Memoirs of a Mohakin

A Mohakin-boy in the snow

Haku became impatient. He had already counted to four three times and still, no fish was biting. By now he didn't know how to kill time, after all, he only knew how to count to four! He breathed his boredom in a hot sigh on the smooth ice surface and watched the smallest water droplets transform into glittering crystals. Only recently he had discovered that liquid becomes solid when exposed to the cold for too long. He wondered whether he could have formed an entire ice sculpture with his spit, but held back as soon as he remembered his father's words.

"You must be very quiet and you must not move!"
"Why not?" Yurie had asked. Papa smiled at his two children and explained: "When you are restless, the fish get scared and won't bite anymore. Then we'll go home empty-handed and you won't want that."

No, Haku really did not want that. His mama was eagerly waiting to serve the community a delicious fish in the evening and he did not want to disappoint her. So he had to be very calm, even though he actually hated waiting. He would have much rather romped around, played with the Nokhois or thrown a snowball at his older sister. But he was already a big boy and big boys did not do that during the hunt. Should Haku hold his breath to give the fish a feeling of security? He pressed his lips together and pulled his face with concentration. How long could he remain in this position so rigidly? Did Humii who didn't have to breathe exist? Why did one have to breathe at all? And what about the fish? Did they breathe underwater? Haku could not believe that, because they had no noses!
The suppressed air accumulated in his lungs and lay heavily on his chest. Soon he would certainly have had to breathe again. With eyes wide open he glanced at his father. When papa was fishing, he was always very quiet and introverted. He stared thoughtlessly into the emptiness and did not move. Haku once asked him if he slept with his eyes open, but he replied that he listened to the fish. The boy did not believe that, as he could not hear anything. Not even when he was quiet as a mouse. Neither a bubble nor a splash. Maybe papa had just been embarrassed to admit that he had actually fallen asleep.
Haku turned to Yurie and saw that she was bored as well. She pressed her tongue against the inside of a tooth that had been sitting loosely for some time. Yurie had already lost several teeth in the past weeks, which shocked Haku. He believed that she had reached the end of her youth and would become an old granny. But then mama explained that it was quite normal for children to lose their baby teeth so that larger ones could grow back. After hearing this, Haku often pressed his tongue against the inside of his upper teeth, but couldn't find one that was even remotely loose. Suddenly, papa sat up and bent over the opening in the ice. The children immediately saw this as a reason to do the same and they searched the unclear waters for a clue to a successful catch. Haku could dimly see the outline of the wooden cage they had lowered into the water. It was quite large because papa prefered to pull several fish ashore at once rather than casting the hook for each one. At first, Haku thought he couldn't see anything. But then he caught the glimpse of a black, snake-like shadow swimming excitedly from one cage wall to another. Papa smiled confident and told his children to pull the fish ashore. Happy to have been given a task, at last, they jumped up and clasped tightly the ropes that had been attached to the ends of the wooden cage.

"On three," said papa and filled Haku with pride as he thought he could count further than his father.

"One, two, THREE!"
With every move, Haku moaned loudly to feel like a hunting man dragging huge prey into his boat with the greatest effort. With sparkling eyes he watched the brown edges of the cage appear between the ice floes. The children clapped in amazement when they saw that a giant Mogoi fish fought wildly for its freedom as soon as the cold air grazed its silver shimmering scales. Smaller specimens had also blurred into the trap, which would certainly have tasted good with mama's steamed dumplings or smoked yamaa meat. Haku's mouth watered and although he had eaten his fill at the breakfast table only a few hours ago, he was already hungry again.