An old hunter empties his three storehouses of food after a prophetic dream, disregarding his wife’s protests. When hunger strikes, they desperately search for scraps. A fly lands on their meager soup, leading to a comical confrontation where the wife is killed by her husband’s hatchet. He then chokes on a fish bone and dies.
Source
Tales of Yukaghir, Lamut, and Russianized Natives of Eastern Siberia
by Waldemar Bogoras
The American Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Papers, Vol. 20, Part 1
New York, 1918
► Themes of the story
Prophecy and Fate: The old man’s actions are driven by a prophetic dream about impending death, influencing his decisions and leading to the story’s tragic outcome.
Tragic Flaw: The old man’s impulsive and irrational behavior, stemming from his dream, serves as a tragic flaw that brings about the demise of both himself and his wife.
Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts lessons on the dangers of impulsive decisions, the importance of prudence, and the repercussions of not valuing one’s resources.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Yukaghir people
Told by Marie Shkuleff, a Russian creole girl, in the village of Pokhotsk, the Kolyma country, summer of 1895.
There was an old man and an old woman. The old man was a good hunter: so he filled three large storehouses with the game he killed. One storehouse was full of reindeer and elks, another of seals and walrus, and a third was full of fish. They had plenty to eat. One morning he awoke, and said to his wife, “Listen, old woman! I dreamed last night that we were going to die. If this is so, then there is no need of all these stores of food. I want you to go to the first storehouse and throw all the food out to the ravens and the crows.” The old woman refused; but he was so angry that she finally went and did as she was bidden. She worked all day long, and was very tired. Then she went back to the old man. The next day she emptied another storehouse; and the next day she emptied the third one, and threw all the fish back into the water. “Let us swim off,” said the old man. The fish, however, was dead and dry, so it could not swim.
► Continue reading…
The following morning they awoke quite early. Neither was dead; and, moreover, both felt very hungry, but all their food was gone. “Ah!” said the old man, “You, old woman, go to the storehouses and look among the rubbish. Perhaps you will find some scraps.” The old woman really found some scraps, and brought them home. A few of them were reindeer meat, others were seal blubber, and a third kind were some heads of dried fish. They put all this into a large kettle and prepared a soup. They ate of it. All at once a fly settled on the brim of the kettle. Oh! both felt alarmed. The old woman seized her culver-tail, and the old man a hatchet, and both attacked that nasty fly. The old woman struck at it with the culver-tail, and overthrew the kettle. The old man threw his hatchet at it, but the hatchet hit the old woman and broke her head. She fell down dead. The old man ate the remainder of the soup, and a fish bone stuck in his throat of which he also died.
The end.
Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page
Dreamtime Whispers 