In a small village by the tundra lakes, the people were getting ready for spring. Everyone was busy fixing sleds, cleaning their guns, and fixing nets. Everyone except for two youngins, Utteryuk and Qakurtaq. They were always joking around, sleeping late and saying, “Why work so hard? The animals will come to us when they're ready.”

 Their maurluq, an old woman named Ayaq, watched them from her porch. She was known in the village for her wisdom and humor. One morning, she called them, “Tutgaraagka. Qaku uqurciiqcetek qaa?”  The boys laughed. Utteryuk said, “Maurluq, you worry too much”.  Qakurtaq said “Unuaqu pissurciqukuk. The ice isn’t even ready yet.” Ayaq smiled and went back inside the house.

That night when the youngins were snoring, Ayaq woke up early. She took old sealskins, stuffed them with snow, and put them near the river, then she went back and waited by her window.

When the sun came up, it was all sunshine and rainbows. Qakurtaq and Utteryuk walked out of the house and Utteryuk said “Look! Seals came to us just like we said!” They grabbed cavgegkek and ran as fast as they could. They both threw their cavek once it hit the fake seal they realized it was fake.

Ayaq came out clapping her hands, laughing so hard she almost fell.  Utteryuk looked at Qakurtaq embarrassed, while Qakurtaq was smiling. One of them said “Maurluq you tricked us!” and the other just stood there staring at the fake seal. Ayaq wiped her tears of laughter and said “No you tricked yourselves. You waited for food to come to you instead of going to it.”

The next day they finally got started on their things. They fixed their sled and net, packed food, and joined the other hunters. When they came back, they dragged Issurik across the ice, Ayaq only nodded and said, "Now those ones won't melt."

After that day, they woke up before sunrise and helped chop ice for drinking water. They even brought their maurluq dry willow branches for her fire; she said, “I wonder who you two are. My grandsons used to sleep until the sun was high."

A few days later, they went out to the mouth of the river where the ice was breaking up. They worked hard, setting their net under the ice. It was cold, the current was strong, and their hands went numb, but they didn’t complain. When they got done, they built a small igloo and rested.