普通高中课程标准实验教科书英语选修高二下选修7 Unit 3 Under the sea - Reading task
Sedna was a beautiful young Inuit woman who lived alone offshore with her father. There were many hunters who wished to marry her but she refused them all. As Sedna's father was getting old and would soon need someone to look after Sedna, he became very angry and yelled at her,"You must acceot the next man who asks for your hand in marriage!"
The following day, a stranger approached in his canoe and Sedna's father dragged his daughter down to the shore. Once there he urged the hunter to marry her, saying that his daughter would make a good wife. The hunter replied that he had in fact come to ask Sedna to marry him. He promised to provide her with plenty of food, furs for clothes and blankets. Sedna looked at the man and, although his face was partly hidden in his furs, he appeared handsome enough. She agreed to marry him and he took her away in his canoe across the waters to his island.
When they arrived at the island, Sedna looked around and could see nothing except bare rock with a kind of nest made from seaweed, animal hair and feathers. She looked at her husband, shocked. Then she discovered, as he pulled the furs away from his face, that he was not a man, but a sea bird. No matter how angry she felt, she had no choice but to stay with him.
Time went by, but Sedna never became used to the bird man. She felt very unhappy in the relationship and spent her days crying and calling her father's name. In the meantime her father began to feel guilty about forcing his daughter to marry against her will. So as soon as her cries reached her father, he decided to go in search of her. He packed his canoe and paddled for days, ignoring strong tides and freezing water till he came to the island. When he arrived, the bird man was away hunting and Sedna was standing on the shore. He asked his daughter for forgiveness and helped her into the canoe. They set off for home.
Later that day, the bird man returned from fishing. Finding his wife was no longer there, he let out cries of anger and flew off in the direction of the canoe. He soon caught up with it and ordered the old man to give his wife back. When Sedna's father refused, he flapped his wings so hard that the calm water suddenly turned into huge waves.
Sedna's father was so scared that he grabbed Sedna and threw her into the sea, screaming, "Here she is, take her." Sedna, terrified, tried to hang on to the side of the canoe. But her father would not let her get back in. Grabbing his sharp knife, he cut off Sedna's fingers. As her fingers were sinking to the bottom of the ocean, they turned into seals, whales and other large sea mammals. And Sedna, when she could no longer fight to keep herself alive, sank to the bottom too, where she became the goddess of the sea.
It is said that Sedna has power over all the animals in the sea and that when she is angry, she keeps them away from the hunters. Because the Inuit depend on the sea for their survival, they believe they must show the sea goddess great respect. One of the ways a hunter does this is to drop fresh water into a seal's mouth after he catches it. He believes that this is showing respect for the animal and is also thanking Sedna for her kindness in allowing him to feed his family.
