[Illustration]
Among the Lali the religion of Shoozoo was preserved in greater purity.
There had not been such a great departure from Shoozoo himself, as among
the Ammi, where he was entirely lost in his symbols. Neither had there
been so many splits and reformations. The Apes preserved the unity of the
church better than the Men.
Instead, however, of losing Shoozoo in the Alligator, like the Ammi, and
then losing the Alligator in the dragon-fly, and the dragon-fly in the
cross, and the cross in the short beam of the cross, the Lali went to
the opposite extreme of deifying and worshiping not only Shoozoo, but
everything connected with him. Before one generation had passed Shoozoo’s
wife, Simlee, was admitted to equal divinity with him, and it was known
as the Shoozoo-Simlee religion. There was thus a male and female deity,
or king and queen of heaven. Soon after this Shoozoo’s parents and
children were likewise added to the divine family, and worshiped by the
Apes. Next came the dart with which Shoozoo struck the moon, and finally
the moon itself.
Everything was deemed sacred with which Shoozoo had to do, except the
Alligator, which the Apes persistently refused to worship, because the
Ammi had taken it up. They claimed, instead, that Shoozoo had killed
the alligator in order to take the swallowed moon out of it. Many
relics of the dead alligator, indeed, were furnished, and kept as a
perpetual testimony to the achievements of Shoozoo, and as a rebuke to
the unbelieving Ammi, who dared to worship it. These relics were worn as
charms, and many cures were alleged to have been effected by them. Among
others the gallant Oboo had been cured of a violent disease. The Swamp in
which the Alligator was killed was deemed sacred, and in their devotions
the Lali turned their faces to it. Water from this Swamp was likewise
deemed sacred, and was always kept on the altars of the Apes, and great
devotion was paid to it when exposed to the sight of the worshippers.
Forty apes were once killed for sacrilege committed by spilling water,
most of them for being mere witnesses of the outrage. A drop of Swamp
water was put on every Ape’s head when he was born, and the ceremony was
often repeated through life. This water was used in the consecration of
their priests, and its application once turned the scales of war. Its
appearance was consulted for omens, and it was invoked by monkeys when
about to go after fruits. Bad luck was attributed to certain disturbances
of it. Water-songs were the first specimens of music known to the Apes,
and were always sung at exhibitions of water taken from the Swamp. The
finest gourds and cocoanut vessels were made to hold this water, and
the decoration of these was the first step taken in Sacred Art. Among
the first pictures sketched were crude representations of a stream.
They called their children after this water, such being the meaning of
the common names among them. “Ilo” signifies “touched with water,” and
“Oboo” means “Soaked.” Rainy days were deemed more sacred than clear
ones, on account of their water, whose descent from the skies was taken
as influences from Shoozoo. A flood was regarded as this god coming in
disguise; and to be drowned was to be lost in Shoozoo. The Lali washed
oftener than the Ammi, not for cleanliness, but on account of their
devotion to water; and they would not kill a snake that was still wet.
As long as anything, indeed, had upon it water from the great Swamp, it
was supposed to be under the protection of Shoozoo. The Apes drank water
before eating, and the last thing they did when dying was to drink. To be
deprived of water for certain rites was the most serious affliction that
could happen to an Ape, and a rebellion once broke out among the Lali
because, when on a long march, their leader would not go out of the way
to find a stream for ceremonial purposes.
But the refinements of ritual among the Lali were not confined to water,
although at the time of which we speak the water rites had attained
their greatest ascendancy. The Apes were accustomed to make pilgrimages
to Cocoanut Hill where Shoozoo performed his great exploits, which was
regarded as Holy Ground, and there they often worshipped. It was the
interference of the Ammi with these privileges that led to the quarrels
between the Apes and the Men, of which we have spoken. The Ammi, however,
claimed that the Apes came not for religious purposes, but to steal
cocoanuts, and hence the reprisals already mentioned.
One of the rules of the Lali religion was to kill screech owls when the
moon was quarter full, because it was at this period that Shoozoo had
killed the owls of Cocoanut Hill, and all owl hunts were in commemoration
of his great exploit. Another was to hide their darts for six days
after this festival, because during this time Shoozoo rested from his
hunt and needed no more owls. Another observance was to present snakes
to one another at a certain period in honor of the great serpent which
Shoozoo killed and presented to Simlee. For days before this festival
the young monkeys were kept busy hunting snakes in the great Swamp.
Another requirement was that on the day before Owl-hunt the Lali should
walk upright as a preparation for the great festival, since on this day
Shoozoo walked upright to aim at the moon. They were forbidden to take
fish from the great Swamp on Snake Day, though they might then take them
from other waters. No monkey must kill another during these festivals,
as this right was reserved to the priests alone, who must, however, use
their victims only in sacrifice.
Departure from these rules was punished by being plunged in the Great
Swamp to wash away the guilt. The sinner was kept under as long as the
celebrant deemed fit; and if he survived he was said to be reconciled
to Shoozoo, and if not he was deemed incapable of purification and
deservedly dead. There were other penalties for small offenders. Most
of the offences among the Lali were religious violations, and the
punishment was in the hands of the priests, which had much to do with the
preservation of the unity of religion. Sin was recognized before wrong,
nonconformity before crime, and ecclesiastical penalties before civil.
Frequent attempts were made to throw off the tyranny of the priesthood,
but the leaders of the revolt were quickly apprehended, and usually put
to death with great tortures. Heresies were not infrequent among the
Apes, who soon learned, however, that it was not policy to make them
known. In general there was a remarkable unanimity among them—a greater
degree than has since been known in religious affairs.
Among the maxims of the Lali, which were also current among the Ammi,
(for, notwithstanding their religious differences, their morality was
substantially the same), were the following:
Keep your snout in your own cocoanut.
Never bite off an ear in sport.
Stick to the tree you are climbing.
Don’t fight over what you don’t want.
Save what you can’t eat, remembering that you must eat again.
Don’t crack your cocoanuts on each other’s heads.
Half the time spent in washing that you spend in scratching would keep
you more comfortable.
Don’t man the Ammi, (which among the Ammi reads, “Don’t ape the Lali.”)
Get up a tree rather than dispute the ground with a tiger.
If you don’t pick your neighbor’s fleas you will be bit by your own fleas.
After this digression on the religion and morality of the Lali, we will
return to the affairs of the Ammi.