In the old, old time, all this land, and indeed all the whole earth was
covered with sweet water.
But the water dried up or disappeared somewhere, and the grasses, herbs,
and plants began to spring up above the ground, and some grew, in the
course of many moons, into trees, great and small, and the water was
confined into streams and rivers, pools and lakes, and as the rain fell
it kept the streams and rivers running, and the pools and lakes always
fresh. There was no living thing moving upon the earth, until one day
there sat by one of the pools a large Toad. How long he had lived, or
how he came to exist, is not known; it is suspected, however, that the
water brought him forth out of some virtue that was in it. In the sky
there was only the Moon glowing and shining--on the earth there was but
this one Toad. It is said that they met and conversed together, and
that one day the Moon said to him:
"I have an idea. I propose to make a man and a woman to live on the
fruits of the earth, for I believe that there is rich abundance of food
on it fit for such creatures."
"Nay," said the Toad, "let me make them, for I can make them fitter for
the use of the earth than thou canst, for I belong to the earth, while
thou belongest to the sky."
"Verily," replied the Moon, "thou hast the power to create creatures
which shall have but a brief existence; but if I make them, they will
have something of my own nature; and it is a pity that the creatures of
one's own making should suffer and die. Therefore, O Toad, I propose to
reserve the power of creation for myself, that the creatures may be
endowed with perfection and enduring life."
"Ah, Moon, be not envious of the power which I share with thee, but let
me have my way. I will give them forms such as I have often dreamed of.
The thought is big within me, and I insist upon realising my ideas."
"An thou be so resolved, observe my words, both thou and they shall die.
Thou I shall slay myself and end utterly; and thy creatures can but
follow thee, being of such frail material as thou canst give them."
"Ah, thou art angry now, but I heed thee not. I am resolved that the
creatures to inhabit this earth shall be of my own creating. Attend
thou to thine own empire in the sky."
Then the Moon rose and soared upward, where with his big, shining face
he shone upon all the world.
The Toad grew great with his conception, until it ripened and issued out
in the shape of twin beings, full-grown male and female. These were the
first like our kind that ever trod the earth.
The Moon beheld the event with rage, and left his place in the sky to
punish the Toad, who had infringed the privilege that he had thought to
reserve for himself. He came direct to Toad's pool, and stood blazingly
bright over it.
"Miserable," he cried, "what hast thou done?"
"Patience, Moon, I but exercised my right and power. It was within me
to do it, and lo, the deed is done."
"Thou hast exalted thyself to be my equal in thine own esteem. Thy
conceit has clouded thy wit, and obscured the memory of the warning I
gave thee. Even hadst thou obtained a charter from me to attempt the
task, thou couldst have done no better than thou hast done. As much as
thou art inferior to me, so these will be inferior to those I could have
endowed this earth with. Thy creatures are pitiful things, mere animals
without sense, without the gift of perception or self-protection. They
see, they breathe, they exist; their lives can be measured by one round
journey of mine. Were it not out of pity for them, I would even let
them die. Therefore for pity's sake I propose to improve somewhat on
what thou hast done: their lives shall be lengthened, and such
intelligence as malformed beings as these can contain will I endow them
with, that they may have guidance through a life which with all my power
must be troubled and sore. But as for thee, whilst thou exist my rage
is perilous to them, therefore to save thy kin I end thee."
Saying which the Moon advanced upon Toad, and the fierce sparks from his
burning face were shot forth, and fell upon the Toad until he was
consumed.
The Moon then bathed in the pool, that the heat of his anger might be
moderated, and the water became so heated that it was like that which is
in a pot over a fire, and he stayed in it until the hissing and bubbling
had subsided.
Then the Moon rose out of the pool, and sought the creatures of Toad:
and when he had found them, he called them unto him, but they were
afraid and hid themselves.
At this sight the Moon smiled, as you sometimes see him on fine nights,
when he is a clear white, and free from stain or blurr, and he was
pleased that Toad's creatures were afraid of him. "Poor things," said
he, "Toad has left me much to do yet before I can make them fit to be
the first of earthly creatures." Saying which he took hold of them, and
bore them to the pool wherein he had bathed, and which had been the home
of Toad. He held them in the water for some time, tenderly bathing
them, and stroking them here and there as a potter does to his
earthenware, until he had moulded them into something similar to the
shape we men and women possess now. The male became distinguished by
breadth of shoulder, depth of chest, larger bones, and more substantial
form; the female was slighter in chest, slimmer of waist, and the
breadth and fulness of the woman was midmost of the body at the hips.
Then the Moon gave them names; the man he called Bateta, the woman
Hanna, and he addressed them and said:
"Bateta, see this earth and the trees, and herbs and plants and grasses;
the whole is for thee and thy wife Hanna, and for thy children whom
Hanna thy wife shall bear unto thee. I have re-made thee greatly, that
thou and thine may enjoy such things as thou mayest find needful and
fit. In order that thou mayest discover what things are not noxious but
beneficial for thee, I have placed the faculty of discernment within thy
head, which thou must exercise before thou canst become wise. The more
thou prove this, the more wilt thou be able to perceive the abundance of
good things the earth possesses for the creatures which are to inhabit
it. I have made thee and thy wife as perfect as is necessary for the
preservation and enjoyment of the term of life, which by nature of the
materials the Toad made thee of must needs be short. It is in thy power
to prolong or shorten it. Some things I must teach thee. I give thee
first an axe. I make a fire for thee, which thou must feed from time to
time with wood, and the first and most necessary utensil for daily use.
Observe me while I make it for thee."
The Moon took some dark clay by the pool and mixed it with water, then
kneaded it, and twisted it around until its shape was round and hollowed
within, and he covered it with the embers of the fire, and baked it; and
when it was ready he handed it to them.
"This vessel," continued the Moon, "is for the cooking of food. Thou
wilt put water into it, and place whatsoever edible thou desirest to eat
in the water. Thou wilt then place the vessel on the fire, which in
time will boil the water and cook the edible. All vegetables, such as
roots and bulbs, are improved in flavour and give superior nourishment
by being thus cooked. It will become a serious matter for thee to know
which of all the things pleasant in appearance are also pleasant for the
palate. But shouldst thou be long in doubt and fearful of harm, ask and
I will answer thee."
Having given the man and woman their first lesson, the Moon ascended to
the sky, and from his lofty place shone upon them, and upon all the
earth with a pleased expression, which comforted greatly the lonely
pair.
Having watched the ascending Moon until he had reached his place in the
sky, Bateta and Hanna rose and travelled on by the beautiful light which
he gave them, until they came to a very large tree that had fallen. The
thickness of the prostrate trunk was about twice their height. At the
greater end of it there was a hole, into which they could walk without
bending. Feeling a desire for sleep, Bateta laid his fire down outside
near the hollowed entrance, cut up dry fuel, and his wife piled it on
the fire, while the flames grew brighter and lit the interior. Bateta
took Hanna by the hand and entered within the tree, and the two lay down
together. But presently both complained of the hardness of their bed,
and Bateta, after pondering awhile, rose, and going out, plucked some
fresh large leaves of a plant that grew near the fallen tree, and
returned laden with it. He spread it about thickly, and Hanna rolled
herself on it, and laughed gleefully as she said to Bateta that it was
soft and smooth and nice; and opening her arms, she cried, "Come,
Bateta, and rest by my side."
Though this was the first day of their lives, the Moon had so perfected
the unfinished and poor work of the Toad that they were both mature man
and woman. Within a month Hanna bore twins, of whom one was male and
the other female, and they were tiny doubles of Bateta and Hanna, which
so pleased Bateta that he ministered kindly to his wife who, through her
double charge, was prevented from doing anything else.
Thus it was that Bateta, anxious for the comfort of his wife, and for
the nourishment of his children, sought to find choice things, but could
find little to please the dainty taste which his wife had contracted.
Whereupon, looking up to Moon with his hands uplifted, he cried out:
"O Moon, list to thy creature Bateta! My wife lies languishing, and she
has a taste strange to me which I cannot satisfy, and the children that
have been born unto us feed upon her body, and her strength decreases
fast. Come down, O Moon, and show me what fruit or herbs will cure her
longing."
The Moon heard Bateta's voice, and coming out from behind the cloud with
a white, smiling face, said, "It is well, Bateta; lo! I come to help
thee."
When the Moon had approached Bateta, he showed the golden fruit of the
banana--which was the same plant whose leaves had formed the first bed
of himself and wife.
"O Bateta, smell this fruit. How likest thou its fragrance?"
"It is beautiful and sweet. O Moon, if it be as wholesome for the body
as it is sweet to smell, my wife will rejoice in it."
Then the Moon peeled the banana and offered it to Bateta, upon which he
boldly ate it, and the flavour was so pleasant that he besought
permission to take one to his wife. When Hanna had tasted it she also
appeared to enjoy it; but she said, "Tell Moon that I need something
else, for I have no strength, and I am thinking that this fruit will not
give to me what I lose by these children."
Bateta went out and prayed to Moon to listen to Hanna's words--which
when he had heard, he said, "It was known to me that this should be,
wherefore look round, Bateta, and tell me what thou seest moving
yonder."
"Why, that is a buffalo."
"Rightly named," replied Moon. "And what follows it?"
"A goat."
"Good again. And what next?"
"An antelope."
"Excellent, O Bateta; and what may the next be?"
"A sheep."
"Sheep it is, truly. Now look up above the trees, and tell me what thou
seest soaring over them."
"I see fowls and pigeons."
"Very well called, indeed," said Moon. "These I give unto thee for
meat. The buffalo is strong and fierce, leave him for thy leisure; but
the goat, sheep, and fowls, shall live near thee, and shall partake of
thy bounty. There are numbers in the woods which will come to thee when
they are filled with their grazing and their pecking. Take any of
them--either goat, sheep, or fowl--bind it, and chop its head off with
thy hatchet. The blood will sink into the soil; the meat underneath the
outer skin is good for food, after being boiled or roasted over the
fire. Haste now, Bateta; it is meat thy wife craves, and she needs
naught else to restore her strength. So prepare instantly and eat."
The Moon floated upward, smiling and benignant, and Bateta hastened to
bind a goat, and made it ready as the Moon had advised. Hanna, after
eating of the meat which was prepared by boiling, soon recovered her
strength, and the children throve, and grew marvellously.
One morning Bateta walked out of his hollowed house, and lo! a change
had come over the earth. Right over the tops of the trees a great globe
of shining, dazzling light looked out from the sky, and blazed white and
bright over all. Things that he had seen dimly before were now more
clearly revealed. By the means of the strange light hung up in the sky
he saw the difference between that which the Moon gave and that new
brightness which now shone out. For, without, the trees and their
leaves seemed clad in a luminous coat of light, while underneath it was
but a dim reflection of that which was without, and to the sight it
seemed like the colder light of the Moon.
And in the cooler light that prevailed below the foliage of the trees
there were gathered hosts of new and strange creatures; some large,
others of medium, and others of small size.
Astonished at these changes, he cried, "Come out, O Hanna, and see the
strange sights without the dwelling, for verily I am amazed, and know
not what has happened."
Obedient, Hanna came out with the children and stood by his side, and
was equally astonished at the brightness of the light and at the numbers
of creatures which in all manner of sizes and forms stood in the shade
ranged around them, with their faces towards the place where they stood.
"What may this change portend, O Bateta?" asked his wife.
"Nay, Hanna, I know not. All this has happened since the Moon departed
from me."
"Thou must perforce call him again, Bateta, and demand the meaning of
it, else I shall fear harm unto thee, and unto these children."
"Thou art right, my wife, for to discover the meaning of all this
without other aid than my own wits would keep us here until we
perished."
Then he lifted his voice, and cried out aloud upward, and at the sound
of his voice all the creatures gathered in the shades looked upward, and
cried with their voices; but the meaning of their cry, though there was
an infinite variety of sound, from the round, bellowing voice of the
lion to the shrill squeak of the mouse, was:
"Come down unto us, O Moon, and explain the meaning of this great change
unto us; for thou only who madest us can guide our sense unto the right
understanding of it."
When they had ended their entreaty unto the Moon, there came a voice
from above, which sounded like distant thunder, saying, "Rest ye where
ye stand, until the brightness of this new light shall have faded, and
ye distinguish my milder light and that of the many children which have
been born unto me, when I shall come unto you and explain."
Thereupon they rested each creature in its own place, until the great
brightness, and the warmth which the strange light gave faded and
lessened, and it was observed that it disappeared from view on the
opposite side to that where it had first been seen, and also immediately
after at the place of its disappearance the Moon was seen, and all over
the sky were visible the countless little lights which the children of
the Moon gave.
Presently, after Bateta had pointed these out to Hanna and the children,
the Moon shone out bland, and its face was covered with gladness, and he
left the sky smiling, and floated down to the earth, and stood not far
off from Bateta, in view of him and his family, and of all the creatures
under the shade.
"Hearken, O Bateta, and ye creatures of prey and pasture. A little
while ago, ye have seen the beginning of the measurement of time, which
shall be divided hereafter into day and night. The time that lapses
between the Sun's rising and its setting shall be called day, that which
shall lapse between its setting and re-rising shall be called night.
The light of the day proceeds from the Sun, but the light of the night
proceeds from me and from my children the stars; and as ye are all my
creatures, I have chosen that my softer light shall shine during the
restful time wherein ye sleep, to recover the strength lost in the
waking time, and that ye shall be daily waked for the working time by
the stronger light of the Sun. This rule never-ending shall remain.
"And whereas Bateta and his wife are the first of creatures, to them,
their families, and kind that shall be born unto them, shall be given
pre-eminence over all creatures made, not that they are stronger, or
swifter, but because to them only have I given understanding and a gift
of speech to transmit it. Perfection and everlasting life had also been
given, but the taint of the Toad remains in the system, and the result
will be death,--death to all living things, Bateta and Hanna excepted.
In the fulness of time, when their limbs refuse to bear the burden of
their bodies and their marrow has become dry, my first-born shall return
to me, and I shall absorb them. Children shall be born innumerable unto
them, until families shall expand into tribes, and from here, as from a
spring, mankind will outflow and overspread all lands, which are now but
wild and wold, ay, even to the farthest edge of the earth.
"And hearken, O Bateta, the beasts which thou seest, have sprung from
the ashes of the Toad. On the day that he measured his power against
mine, and he was consumed by my fire, there was one drop of juice left
in his head. It was a life-germ which soon grew into another toad.
Though not equal in power to the parent toad, thou seest what he has
done. Yonder beasts of prey and pasture and fowls are his work. As
fast as they were conceived by him, and uncouth and ungainly they were,
I dipped them into Toad's Pool, and perfected them outwardly, according
to their uses, and, as thou seest, each specimen has its mate. Whereas,
both thou and they alike have the acrid poison of the toad, thou from
the parent, they in a greater measure from the child toad, the mortal
taint when ripe will end both man and beast. No understanding nor gift
of speech has been given to them, and they are as inferior to thyself as
the child toad was to the parent toad. Wherefore, such qualities as
thou mayst discover in them, thou mayst employ in thy services.
Meantime, let them go out each to its own feeding-ground, lair, or
covert, and grow and multiply, until the generations descending from
thee shall have need for them. Enough for thee with the bounties of the
forest, jungle, and plain, are the goats, sheep, and fowls. At thy
leisure, Bateta, thou mayst strike and eat such beasts as thou seest
akin in custom to these that will feed from thy hand. The waters abound
in fish that are thine at thy need, the air swarms with birds which are
also thine, as thy understanding will direct thee.
"Thou wilt be wise to plant all such edibles as thou mayest discover
pleasing to the palate and agreeable to thy body, but be not rash in
assuming that all things pleasant to the eye are grateful to thy
inwards.
"So long as thou and Hanna are on the earth, I promise thee my aid and
counsel; and what I tell thee and thy wife thou wilt do well to teach
thy children, that the memory of useful things be not forgotten--for
after I take thee to myself, I come no more to visit man. Enter thy
house now, for it is a time, as I have told thee, for rest and sleep.
At the shining of the greater light, thou wilt waken for active life and
work, and family care and joys. The beasts shall also wander each to
his home in the earth, on the tops of the trees, in the bush, or in the
cavern. Fare thee well, Bateta, and have kindly care for thy wife Hanna
and the children."
The Moon ended his speech, and floated upward, radiant and gracious,
until he rested in his place in the sky, and all the children of the
Moon twinkled for joy and gladness so brightly, as the parent of the
world entered his house, that all the heavens for a short time seemed
burning. Then the Moon drew over him his cloudy cloak, and the little
children of the Moon seemed to get drowsy, for they twinkled dimly, and
then a darkness fell over all the earth, and in the darkness man and
beast retired, each to his own place, according as the Moon had
directed.
A second time Bateta waked from sleep, and walked out to wonder at the
intense brightness of the burning light that made the day. Then he
looked around him, and his eyes rested upon a noble flock of goats and
sheep, all of whom bleated their morning welcome, while the younglings
pranced about in delight, and after curvetting around, expressed in
little bleats the joy they felt at seeing their chief, Bateta. His
attention was also called to the domestic fowls; there were red and
white and spotted cocks, and as many coloured hens, each with its own
brood of chicks. The hens trotted up to their master--cluck, cluck,
clucking--the tiny chicks, following each its own mother--cheep, cheep,
cheeping--while the cocks threw out their breasts and strutted grandly
behind, and crowed with their trumpet throats, "All hail, master."
Then the morning wind rose and swayed the trees, plants, and grasses,
and their tops bending before it bowed their salutes to the new king of
the earth, and thus it was that man knew that his reign over all was
acknowledged.
A few months afterwards, another double birth occurred, and a few months
later there was still another, and Bateta remembered the number of
months that intervened between each event, and knew that it would be a
regular custom for all time. At the end of the eighteenth year, he
permitted his first-born to choose a wife, and when his other children
grew up he likewise allowed them to select their wives. At the end of
ninety years, Hanna had born to Bateta two hundred and forty-two
children, and there were grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and
countless great-great-grandchildren, and they lived to an age many times
the length of the greatest age amongst us now-a-days. When they were so
old that it became a trouble to them to live, the Moon came down to the
earth as he had promised, and bore them to himself, and soon after the
first-born twins died and were buried in the earth, and after that the
deaths were many and more frequent. People ceased to live as long as
their parents had done, for sickness, dissensions, wars, famines,
accidents ended them and cut their days short, until they at last forgot
how to live long, and cared not to think how their days might be
prolonged. And it has happened after this manner down to us who now
live. The whole earth has become filled with mankind, but the dead that
are gone and forgotten are far greater in number than those now alive
upon the earth.
Ye see now, my friends, what mischief the Toad did unto all mankind.
Had his conceit been less, and had he waited a little, the good Moon
would have conceived us of a nobler kind than we now are, and the taint
of the Toad had not cursed man. Wherefore abandon headstrong ways, and
give not way to rashness, but pay good heed to the wise and old, lest ye
taint in like manner the people, and cause the innocent, the young, and
the weak to suffer. I have spoken my say. If ye have heard aught
displeasing, remember I but tell the tale as it was told unto me.
"Taking it as a mere story," said Baraka, "it is very well told, but I
should like to know why the Moon did not teach Bateta the value of
manioc, since he took the trouble to tell him about the banana."
"For the reason," answered Matageza, "that when he showed him the
banana, there was no one but the Moon could have done so. But after the
Moon had given goats and sheep and fowls for his companions, his own
lively intelligence was sufficient to teach Bateta many things. The
goats became great pets of Bateta, and used to follow him about. He
observed that there was a certain plant to which the goats flocked with
great greed, to feed upon the tops until their bellies became round and
large with it. One day the idea came to him that if the goats could
feed so freely upon it without harm, it might be also harmless to him.
Whereupon he pulled the plant up and earned it home. While he was
chopping up the tops for the pot his pet goats tried to eat the tuber
which was the root, and he tried that also. He cut up both leaves and
root and cooked them, and after tasting them he found them exceedingly
good and palatable, and thenceforward manioc became a daily food to him
and his family, and from them to his children's children, and so on down
to us."
"Verily, that is of great interest. Why did you not put that in the
story?"
"Because the story would then have no end. I would have to tell you of
the sweet potato, and the tomato, of the pumpkin, of the millet that was
discovered by the fowls, and of the palm oil-nut that was discovered by
the dog."
"Ah, yes, tell us how a dog could have shown the uses of the palm
oil-nut."
"It is very simple. Bateta coaxed a dog to live with him because he
found that the dog preferred to sit on his haunches and wait for the
bones that his family threw aside after the meal was over, rather than
hunt for himself like other flesh-eating beasts. One day Bateta walked
out into the woods, and his dog followed him. After a long walk Bateta
rested at the foot of the straight tall tree called the palm, and there
were a great many nuts lying on the ground, which perhaps the monkeys or
the wind had thrown down. The dog after smelling them lay down and
began to eat them, and though Bateta was afraid he would hurt himself,
he allowed him to have his own way, and he did not see that they harmed
him at all, but that he seemed as fond as ever of them. By thinking of
this he conceived that they would be no harm to him; and after cooking
them, he found that their fat improved the flavour of his vegetables,
hence the custom came down to us. Indeed, the knowledge of most things
that we know to-day as edibles came down to us through the observation
of animals by our earliest fathers. What those of old knew not was
found out later through stress of hunger, while men were lost in the
bushy wilds."
When at last we rose to retire to our tents and huts, the greater number
of our party felt the sorrowful conviction that the Toad had imparted to
all mankind an incurable taint, and that we poor wayfarers, in
particular, were cursed with an excess of it, in consequence of which
both Toad and tadpole were heartily abused by all.