Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long BeforeTurner, George
History
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before
Turner, George
Islands of the Pacific -- Social life and customs; Samoan Islands
_Space_ had a long-legged seat. At another birth Cloudy heavens
brought forth a head. This was the head that was said to have fallen
from the heavens. Space set it up on his high stool and said to it, "O
beloved! be a son--be a second with me on the earth." Space started
back, for all of a sudden the body of a man-child was added to the
head. The child was sensible, and inquired who his father was. Space
replied, "Your father is yonder in the East, yonder in the West,
yonder towards the sea, and yonder in-land, yonder above and yonder
below." Then the boy said, "I have found my name, call me All the
sides of heaven." And from him sprang the four divisions, East, West,
North, and South. He grew up to manhood, went to the North, married
and had children. Went to the South, married and had children. Went to
the East, married and had children. Went to the West, married and had
children. He then went up to the heavens, and told all his children to
follow him.
4. The children of Ilu, _worm_, and Mamao, _distant,_ were:--
(1) Papa tu, or great rocks.
(2) Papa one, or sandy rocks.
(3) Papa ele, or earthy rocks.
(4) Masina, or the moon.
(5) La, or the sun.
(6) Sami, or the sea.
(7) Vai, or fresh water.
These were all sons, and then there were two daughters, the one named
Great wind and the other Gentle wind.
They all separated and lived apart, but the sea was shut up. Then the
children said, "Let the sea be set free and allowed to come out that
we may look at it." This was done, and then the three kinds of rocks
were flooded and died, but the sun and the moon fled to the heavens
and lived.
5. Fire and water married, and from them sprung the earth, rocks,
trees, and everything.
The cuttle-fish fought with the fire and was beaten. The fire fought
with the rocks, and the rocks conquered. The large stones fought with
the small ones; the small conquered. The small stones fought with the
grass, and the grass conquered. The grass fought with the trees; the
grass was beaten and the trees conquered. The trees fought with the
creepers, the trees were beaten and the creepers conquered. The
creepers rotted, swarmed with maggots, and from maggots they grew to
be men.
6. The god Tangaloa existed in space, but we do not know how or whence
he came. He wished some place to live in, and so he made the heavens.
He also wished to have a place under the heavens, and so he made the
Lalolangi, _under the heavens_, or the earth. Savaii was formed by a
stone rolled down from the heavens, Upolu by another. Other stories
say that they were drawn up from under the ocean by a fishing-hook. He
next made the Fee or cuttle-fish, and told it to go down under the
earth, and hence the lower regions of sea or land are called Sa le
feé, or sacred to the cuttle-fish. The cuttle-fish brought forth all
kinds of rocks, and hence the great one on which we live.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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