
Back from the edge of the floe!




When I first read the title, quickly, I thought it said "Antiguavan Tuna". I didn't understand why someone would cook guava and tuna together. I also didn't understand what the IB had against such a dish.

Then I reread the title. Now it makes even less sense.

But I like this. Google tells me it's a quite loose translation of an Inuit hunting song, which makes sense.

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