The story of the seal hunter whose name was in Eskimo “the person who tries to do useful things but rarely succeeds thanks Gods he is very stubborn” – Per in short- yes, this story seemed to come to an end when he came to a certain age and had to be retired. This was the end for him; however it is a historical fact that Per has converted this end in a kind of new beginning even more beginnings.
In the Eskimo language and traditional social practice. to retire is an imperative verb, very imperative. It is well known that the Eskimo retirement best practice is the model (slightly hidden model) for many other countries. It is based on senilicide and this seems to be cruel, however the Eskimos have always lived with very few resources, for them the Deep Crisis (toward which we all are marching now like cattle to the slaughterhouse) was the normal state of affairs. They have 86 words for snow and 111 words for austerity!
The old people were aware of their uselessness and have not protested much- senilicide was kind of assisted suicide. Please, before condemning this in the name of moral principles, accept that it is not as bad as the eternal and ubiquitous wars, wars being mainly juventicides.
OK one day Per the expert seal hunter who was not a relative of the tribal chief and the shaman did not liked him at all when he arrived to the fatal age- he was immediately retired. Only the very naïve don’t know that privileges are much more important than the rights.
The stubborn old seal hunter when put in an obsolete boat and sent to the endless ice - Cold Ocean to starve and disappear has used a lot of tricks and has survived. What’s more, he succeeded to arrive to a whaler ship and, became a whale hunter.
In October 1999 I have received my first monthly pension, a bit less then 100 $. The perspective was dim to live in very modest conditions and to be scared to death by any damned bill- for
heat, power, phone, other expenses- to be a pariah, a poor man in a rich country. From 2000 to 2010 I had main job- journalism plus secondary jobs and have practiced diverse forms of consultancy. I learned web-search and have succeeded to steadily improve my financial situation. The times have also improved- till 2007-2008…
The former seal hunter has enjoyed his new profession and has
been noticed in the board journal with 437 whales. The captain
of the whaler having a peculiar idea about effectiveness and efficiency has changed the whale killing methods and our old hunter had to leave the ship. But he was rich enough to buy his own boat and now he still navigates.
What’s more and it is a miracle- Per has joined the fleet of the hunters who know (as he also had known for many years): that Melville’s Moby Dick does not exist however there is a
World’s Most Elusive Whale and this will be found and hunted soon, very soon. And this will be a Great Day; the old hunter hopes to be still alive then.
Are they seals or whales in the Styx and the other 5 or 6 rivers of a personal Hades?
Peter
P.S. I have a special relationship with metaphors; I hate them actually (because they are so easily abused) but I am using them excessively. In this metaphor CV story above- seals and whales are problems.
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