The Story of Keesh Page #2

"The Story of Keesh" by Jack London is a gripping short story set in the Arctic wilderness that follows the journey of a young Inuit boy named Keesh. After the death of his father, Keesh struggles to earn respect and prove himself to his tribe. When food becomes scarce due to a lack of successful hunting, he takes matters into his own hands, using his ingenuity and intelligence. Keesh devises an innovative approach to hunting that changes the dynamics of his community and showcases his resourcefulness. The story explores themes of courage, leadership, and the relationship between man and nature, highlighting the transformative power of innovation and determination.

								

meat he had brought on his back, and this was an overwhelming argument
against their unbelief. So they finally departed, grumbling greatly
that in all probability, if the thing were so, he had neglected to
cut up the carcasses. Now in the north it is very necessary that
this should be done as soon as a kill is made. If not, the meat
freezes so solidly as to turn the edge of the sharpest knife, and a
three-hundred-pound bear, frozen stiff, is no easy thing to put upon a
sled and haul over the rough ice. But arrived at the spot, they found
not only the kill, which they had doubted, but that Keesh had quartered
the beasts in true hunter fashion, and removed the entrails.

Thus began the mystery of Keesh, a mystery that deepened and deepened
with the passing of the days. His very next trip he killed a young bear,
nearly full-grown, and on the trip following, a large male bear and his
mate. He was ordinarily gone from three to four days, though it was
nothing unusual for him to stay away a week at a time on the ice-field.
Always he declined company on these expeditions, and the people
marvelled. "How does he do it?" they demanded of one another. "Never
does he take a dog with him, and dogs are of such great help, too."

"Why dost thou hunt only bear?" Klosh-Kwan once ventured to ask him.

And Keesh made fitting answer. "It is well known that there is more meat
on the bear," he said.

But there was also talk of witchcraft in the village. "He hunts with
evil spirits," some of the people contended, "wherefore his hunting is
rewarded. How else can it be, save that he hunts with evil spirits?"

"Mayhap they be not evil, but good, these spirits," others said. "It is
known that his father was a mighty hunter. May not his father hunt with
him so that he may attain excellence and patience and understanding? Who
knows?"

None the less, his success continued, and the less skilful hunters were
often kept busy hauling in his meat. And in the division of it he was
just. As his father had done before him, he saw to it that the least
old woman and the last old man received a fair portion, keeping no more
for himself than his needs required. And because of this, and of his
merit as a hunter, he was looked upon with respect, and even awe; and
there was talk of making him chief after old Klosh-Kwan. Because of the
things he had done, they looked for him to appear again in the council,
but he never came, and they were ashamed to ask.

"I am minded to build me an igloo," he said one day to Klosh-Kwan and
a number of the hunters. "It shall be a large igloo, wherein Ikeega
and I can dwell in comfort."

"Ay," they nodded gravely.

"But I have no time. My business is hunting, and it takes all my time.
So it is but just that the men and women of the village who eat my meat
should build me my igloo."

And the igloo was built accordingly, on a generous scale which
exceeded even the dwelling of Klosh-Kwan. Keesh and his mother moved
into it, and it was the first prosperity she had enjoyed since the
death of Bok. Nor was material prosperity alone hers, for, because of
her wonderful son and the position he had given her, she came to be
looked upon as the first woman in all the village; and the women were
given to visiting her, to asking her advice, and to quoting her wisdom
when arguments arose among themselves or with the men.

But it was the mystery of Keesh's marvellous hunting that took chief
place in all their minds. And one day Ugh-Gluk taxed him with witchcraft
to his face.

"It is charged," Ugh-Gluk said ominously, "that thou dealest with evil
spirits, wherefore thy hunting is rewarded."

"Is not the meat good?" Keesh made answer. "Has one in the village yet
to fall sick from the eating of it? How dost thou know that witchcraft
be concerned? Or dost thou guess, in the dark, merely because of the
envy that consumes thee?"

And Ugh-Gluk withdrew discomfited, the women laughing at him as he
walked away. But in the council one night, after long deliberation, it
was determined to put spies on his track when he went forth to hunt, so
that his methods might be learned. So, on his next trip, Bim and Bawn,
two young men, and of hunters the craftiest, followed after him, taking
care not to be seen. After five days they returned, their eyes bulging
and their tongues a-tremble to tell what they had seen. The council was
hastily called in Klosh-Kwan's dwelling, and Bim took up the tale.

"Brothers! As commanded, we journeyed on the trail of Keesh, and
cunningly we journeyed, so that he might not know. And midway of the
first day he picked up with a great he-bear. It was a very great bear."

"None greater," Bawn corroborated, and went on himself. "Yet was the
bear not inclined to fight, for he turned away and made off slowly over
the ice. This we saw from the rocks of the shore, and the bear came
toward us, and after him came Keesh, very much unafraid. And he shouted
harsh words after the bear, and waved his arms about, and made much
noise. Then did the bear grow angry, and rise up on his hind legs, and
growl. But Keesh walked right up to the bear."

"Ay," Bim continued the story. "Right up to the bear Keesh walked. And
the bear took after him, and Keesh ran away. But as he ran he dropped a
little round ball on the ice. And the bear stopped and smelled of it,
then swallowed it up. And Keesh continued to run away and drop little
round balls, and the bear continued to swallow them up."

Exclamations and cries of doubt were being made, and Ugh-Gluk expressed
open unbelief.

"With our own eyes we saw it," Bim affirmed.

And Bawn--"Ay, with our own eyes. And this continued until the bear
stood suddenly upright and cried aloud in pain, and thrashed his fore
paws madly about. And Keesh continued to make off over the ice to a safe
distance. But the bear gave him no notice, being occupied with the
misfortune the little round balls had wrought within him."

"Ay, within him," Bim interrupted. "For he did claw at himself, and
leap about over the ice like a playful puppy, save from the way he
growled and squealed it was plain it was not play but pain. Never did I
see such a sight!"

"Nay, never was such a sight seen," Bawn took up the strain. "And
furthermore, it was such a large bear."

"Witchcraft," Ugh-Gluk suggested.

"I know not," Bawn replied. "I tell only of what my eyes beheld. And
after a while the bear grew weak and tired, for he was very heavy and
he had jumped about with exceeding violence, and he went off along the
shore-ice, shaking his head slowly from side to side and sitting down
ever and again to squeal and cry. And Keesh followed after the bear,
and we followed after Keesh, and for that day and three days more we
								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes