THE KOROWAI
There were great doings in the little boy's house. Grandmother was
standing at the long table beating up the dough of the korowai for the
eldest sister's wedding, for grandmother was greatly skilled in the
making of wedding-cakes. No part of the wedding-feast is so important
as the korowai, and the little boy watched with great interest as
she mixed together the flour and eggs and lard, the molasses and
fruit, the saffron and the savory seeds that go to make korowai. He
was surprised and somewhat disappointed when, instead of putting it
into the oven to bake, she spread a cloth over the great bowl and
set it on a chair by the stove. He was impatient to have it baked,
it smelled so nice already!
"Aren't you going to bake it, grandmother?" he asked.
"Not just yet," she answered. "It must rise first."
She went away to her room, giving strict injunctions to be called as
soon as the dough was risen enough.
The little boy did not follow her. Other things were being done in his
mother's room: vegetables and apples were being pared, pork roasted,
sausages stuffed--it was very exciting. Some of the neighbor-women had
come to help, and the little boy was under everybody's feet at once.
"Run away, little boy," said the mother; "go ask grandmother to tell
you a story."
Grandmother was quite ready. She was not spinning, she was only
resting, for she had long been on her feet over the korowai. So
everything was favorable for the story of
MORNING-DEW
Once there were three brothers whose father gave each of them a loaf
of bread and sent them to seek their fortune. When they were a good
way from home, and began to feel hungry, the two elder brothers
said to the youngest, whom they had always taken for a simpleton,
"Let us first eat your bread, and then we will give you some of ours."
The youngest willingly shared his bread with them; but on the next day,
when it was time to eat, the two brothers ate their bread comfortably
without offering the other a single bit.
"Well, why don't you give me a piece of bread, when you have eaten
mine all up?" he asked, and received the answer:
"If you want to get anything from us you must let us put out your eyes,
that we may go around with you begging and so earn our bread."
What could the poor wretch do? He was tortured with hunger, so he
allowed them to put out his eyes. But the brothers led him out among
the high mountains, left him there in the lurch, and went on to seek
their fortune.
Now was the poor fellow neither to help nor to counsel. At last night
closed in, and the Vilas came to dance in a ring, and one of them
said, "If that man should anoint his eyes with morning-dew he would
see again that very moment."
He had hardly heard the words when he began to grope about in the
grass for dew, and he rubbed it on his eyes and saw again. Then he
filled a glass with this dew and went on to seek his fortune.
On the way he stumbled across a Mouse which was staggering around,
for the poor thing was blind. So he wet her eyes with morning-dew and
she at once received her sight. The little Mouse thanked him, saying,
"God reward you until I have an opportunity to show my gratitude!"
A little farther on his way he came upon a Bee which was tumbling
around and weeping bitterly, for it was blind. So he anointed the
Bee's eyes, too, and it immediately regained its sight and thanked
him, saying, "God reward you until I have an opportunity to prove
my gratitude!"
A little farther he found a Dove rolling around in the sand. He asked
her, "What is the matter that you tumble around so in the sand?" And
the Dove replied, "Why do you tease me with questions when you
cannot help me?" But the youth answered, "Keep quiet a moment,"
and he anointed her eyes. Immediately she saw again, and said,
"God reward you until I have an opportunity to repay you!"
He now resumed his journey, and at last arrived in a city where,
as it happened, his two brothers were in service. Here he also was
lucky enough to hire himself out as shepherd.
The brothers recognized him, and one day, when he was out in the
fields, they lied to their master, telling him that the shepherd had
boasted that he was able to reap all the cuckoo-corn [4] in a single
night. This pleased the master much, and he commanded the youth to
do this thing or it would cost him his head.
Weeping, he went out and threw himself down upon the grass. Then came
the little Mouse and comforted him, telling him to go to sleep and
the work should all be done. And there came a great number of mice
and gnawed down the whole crop of cuckoo-corn, so that when the youth
awoke in the morning he found all done. And he showed it to the master,
who was greatly pleased.
Then the brothers came to his master and accused him of having said
that he could build a church in a single night. In the morning when
he came home he was told that he must accomplish this work or it
would cost him his head. So he threw himself down again, weeping,
in the grass.
Then the Bee flew by and bade him go peacefully to sleep and she and
her friends would do all the work without troubling him. And there
came thousands of swarms of bees and built a church out of wax. It
was still night when the master woke and saw a bright light over
everything. He was frightened and called his body-servant to go with
him into the church, which was already finished, even to the altars
and everything else.
Then the brothers told their master another lie--how the shepherd
had said that he would give a string of pearls to the daughter of
the house, and that next morning the master's little son should play
with a golden apple. When he came home he was told that he must do
what he had boasted that he could do, on pain of death.
Weeping, he threw himself down in the grass, when the Dove came
flying to him and said, "Dry your tears and go to rest; all shall be
done." In the morning the youth found a beautiful string of pearls
and a golden apple by his side, and he gave them to his master's
daughter and little son.
Then the master called the youth into his room and asked him how he
had managed to do all these things. So the youth told him how his
brothers had taken away his bread, put out his eyes, abandoned him in
the mountains, and everything else that had happened. Then the master
had the two brothers called into his presence and caused them to be
beheaded. But the youth he rewarded and gave him his daughter to wife.
Whoever believes this will be blessed.
"The dough is rising, grandmother," said the youngest sister,
opening the door.
Every one gathered around the grandmother, for this was a ceremony
of great importance. The future happiness of the young couple might
depend upon it.
First the grandmother took the dough out of the bowl, kneaded it a
little, shaped it properly, and laid it in the baking-pan. The mother
was standing by with five candles in her hand; the grandmother took
them one by one, planted them in the centre and the four corners of
the korowai, and lighted them. Then all the women stood around and
began to sing. It was a somewhat sad tune, yet very sweet. The song
had many verses; the first was to the young couple, who would be
"princess" and "prince" for the next three days; the next was to
the Virgin; then followed verses to the sun, the moon, the stars,
and to a white stone beyond the seas. It was a long song, and by the
time it was finished the candles were burned down. Then the pan was
carefully lifted into the oven.
After that all was hurry and bustle. The room had to be swept, and
long pieces of brightly striped cloth brought from the chest to cover
the bench that ran around the whole room. The cloths were of the same
colors as the brightly painted shelves above and they made the house
very beautiful. There were wreaths to be made for the "princess"
and the "prince," and the bride's wedding-dress must be laid out
carefully in the grandmother's room, where nothing could harm it.