In Fond Remembrance of Me by Howard Norman Page A

winter.

    The men stood on the deck of the boat. Then they saw a European man dressed in a white coat, but it wasn’t made of sealskin. “Hey—was that you shouting? Was that you sweeping ravens away?” a man said.
    â€œYes—get off my ark,” the man in the white coat said.
    â€œIs that what this boat is called?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat’s your name?” a villager said.
    â€œNoah.”
    â€œNoah,” the villager said, “you can’t blame ravens for coming around. That’s what they do. Ravens are curious. Every time a person paddles out in a kayak, ravens come by, to see if a fish is being caught or cleaned. They like the fish guts, for one thing. They’ll squabble right on a kayak, if fish guts are seen. Gulls, too. They beg for food. Hey, hey—what’s that smell?”
    â€œI have a lot of animals below deck,” this Noah said.
    â€œNoah, what kind of animals, Noah?” a villager asked. “Seals, white bear, ptarmigan?”
    â€œI don’t know those,” said Noah. “I don’t have those with me.”
    â€œWhere is your family?”
    â€œThey died.”
    â€œDid any of the animals kill them?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œHow did it happen, then?”
    â€œOne by one, they jumped from the ark and drowned.”
    â€œCome to our village, tell everyone what happened. We’ll find you a new wife. It’s winter now. You’ll starve out here.”
    â€œGo away. I’m staying on the ark.”
    â€œWell, can you eat the animals below deck?”

    â€œI won’t. Go away!”
    â€œNoah-no-family says go away,” a villager said. “All right, we’re off to hunt seals, then.”
    When they arrived at the seal grounds, they spread out and leaned over seal breathing-holes. Soon many ravens arrived. “We’re curious about the ark,” a raven said. “We’re all flying over to it.”
    â€œWatch for Noah’s broom, it’s got sharp bristles,” a man said.
    â€œWe heard about it,” a raven said.
    The ravens flew to the ark. A villager said, “Let’s hunt seals a few more days. Then we’ll go to the ark.”
    They caught seals, lashed them to their sleds, then went to the ark. When they got there they saw ravens swirling about. Some had broom bristles in their beaks. “Hey—hey—Noah!” a hunter shouted.
    â€œGet these birds out of here!” Noah cried. “I know you sent them!”
    â€œWe told you ravens are curious.”
    â€œGet them away from me!”
    â€œGive us some planks of wood, we’ll chase off the ravens,” a man said.
    â€œAll right,” said Noah.
    He pried off some planks. He dropped them to the ice. The hunters spoke to the ravens. Most of them flew off. “We know what it’s like having too many visitors,” a hunter called up to Noah. “One time all of my cousins stayed the winter, my wife’s cousins, too. But we took them in. It was winter. They were hungry.”
    With this, the hunters climbed up onto the ark. They started living there. They ate what animals they found on the ark. They liked the taste of some; they hated the taste of others. “This is good—this isn’t!” “This isn’t a bad place to live awhile,” one man
said. “Yes,” another man said, “we can visit our families easily, then come back out here. There’s unusual things to eat.” They settled in for a long visit.
    Finally, Noah said, “I’ll give you many more planks, go away.”
    â€œNo,” said a hunter. “Stop complaining. We’re not poking you with knives, we’re not poking you with ice chisels, we’re not making you get rid of our dogs’ fleas. Stop complaining. Sit and eat a meal with us.”
    Many days went by.
    Some colorful birds flew off, but otherwise the hunters ate most of the animals