falsehood. Okikurumi cut the rope, and, after a long time, managed to
reach the land. Then he revived Samayunguru, who had been dead. And
afterwards the shark died and was washed ashore at the river-mouth of
Saru; and the tip of the harpoon made half of iron and half of bone had
stuck in its flesh; and it had felt in its body the reverberation of the
hammering of the iron and the scraping of the bone; and in its skin were
growing the _rasupa_-tree and the _shiuri_-tree of which the
spear-handle used by Okikurumi was made, and the _hai_-grass by which
the tip of the harpoon was tied to the body of it, and the _nipesh_-tree
of which the rope tying the harpoon itself was made; and even the
carrion-crows and the dogs and foxes would not eat the bad shark, but
only voided their foeces upon him; and at last he rotted away to
earth.
Therefore take warning, oh! sharks of the present day, lest you die as
this shark died!--(Written down from memory. Told by Ishanashte, 24th
November, 1886.)
III.--TALES OF THE PANAUMBE AND PENAUMBE CYCLE.[D]
xxviii.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, and the Weeping Foxes._
There were Panaumbe and Penaumbe. Panaumbe went down to the bank of a
river, and called out: "Oh! you fellows on the cliff behind yonder
cliff! Ferry me across!" They replied: "We must first scoop out a boat.
Wait for us!" After a little while Panaumbe called out again. "We have
no poles," said they; "we are going to make some poles. Wait for us!"
After a little longer, he called out a third time. They replied thus:
"We are coming for you, Wait for us!" Then the boat started,--a big boat
all full of foxes.
So Panaumbe, having first seized hold of a good bludgeon, feigned dead.
Then the foxes arrived, and spoke thus: "Panaumbe! You are to be pitied.
Were you frozen to death, or were you starved to death?" With these
words, all the foxes came up close to him, and wept. Thereupon Panaumbe
brandished his bludgeon, struck all the foxes, and killed them. Only one
fox did he let go, after breaking one of its legs. As for the rest,
having killed them all, he carried them home to his house, and grew very
rich [by selling their flesh and their skins].
Then Penaumbe came down to him, and spoke thus: "Whereas you and I were
both equally poor, how did you kill such a number of foxes, and thereby
become rich?" Panaumbe replied: "If you will come and dine with me, I
will instruct you." But Penaumbe at once said: "I have heard all about
it before." With these words he pissed against the door-sill, and went
out.
Descending to the bank of the river, he called, crying out as Panaumbe
had done. The reply was: "We are going to make a boat. Wait for us!"
After a little while, he called out again. They replied: "We are going
to make the poles. Wait for us!" After a little longer, they started,--a
whole boatful of foxes. So Penaumbe first feigned dead. Then the foxes
arrived, and said: "Penaumbe here is to be pitied. Did he die of cold?
or did he die from want of food?" With these words, they all came close
to Penaumbe and wept. But one fox among them, a fox who limped, spoke
thus: "I remember something which once happened. Weep at a greater
distance!" So all the foxes sat and wept ever further and further away.
Penaumbe was unable to kill any of those foxes; and, as he brandished
his bludgeon, they all ran away. He did not catch a single one, and he
himself died a miserable death.--(Literal translation. Told by
Ishanashte, 23rd July, 1886.)
[D] Panaumbe means "the person on the lower course of the stream."
Penaumbe means "the person on the upper course of the stream." Conf.
Aino "Memoir," p. 28.
xxix.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, the Fishes, and the Insects._
There were Panaumbe and Penaumbe. Panaumbe went down to the sea-shore,
squatted on the sand, pulled up his clothes, and, turning his back to
the sea, opened his anus as widely as possible. Then all the whales and
the salmon and the other good fishes, both great and small, thought it
was a beautiful cavern in the rocks. They all swam towards it, and
crowded into it. Panaumbe was much pleased. When his inside was quite
full, he closed his anus and ran home. When he got to the house, he
closed the door and the window. Then he opened his anus again, and let
out all the whales and the salmon and the other good fishes, both great
and small, so that the whole house was full of them. They could not swim
away, because the door and window were shut. So Panaumbe caught them
all. Some he ate, and some he sold. So he became a very rich man.
Then Penaumbe came down, and spoke thus: "You were poor before. Now you
are very rich. How have you managed to get so rich?" Panaumbe said:
"Come and dine with me. I can instruct you while we are eating." So,
when Panaumbe had told Penaumbe how he had become rich, Penaumbe said:
"I knew that before." With these words, he pissed against the threshold,
and went out,--down to the sea-shore. Then he did as Panaumbe had told
him, and opened his anus as wide as possible towards the sea. Then he
felt all the whales and salmon and the other fishes, both great and
small, crowding in. When his inside was quite full, he closed his anus,
and ran home very quickly. When he got to the house he closed the door
and the window, and stopped up even the smallest chinks. Then he opened
his anus again, and let out all the whales and salmon, and the other
good fishes, both great and small, so that the whole house was full of
them. But when they came out, what had felt like whales and salmon, and
all sorts of fishes, were really wasps and horse-flies and spiders and
centipedes, and other poisonous insects, which stung him terribly. They
could not get out, because Penaumbe had closed the window and the door,
and had stopped up even the smallest chinks. So Penaumbe was stung to
death by the wasps and centipedes and other poisonous insects which had
come home in his inside.--(Written down from memory. Told by Kannariki,
June, 1886.)
xxx.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, and the Sea-Lion._
There were Panaumbe and Penaumbe. Panaumbe went down to the sea-shore,
and walked up and down upon the sand. Then he saw a sea-lion in the
water. He wanted to catch that sea-lion, and eat its flesh. So he called
out to it: "Oh! Mr. Sea-Lion, if you will come here, I will pick the
lice out of your head." The sea-lion was very glad to have the lice
picked out of its head. So it swam to him. Then he pretended to pick the
lice out of its head. But in reality he picked the flesh off its head,
and the fat, and ate it. Then he said: "All the lice are picked off. You
may go." After the sea-lion had swum a short way, it put its paw up to
its head, in order to see whether the lice had really all been taken
off. Then it felt that its flesh and fat were all gone, and that only
the bones remained. So it was very angry, and swam back quickly towards
the shore, to catch Panaumbe and kill him.
Panaumbe, when he saw the sea-lion pursuing him, ran inland towards the
mountains. After running some time, he reached a place where the path
divided. An old crow was perching on a tree there, and said: "Right or
left! right or left! I see a clever man." The road to the right was
broad, and the road to the left was narrow, because it was in a valley
which ended in a point. Panaumbe thought thus: "If I take the broad path
to the right, the sea-lion will overtake me, and kill me. But if I take
the narrow path to the left, he will run so fast that he will get stuck
at the end of the narrow valley, and I, being small, can slip out
between his legs, and beat in his head from behind, and kill him." So
Panaumbe ran along the narrow path to the left, and the sea-lion pursued
him. But the sea-lion ran so heedlessly and quickly that it got stuck at
the end of the narrow valley. Then Panaumbe slipped out between the
sea-lion's legs, and beat in his head from behind, and killed him, and
took home his flesh and his skin. Then Panaumbe became very rich.
Afterwards Penaumbe came down to him, and said: "You and I were both
poor. How is it that you are now so rich?" Panaumbe said: "If you will
come and dine with me, I will instruct you." So they went together to
Panaumbe's house, where Panaumbe's mother, and his wife and children,
were eating the flesh of the sea-lion. But Penaumbe, when he had heard
what Panaumbe had done, said: "I knew that before." Then he stepped in
the dishes set before Panaumbe's mother and wife and children, and spilt
their food. Then he pissed on the threshold, and went away.
Penaumbe went down to the sea-shore, and saw a sea-lion, as Panaumbe had
done. He called out to the sea-lion: "Oh! Mr. Sea-Lion, if you will come
here, I will pick the lice out of your head." So the sea-lion swam to
him. Then Penaumbe pretended to pick the lice out of its head. But in
reality he picked the flesh and the fat off its head, and left nothing
but the bones. The sea-lion felt a little pain, but thought that it was
owing to the lice being picked out. So, when Penaumbe had finished
picking and eating the flesh off its head, it swam away. But afterwards,
feeling the pain more sharply, the sea-lion put its paw up to its head,
and found that nothing but bone was left. So it was very angry, and swam
back quickly towards the shore, to catch Penaumbe and kill him.
Penaumbe, when he saw the sea-lion pursuing him, ran inland towards the
mountains. After running some time, he reached the place where the path
divided. The old crow, which was perching on the tree, said: "Left or
right! left or right! I see a fool." Penaumbe took the broad road to the
right, in order to be able to run more easily. But the sea-lion ran more
quickly than he could, and caught him and ate him up. Then Penaumbe
died. But if he had listened to advice he might have become a rich man
like Panaumbe.--(Written down from memory. Told by Kannariki, June,
1886.)
xxxi.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, and the Lord of Matomai_.[E]
Panaumbe wanted very much to become rich. For this reason, he stretched
his penis across to the town of Matomai. Then the lord of Matomai spoke
thus: "This is a pole sent by the gods; so it will be well to dry all
the clothes upon it." So all the clothes and beautiful garments were
dried. After a time Panaumbe drew back his penis, and all those clothes
and beautiful garments came sticking to it. His house was greatly
benefited. He became a very rich man.
Afterwards Penaumbe came down and said: "My dear Panaumbe, what have you
done to become so rich?" Panaumbe said: "Come and eat, and I will tell
you." Afterwards Penaumbe said: "This is the thing I intended to do.
Abominable Panaumbe! bad Panaumbe! you have forestalled me." With these
words, he pissed on the threshold, and went out. Then he went down to
the sea-shore, and stretched his penis across the sea to Matomai. The
lord of Matomai said: "This is a pole sent by the gods. It will be well
to dry all the clothes and beautiful garments upon it." For this reason,
all the clothes and beautiful garments were brought down, and put upon
the divine pole. Penaumbe wanted to become rich quickly by drawing back
his penis. So he drew it back quickly. The divine pole moved, and the
lord of Matomai spoke thus: "It happened thus before. There was a pole
sent by the gods. For this reason the clothes and beautiful garments
were dried upon it. Then a thief stole the divine pole away. We all
became poor. Now again our clothes and beautiful garments have been
placed upon a pole. Now there seems to be a thief again. Quickly cut the
divine pole." For that reason the servants of the lord all drew their
swords. They cut the divine pole, and all the clothes and beautiful
garments were taken. Penaumbe was left with only half a penis. He drew
it in. Then he had nothing. Then he became very poor. If Penaumbe had
listened to Panaumbe's advice, he might have had food to eat, he might
have become rich. But he did not like to listen to advice. For this
reason he became poor.--(Translated literally. Original communicated by
Mr. John Batchelor, June, 1886; also printed in "Aino Memoir," p. 133,
but with the indecent expressions softened down.)
[E] The Aino pronunciation of _Matsumae_. Matsumae is a town in the
south of Yezo. The lord or _Daimyo_ resident there was formerly the
chief Japanese authority in the country.
xxxii.--_Drinking the Sea dry._
There was the Chief of the Mouth of the River and the Chief of the Upper
Current of the River. The former was very vainglorious, and therefore
wished to put the latter to shame, or to kill him by engaging him in the
attempt to perform something impossible. So he sent for him, and said:
"The sea may be a useful thing, in so far as it is the original home of
the fish which come up the river. But it is very destructive in stormy
weather, when it beats wildly upon the beach. Do you now drink it dry,
so that there may be rivers and dry land only. If you cannot do so, then
forfeit all your possessions." The other (greatly to the vainglorious
man's surprise) said: "I accept the challenge."
So, on their going down together to the beach, the Chief of the Upper
Current of the River took a cup, and scooped up a little of the
sea-water with it, drank a few drops, and said: "In the sea-water itself
there is no harm. It is some of the rivers flowing into it that are
poisonous. Do you therefore first close the mouths of all the rivers
both in Aino-land and in Japan, and prevent them from flowing into the
sea, and then I will undertake to drink the sea dry." Hereupon the Chief
of the Mouth of the River felt ashamed, acknowledged his error, and gave
all his treasures to his rival.--(Written down from memory. Told by
Ishanashte, 18th November, 1886.)
IV.--MISCELLANEOUS TALES.
xxxiii.--_The Island of Women._
In ancient days, an Aino chieftain of Iwanai went to sea in order to
catch sea-lions, taking with him his two sons. They speared a sea-lion,
which, however, swam off with the spear sticking in its body. Meanwhile
a gale began to blow down from the mountains. The men cut the rope which
was fast to the spear. Then their boat floated on. After some time, they
reached a beautiful land. When they had reached it, a number of women in
fine garments came down from the mountains to the shore. They came
bearing a beautiful woman in a litter. Then all the women who had come
to the shore returned to the mountains. Only the one in the litter came
close to the boat, and spoke thus: "This land is woman-land. It is a
land where no men live. It being now spring, and there being something
peculiar to this country of mine you shall be taken care of in my house
until the autumn; and in the winter you shall become our husbands. The
following spring I will send you home. So now do you bear me to my
house."
Thereupon the Aino chief and his sons bore the woman in the litter to
the mountains. They saw that the country was all like moorland. Then the
chieftainess entered the house. There was a room there with a golden
netting, like a mosquito-net. The three men were placed inside it. The
chieftainess fed them herself. In the day-time numbers of women came in.
They sat beside the golden mosquito-net, looking at the men. At
nightfall they went home. So gradually it got to be autumn. Then the
chieftainess spoke as follows, "As the fall of the leaf has now come,
and as there are two vice-chieftainesses besides me, I will send your
two sons to them. You yourself shall be husband to me." Then two
beautiful women came in, and led off the two sons by the hand, while the
chieftainess kept the chief for herself.
So the men dwelt there. When spring came, the chieftain's wife spoke
thus to him: "We women of this country differ from yours. At the same
time as the grass begins to sprout, teeth sprout in our vaginas. So our
husbands cannot stay with us. The east wind is our husband. When the
east wind blows, we all turn our buttocks towards it, and thus conceive
children. Sometimes we bear male children. But these male children are
killed and done away with when they become fit to lie with women. For
that reason, this is a land which has women only. It is called
woman-land. So when, brought by some bad god, you came to this land of
mine, there were teeth in my vagina because it was summer, for which
reason I did not marry you. But I married you when the teeth fell out.
Now, as the teeth are again sprouting in my vagina because spring has
come, it is now impossible for us to sleep together. I will send you
home to-morrow. So do you tell your sons to come here to-day in order to
be ready."
The sons came. The chieftainess stayed in the house. Then, with tears
streaming down her face, she spoke thus; "Though it is dangerous,
to-night is our last night. Let us sleep together!" Then the man, being
much frightened, took a beautiful scabbard in a bag in his bosom, and
lay with the woman with this scabbard. The mark of the teeth remained on
the scabbard. The next day dawned. Then the man went to his boat, taking
his sons with him. The chieftainess wept and spoke thus: "As a fair wind
is blowing away from my country, you, if you set sail and sail straight
ahead, will be able to reach your home at Iwanai." So then the men
entered their boat, and went out to sea. A fair wind was blowing down
from the mountains, and they went along under sail. After a time they
saw land; they saw the mountains about Iwanai. Going on for a time, they
came to the shore of Iwanai. Their wives were wearing widows' caps. So
their husbands embraced them. So the story of woman-land was listened to
carefully. All the Ainos saw the beautiful scabbard which the chief had
used with that woman.--(Translated literally. Told by Penri, 17th July,
1886.)
xxxiv.--_The Worship of the Salmon, the Divine Fish._
A certain Aino went out in a boat to catch fish in the sea. While he was
there, a great wind arose, so that he drifted about for six nights. Just
as he was like to die, land came in sight. Being borne on to the beach
by the waves, he quietly stepped ashore, where he found a pleasant
rivulet. Having walked up the bank of this rivulet for some distance, he
saw a populous place. Near the place were crowds of people, both men and
women. Going on to it, and entering the house of the chief, he found an
old man of very divine aspect. That old man said to him: "Stay with us a
night, and we will send you home to your country to-morrow. Do you
consent?"
So the Aino spent the night with the old chief. When next day came, the
old chief spoke thus: "Some of my people, both men and women, are going
to your country for purposes of trade. So, if you will be led by them,
you will be able to go home. When they take you with them in the boat,
you must lie down, and not look about you, but completely hide your
head. If you do that, you may return. If you look, my people will be
angry. Mind you do not look." Thus spoke the old chief.
Well, there was a whole fleet of boats, inside of which crowds of
people, both men and women, took passage. There were as many as five
score boats, which all started off together. The Aino lay down inside
one of them and hid his head, while the others made the boats go to the
music of a pretty song. He liked this much. After awhile, they reached
the land. When they had done so, the Aino, peeping a little, saw that
there was a river, and that they were drawing water with dippers from
the mouth of the river, and sipping it. They said to each other: "How
good this water is!" Half the fleet went up the river. But the boat in
which the Aino was went on its voyage, and at last reached his native
place, whereupon the sailors threw the Aino into the water. He thought
he had been dreaming. Afterwards he came to himself. The boat and its
sailors had disappeared--whither he could not tell. But he went to his
house, and, falling asleep, dreamt a dream. He dreamt that the same old
chief appeared to him and said: "I am no human being. I am the chief of
the salmon, the divine fish. As you seemed in danger of dying in the
waves, I drew you to me and saved your life. You thought you only stayed
with me one night. But in truth that night was a whole year. When it was
ended, I sent you back to your native place. So I shall be truly
grateful if henceforth you will offer rice-beer to me, set up the divine
symbols in my honour, and worship me with the words 'I make a libation
to the chief of the salmon, the divine fish.' If you do not worship me,
you will become a poor man. Remember this well!" Such were the words
which the divine old man spoke to him in his dream.--(Translated
literally. Told by Ishanashte, 17th July, 1886.)
xxxv.--_The Hunter in Hades._
A handsome and brave young man, who was skilful in the chase, one day
pursued a large bear into the recesses of the mountains. On and on ran
the bear, and still the young fellow pursued it up heights and crags
more and more dangerous, but without ever being able to get near enough
to shoot it with his poisoned arrows. At last, on a bleak
mountain-summit, the bear disappeared down a hole in the ground. The
young man followed it in, and found himself in an immense cavern, at the
far end of which was a gleam of light. Towards this he groped his way,
and, on emerging, found himself in another world. Everything there was
as in the world of men, but more beautiful. There were trees, houses,
villages, human beings. With these, however, the young hunter had no
concern. What he wanted was his bear, which had totally disappeared. The
best plan seemed to be to seek it in the remoter mountain district of
this new world underground. So he followed up a valley; and, being tired
and hungry, picked the grapes and mulberries that were hanging to the
trees, and ate them as he trudged along.
Happening suddenly, for some reason or other, to look down upon his own
body, what was not his horror to find himself transformed into a
serpent! His very cries and groans, on making the discovery, were turned
into serpent's hisses. What was he to do? To go back like this to his
native world, where snakes are hated, would be certain death. No plan
presented itself to his mind. But, unconsciously, he wandered, or rather
crept and glided, back to the entrance of the cavern that led home to
the world of men; and there, at the foot of a pine-tree of extraordinary
size and height, he fell asleep.
To him then, in a dream, appeared the goddess of the pine-tree, and
said: "I am sorry to see you in this state. Why did you eat of the
poisonous fruits of Hades? The only thing you can do to recover your
proper shape is to climb to the top of this pine-tree, and fling
yourself down. Then you may, perhaps, become a human being again."
On waking from this dream, the young man,--or rather snake, as he still
found himself to be,--was filled half with hope and half with fear. But
he resolved to follow the goddess' advice. So, gliding up the tall
pine-tree, he reached its topmost branch, and, after hesitating a few
moments, flung himself down. Crash he went. On coming to his senses, he
found himself standing at the foot of the tree; and close by was the
body of an immense serpent, ripped open so as to allow of his having
crawled out of it. After offering up thanks to the pine-tree, and
setting up the divine symbols in its honour, he hastened to retrace his
steps through the long, tunnel-like cavern, through which he had
originally entered Hades. After walking for a certain time, he emerged
into the world of men, to find himself on the mountain-top, whither he
had pursued the bear which he had never seen again.
On reaching his home, he went to bed, and dreamt a second time. It was
the same goddess of the pine-tree, that appeared before him and said: "I
have come to tell you that you cannot stay long in the world of men
after once eating the grapes and mulberries of Hades. There is a goddess
in Hades who wishes to marry you. She it was who, assuming the form of a
bear, lured you into the cavern, and thence to the under-world. You must
make up your mind to come away."
And so it fell out. The young man awoke; but a grave sickness
overpowered him. A few days later he went a second time to Hades, and
returned no more to the land of the living.--(Written down from memory.
Told by Ishanashte, 22nd July, 1886.)
xxxvi.--_An Inquisitive Man's Experience of Hades._