Extrait du livre Heart of whale
Heart of whale Pascale Vignali Illustrated by Justine Cunha Le Regard Sonore Editions
There was once an icy country at the very top of the earth… called the Arctic. When the long arctic winter finally gave way to a very short summer, the ice would reveal a colorful carpet of flowers and soft grass. This is when the Inuit men would go fishing in the Ocean to stock up on fish and get ready for the next winter ...
One day, a fisherman named Outek was worried because fishing was difficult. The schoals of fish seemed to escape his nets and the only salmon or herring he caught were so small that he took pity on them and put them back in the sea ... This would anger his wife Padmout :
PADMOUT : You think you can play the great lord and let the small fish go ! But, what good is there in having a heart big as a whale if your children are hungry? You better catch enough fish to feed our family this winter ... Your generosity will not fill our plates! Padmout was not a bad woman but her hard life and worries had gradually tarnished her mood. Sullen as a dark sky, her face always seemed overcast …
The next morning, at dawn, Outek took out his boat. He sailed between the ice blocks, peering at the water’s surface, looking for signs of the presence of fish when something on the coast caught his eye. In front of the tundra dunes, he saw a long beach of earth and stones, on which sat a huge shiny black rock. OUTEK : I wonder how that rock came to be on the beach ! There was nothing here yesterday, I'm sure …
He rowed to the shore, jumped out of the boat ... and went to touch the shiny stone ... The rock opened an eye the size of a man. Outek jumped back : a bowhead whale ! OUTEK : Quick ! my spear ! I do not know how this whale ended up here, but I am sure it will fill our food stocks for the entire year. What luck ! Padmout won’t believe it !!!!
A smooth voice stopped him at once : WHALE : Don’t kill me, fisherman ! Outek turned around. The whale was staring at him: WHALE : Winter was long… I am almost one hundred years old... I came with the tide to rest a moment on the beach and I fell asleep. And here I am stranded, doomed if you do not help me ...
