Quiquern by Rudyard Kipling. Short summary

5 seconds

An account of Eskimo life and the trials endured by the courageous teenager Kotuko and his dog, who saved the village from starvation.

1 minute

Fourteen-year-old Inuit Eskimo Kotuko was a smart and brave boy. As a child he was given a puppy, which the boy asked to be named after him. Thus Katuko Jr. came into their family.

In one winter, Katuko’s family had to shelter four widows whose husbands had died and a teenage girl. Food was in great demand, and Kotuko and his dog were always hunting. The winter was harsh and famine came to the Eskimo village. In addition, the dogs began to get sick: first Katuko Junior ran away, then the leader of the sled. Kwikwerne, the ghost of a dog with eight paws, began to appear in the village.

A shaman came to Kotuko’s father and told him that the boy must go to the spirits of the rocks to get food for the people of the village. A girl who lived with them volunteered to go with Kotuko. The teenagers were caught in a heavy blizzard and suddenly Quickwerne appeared to them. But the ghost turned out to be Katuko Junior and the leader, who became entangled in the harness. The dogs took the children to the seal rookery and the boys saved the village from starvation.