Class 

Book 

Copyright^ 

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A GUIDE TO MYTHOLOGY 



Automedon and the Horses of Achilles. H. Regnauli. 



A GUIDE 
TO MYTHOLOGY 

FOR YOUNG READERS 



BY 

HELEN A. CLARKE 

author of " longfellow's country," "browning's italy," 
"browning's england," etc. 



New York 

THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY 
1910 



COPYKIGHT, 1908, 1910, BY 

THE BAKER & TAYLOE COMPANY 



THE TROW PRESS, NEW YORK 



MY LITTLE FEIEND 
KATHARINE CORFIELD NEWBOLD 



PREFATORY NOTE 



IT is a pleasure to express my thanks to publishers 
and authors for courteous permission given me to 
include in this book stories from their collections. 
To Houghton, Mifflin & Co., the publishers of " Al- 
gonquin Legends," by J. G. Leland, and of Bryant's 
translation of the " Odyssey " ; to J. B. Lippincott 
Co., the publishers of " Gods and Heroes of Old 
Japan," by Violet M. Pasteur, and of " Old Deccan 
Days," by Mary Frere ; to A. Wessels Co., the pub- 
lishers and to Mr. W. W. Canfield, the author of 
" Legends of the Iroquois " ; to Ginn & Co., the 
publishers of " Classic Myths in English Litera- 
ture," based on Bulfmch's " Age of Fable," by 
Charles Mills Gayley ; to Macmillan & Co., publishers 
of " Theocritus, Bion ? and Moschus, Done into Eng- 
lish Prose," by A. Lang; to Scott, Eoresman & Co., 
publishers of "Norse Mythology," by Melville B. 
Anderson. Other collections, out of print, as far as 
I know — the original publishers no longer being in 
existence, from which I have taken stories, are: 
" Indian Fairy Tales Based on Schoolcraft," by Cor- 
nelius Mathews, and " Indian Myths," by Ellen K. 
Emerson; also from the following English publica- 
tions: "Polynesian Myths," by Sir George Grey; 
" Russian Stories," by Ralston. 

7 



Prefatory Note 

I am also deeply indebted, as every one who stud- 
ies mythology must be, to the following works, among 
others in various branches of the subject : Max Miil- 
ler's " Chips from a German Workshop," Cox's "My- 
thology of the Aryan Baces," John Fiske's " Myths 
and Mythmakers," Frazer's " Golden Bough," Hart- 
land's " Myth of Perseus," Clodd's " Childhood of 
Keligions," Andrew Lang's " Custom and Myth," 
Tyler's " Primitive Culture," Mills's " Tree of My- 
thology," Chamberlain's " The Child and Childhood 
in Folk Thought," De Gubernatis's " Zoological My- 
thology," Dr. Brinton's " American Hero Myths," 
" Myths of the New World/' as well as to many 
collections of folk-tales. 



My aim in this book on Mythology for young 
readers has been to give them solid knowledge on 
the subject, as far as it is advisable to go with im- 
mature minds, based upon the most recent investiga- 
tions of scholars, and to select the myths used in 
illustration of the plan, with a view to giving them 
interesting stories to read, which will, almost uncon- 
sciously to themselves, lay a firm foundation for the 
fascinating study of Comparative Mythology, should 
they wish to go more deeply into it in the future. 

There is much talk nowadays as to the authen- 
ticity of the records of savage myths. Much of this 
talk seems to me futile, for a myth is not a fixed 
entity. Each successive narrator is almost sure to 
vary and embellish somewhat the material that comes 

8 



Prefatory Note 



to him, according to his own inventive fancy. If, 
therefore, a savage myth recorded by a white man re- 
tains the chief characteristics of the savage myth, 
in spite of some fanciful turns given it by him, to 
the degree, say, that a story of Ovid's retains those 
of a Greek myth, it is to all intents and purposes a 
savage myth, and the embellishments may be dis- 
regarded, as Ovid's are when we are considering 
Greek Mythology. I have, therefore, included in 
this volume those versions of the myths that seemed 
most readable and attractive, provided the primitive 
attitude of mind and customs were fully emphasized. 



9 



CONTENTS 



I. — What is a Myth? 19 

II. — Animals in Primitive Myths ... 40 

STORIES: How the muskrat made the world 
(Indians of British Columbia). — How a kite 
helped to make the world (Philippine Island). 
— How Maui fished up the earth (Polynesian). 
— The origin of the robin (Odjibwa, Cornelius 
Mathews, based on Schoolcraft). — The origin 
of the hare (Aino, B. F. Chamberlain). — How 
the mole became blind (North American In- 
dian, Mill's "Tree of Mythology"). — The boy 
and the wolves (North American Indian, Ellen 
R. Emerson, "Indian Legends")- — How Was- 
bashas, the snail, became a man (North Amer- 
ican Indian, Emerson). — The amazing adven- 
tures of Master Rabbit (Algonquin, Leland's 
"Algonquin Legends"). — The story of Mana- 
bozho (Iroquois, Mathews-Schoolcraft). — How 
Glooskap made his uncle, the turtle, into a 
great man (Mic-Mac and Passamaquoddy, Le- 
land). — Punchkin (Hindoo, M. Frere's "Old 
Deccan Days"). 

III. — Animals in Culture Myths . . . 131 

STORIES: Hymn to Indra (Hindoo, "Rig Veda "). 
— The Four apes (Egyptian, Book of the Dead). 
— Story of the Midgard serpent and Fenris, 
the wolf (Norse, Melville B. Anderson's, "Norse 
11 



Contents 



Mythology," based on the Eddas). — The 
story of Apollo and Phaeton {Greek, Gayley, 
based on Bulfinch). — The story of Odysseus 
and the oxen of the sun {Greek, paraphrase from 
Bryant's "Odyssey"). — The story of Athene 
and Arachne {Greek, Gayley-Bulfinch). 



IV.— Tree and Plant Myths .... 165 

STORIES: Ygdrasil, the Norse world tree.— 
Story of the Aino who fell asleep at the foot 
of a pine tree. — Wuntz, the father of Indian 
corn {North American Indian, Mathews-School- 
craft). — Lelinau, the Lost Daughter {North 
American Indian, Mathews - Schoolcraft). — 
Birth of the arbutus {Iroquois, W. B. Can- 
field's " Legends of the Iroquois"). — Song at 
the beginning {Ancient Mexican, Brinton's 
" Myths of the New World"). — Flower song 
(Ancient Mexican, Brinton's "Myths of the 
New World"). — The story of Erischthon {Greek, 
Bulfinch 's "Age of Fable"). — Story of Pan and 
Syrinx {Greek, Gayley-Bulfinch). — Story of 
Pomona and Vertumnus {Roman, Gayley- 
Bulfinch). — Myth of Osiris and Isis (Bulfinch). 
— Story of Adonis {Greek, extracts from Lang's 
"Lament for Adonis," by Bion). 

V. — Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars . 207 

STORIES: Story of the making of the sun, 
moon, and stars {Navajo, Emerson). — Story of 
the conquering of the sun {North American 
Indian, Emerson). — Hymn to the sun {North 
American Indian, Emerson). — Hymn to Surya 
{Hindoo, "Rig Veda "). — The worship of the sun 
and the dream of Onawataquto {North Amer- 
ican Indian, Emerson). — The witch and the 
sun's sister {Russian, Ralston's "Russian Folk- 
Tales"). — The making of the mirror {Japan- 
12 



Contents 



ese, Violet M. Pasteur, "Gods and Heroes of 
Old Japan"). — The death of Balder the Good 
(Norse, Anderson-Eddas). — Battle of Ra and 
Anapef (Egyptian, Book of the Dead). — Story 
of Phoebus Apollo (Greek, Gayley-Bulfinch). — 
Story of Artemis and Orion (Greek, Gayley-Bul- 
finch). — Story of the child and the star (Iowa 
Indian, Emerson). — Osseo, the son of the even- 
ing star (North American Indian, Mathews- 
Schoolcraft). — The wandering star (Chippewa, 
Emerson). — The daughters of the stars (North 
American Indian, Mathews-Schoolcraft). 

VI. — Myths of the Sky and Air . . . 269 

STORIES: How a hunter visited the thunder 
spirits who dwell in Mount Katahdin (Passa- 
maquoddy, Leland). — The thunder and light- 
ning men (Passamaquoddy, Leland). — How 
Glooskap bound Wuchowsen, the great wind 
bird (Passamaquoddy, Leland). — The wonderful 
exploits of Paup-puk-keewiss (North American 
Indian, Mathews-Schoolcraft). — The story of 
Odin's sword and Sigmund (Norse, Anderson- 
Eddas). — How Thor conquered the stone giant 
(Norse, Anderson-Eddas). — How Zeus came to 
be king of gods (Greek). — Hymn to the dawn 
(Hindoo, "Rig Veda"). — The lover's vision of 
the happy land (North American Indian, Emer- 
son). — The message-bearers (Iroquois, Can- 
field). — The way of the gods (Japanese, Violet 
M. Pasteur). 

VII. — Mother-Myths and Child-Myths . . 336 

STORIES: Malayan story of the sun and moon. 
— Hymn to the mother of the gods (Mexican 
Indian, Brinton's "Rig Veda Americanus"). — 
Hymn to Cihuacoatl (Mexican Indian, Brin- 
ton). — The children of heaven and earth (Sir 
13 



Contents 



George Grey, "Polynesian Mythology")* — 
Story of Demeter (Greek, from Hymn to 
Demeter, Callimachus). — The story of De- 
meter and Persephone (Greek, Gayley-Bul- 
finch, drawn from Ovid and Appolodorus). 
— Legend of Tu-tok-a-nu-la (Indian, Emer- 
son). — Nezhik-e-wa-wa-sun, or the lone light- 
ning (Odjibwa, Emerson). — Wasis, the baby 
(Penobscot, Leland). — Ojug Annung, or the 
summer-maker (Indian, Emerson). — The le- 
gend of Maui (Polynesian, Grey). — The in- 
fant Heracles (Greek, paraphrased from Lang's 
translation of the Idyls of Theocritus). — The 
infant Hermes (Greek, paraphrased from Shel- 
ley's translation of the Homeric Hymn to 
Mercury). 



14 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

Automedon and the Horses of Achilles . Regnault Frontispiece V 



A Reading from Homer 


Alma-Tadema 


38 L ' 






140 




Glyptothek, Munich 


162 • 


Apollo with the Lyre 


Glyptothek, Munich 


232' 


Diana or Artemis the Huntress 


Versailles 


240 ' 






248 y 


Aurora 


Guide- Reni 


270 


The Flying Mercury or Hermes 


Giovanni di Bologna 


316 


Athene: Brandisher of the Spear 


Capitol, Rome 


320 






340 


The Infant Hercules . 


Louvre 


384 



A GUIDE TO MYTHOLOGY 

FOR YOUNG READERS 



A GUIDE TO MYTHOLOGY 



FOR YOUNG READERS 

CHAPTEK I 
WHAT IS A MYTH? 

WHAT is a myth? This looks like a simple 
question, and one that ought to be easy to 
answer. Yet it is one which has puzzled for cen- 
turies the heads of many learned men, who in their 
attempts to give a satisfactory answer to the ques- 
tion, have written whole libraries of profound books 
on the subject. It would seem almost hopeless 
for us to try and find an answer, if it were not 
that we live in the Twentieth Century, which is like 
a great hilltop towering above all the past cen- 
turies; and from this height we are able to look 
down and see right into the minds of all these 
learned and distinguished men, and understand why 
they found the answer to this question so difficult. 

Let us try to imagine all the myths which have 
come into existence since the beginning of the 
world shut up in a huge round castle in the midst 
of a wide plain, and all these learned men like 
knights of the Middle Ages besieging the castle to 
find out the secrets that are locked up within it. 
They come, galloping up on horseback from every 

19 



A Guide to Mythology 

quarter of the plaiu — North, East, South, West — 
carrying long spears with which they batter away 
at the castle until they succeed in making a hole 
through the wall. Then each of these knights of 
learning becomes so intent upon what he sees in 
the castle through the hole that he, himself, has 
made that he is entirely unaware of what the other 
knights see through the holes they have made. 
Then they all go off and write their learned books, 
telling what they have seen, and when they come to 
read each other's books, of course, they have terrible 
battles — all of words fortunately — in their attempts 
to settle who is right, and each one contends that he 
has seen all there is to be seen through his own par- 
ticular little spear hole. But we, upon the hilltop 
can perceive that every one of the knights saw some- 
thing about myths which was true, and the way to 
find the answer we want is to piece together all the 
fractions of truth which each man saw into a whole 
truth, or something near a whole truth, for, you 
know, the whole truth about anything is so immense 
that it is almost if not quite impossible to find it all 
out. 

For example, it would not be possible for me to 
tell you in this one short chapter all the secrets 
which all the knights of learning saw as they looked 
into the castle; but I shall tell you a few of them, 
for it will help you to understand more intelligently 
what a myth really is. 

The first knight to be seen galloping out of a 
very far-distant past is the Greek Theognis of 

20 



What Is a Myth? 

Rhegium. He lived six hundred years B.C., but 
even as long ago as that there had come to be such 
an immense number of myths in Greece, that their 
existence was already a cause for much wonder. He 
carried a spear, called " allegory," and when he bat- 
tered into the castle, the only truth he could see 
was that all myths were allegories. According to 
him the Greek mythical gods, Apollo, Helios, and 
Hephaestos, were fire under different aspects: Hera 
was the air; Posidon, the water; Artemis, the moon, 
and so on. Other learned Greeks followed in his 
footsteps and saw much the same things. For ex- 
ample, three hundred years later, Aristotle said 
that myths were the attempt of the world before 
his time to express philosophical speculations, and 
Plutarch four hundred and sixty years later said 
that myths were metaphysical statements in dis- 
guise. That is, they all thought that myths had 
been invented to stand as symbols of objects in na- 
ture or of ideas which men had expressed. 

Now, if we look again, we shall see another 
Greek knight galloping out of the past whose name 
was Euhemeros. He was a historian, a philosopher, 
and a traveller, and he lived about three hundred 
years B.C. He was the friend of the King of 
Macedon, who sent him off on missions to various 
countries. The spear he carried was called " his- 
tory," and the way he came to decide that myths 
were historical accounts of real persons is told in the 
following little story. Once when he was off on his 
travels, after sailing about for several days, he ar- 

21 



A Guide to Mythology 

rived in the Indian Ocean, where he found a group 
of islands the most important of which was Pan- 
chaia. The inhabitants of this island were distin- 
guished for their piety and honored the gods by 
the most magnificent sacrifices and offerings of gold 
and silver. Among the wonderful works of art in 
this island was an immensely tall column on the 
top of which was a temple to Jupiter Triumphant. 
This was supposed to have been erected by Jupiter 
himself, when, an earthly monarch, he marched 
through the country victorious. Inside this temple 
was a column upon which were recorded the doings 
of Jupiter and of his father and grandfather, 
Kronos and Uranos. 

This story, itself, is so evidently a myth that it 
does not amount to anything as a proof of the his- 
torical theory. Nevertheless there have been many 
to adopt this belief. 

Other knights of learning, both ancient and mod- 
ern, have carried lances with the sounding name, 
" natural phenomena. " When they look into the 
castle they see myths as personifications of natural 
^phenomena. Everything that we see happening in 
nature comes under the head of natural phenomena. 
The rising and setting of the sun, the moon and the 
stars each day, the clouds that drift across the sky, 
storms and whirlwinds, the lightning flash and the 
loud roar of the thunder, as well as the gentle rain, 
the tinkling of waterfalls, and the light morning 
breezes. When all these objects and events in na- 
ture are talked about as if they had the same pow- 

22 



What Is a Myth? 

ers as human beings, they are said to be personified. 
Here is a very pretty example of a myth in which 
the dawn is personified. It is taken from one of the 
most ancient books in the world, the " Rig Veda," 
about which you will hear more later. 

" The lovely Dawn arousing man goes before the 
sun preparing practicable paths, riding in a spacious 
chariot, expanding everywhere, she diffuses light at 
the commencement of the days." 

Among the ancient knights of learning who 
thought that all myths were started in this way was 
the great Thucydides; and Cicero also believed that 
the exalted beings in mythology who were wor- 
shipped as gods were in reality personifications of 
the objects in nature which struck the imagination 
of primitive mankind. 

There are also many modern knights of learn- 
ing who hold the same view, among the most 
distinguished of whom is the English scholar, Max 
Miiller. About him and his followers Sir George 
Cox and John Fiske, the American historian and 
thinker, you will one day know more if you con- 
tinue your studies in mythology. When Max Miil- 
ler came to write his learned books upon what he 
saw in the castle of myths, he supported his learn- 
ing upon many interesting facts which he had dis- 
covered when he was studying the languages of dif- 
ferent races. 

In comparing the ancient Greek language with 
23 



A Guide to Mythology 

the ancient language of India, the Sanskrit, he 
found out that they were often very much alike. 
This drove him to the conclusion that they must 
both be descended from some still older language. 
He noticed also remarkable resemblances between 
the myths of Greece and those of India, of which 
there were large numbers collected in the old books 
in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. Then he 
made up his mind that the ancient race of people 
who spoke the old language from which Greek and 
Sanskrit were descended must have had a great 
fondness for inventing myths, and that these myths 
had been handed down from generation to genera- 
tion. Finally, many of the descendants of this 
ancient race went to live in India, while others went 
to live in Greece, and that was the reason the lan- 
guages and the myths of these two peoples were so 
much alike in many ways. The original home of 
this ancient myth-making race has been thought to 
be Central Asia, and the race is known in history as 
the Aryan race. But Max Miiller and others who 
agreed with him were so intoxicated with their new 
discoveries that they were constantly in danger of 
making fanciful comparisons between the words of 
the two languages, and building upon these fanciful 
comparisons explanations of myths, even more 
mythical than the myths themselves. In fact they 
not only saw in one direction like the other knights, 
but they used a huge magnifying glass that tinted 
every thing with unnatural rainbow colors such as 
you have seen when looking through an opera glass. 

24 



What Is a Myth? 

I will speak of three others only of the many 
modern knights of learning who have seen some of 
the truth : — E. B. Tyler, Andrew Lang, and James 
G-. Frazer. The first of these tells especially about 
some very curious beliefs possessed by primitive 
men. These beliefs colored their imagination no 
matter what kind of myths they might invent. One 
of them was that a spirit, separate from their ordi- 
nary life lived inside of their bodies ; another that all 
things in nature had life like themselves, and also 
spirits dwelling within them like the spirits within 
themselves. This was thought to be true of trees 
and stones as well as of birds and animals. The 
second, Andrew Lang, considers that myths are 
stories which tell about the manners and customs of 
ancient or savage people, and the third, James G. 
[Frazer, sees in the worship of the spirits of vegeta- 
tion, the corn, the trees and so on the origin of most 
myths. Very long and very profound are the argu- 
ments with which each supports his particular point 
of view, and many are the illustrations drawn from 
the myths of all lands with which each illuminates 
his argument, but, like the rest of the knights, each 
sees so much in his own truth that he is more or less 
blind to all that others see. 

Now that I have tried to give you this glimpse at 
the various explanations of myths proposed from the 
most ancient times to the present, I think we shall 
be a little better prepared to find out an answer for 
ourselves that will be satisfactory. 

Suppose we take the top off the castle in which we 
25 



A Guide to Mythology 

imagined the myths and the secrets of their origin 
to be locked up, and look down upon them from our 
hilltop, using as an aid to our vision all the light 
that comes in through the numerous breaks in the 
castle made by the lances of the knights. What will 
the wonderful treasures revealed to us be like? 
They will not be like jewels, all polished and placed 
in regular shining rows, for myths were never fash- 
ioned as a jeweler would fashion his stones — all at 
once — into perfectly finished and beautiful shapes. 
]STo! — the imaginary contents of our castle which 
will best stand as a symbol or picture of all the 
myths of the whole world in all their wonderful 
variety will be an immense forest of almost count- 
less kinds of trees. Under the trees there are many 
sorts of plants and flowers ; and if we look closer we 
shall see that some of these trees and plants are ugly 
in shape, some are even decaying, but there are 
many most lovely to behold, and a few of the trees 
tower up above the others and are profusely dec- 
orated with many shining ornaments, making them 
look like Christmas trees. You will see at once 
that by using this symbol to stand for all the myths 
of the whole world I want to point out and make 
clear to you the important fact that myths were not 
made all at once as the jeweler polishes his stones, 
but they grew up gradually from small beginnings, 
like oaks from acorns, or pines from pine cones — 
and the soil in which they grew was the minds of 
primitive men ages and ages ago. 

Sometimes the trees of one land will look exceed- 
26 



What Is a Myth? 

ingly like those in another land — in fact, "being the 
same sort of trees, but differing somewhat in shape. 
Then the smaller plants and flowers are the symbols 
for many kinds of little mythical stories about every 
thing that you can think of, or rather that primitive 
man could think of, for he didn't know about trol- 
leys and telephones and automobiles, and so there 
are not any myths about such things as these. And 
the Christmas trees are the myths which have been 
enlarged and glorified by having myths from other 
lands added to them. 

ISTow the point comes up, how did all this vast 
forest of myths which covers the whole world arise, 
for the forest symbolizes, remember, only the forms 
oral or written in which the myths of the world 
have come to us. To answer this, we must now try 
to imagine behind all this wonderful growth of 
myth, on the one hand, the mind of mankind, and 
on the other hand all the objects of external nature. 
And besides we must think of mankind as it was un- 
told ages ago in the real childhood of the world. In 
those far off days when the first men used to roam 
about the world getting their food by hunting, with 
nothing but caves or tents to live in, man's conscious- 
ness of himself was not even as strong as that of a 
small child to-day. Still, he had implanted in him 
the power of observing whatever went on before him, 
and a constant curiosity to know the cause or the 
" reason why " of every thing he saw. Above all he 
had a vivid imagination. He could " make believe " 
about the things he saw far better than children do 

27 



A Guide to Mythology 

in their games to-day, and that is how he came to 
invent explanations of most of the things he saw 
about him. Here, for example, is a little story 
invented by the Hottentots to explain two things 
which they had observed, the spots on the moon, 
and the way in which the upper lip of a hare is 
split. 

" The moon sent an insect to men saying, € Go 
thou to men and tell them, as I die and dying live, 
so ye shall also die and dying live.' The insect 
started with his message, but while on the way was 
overtaken by the hare who asked him upon what 
errand he was bound. The insect answered that he 
had been sent by the moon to tell men that as she 
dies and dying lives so also shall they die and dying 
live ! The hare said, ' As thou art an awkward run- 
ner, let me go. ? With these words he ran off and 
when he reached men he said, ' I am sent by the 
moon to tell you, as I die and dying perish, in the 
same manner shall ye also die and come wholly to 
an end.' Then the hare returned to the moon and 
told her what he had said to men. The moon 
reproached him angrily, saying, ' Darest thou tell 
the people a thing which I have not said? ' With 
these words she took up a hatchet to split his head, 
missing that the hatchet fell upon the upper lip and 
made a deep gash. Maddened by such treatment, 
the hare flew at the moon and scratched her face 
which are the dark spots which we now see on the 
moon." 

28 



What Is a Myth? 

You see these primitive Hottentots treat every 
thing in nature as if it were alive just as we learned 
from Tyler. They really did not know what a 
great difference there is between a human being 
and an animal or between animals and plants or 
even plants and stones. All of the objects in nature 
being endowed with life, they might speak and act 
just like human beings. But it was only the very 
wisest of human beings who could understand this 
language that the animals and plants and other ob- 
jects in nature might speak. 

On this account all nature seemed very mysterious 
to primitive man, and he therefore was ready to 
worship almost any object that caught his attention. 

Then the strange feeling he had that another 
spirit quite detached from his ordinary life lived 
inside his body, made him imagine queer things 
about this spirit; for one thing, that it might leave 
his body and go off on independent journeys in the 
form of a bird or an animal, or even that it might be 
stowed away for safe keeping in some animal or 
other object, like the famous story of the Norse 
giant whose heart, which is equivalent to his true 
life, is far away in an egg that is in a church that is 
on an island that lies in a lake. In many stories 
belonging to this primitive time, a man's luck often 
stands for his life and is bound up in some object 
outside of himself as in this story of the Algonquin 
Indians, which reflects all the strange notions I have 
spoken of as well as giving an explanation of the 
appearance of the sheldrake duck. It is the story 

29 



A Guide to Mythology 



of how one of the Partridge's wives became a shel- 
drake duck, and why her feet and feathers are red. 

" There was once a hunter who lived in the woods. 
He had a brother or spirit who was so small that he 
kept him in a box, and when he went forth he closed 
this very carefully, for fear lest an evil spirit should 
get him. 

" One day this hunter, returning, saw a very beau- 
tiful girl sitting on a rock by a river, making a moc- 
casin. And being in a canoe he paddled up softly 
and silently to capture her; but she, seeing him 
coming, jumped into the water and disappeared. On 
returning to her mother, who lived at the bottom of 
the river, she was told to go back to the hunter and 
be his wife ; 1 for now,' said the mother, c you be- 
long to that man.' 

"The hunter's name was Mitchihess, the Partridge, 
When she came to his lodge he was absent. So she 
arranged every thing for his return, making a bed 
of boughs. At night he came back with one beaver. 
This he divided ; cooked one half for supper and laid 
by the other half. In the morning when she awoke 
he was gone, and the other half of the beaver had 
also disappeared. That night he returned with an- 
other beaver, and the same thing took place again. 
Then she resolved to spy and find out what all this 
meant. 

" So she lay down and went to sleep with one eye 
open. Then he quietly rose and cooked the half of 
the beaver, and taking a key unlocked a box, and 

30 * 



What Is a Myth? 

took out a little red dwarf and fed him. Replacing 
the elf, he locked him up again, and lay down to 
sleep. And the small creature had eaten the whole 
half beaver. But ere he put him in his box he 
washed him and combed his hair, which seemed to 
delight him. 

" The next morning, when her husband had gone 
for the day, the wife sought for the key, and having 
found it opened the box and called to the little fel- 
low to come out. This he refused to do for a long 
time, though she promised to wash and comb him. 
Being at length persuaded, he peeped out, when she 
pulled him forth. But whenever she touched him 
her hands became red, though of this she took no 
heed, thinking she could wash it off at will. But 
lo! while combing him, there entered a hideous be- 
ing, an awful devil, who caught the small elf from 
her and ran away. 

" Then she was terribly frightened. And trying 
to wash her hands, the red stain remained. When 
her husband returned that night he had no game; 
when he saw the red stain he knew all that had hap- 
pened; when he knew what had happened he seized 
his bow to beat her ; when she saw him seize his bow 
to beat her she ran down to the river and jumped 
in to escape death at his hands, though it should be 
by drowning. But as she fell into the water she 
became a sheldrake duck. And to this day the 
marks of the red stain are to be seen on her feet 
and feathers." 

You will observe a very strange custom alluded to 
31 



A Guide to Mythology 

in this story, and that is the way in which the 
hunter is described as capturing the maiden for his 
wife instead of gently trying to persuade her to be 
his wife. This shows that it is a very far-back 
myth, for there are many other stories to prove that 
savages learned to be much more gentle in their 
ways toward women even before men became alto- 
gether civilized. 

How primitive men came to have such peculiar 
beliefs we cannot say positively. Some people have 
thought that perhaps their dreams made them think 
that there was a spirit inside of them separate from 
their ordinary life, while the sounds and movements 
in nature, such as the singing of a waterfall, the 
rustling of leaves, or the sound which stones would 
give out when knocked together, would seem to the 
uneducated mind of early mankind, to be signs of 
life like his own. 

Another very early belief is that in magic and 
sorcery. Primitive man used to imagine that he 
could make it rain by imitating the thunder, which 
he did by shaking dried seeds about in a gourd. 
Magic is really the producing of any desired effect 
or event by means which are quite outside of the 
laws of nature. As the primitive savage did not 
know any thing about the laws of nature, laws which 
have taken ages for men to discover and all of which 
are not even yet discovered, he revelled in the inven- 
tion of means by which he thought he might accom- 
plish the things he would like to do. Sometimes he 
asked spirits to help him, and if what he wanted 

32 



What Is a Myth? 

to do was evil, he would ask aid of evil spirits. 
There are countless myths in which magic plays a 
part, examples of which you will see as you read 
the stories given in the following chapters. 

Since in the time most remote men depended 
upon animals almost entirely for their food, it is 
probable that animals were the objects that made the 
most vivid impressions on them, and, therefore, that 
stories of animals belong to this most primitive 
stage. 

At this time, too, it is likely that the worship of 
animals arose, for almost every tribe of savages had 
a sacred animal which, except in rare instances, it 
was never allowed to kill and from which it often 
imagined itself descended. 

After many ages, mankind began to till the 
ground, and to raise grain and vegetables, then plants 
and trees were more especially observed by them, and 
the mythical stories have, in consequence, more about 
plants and trees in them; and, as they had sacred 
animals, they had also sacred trees or plants, and 
worshipped them or imagined themselves descended 
from them. 

Then as men progressed in their powers of ob- 
servation they saw natural phenomena more and 
more. The succession of night and day impressed 
itself upon them, they took note of the motions of 
the sun, the moon and the stars, clouds caught their 
attention, storms filled them with awe and fear as 
the lightning flashed and the thunder roared and 
rattled in its might. The wind laughed in summer 

33 



A Guide to Mythology- 
breezes or howled in wintry blasts and they noticed 
it, and as soon as their attention was fully aroused 
to all these wonders of nature, they began to think 
of them, as not only endowed with powers like their 
own, but as living beings. First, they frequently 
personified nature as animals, then as human beings, 
and as they had worshipped sacred animals and sa- 
cred plants and sacred trees, now they worshipped 
these gods of nature; and as they invented tales 
about the animals and the trees, so they invented 
tales about these gods of nature. As one would ex- 
pect, the stories about animals and trees would often 
be mingled with the new stories of the nature gods, 
and sometimes changed so that one would hardly 
recognize them. And then, again, a story told about 
a nature god in one part of the world would, on 
account of the early wanderings of the human race 
from one land to another, be added as an orna- 
ment to a story told in another part of the world, 
like the ornaments on the Christmas trees in the 
castle. 

Again, whole myths would be transported, and 
as they reached different countries they would be 
changed somewhat so that they would reflect the 
manners or the knowledge of that particular coun- 
try. A strange thing, however, about many myths 
is that those in one part of the world are so much 
like those in another part of the world that it would 
seem as if they must have been invented by the same 
people. Not only are there myths in India and 
Greece which are very much alike, but there are 

U 



What Is a Myth? 

myths in Scandinavia and North America and South 
America that strongly resemble each other and those 
of Greece and India. 

Why this should be the case is another point about 
which learned men have had many opinions. Some 
of them have thought that the whole human race 
must once have lived in one particular spot on the 
globe, and that from there large numbers wandered 
forth to seek new homes in all the other countries 
on the globe, taking with them the myths which they 
had in common when they all lived together. It has 
never been settled just where that particular spot 
was, and probably it never will be. Perhaps it was 
in Central Asia, perhaps it was in the southern part 
of Spain, perhaps in Norway and Sweden, perhaps 
in the island of Atlantis, in the Southern Seas, which 
a legend says was submerged ages and ages ago. All 
of these places have been suggested as the original 
home of the whole human race, and very good argu- 
ments have been brought forward to prove the truth 
of every one of these suggestions. 

Since it does not seem possible to find out the 
truth about this, there are other people who dismiss 
the idea altogether. They think that man and na- 
ture being a good deal alike in whatever part of the 
world you find them, it it highly probable that myths 
might resemble each other very strikingly and yet 
be invented independently by people living in lands 
far apart, while the differences would be due largely 
to climate. 

Now if we try to think of centuries of time going 
35 



A Guide to Mythology 

by until in many countries primitive man is no longer 
primitive but begins to be more civilized, we shall 
find that certain groups of myths became crystal- 
lized into complete religious systems, such as existed 
in Egypt, Assyria, India, Greece, Persia, and many 
other countries. By this time the human race had 
attained to a much greater degree of self-conscious- 
ness. Men were beginning to understand both them- 
selves and nature better, and they often could see 
the true causes for the events of nature going on 
about them. The next step was for them to begin 
to observe very carefully the systems of religious 
myths which had been handed down to them by 
their forefathers. Upon these they used their im- 
aginative faculty, as man had earlier used it upon 
nature itself, with the result that they attached new 
meanings and gave fresh explanations of myths 
which had originally started as simple personifica- 
tions of nature. In Greece, for example, Apollo, 
who was originally a personification of the sun, came 
to be regarded as the God of Music and Poetry; 
Athene, who was originally the Dawn, became the 
Goddess of Wisdom; Hermes, originally the Wind, 
became the God of Eloquence and the leader of 
spirits. This is the way myths gradually grew to 
have philosophical or metaphysical meanings — that 
is, to stand as symbols of the deepest and most far- 
reaching thoughts of which the mind of man at 
that time was capable. Many of those thoughts are 
so profound and so wonderful that one needs to have 
a great deal of knowledge to understand them. All 

36 



What Is a Myth? 

that interests you now is to know that there are such 
thoughts and that some day you will want to know 
more about them. 

While some myths were thus raised to religious 
systems, there were many which remained in the 
form of legends and stories. In the course of many 
generations, these stories were told over again and 
again so that many changes crept into them and 
many additions were made. Sometimes the effect 
of these changes was to make a story cruder, some- 
times the complexity of a story was increased, and 
sometimes it became more interesting and beau- 
tiful. Stories which have been changed or added to 
by the people in this way are called variants of the 
same story. 

Owing to these facts mythology has been divided 
into two great sections. That which has risen to the 
dignity of a religion is called culture-lore, and that 
which has remained always in the form of stories 
and legends is called folk-lore. The first reflects the 
learning, wisdom and manners of the more intel- 
ligent portions of humanity, who developed in ad- 
vance of the others; and the second the beliefs and 
customs of the less intelligent. 

You are probably wondering by this time how all 
this vast array of myths has come down to us from 
the long ago past. Much of it has been preserved in 
ancient books like the " Rig Veda " in India, which 
is thought to be about four thousand years old, the 
" Iliad " and " Odyssey " of Homer in Greece, 
about three thousand years old and many others. 

37 



A Guide to Mythology 

These books existed in manuscript for many hun- 
dreds of years. Since the invention of printing, 
large numbers of them have been printed and trans- 
lated into modern languages. Knowledge of ancient 
myths has also been obtained from monuments and 
the inscriptions upon them, from paintings on vases 
and from statues. 

The folk-lore has for the most part been preserved 
orally in the stories of the common people, and has 
been handed down from generation to generation and 
finally taken down in writing by some one especially 
interested in collecting the stories, while the myths 
of the most primitive men are preserved in the sur- 
vivals of them among the races still remaining un- 
civilized in various parts of the globe. These have 
been for several centuries taken down from the 
mouths of the people, or observed in their customs 
and recorded by students. Among these less civi- 
lized races there are besides crude monuments, and 
even crude forms of writing by means of which prim- 
itive men have recorded their own myths. 

You will realize by this time what an extensive 
and wonderful forest this forest of myths is which 
we imagine ourselves looking down upon from our 
hilltop, and after having taken this bird's-eye view 
of the whole forest, you will be the better able to 
enjoy going down into the forest and making little 
journeys in different directions and becoming better 
acquainted with some of the most beautiful of the 
myths as you will in the following chapters. And 
now, moreover, you will have no difficulty in under- 

38 



What Is a Myth? 

standing me when I answer the question, " What is 
a myth ? " by saying : 

A myth is any imaginative explanation or inter- 
pretation by man of himself or of the objects and 
events in nature outside of himself, including their 
appearance, their effects and the still greater mys- 
tery of their causes. It may exist in many forms 
from the simple myth of explanation to the compli- 
cated systems of religious myths in which the objects 
of nature are regarded as gods in human form. The 
chief thing to be remembered about myths is that 
they are not true, though they may contain some ele- 
ments of truth; another, that though not actually 
true they seemed to be true to the people who made 
them. 



39 



CHAPTER II 



ANIMALS IN PRIMITIVE MYTHS 

fTlHE stories now to be told belong to that very 
* early time in human life, when, as we learned 
in the last chapter, men regarded every thing in na- 
ture as if it were gifted with life like themselves. 
The strange ideas to which this belief gave rise are, 
of course, reflected in their myths. Many of the 
stories have in them animals and plants which talk, 
while the transformation of men into animals or 
animals into men or even gods into animals, when 
animals are not actually worshipped is frequent. 

The most curious of all these beliefs is that man- 
kind is descended from animals, all the more curi- 
ous because some modern scientific men have, as 
every one knows, tried to prove very much the same 
thing. The modern scientist, however, does not have 
any especial reverence for the antediluvian ape from 
which he supposes he may have evolved, while the 
primitive savage regarded with awe and reverence 
the animals from which he thought himself de- 
scended. Groups of savages called clans — all trac- 
ing their descent from the same animal, considered 
that animal to be especially their friend. They 
would not kill it or eat it, except in a few instances 

40 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

when it was killed for the purposes of sacrifice. 
Many different animals were regarded as ancestral 
animals, and became the sign or totem, as it was 
called, of the tribe. Among totem animals may be 
mentioned the following in Australia: Opossum, 
Swan, Duck, Fish. Most of the Australian tribes 
declare that the family started by a transformation 
of these animals into mankind. The North Ameri- 
can Indians have a great variety of totem animals: 
Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron, 
Hawk, Crane, Duck, Loon, Turkey, Muskrat, Pike, 
Catfish, Carp, and so on. 

It was an easy step for the savage from the be- 
lief in his own descent from some animal to a 
belief in the sacredness and mystery of animals, 
naturally leading to the worship of them. The In- 
dians of Peru, for example, regarded the dog as 
their most exalted deity. They set up the image 
of a dog in their temples. They were also in the 
habit of choosing a live dog as a representation of 
their deity. They worshipped this and offered sacri- 
fices to it, and when it was well fattened up they 
ate it with solemn religious ceremonies. This is 
one of the cases where the sacred animal was eaten. 
Serpent worship is one of the most wide-spread 
forms of animal worship, an example of which is 
found among the Zulus to whom certain species are 
sacred because they are supposed to be the incarna- 
tions of ancestral spirits. 

Another form w T hich the sacred animal took was 
that of a supernatural being not only concerned in 

41 



A Guide to Mythology 

the origin of men but who had a part to play in the 
origin of the whole world. 

In a large number of these myths, the water al- 
ready existed and, also of course, the remarkable 
animal who brought to pass such wonders. The 
animal was sometimes very humble as in the story 
told by the Indians of British Columbia of the 
creation of the world. 

HOW A MUSKRAT MADE THE WORLD 

In the beginning nothing existed but water and 
a muskrat. As the little animal kept diving down 
to the bottom of the water in search of food, his 
mouth became frequently filled with mud. This he 
spat out and so gradually formed by alluvial de- 
posit, an island, which grew and grew until it finally 
became large enough to be the earth. 

The natives of the Philippine Islands tell this 
story of the creation of the world. 

HOW THE KITE HELPED TO MAKE THE WORLD 

The world at first consisted only of sky and 
water and between these two there flew a kite. The 
kite became weary of flying about, and finding no 
place to rest ; so he set the water at variance with 
the sky. Then, in order to keep the water within 
bounds and so that it should not get uppermost, the 
sky loaded the water with a number of islands in 
which the kite might settle and leave them at peace. 

42 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

Now, it happened that floating about in the water 
was a large cane with two joints which was at 
length thrown up by the waves at the feet of the 
kite as it stood on the shore of one of the islands. 
The kite split open the cane with its bill, and be- 
hold, a man came out of one joint and a woman 
out of the other. They were soon after married 
by the consent of their god, Bathala Meycapal, 
and from them are descended the different nations 
of the world. 

In some stories, a fish instead of a bird or an 
animal is the maker of the earth, while there is an 
interesting Polynesian myth in which the earth it- 
self was a fish and was fished up out of the waters 
with a fish hook. The person who accomplished 
this remarkable feat was the youngest of the Maui 
brothers, and the flower of the family, by all ac- 
counts. We shall hear of him again in the chapter 
on child myths. 

HOW MAUI FISHED UP THE EARTH 

The youngest Maui was always very badly treated 
by his elder brothers. They were in the habit of 
going off and leaving him alone at home with nothing 
to do and nobody to play with. Their treatment of 
him at meals was even more shocking. They would 
devour the best of every thing themselves, and toss 
him a bone or offal to eat. 

Finally, little Maui plucks up courage to assert 
43 



A Guide to Mythology 

himself, and the next time his brothers go a-fishing, 
he takes his place in the boat and insists on going, 
too. " Where is your hook," ask the two brothers. 
" Oh this will do," says little Maui, taking out his 
ancestor's jawbone. This he throws overboard for 
his fish-hook, but on trying to pull it in again he 
finds it very heavy. By hauling away at it, how- 
ever, he at last lifts it, and finds it has brought up 
the land from the bottom of the deep. This land 
proved to be an extraordinary combination of an 
enormous fish and an island with houses and men 
and animals on it. 

The world supporting tortoise is a familiar mytho- 
logical friend, believed in by Asia, and holding 
an important place in the mythology of the North 
American Indian, where a turtle, the lonely inhabi- 
tant of the waste of waters, dived to the depths 
for the earth. 

Even so humble an insect as the grasshopper 
figures in the Bushman's story of the creation of 
the world. Insignificant as the grasshopper appears 
to us, to the Bushman he appeared a great creature, 
called Cagn, with truly omnipotent powers, for he 
undertook the work of creation without even the 
usual raw material of water. He simply gave or- 
ders and caused all things to appear and to be 
made, — sun, moon, stars, wind, mountains, animals. 

In many of the primitive stories, magic is the 
means by which the most wonderful effects are pro- 
duced. It was believed that a magician could bring 

44 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

about any effect tie desired by the mere use of his 
will, and often without any visible symbol of magic 
power. Sometimes, however, magic wands were 
used, and sometimes ceremonies were performed for 
the purpose of producing magical results. On the 
other hand magical prodigies such as the changing 
of shape from man to animal often occur without 
the intervention of any magician. 

Whatever may have been the origin of this belief, 
it is certain that it was just as sincerely believed 
in as a theory of the universe by early mankind as 
the doctrine of an endless, persistent energy, always 
working from cause to effect has been believed in 
by the nineteenth century scientist. 

Very fanciful stories have clustered about the idea 
that the spirit might be detached from the body, 
and placed somewhere far away, as you will see 
when you read the story of " Punchkin." 

So firmly was this idea fixed in the savage mind 
that, it seems probable, his worship of animals, even 
in the earliest stages of life was really a worship of 
the spirit within the animal, rather than of the 
animal itself, and from this phase he passed on to 
the worship of a great spirit that might manifest 
itself in many forms. This was the belief of many 
of the North American Indian tribes. The Great 
Spirit, above all the lesser gods, is frequently re- 
ferred to in their stories. 

Of the following stories the first three, are ex- 
amples of a very large class of early myths, which 
attempt to account for the origin or peculiarities 

45 



A Guide to Mythology 

of animals. Curiosity having been awakened, the 
savage tries to explain what he sees and often in- 
vents pretty and even elaborate myths in his effort 
to find a truth beyond his knowledge. 

In the " Origin of the Robin," a custom observed 
among Indians is referred to in the young man's 
fast. Instead of college commencements, with Bac- 
calaureate sermons, and valedictories, the young 
Indian boy or maiden was made to observe a soli- 
tary fast afar from the parental wigwam, and while 
suffering the pangs of hunger and loneliness, it was 
believed that the Great Spirit or a guardian spirit 
would reveal to him his future. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE ROBIN 
(From the Odjibwa) 

An old man had an only son, named Opeechee, 
who had come to that age which is thought to be 
most proper to make the long and final fast which 
is to secure through life a guardian genius or 
spirit. The father was ambitious that his son should 
surpass all others in whatever was deemed wisest 
and greatest among his people. To accomplish his 
wish, he thought it necessary that the young Opee- 
chee should fast a much longer time than any of 
those renowned for their power of wisdom, whose 
fame he coveted. 

He therefore directed his son to prepare with 
great ceremony for the event. After Opeechee had 
been several times in the sweating-lodge and bath, 

46 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

which were to prepare and purify him for communion 
with his good spirit, his father ordered him to lie 
down upon a clean mat in a little lodge expressly pro- 
vided for him. He enjoined upon him at the same 
time to endure his fast like a man, and promised that 
at the expiration of twelve days he should receive 
food and the blessing of his father. 

The lad carefully observed the command, and lay 
with his face covered, calmly awaiting the approach 
of the spirit which was to decide his good or evil 
fortune for all the days of his life. 

Every morning his father came to the door of the 
little lodge and encouraged him to persevere, dwell- 
ing at length on the vast honor and renown that 
must ever attend him, should he accomplish the full 
term of trial allotted to him. 

To these glowing words of promise and glory the 
boy never replied, but he lay without the least sign 
of discontent or murmuring until the ninth day, 
when he addressed his father as follows: 

" My father, my dreams forebode evil. May I 
break my fast now, and at a more favorable time 
make a new fast ? " 

The father answered: 

" My son, you know not what you ask. If you 
get up now all your glory will depart. Wait pa- 
tiently a little longer. You have but three days 
more, and your term will be completed. You know 
it is for your own good, and I encourage you to per- 
severe. Shall not your aged father live to see you a 
star among the chieftains and the beloved of battle ? " 

47 



A Guide to Mythology 

The son assented ; and covering himself more close- 
ly, that he might shut out the light which prompted 
him to complain, he lay till the eleventh day, when 
he repeated his request. 

The father addressed Opeechee as he had the other 
day, and promised that he would himself prepare 
his first meal, and bring it to him by the dawn of 
the morning. 

The son moaned, and the father added: 

" Will you bring shame upon your father when 
his sun is falling in the West ? " 

" I will not shame you, my father," replied Opee- 
chee; and he lay so still and motionless that you 
could only know that he was living by the gentle 
heaving of his breast. 

At the spring of the day, the next morning, the 
father, delighted at having gained his end, prepared 
a repast for his son, and hastened to set it before 
him. On coming to the door of the little lodge, 
he was surprised to hear his son talking to himself. 

He held his ear down to listen, and, looking 
through a small opening, he was yet more astonished 
when he beheld his son painted with vermilion over 
all his breast, and in the act of finishing his work 
by laying on the paint as far back on his shoulders 
as he could reach with his hands, saying at the 
same time, to himself : " My father has destroyed my 
fortune as a man. He would not listen to my re- 
quests. He has urged me beyond my tender strength. 
He will be the loser. I shall be forever happy in my 
new state, for I have been obedient to my parent. 

48 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

He alone will be the sufferer, for my guardian spirit 
is a just one. Though not propitious to me in the 
manner I desired, he has shown me pity in another 
way — he has given me another shape; and now I 
must go." 

At this moment the old man broke in exclaiming : 

" My son ! I pray you leave me not ! " 

But the young man with the quickness of a bird 
flew to the top of the lodge and perched himself on 
the highest pole, having been changed into a beauti- 
ful robin red-breast. He looked down upon his 
father with pity, and addressed him as follows : 

" Regret not, my father, the change you behold. 
I shall be happier in my present state than I could 
have been as a man. I shall always be the friend of 
men, and keep near their dwellings. I shall ever 
be contented; and although I could not gratify 
your wishes as a warrior, it will be my daily 
aim to make you amends for it as a harbinger of 
peace and joy. I shall cheer you by my songs, and 
strive to inspire in others the joy and lightsomeness 
of heart I feel in my present state. This will be 
some compensation to you for the loss of glory you 
expected. I am now free from the cares and pains 
of human life. My food is furnished by the moun- 
tains and fields, and my pathway of life is in the 
bright air." 

Then, stretching himself on his toes, as if de- 
lighted with the gift of wings, Opeechee caroled one 
of his sweetest songs, and flew away into a neighbor- 
ing wood. 

49 



A Guide to Mythology 

THE ORIGIN OF THE HAKE 
(From the Aino) 

Suddenly, there was a large house on the top of 
a mountain, wherein were six people beautifully ar- 
rayed, but constantly quarreling. Whence they came 
was unknown. Thereupon Okikurumi came and 
said : " Oh ! you bad hares ! you wicked hares ! Who 
does not know your origin? The children in the 
sky were pelting each other with snow balls, and the 
snow balls fell into the world of men. As it would 
be a pity to waste anything that falls from the sky, 
the snow balls were turned into hares, and those 
hares are you. You who dwell in this world which 
belongs to me, should not quarrel. What is that you 
are making such a noise about ? " 

With these words, Okikurumi seized a fire-brand, 
and beat each of the six with it in turn. There- 
upon all the hares ran away. This is the origin of 
the hare and for this reason the body of the hare 
is white because made of snow, while its ears, which 
are the place where it was charred by the fire-brand, 
— are black. 

HOW THE MOLE BECAME BLIND 
(North American Indian) 

Once a squirrel was being chased by an Indian, 
and in order to escape, the squirrel ran all the way 
up a tree into the sky. The Indian set a snare for 
the squirrel at the top of the tree and then came 
down, but he found the next day that the sun was 

50 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

caught in the snare, and this brought on night. He 
saw at once how much harm he had caused, and be- 
ing an Indian of very good intentions he was anx- 
ious to do what he could to remedy the mischief. 
So he sent up great numbers of animals in the hope 
that they might cut the noose and release the sun, 
but the intense heat burned them all to ashes. At 
length the slow mole succeeded; he burrowed under 
the road in the sky till he reached the place of the 
sun, gnawed in twain the cords, and released the 
captive. But the sun's flash put his eyes out and 
this is the reason why the mole is blind. The effect 
of the burning is still to be seen on the nose and the 
teeth of the mole, for they are brown as if burnt. 
From that time on, however, the gait of the sun has 
been more deliberate and slow. 

THE BOY AND THE WOLVES ; OR, THE BROKEN PROMISE 
(North American Indian) 

In the depths of a solitary forest a hunter had 
built his lodge, for he was weary of the companion- 
ship of the people of his tribe; their habits of de- 
ceit and cruelty had turned his heart from them. 
With his family, his wife and three children, he had 
selected a home in the solitude of the forest. Years 
passed by while he peacefully enjoyed the quiet of 
his home, or the more attractive pleasures of the 
chase, in which he was joined by his eldest son. At 
length his peaceful enjoyments were interrupted: 
sickness entered the solitary lodge, and the hunter 

51 



A Guide to Mythology 

was prostrated upon his couch never more to 
rise. 

As death drew near, he addressed his family in 
these words : " You," said he turning to his wife, 
" you, who have been the companion of my life, 
shall join me in the Isle of the Blessed. You have 
not long to suffer. But oh, my children ! " and he 
turned his eyes affectionately upon them, " you have 
just commenced life; and, mark me, unkindness, in- 
gratitude, and every wickedness is before you. I 
left my tribe and kindred to come to this unfre- 
quented place, because of the evils of which I have 
just warned you. I have contented myself with 
the company of your mother and yourselves, for I 
was solicitous that you might be kept from bad ex- 
ample; and I shall die contented if you, my chil- 
dren, promise to cherish each other, and not to for- 
sake your youngest brother." 

Exhausted with speaking, the dying hunter closed 
his eyes for a few moments, and then, rousing him- 
self with great effort, he took the hand of his two 
eldest children and said : " My daughter, never for- 
sake your youngest brother. My son, never forsake 
your youngest brother." 

" Never ! never ! " responded both ; and the hunter 
sank back upon his pallet and soon expired. 

His wife, according to his predictions, followed 
him after the brief expiration of eight months; but 
in her last moments she reminded the two children 
of the promise made their father. During the win- 
ter following their mother's death, the two elder 

52 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

children were exceedingly thoughtful in regard to 
their brother, who was a mere child and very delicate 
and sickly; but when the winter had passed away, 
the young man became restless, and at length de- 
termined to break his promise to his father, and 
seek the village of his father's tribe. 

He communicated this determination to his sister, 
who replied : " My brother, I cannot wonder at your 
desire, as we are not prohibited the society of our 
fellow-men; but we were told to cherish each other, 
and protect our little brother. If we follow our own 
inclinations, we may forget him." 

To this the young man made no reply, but, taking 
his bow and arrows, left the lodge and never re- 
turned. Several moons passed after his departure, 
during which the girl tenderly watched over her 
little brother; but at length the solitude of her life 
became unendurable, and she began to meditate escap- 
ing from the care of her brother, and leaving him 
alone in his helplessness. She gathered into the 
lodge a large amount of food, and then said to her 
brother, " My brother, do not leave the lodge ; I go 
to seek our brother, and shall soon return." 

Then she went in search of the village of her tribe, 
where she hoped to find her elder brother. When she 
reached the village, she was so delighted with the 
novelty of society and the pleasure of seeing others 
of her own age that she entirely forgot her little 
brother. She found her elder brother nicely settled 
in life, he having married very happily; and, on 
receiving a proposal of marriage herself, abandoned 

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A Guide to Mythology 

all thought of returning to the solitary lodge in the 
forest, accepting a home in the village with the young 
man who became her husband. 

As soon as the little brother had eaten all the 
food collected by his sister, he went into the woods 
and picked berries and dug up roots. That satisfied 
his hunger as long as the weather was mild ; but, when 
the winter drew on, he was obliged to wander about 
in very great distress for want of food. He often 
passed his nights in the clefts and hollows of old 
trees, and was glad to eat the refuse-meat left by 
the wolves; and he became so fearless of those ani- 
mals that he would sit by them while they devoured 
their prey, and the animals themselves were so ac- 
customed to him that they seemed pleased with his 
presence, and always left some of their food for him. 
Thus the little boy lived on through the winter, suc- 
cored from hunger by the wild beasts of the woods. 

When the winter had passed away and the ice 
had melted from the Great Lake, he followed the 
wolves to its open shore. It happened one day that 
his elder brother was fishing in his canoe on the 
lake, and, hearing the cry of a child, hastened to the 
shore, where at a short distance from him he dis- 
covered his little brother, who was singing plain- 
tively these lines: 

Nesia, Nesia, shug wuh, gushuh! 
Ne mien gun-iew ! Ne mien gun-iew! 

My brother, my brother! 
I am turning into a wolf ! 
I am turning into a wolf! 
54 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

At the termination of his song, he howled like a 
wolf; and the elder, approaching him, was startled 
at seeing that the little fellow had indeed half turned 
into a wolf, when, running hastily forward, he 
shouted, " My brother, my little brother, come to 
me ! " But the boy fled from him, while he con- 
tinued to sing : " I am turning into a wolf ! — Ne 
mien gun-iew! "Ne mien gun-iew! " Filled with an- 
guish and remorse, the elder brother continued to 
cry, " My brother, my little brother, come to me ! " 
But the more eagerly he called, the more rapidly 
his brother fled from him, while he became more 
and more like a wolf, until, with a prolonged howl, 
his whole body was transformed, when he bounded 
swiftly away into the depths of the forest. 

The elder brother, in the deepest sorrow, now re- 
turned to his village, where with his sister he la- 
mented the dreadful fate of his brother until the 
end of his life. 

HOW WASBASHAS, THE SNAIL, BECAME A MAN 
(North American Indian) 

Upon the banks of the Missouri River there once 
lived a snail, in great enjoyment; for he found 
plenty of food, and was never in want of anything 
that a snail could desire. At length, however, dis- 
aster reached him. The waters of the river over- 
flowed its banks; and, although the little creature 
clung to a log with all his strength, — hoping thereby 
to remain safe upon the shore, — the rising flood car- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ried both him and the log away, and they floated 
helplessly many days, until the waters subsided, 
when the poor snail was left upon a strange shore 
that was covered with the river's slime, where, as 
the sun arose, the heat was so intense that he was 
irrecoverably fixed in the mud. Oppressed with the 
heat and drought, and famishing for want of nour- 
ishment, in despair he resigned himself to his fate 
and prepared to die. But suddenly new feelings 
arose, and a renewed vigor entered his frame. His 
shell burst open; his head gradually arose above 
the ground; his lower extremities assumed the char- 
acter of feet and legs ; arms extended from his sides, 
and their extremities divided into fingers ; and, thus 
beneath the influence of the shining sun, he became 
a tall and noble-looking man. For a while he was 
stupefied with the change ; he had no energy, no dis- 
tinct thoughts ; but by degrees his brain assumed its 
activity, and returning recollection induced him to 
travel back to his native shore. Naked and ignorant, 
and almost perishing with hunger, he walked along. 
He saw beasts and birds enticing to the appetite; 
but, not knowing how to kill them, his hunger was 
left unappeased. 

At last he became so weak that he laid himself 
down upon the ground in despair, thinking that he 
must die. He had not been lying thus very long, 
when he heard a voice calling him by name, " Was- 
bashas, Wasbashas ! " He looked up, and before him 
beheld the Great Spirit sitting upon a white animal. 
And the eyes of the Spirit were like stars ; the hair 

56 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

of his head shone like the sun. Trembling from 
head to foot, Wasbashas bowed his head. He could 
not look upon him. Again the voice spoke, in a 
mild tone, " Wasbashas, why art thou terrified? " "I 
tremble," replied Wasbashas, " because I stand before 
him who raised me from the ground. I am faint; 
I have eaten nothing since I was left a little shell 
upon the shore." The Great Spirit then lifted up 
his hands, displaying in them a bow and arrows; 
and telling Wasbashas to look at him, he put an ar- 
row to the string of the bow, and sent it into the air, 
striking a beautiful bird, that dropped dead upon 
the ground. A deer then coming in sight, he placed 
another arrow to the string, and pierced it through 
and through. " There," said the Great Spirit, " is 
your food, and these are your arms," — handing him 
the bow and arrows. The beneficent Being then in- 
structed him how to remove the skin of the deer, and 
prepare it for a garment. " You are naked," said 
he, " and must be clothed ; for although it is now 
warm, the skies will change, and bring rains and 
snow and cold winds." Having said this, he also 
imparted the gift of fire, and instructed him how to 
roast the flesh of the deer and bird. He then placed 
a collar of wampum around his neck. " This," said 
he, " is your title of authority over all the beasts." 
Having done this, the Great Spirit arose in the air 
and vanished from sight. Wasbashas refreshed him- 
self with the food, and afterward pursued his way 
to his native land. Having walked a long distance, 
he seated himself on the banks of a river, and medi- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

tated on what had transpired, when a large beaver 
arose up from the channel and addressed him. " Who 
art thou ? " said the beaver, " that comest here to 
disturb my ancient reign ? " 

"lama man," he replied. " I was once a creep- 
ing shell ; but who art thou ? " "I am king of the 
nation of beavers," was answered ; " I lead my peo- 
ple up and down this stream. We are a busy people, 
and the river is my dominion." 

" I must divide it with you," said Wasbashas ; 
" the Great Spirit has placed me at the head of 
beasts and birds, fishes and fowls, and has pro- 
vided me with the power of maintaining my rights ; " 
and then he exhibited the gifts of the Great Spirit, 
the bow and arrows and the wampum. 

" Come, come," said the beaver in a modified tone, 
" I perceive we are brothers ; walk with me to my 
lodge, and refresh yourself after your journey." So 
saying he conducted Wasbashas, who had accepted 
the invitation with great alacrity, to a beautiful 
large village, where he was entertained in the chief's 
lodge, which was built in a cone shape; and, as the 
floor was covered with pine mats, it had a very de- 
lightful appearance to the eyes of Wasbashas. 

After they had seated themselves, the chief bade 
his wife and daughter prepare for them the choicest 
food in their possession. Meanwhile he entertained 
his guest by informing him how they constructed 
their lodges, and described their manner of cutting 
down trees with their teeth, and felling them across 
streams so as to dam up the water; and also in- 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

structed him in the method of finishing the dams 
with leaves and clay. With this wise conversation 
the chief beguiled the time, and also gained the re- 
spect of Wasbashas. His wife and daughter now en- 
tered, bringing in fresh peeled poplar and willow 
and sassafras and elder-bark, which was the most 
choice food known to them. Of this Wasbashas made 
a semblance of tasting, while his entertainer de- 
voured a large amount with great enjoyment. The 
daughter of the chief now attracted the eyes of 
Wasbashas. Her modest deportment and cleanly at- 
tire, her assiduous attention to the commands of her 
father, heightened very much her charms, which in 
the estimation of the guest were very great; and 
the longer Wasbashas gazed upon the maiden, the 
more deeply he was enamoured, until at length he 
formed the resolution to seek her in marriage; upon 
which, with persuasive words, he spoke to the chief, 
begging him to allow his suit. The chief gladly 
assented; and as the daughter had formed a favour- 
able opinion of the suitor, a marriage was consum- 
mated — but not without a feast to which beavers and 
friendly animals were invited. Prom this union of 
the snail and beaver the Osage tribe has its origin. 



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A Guide to Mythology 



THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF MASTER RABBIT 

WITH THE OTTER AND THE 
WOODPECKER GIRLS 

ALSO A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS CHASE, IN 
WHICH HE FOOLED LUSIFEE, THE WILD CAT 

(Algonquin) 

I. HOW MASTER RABBIT SOUGHT TO RIVAL KEEOONY, 
THE OTTER 

Of old times, Mahtigwess, the Babbit, who is 
called in the Micmac tongue Ableegumooch, lived 
with his grandmother, waiting for better times ; and 
truly he found it a hard matter in midwinter, when 
ice was on the river and snow was on the plain, to 
provide even for his small household. And running 
through the forest one day he found a lonely wigwam, 
and he that dwelt therein was Keeoony, the Otter. 
The lodge was on the bank of a river, and a smooth 
road of ice slanted from the door down to the water. 
And the Otter made him welcome, and directed his 
housekeeper to get ready to cook; saying which, he 
took the hooks on which he was wont to string fish 
when he had them, and went to fetch a mess for din- 
ner. Placing himself on the top of the slide, he 
coasted in and under the water, and then came out 
with a great bunch of eels, which were soon cooked, 
and on which they dined. 

" By my life," thought Master Eabbit, " but that 
is an easy way of getting a living ! Truly these fish- 
ing-folk have fine fare, and cheap! Cannot I, who 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

am so clever, do as well as this mere Otter? Of 
course I can. Why not ? " Thereupon he grew so 
confident of himself as to invite the Otter to dine 
with him — adamadusk ketkewop — on the third day 
after that, and so went home. 

" Come on ! " he said to his grandmother the next 
morning ; "let us remove our wigwam down to the 
lake." So they removed ; and he selected a site such 
as the Otter had chosen for his home, and the weather 
being cold he made a road of ice, of a coast, down 
from his door to the water, and all was welL Then 
the guest came at the time set, and Rabbit, calling his 
grandmother, bade her get ready to cook a dinner. 
" But what am I to cook, grandson ? " inquired the 
old dame. 

" Truly I will see to that," said he, and made him 
a nabogun, or stick to string eels. Then going to the 
ice path, he tried to slide like one skilled in the art, 
but indeed with little luck, for he went first to the 
right side, then to the left, and so hitched and 
jumped till he came to the water, where he went in 
with a bob backwards. And this bad beginning had 
no better ending, since of all swimmers and divers the 
Rabbit is the very worst, and this one was no better 
than his brothers. The water was cold, he lost his 
breath, he struggled, and was well-nigh drowned. 

" But what on earth ails the fellow ? " said the Ot- 
ter to the grandmother, who was looking on in amaze- 
ment. 

" Well, he has seen somebody do something, and is 
trying to do likewise," replied the old lady. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

" Ho ! come out of that now," cried the Otter, 
" and hand me your nabogun! " And the poor Rab- 
bit, shivering with cold, and almost frozen, came 
from the water and limped into the lodge. And 
there he required much nursing from his grand- 
mother, while the Otter, plunging into the stream, 
soon returned with a load of fish. But, disgusted 
at the Rabbit for attempting what he could not 
perform, he threw them down as a gift, and went 
home without tasting the meal. 

II. HOW MAHTIGWESS, THE RABBIT, DINED WITH THE 
WOODPECKER GIRLS, AND WAS AGAIN HUMBLED 
BY TRYING TO RIVAL THEM. 

Now Master Rabbit, though disappointed, was not 
discouraged, for this one virtue he had, that he never 
gave up. And wandering one day in the wilderness, 
he found a wigwam well filled with young women, all 
wearing red head-dresses; and no wonder, for they 
were Woodpeckers. Now, Master Rabbit was a well- 
bred Indian, who made himself as a melody to all 
voices, and so he was cheerfully bidden to bide to din- 
ner, which he did. Then one of the red-polled pretty 
girls, taking a woltes, or wooden dish, lightly climbed 
a tree, so that she seemed to run; and while ascend- 
ing, stopping here and there and tapping now and 
then, took from this place and that many of those in- 
sects called by the Indians apchel-moal-timpkawal, or 
rice, because they so much resemble it. And note 
that this rice is a dainty dish for those who like it. 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

And when it was boiled, and they had dined, Master 
Eabbit again reflected, " La ! how easily some folks 
live! What is to hinder me from doing the same? 
Ho, you girls ! come over and dine with me the day 
after to-morrow ! " 

And having accepted this invitation, all the guests 
came on the day set, when Master Rabbit undertook 
to play woodpecker. So having taken the head of an 
eel-spear and fastened it to his nose to make a bill, he 
climbed as well as he could — and bad was the best — 
up a tree, and tried to get his harvest of rice. Truly 
he got none; only in this did he succeed in resem- 
bling a Woodpecker, that he had a red poll; for his 
pate was all torn and bleeding, bruised by the fishing- 
point. And the pretty birds all looked and laughed, 
and wondered what the Rabbit was about. 

" Ah ! " said his grandmother, " I suppose he is 
trying again to do something which he has seen some 
one do. 'T is just like him." 

" Oh, come down there ! " cried Miss Woodpecker, 
as well as she could for laughing. " Give me your 
dish ! " And having got it she scampered up the 
trunk, and soon brought down a dinner. But it was 
long ere Master Rabbit heard the last of it from 
these gay tree-tappers. 

III. RELATING HOW THE RABBIT BECAME WISE BY 
BEING ORIGINAL, AND OF THE TERRIBLE TRICKS 
WHICH HE BY MAGIC PLAYED LOUP-CERVIER. 

There are men who are bad at copying, yet are 
good originals, and of this kind was Master Rabbit, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

who, when he gave up trying to do as others did, 
succeeded very well. And, having found out his 
foible, he applied himself to become able in good 
earnest, and studied m'teoulin, or magic, so severely 
that in time he grew to be an awful conjurer, so that 
he could raise ghosts, crops, storms, or devils when- 
ever he wanted them. For he had perseverance, 
and out of this may come anything, if it be only 
brought into the right road. 

Now it came to pass that Master Rabbit got into 
great trouble. The records of the Micmacs say that 
it was from his stealing a string of fish from the 
Otter, who pursued him; but the Passamaquoddies 
declare that he was innocent of this evil deed, prob- 
ably because they make great account of him as 
their ancestor and as the father of the Wabanaki. 
Howbeit, this is the way in which they tell the 
tale. 

Now the Rabbit is the natural prey of the Loup- 
Cervier, or Lusifee, who is a kind of wild-cat, none 
being more obstinate. And this Wild-Cat once went 
hunting with a gang of wolves, and they got nothing. 
Then Wild-Cat, who had made them great promises 
and acted as chief, became angry, and, thinking of the 
Rabbit, promised them that this time they should in- 
deed get their dinner. So he took them to Rabbit's 
wigwam; but he was out, and the Wolves, being 
vexed and starved, reviled Wild-Cat, and then rushed 
off howling through the woods. 

Now I think that the Rabbit is m'teoulin. Yes, 
he must be, for when Wild-Cat started to hunt him 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

alone, he determined with all his soul not to be 
caught, and made himself as magical as he could. So 
he picked up a handful of chips, and threw one as 
far as possible, then jumped to it — for he had a 
charm for a long jump; and then threw another, 
and so on, for a great distance. This was to make 
no tracks, and when he thought he had got out of 
scent and sight and sound he scampered away like 
the wind. 

Now, as I said, when the wolves got to Master 
Rabbit's house and found nothing, they smelt about 
and left Wild-Cat, who swore by his tail that he 
would catch Rabbit, if he had to hunt forever and 
run himself to death. So, taking the house for a 
center, he kept going round and round it, all the 
time a little further, and so more around and still 
further. Then at last having found the track, he 
went in hot haste after Mr. Rabbit. And both 
ran hard, till, night coming on, Rabbit, to pro- 
tect himself, had only just time to trample down the 
snow a little, and stick up a spruce twig on end and 
sit on it But when Wild-Cat came up he found 
there a fine wigwam, and put his head in. All that 
he saw was an old man of very grave and dignified 
appearance, whose hair was gray, and whose majestic 
(sogmoye) appearance was heightened by a pair of 
long and venerable ears. And of him Wild-Cat 
asked in a gasping hurry if he had seen a Rabbit 
running that way. 

" Rabbits ! " replied the old man. " Why, of 
course, I have seen many. They abound in the woods 

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A Guide to Mythology 

about here. I see dozens of them every day." With 
this he said kindly to Wild-Cat that he had better 
tarry with him for a time. "I am an old man/' he 
remarked with solemnity — " an old man, living alone, 
and a respectable guest, like you, sir, comes to me like 
a blessing." And the Cat, greatly impressed, re- 
mained. After a good supper he lay down by the 
fire, and, having run all day, was at once asleep, and 
made but one nap of it till morning. But how aston- 
ished, and oh, how miserable he was, when he awoke, 
to find himself on the open heath in the snow and al- 
most starved ! The wind blew as if it had a keen will 
to kill him; it seemed to go all through his body. 
Then he saw that he had been a fool and cheated by 
magic, and in a rage swore again by his teeth, as well 
as his tail, that the Kabbit should die. There was no 
hut now, only the trampled snow and a spruce twig, 
and yet out of this little, Rabbit had conjured up so 
great a delusion. 

Then he ran again all day. And when night came, 
Master Rabbit, having a little more time than before, 
again trampled down the snow, but for a greater 
space, and strewed many branches all about, for now 
a huge effort was to be made. And when Wild-Cat 
got there he found a great Indian village, with 
crowds of people going to and fro. The first build- 
ing he saw was a church, in which service was being 
held. And he, entering, said hastily to the first per- 
son he saw, " Ha ! ho ! have you seen a Rabbit run- 
ning by here ? " 

" Hush — sh, sh ! " replied the man. " You must 
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Animals In Primitive Myths 

wait till meeting is over before asking such ques- 
tions." Then a young man beckoned to him to come 
in, and he listened till the end to a long sermon on the 
wickedness of being vindictive and rapacious; and 
the preacher was a gray ancient, and his ears stood 
up over his little cap like the two handles of a pit- 
cher, yet for all that the Wild-Cat's heart was not 
moved one whit. And when it was all at an end he 
said to the obliging young man, " But have you seen 
a Rabbit running by % " 

" Eabbits ! Rab-bits ! " replied the young man. 
" Why, there are hundreds racing about in the cedar 
swamps near this place, and you can have as many as 
you want." " Ah ! " replied Wild-Cat, " but they are 
not what I seek. Mine is an entirely different kind." 
The other said that he knew of no sort save the wild 
wood-rabbits, but that perhaps their Governor, or 
Chief, who was very wise, could tell him all about 
them. Then the Governor, or Sagamore, came up. 
Like the preacher, he was very remarkable and gray, 
with the long locks standing up one on either side 
of his head. And he invited the stranger to his 
house, where his two very beautiful daughters cooked 
him a fine supper. And when he wished to retire 
they brought out blankets and a beautiful white 
hears shin, and made up a bed for him by the fire. 
Truly, his eyes were closed as soon as he lay down, 
but when he awoke there had been a great change. 
For now he was in a wet cedar swamp, the wind 
blowing ten times worse than ever, and his supper 
and sleep had done him little good, for they were 

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A Guide to Mythology 

all a delusion. All around him were rabbits' tracks 
and broken twigs, but nothing more. 

Yet he sprang up, more enraged than ever, and 
swearing more terribly by his tail, teeth, and claws 
that he would be revenged. So he ran on all day, and 
at night, when he came to another large village, he 
was so weary that he could just gasp, " Have — you — 
seen a Rab — bit run this way ? " With much con- 
cern and kindness they all asked him what was the 
matter. So he told them all this story, and they 
pitied him very much; yea, one gray old man— and 
this was the Chief — with two beautiful daughters, 
shed tears and comforted him, and advised him to 
stay with them. So they took him to a large hall, 
where there was a great fire burning in the middle 
thereof. And over it hung two pots with soup and 
meat, and two Indians stood by and gave food to all 
the people. And he had his share with the rest, and 
all feasted gayly. 

Now, when they had done eating, the old Governor, 
who was very gray, and from either side of whose 
head rose two very venerable, long white feathers, 
rose to welcome the stranger, and in a long speech 
said it was, indeed, the custom of their village to 
entertain guests, but that they expected from them a 
song. Then Wild-Cat, who was vain of his voice, 
uplifted it in vengeance against the Rabbits : 

Oh, how I hate them ! 
How I despise them! 
How I laugh at them ! 
May I scalp them all ! 
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Animals In Primitive Myths 

Then he said that he thought the Governor should 
sing. And to this the Chief consented, but declared 
that all who were present should bow their heads 
while seated, and shut their eyes, which they did. 
Then Chief Kabbit, at one bound, cleared the heads 
of his guests, and drawing his timheyen, or toma- 
hawk, as he jumped, gave Wild-Cat a wound which 
cut deeply into his head and only fell short of killing 
him by entirely stunning him. When he recovered, 
he was again in snow, slush and filth, more starved 
than ever, his head bleeding from a dreadful blow, 
and he himself almost dead. Yet, with all that, the 
Indian devil was stronger in him than ever, for every 
new disgrace did but bring more resolve to be re- 
venged, and he swore it by his tail, claws, teeth, and 
eyes. 

So he tottered along, though he could hardly walk ; 
nor could he, indeed, go very far that day. And when 
almost broken down with pain and weariness, he 
came about noon to two good wigwams. Looking into 
one, he saw a gray-haired old man, and in the other 
a young girl, apparently his daughter. And they re- 
ceived him kindly, and listened to his story, saying 
it was very sad, the old man declaring that he must 
really remain there, and that he would get him a 
doctor, since, unless he were well cared for at once, 
he would die. Then he went forth as if in great 
concern, leaving his daughter to nurse the weary, 
wounded stranger. 

Now, when the doctor came, he, too, was an old 
gray man, with a scalp-lock strangely divided like 

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A Guide to Mythology 

two horns. But the Wild-Cat had become a little 
suspicious, having been so often deceived, for much 
abuse will cease to amuse even the most innocent; 
and truly he was none of these. And, looking grimly 
at the Doctor, he said : " I was asking if any Babbits 
are here, and truly you look very much like one your- 
self. How did you get that split nose ? " " Oh, that 
is very simple," replied the old man. " Once I was 
hammering wampum beads, and the stone on which 
I beat them broke in halves, and one piece flew up, 
and, as you see, split my nose." " But," persisted 
the Wild-Cat, " why are the soles of your feet so yel- 
low, even like a Babbit's ? " " Ah, that is because 
I have been preparing some tobacco, and I had to 
hold it down with my feet, for, truly, I needed both 
my hands to work with. So the tobacco stained them 
yellow." Then the Wild-Cat suspected no more, 
and the Doctor put salve on his wound, so that he 
felt much better. 

But oh, the wretchedness of the awaking in the 
morning! For then Wild-Cat found himself indeed 
in the extreme of misery. His head was swollen and 
aching to an incredible degree, and the horrible 
wound, which was gaping wide, had been stuffed with 
hemlock needles and pine splinters, and this was the 
cool salve which the Doctor had applied. And then 
he swore by all his body and soul that he would slay 
the next being he met, Babbit or Indian. Verily 
this time he would be utterly revenged. 

Now Mahtigwess, the Babbit, had almost come to 
an end of his mteoulin, or wizard power, for that 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

time, yet he had still enough left for one more great 
effort. And, coming to a lake, he picked up a very 
large chip, and, having seamed it with sorcery and 
magnified it by magic, threw it into the water, where 
it at once seemed to be a great ship, such as white 
men build. And when the Wild-Cat came up he 
saw it, with sails spread and flags flying, and the 
captain stood so stately on the deck, with folded 
arms, and he was a fine, gray-haired, dignified man, 
with a cocked hat, the two points of which were like 
grand and stately horns. But the Wild-Cat had 
sworn, and he was mindful of his great oath ; so he 
cried, " You cannot escape me this time, Rabbit ! I 
have you now ! " Saying this he plunged in, and tried 
to swim to the ship. And the captain, seeing a Wild- 
Cat in the water, being engaged in musket drill, 
ordered his men to fire at it, which they did with a 
bang! Now this was caused by a party of night- 
hawks overhead, who swooped down with a sudden 
cry like a shot; at least it seemed so to Wild-Cat, 
who, deceived and appalled by this volley, deeming 
that he had verily made a mistake this time, turned 
tail and swam ashore into the dark old forest, where, 
if he is not dead, he is running still. 

In the following two stories, the two most cele- 
brated heroes of American Indian Mythology figure. 
The first is known as Manabozho among the Algon- 
quin Indians and as Hiawatha among the Iroquois. 
Although he appears most often in the form of a 
man in Indian legends, he seems at times to be 

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A Guide to Mythology 

endowed with divine attributes. According to the 
ordinary account of him 1 he is regarded as the mes- 
senger of the Great Spirit, sent down to mankind, 
in the character of a wise man or prophet. But he 
has all the attributes of humanity as well as the 
power of performing miraculous deeds. He adapts 
himself perfectly to their manners and customs and 
ideas. He marries, builds a lodge, hunts and fishes, 
goes to war, has his triumphs and his failures like 
other Indians. Whatever man could do in strength 
or wisdom he could do, but when he encounters situ- 
ations requiring more than human strength, his mir- 
aculous powers come into play. He is provided with 
a magic canoe which goes where it is bid. He could 
leap over extensive regions of country like an ignis 
fatuus. He appears suddenly like a god, or wanders 
over weary wastes of country a poor and starving 
hunter. His voice is at one moment deep and sonor- 
ous as a thunder-clap, and at another clothed with 
the softness of feminine supplication. He could 
transform himself into any animal he pleased. He 
often conversed with animals, fowls, reptiles, and 
fishes. He deemed himself related to them, and al- 
ways in speaking to them called them " my brother," 
and one of his greatest resources when finding him- 
self hard pressed was to change himself into their 
shapes. 

He could conquer Manitoes, no matter what their 
evil power might be. Manitoes in Indian stories are 
not unlike fairies in their characteristics. They 
1 See Schoolcraft. 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

were of all imaginary kinds, grades, powers, some- 
times benign, sometimes malicious, but Manabozho 
was a personage strong enough in his necromantic 
powers to baffle the most malicious, beat the stout- 
est, and overreach the most cunning. He was not, 
however, the wholly benevolent being we might ex- 
pect he would be with all these great gifts; he was 
unfortunately ambitious, vainglorious, and deceit- 
ful, and at times not much better himself than a 
wicked Manito. But what could be expected of a 
son of the West Wind, for his father was Emga- 
biun, the West Wind, and you will find that mythi- 
cal beings which personify the wind are always of 
a tricksy disposition just as the wind itself is. As 
a god he was often spoken of as the great white 
Hare. 

The Algonquin hero, Glooskap, 1 is equally inter- 
esting, and of a more truly heroic disposition than 
Manabozho. The name of this divinity, Glooskap, 
means a liar, because it is said that when he left 
the earth for the land of spirits he promised to re- 
turn and he has never done so. Many and wonder- 
ful are the tales told of Glooskap, but he is never 
silly, or cruel, or fantastic like Manabozho. Any one 
who goes to Eova Scotia, to-day, may see the grand 
Cape Blomidon, where Glooskap lived. It juts out 
between the Bay of Fundy and the Basin of Minas. 
Its foundations are of red sandstone and far up 
toward the sky it is crowned with granite battle- 
ments. Sometimes the waters of the Basin of Minas 
1 Leland, * 'Algonquin Legends." 

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A Guide to Mythology 

gently wash against the base of this gigantic cape 
and sometimes one could walk a mile or two from the 
cape to reach the water. Twice a day this happens 
as the tide comes up and recedes. Truly, it is a 
magical land, and Blomidon is a noble home, well 
befitting the great Indian divinity whose head rises 
to the stars, and who could slay a giant enemy with 
a mere tap of his bow. We shall meet with both 
of these heroes again later. 

THE STORY OF MANABOZHO 
(Iroquois) 

To begin at the beginning, Manabozho, while yet 
a youngster, was living with his grandmother, near 
the edge of a wide prairie. It was on this prairie that 
he first saw animals and birds of every kind ; he also 
there made first acquaintance with thunder and light- 
ning; he would sit by the hour watching the clouds 
as they rolled, and musing on the shades of light and 
darkness as the day rose and fell. 

For a stripling, Manabozho was uncommonly wide- 
awake. Every new sight he beheld in the heavens 
was a subject of remark ; every new animal or bird, 
an object of deep interest; and every sound that 
came from the bosom of nature, was like a new les- 
son which he was expected to learn. He often trem- 
bled at what he heard and saw. 

To the scene of the wide open prairie his grand- 
mother sent him at an early age to watch. The first 
sound he heard was that of the owl, at which he was 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

greatly terrified, and, quickly descending the tree he 
had climbed, he ran with alarm to the lodge. " No- 
ko ! noko ! grandmother ! " he cried. " I have heard 
a monedo." 

She laughed at his fears, and asked him what kind 
of noise his reverence made. He answered, " It 
makes a noise like this: ko-ko-ko-ho." 

His grandmother told him he was young and fool- 
ish; that what he heard was only a bird which de- 
rived its name from the peculiar noise it made. 

He returned to the prairie and continued his 
watch. As he stood there looking at the clouds, he 
thought to himself, "It is singular that I am so 
simple and my grandmother so wise ; and that I have 
neither father nor mother. I have never heard a 
word about them. I must ask and find out." 

He went home and sat down, silent and dejected. 
Finding that this did not attract the notice of his 
grandmother, he began a loud lamentation, which 
he kept increasing, louder and louder, till it shook 
the lodge, and nearly deafened the old grandmother. 
She at length said, " Manabozho, what is the mat- 
ter with you ? You are making a great deal of 
noise." 

Manabozho started off again with his doleful hub- 
bub; but succeeded in jerking out between his big 
sobs, " I haven't got any father nor mother ; I 
haven't ; " and he set out again lamenting more boist- 
erously than ever. 

Knowing that he was of a wicked and revengeful 
temper, his grandmother dreaded to tell him the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

story of his parentage; as she knew he would make 
trouble of it. 

Manabozho renewed his cries, and managed to 
throw out, for a third or fourth time, his sorrowful 
lament that he was a poor unfortunate, who had no 
parents and no relations. 

She at last said to him, " Yes, you have a father 
and three brothers living. Your mother is dead. She 
was taken for a wife by your father, the West, with- 
out the consent of her parents. Your brothers are 
the North, East, and South; and being older than 
yourself, your father has given them great power with 
the winds, according to their names. You are the 
youngest of his children. I have nursed you from 
your infancy; for your mother, owing to the ill- 
treatment of your father, died when you were an 
infant. I have no relations beside you this side of 
the planet in which I was born, and from which I 
was precipitated by female jealousy. Your mother 
was my only child, and you are my only hope." 

"I am glad my father is living," said Manabozho. 
" I shall set out in the morning to visit him." 

His grandmother would have discouraged him; 
saying it was a long distance to the place where his 
father, Ningabiun, or the West, lived. 

This information seemed rather to please than to 
disconcert Manabozho ; for by this time he had grown 
to such a size and strength that he had been com- 
pelled to leave the narrow shelter of his grand- 
mother's lodge and to live out of doors. He was so 
tall that, if he had been so disposed, he could have 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

snapped off the heads of the birds roosting in the 
topmost branches of the highest trees, as he stood up, 
without being at the trouble to climb. And if he had 
at any time taken a fancy to one of the same trees 
for a walking stick, he would have had no more to 
do than to pluck it up with his thumb and finger, 
and strip down the leaves and twigs with the palm of 
his hand. 

Bidding good-by to his venerable old grandmother, 
who pulled a very long face over his departure, Man- 
abozho set out at great headway, for he was able to 
stride from one side of a prairie to the other at a 
single step. 

He found his father on a high mountain-ground, 
far in the west. His father espied his approach at a 
great distance, and bounded down the mountain-side 
several miles to give him welcome, and, side-by-side, 
apparently delighted with each other, they reached 
in two or three of their giant paces the lodge of 
the West, which stood high up near the clouds. 

They spent some days in talking with each other 
— for these two great persons did nothing on a small 
scale, and a whole day to deliver a single sentence, 
such was the immensity of their discourse, was quite 
an ordinary affair. 

One evening Manabozho asked his father what he 
was most afraid of on earth. 

He replied—" Nothing." 

" But is there nothing you dread, here — nothing 
that would hurt you if you took too much of it? 
Come, tell me." 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Manabozho was very urgent; at last his father 
said : 

" Yes, there is a black stone to be found a couple 
of hundred miles from here, over that way," pointing 
as he spoke. " It is the only thing earthly that I am 
afraid of, for if it should happen to hit me on any 
part of my body it would hurt me very much." 

The West made this important circumstance 
known to Manabozho in the strictest confidence. 

" Now, you will not tell any one, Manabozho, that 
the black stone is bad medicine for your father, will 
you ? " he added. " You are a good son, and I know 
will keep it to yourself. Now tell me, my darling 
boy, is there not something that you don't like % " 

Manabozho answered promptly — " Nothing." 

His father, who was of a very steady and persever- 
ing temper, put the same question to him seventeen 
times, and each time Manabozho made the same 
answer — " Nothing." 

But the West insisted — " There must be some- 
thing you are afraid of." 

" Well, I will tell you," says Manabozho, " what 
it is." 

He made an effort to speak, but it seemed to be 
too much for him. 

" Out with it," said Ningabiun, or the West, 
fetching Manabozho such a blow on the back as 
shook the mountain with its echo. 

" Je-ee, je-ee — it is," said Manabozho, apparently 
in great pain. " Yeo, yeo ! I cannot name it, I 
tremble so." 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

The West told him to banish his fears, and to 
speak up; no one would hurt him. 

Manabozho began again, and he would have gone 
over the same make-believe of anguish, had not his 
father, whose strength he knew was more than a 
match for his own, threatened to pitch him into a 
river about five miles off. At last he cried out: 

" Father, since you will know, it is the root of the 
bulrush." 

He who could with perfect ease spin a sentence a 
whole day long, seemed to be exhausted by the effort 
of pronouncing that one word, " bulrush." 

Some time after, Manabozho observed: 

" I will get some of the black rock, merely to see 
how it looks." 

" Well," said the father, " I will also get a little 
of the bulrush-root, to learn how it tastes." 

They were both double-dealing with each other, 
and in their hearts getting ready for some desperate 
work. 

They had no sooner separated for the evening than 
Manabozho was striding off the couple of hundred 
miles necessary to bring him to the place where black 
rock was to be procured, while down the other side 
of the mountain hurried Ningabiun. 

At the break of day they each appeared at the 
great level on the mountain-top, Manabozho with 
twenty loads, at least, of the black stone, on one side, 
and on the other the West, with a whole meadow of 
bulrush in his arms. 

Manabozho was the first to strike — hurling a great 
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A Guide to Mythology 

piece of the black rock, which struck the West di- 
rectly between the eyes, who returned the favor with 
a blow of bulrush, that rung over the shoulders of 
Manabozho, far and wide, like the whip-thong of the 
lightning among the clouds. 

And now either rallied, and Manabozho poured in 
a tempest of black rock, while Nigabiun discharged 
a shower of bulrush. Blow upon blow, thwack upon 
thwack — they fought hand to hand until black rock 
and bulrush were all gone. Then they betook them- 
selves to hurling crags at each other, cudgeling with 
huge oak-trees, and defying each other from one 
mountain-top to another; while at times they shot 
enormous boulders of granite across at each other's 
heads, as though they had been mere jack-stones. 
The battle, which had commenced on the mountains, 
had extended far west. The West was forced to 
give ground. Manabozho pressing on, drove him 
across rivers and mountains, ridges and lakes, till at 
last he got him to the very brink of the world. 

" Hold ! " cried the West. " My son, you know 
my power, and although I allow that I am now fairly 
out of breath, it is impossible to kill me. Stop where 
you are, and I will also portion you out with as much 
power as your brothers. The four quarters of the 
globe are already occupied, but you can go and do a 
great deal of good to the people of the earth, which 
is beset with serpents, beasts, and monsters, who 
make great havoc of human life. Go and do good, 
and if you put forth half the strength you have to- 
day you will acquire a name that will last forever. 

80 



Animals In Primitive Myths 

When you have finished your work I will have a 
place provided for you. You will then go and sit 
with your brother, Kabinocca, in the North." 

Manabozho gave his father his hand upon this 
agreement. And parting from him, he returned to 
his own grounds, where he lay for some time sore of 
his wounds. 

These being, however, greatly allayed, and soon 
after cured by his grandmother's skill in medicines, 
Manabozho, as big and sturdy as ever, was ripe for 
new adventures. He set his thoughts immediately 
upon a war excursion against the Pearl Feather, a 
wicked old manito, living on the other side of the 
great lake, who had killed his grandfather. He began 
his preparations by making huge bows and arrows 
without number ; but he had no heads for his shafts. 
At last ISToko told him that an old man, who lived 
at some distance, could furnish him with such as 
he needed. He sent her to get some. She soon 
returned with her wrapper full. Manabozho told her 
that he had not enough, and sent her again. She 
came back with as many more. He thought to him- 
self, " I must find out the way of making these 
heads." 

Instead of directly asking how it was done, he pre- 
ferred — just like Manabozho — to deceive his grand- 
mother to come at the knowledge he desired, by a 
trick. " Noko," said he, " while I take my drum 
and rattle, and sing my war-songs, do you go and try 
to get me some larger heads, for these you have 
brought me are all of the same size. Go and see 

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A Guide to Mythology 

whether the old man is not willing to make some 
a little larger." 

He followed her at a distance as she went, having 
left his drum at the lodge, with a great bird tied at 
the top, whose fluttering should keep up the drum- 
beat, the same as if he were tarrying at home. He 
saw the old workman busy, and learned how he 
prepared the heads; he also beheld the old man's 
daughter, who was very beautiful; and Manabozho 
now discovered for the first time that he had a heart 
of his own, and the sigh he heaved passed through 
the arrow-maker's lodge like a gale of wind. 

" How it blows ! " said the old man. 

" It must be from the south/' said the daughter ; 
" for it is very fragrant." 

Manabozho slipped away, and in two strides he 
was at home, shouting forth his songs as though he 
had never left the lodge. He had just time to free 
the bird which had been beating the drum, when his 
grandmother came in and delivered to him the big 
arrow-heads. 

In the evening the grandmother said, " My son, 
you ought to fast before you go to war, as your 
brothers do, to find out whether you will be success- 
ful or not." 

He said he had no objection; and having privately 
stored away, in a shady place in the forest, two or 
three dozen juicy bears, a moose, and twenty strings 
of the tenderest birds, he would retire from the 
lodge so far as to be entirely out of view of his 
grandmother, fall to and enjoy himself heartily, and 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

at nightfall, having just despatched a dozen birds 
and half a bear or so, he would return, tottering 
and woe-begone, as if quite famished, so as to move 
deeply the sympathies of his wise old granddame. 

The place of his fast had been chosen by Noko, 
and she had told him it must be so far as to be 
beyond the sound of her voice or it would be un- 
lucky. 

After a time Manabozho, who was always spying 
out mischief, said to himself, " I must find out why 
my grandmother is -so anxious to have me fast at this 
spot." 

The next day he went but a short distance. She 
cried out, " A little further off ; " but he came nearer 
to the lodge, the rogue that he was, and cried out in a 
low, counterfeited voice, to make it appear that he was 
going away instead of approaching. He had now got 
so near that he could see all that passed in the lodge. 

He had not been long in ambush when an old 
magician crept into the lodge. This old magician 
had very long hair, which hung across his shoulders 
and down his back, like a bush or foot-mat. They 
commenced talking about him, and in doing so, they 
put their two old heads so very close together that 
Manabozho was satisfied they were kissing each 
other. He was indignant that any one should take 
such a liberty with his venerable grandmother, and 
to mark his sense of the outrage, he touched the 
bushy hair of the old magician with a live coal 
which he had blown upon. The old magician had 
not time to kiss the old grandmother more than once 

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A Guide to Mythology 

again before he felt the flame ; and jumping out into 
the air, it burned only the fiercer, and he ran, blaz- 
ing like a fire-ball, across the prairie. 

Manabozho who had, meanwhile, stolen off to his 
fasting place, cried out, in a heart-broken tone, and 
as if on the very point of starvation, " Noko ! Noko ! 
is it time for me to come home ? " 

" Yes," she cried. And when he came in she asked 
him, " Did you see anything ? " 

" Nothing," he answered, with an air of childish 
candor; looking as much like a big simpleton as he 
could. The grandmother looked at him very closely 
and said no more. 

Manabozho finished his term of fasting; in the 
course of which he slyly despatched twenty fat bears, 
six dozen birds, and two fine moose; sung his war- 
song, and embarked in his canoe, fully prepared for 
war. Beside weapons of battle, he had stowed in a 
large supply of oil. 

He travelled rapidly night and day, for he had 
only to will or speak, and the canoe went. At 
length he arrived in sight of the fiery serpents. He 
paused to view them; he observed that they were 
some distance apart, and that the flames which they 
constantly belched forth reached across the pass. He 
gave them a good morning, and began talking with 
them in a very friendly way; but they answered, 
" We know you, Manabozho ; you cannot pass." 

He was not, however, to be put off so easily. Turn- 
ing his canoe as if about to go back, he suddenly 
cried out with a loud and terrified voice: 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

" What is that behind you ? " 

The serpents, thrown off their guard, instantly 
turned their heads, and he in a moment glided past 
them. 

" Well," said he, quietly, after he had got by, 
" how do you like my movement ? " 

He then took up his bow and arrows, and with de- 
liberate aim shot every one of them, easily, for the 
serpents were fixed to one spot, and could not even 
turn round. They were of an enormous length, and 
of a bright color. 

Having thus escaped the sentinel serpents, Mana- 
bozho pushed on in his canoe until he came to a part 
of the lake called Pitch-water, as whatever touched 
it was sure to stick fast. But Manabozho was pre- 
pared with his oil, and rubbing his canoe freely from 
end to end, he slipped through with ease, and he was 
the first person who had ever succeeded in passing 
through the Pitch-water. 

" There is nothing like a little oil to help one 
through pitch-water," said Manabozho to himself. 

Now in view of land, he could see the lodge of the 
Shining Manito, high upon a distant hill. 

Putting his clubs and arrows in order, just at the 
dawn of day Manabozho began his attack, yelling 
and shouting, and beating his drum, and calling out 
in triple voices: 

" Surround him ! surround him ! run up ! run 
up ! " making it appear that he had many followers. 

" It was you that killed my grandfather," and 
shot off a whole forest of arrows. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

The Pearl Feather appeared on the height, blazing 
like the sun, and paid back the discharges of Mana- 
bozho with a tempest of bolts, which rattled like the 
hail. 

All day long the fight was kept up, and Mana- 
bozho had fired all of his arrows but three, without 
effect; for the Shining Manito was clothed in pure 
wampum. It was only by immense leaps to right 
and left that Manabozho could save his head from 
the sturdy blows which fell about him on every side, 
like pine-trees, from the hands of the Manito. He 
was badly bruised, and at his very wit's end, when a 
large woodpecker flew past and lit on a tree. It 
was a bird he had known on the prairie, near his 
grandmother's lodge. 

" Manabozho," called out the woodpecker, " your 
enemy has a weak point ; shoot at the lock of hair on 
the crown of his head." 

He shot his first arrow and only drew blood in a 
few drops. The Manito made one or two unsteady 
steps, but recovered himself. He began to parley, 
but Manabozho, now that he had discovered a way to 
reach him, was in no humor to trifle, and he let 
slip another arrow, which brought the Shining Man- 
ito to his knees. And now, having the crown of his 
head within good range, Manabozho sent in his third 
arrow, which laid the Manito out upon the ground, 
stark dead. 

Manabozho lifted up a huge war-cry, beat his 
drum, took the scalp of the Manito as his trophy, 
and calling the woodpecker to come and receive a re- 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

ward for the timely hint he had given him, he rubbed 
the blood of the Shining Manito on the woodpecker's 
head, the feathers of which are red to this day. 
Full of his victory, Manabozho returned home, beat- 
ing his war-drum furiously, and shouting aloud his 
songs of triumph. His grandmother was on the 
shore ready to welcome him with the war-dance, 
which she performed with wonderful skill for one so 
far advanced in years. 

The heart of Manabozho swelled within him. He 
was fairly on fire, and an unconquerable desire for 
further adventures seized upon him. He had de- 
stroyed the powerful Pearl Feather, killed his ser- 
pents, and escaped all his wiles and charms. He 
had prevailed in a great land fight, his next trophy 
should be from the water. 

He tried his prowess as a fisherman, and with such 
success that he captured a fish so monstrous in size 
and so rich in fat that with the oil Manabozho was 
able to form a small lake. To this, being generously 
disposed, and having a cunning purpose of his own 
to answer, he invited all the birds and beasts of his 
acquaintance; and he made the order in which they 
partook of the banquet the measure of their fatness 
for all time to come. As fast as they arrived he 
told them to plunge in and help themselves. 

The first to make his appearance was the bear, 
who took a long and steady draught; then came the 
deer, the opossum, and such others of the family as 
are noted for their comfortable case. The moose and 
bison were slack in their cups, and the partridge, al- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ways lean in flesh, looked on till the supply was 
nearly gone. There was not a drop left by the time 
the hare and the martin appeared on the shore of the 
lake, and they are, in consequence, the slenderest of 
all creatures. 

When this ceremony was over, Manabozho sug- 
gested to his friends, the assembled birds and ani- 
mals, that the occasion was proper for a little merry- 
making ; and taking up his drum, he cried out : 

" New songs from the South ; come, brothers, 
dance ! " 

He directed them, to make the sport more mirth- 
ful, that they should shut their eyes and pass round 
him in a circle. Again he beat his drum and cried 
out: 

"New songs from the South; come, brothers, 
dance ! 99 

They all fell in and commenced their rounds. 
"Whenever Manabozho, as he stood in the circle, saw 
a fat fowl which he fancied, pass by him, he adroitly 
wrung its neck and slipped it in his girdle, at the 
same time beating his drum and singing at the top 
of his lungs, to drown the noise of the fluttering, and 
crying out in a tone of admiration: 

" That's the way, my brothers ; that's the way ! " 

At last a small duck, of the diver family, thinking 
there was something wrong, opened one eye and saw 
what Manabozho was doing. Giving a spring, and 
crying: 

" Ha-ha-a ! Manabozho is killing us ! " he made 
for the water. 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

Manabozho, quite vexed that the creature should 
have played the spy upon his house-keeping, fol- 
lowed him, and just as the diver duck was plunging 
into the water, gave him a kick, which is the reason 
that the diver's tail-feathers are few, his back flat- 
tened, and his legs straightened out, so that when he 
comes on land he makes a poor figure in walking. 

Meantime, the other birds, having no ambition to 
be thrust into Manabozho's girdle, flew off, and the 
animals scampered into the woods. 

Manabozho stretching himself at ease in the shade 
along the side of the prairie, thought what he should 
do next. He concluded that he would travel and see 
new countries ; and having once made up his mind, in 
less than three days, such was his length of limb and 
the immensity of his stride, he had walked over the 
entire continent, looked into every lodge by the way, 
and with such nicety of observation, that he was able 
to inform his good old grandmother what each family 
had for a dinner at a given hour. 

By way of relief to these grand doings, Manabozho 
was disposed to vary his experiences by bestowing a 
little time upon the sports of the woods. He had 
heard reported great feats in hunting, and he had a 
desire to try his power in that way. Besides that, it 
was a slight consideration that he had devoured all 
the game within reach of the lodge; and so, one 
evening, as he was walking along the shore of the 
great lake, weary and hungry, he encountered a great 
magician in the form of an old wolf, with six young 
ones, coming toward him. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

The wolf no sooner caught sight of him than he 
told his whelps, who were close about his side, to keep 
out of the way of Manabozho ; " For I know," he 
said, " that it is that mischievous fellow whom we see 
yonder." 

The young wolves were in the act of running off, 
when Manabozho cried out, " My grandchildren, 
where are you going ? Stop and I will go with you. I 
wish to have a little chat with your excellent father." 

Saying which he advanced and greeted the old 
wolf, expressing himself as delighted at seeing him 
looking so well. " Whither do you journey ? " he 
asked. 

" We are looking for a good hunting ground to 
pass the winter," the old wolf answered. " What 
brings you here ? " 

" I was looking for you," said Manabozho. " For 
I have a passion for the chase, brother. I always ad- 
mired your family; are you willing to change me 
into a wolf?" 

The wolf gave him a favorable answer, and he was 
forthwith changed into a wolf. 

" Well, that will do," said Manabozho ; then 
looking at his tail, he added, " Oh ! could you oblige 
me by making my tail a little longer and more 
bushy % " 

" Certainly," said the wolf ; and he gave Mana- 
bozho such a length and spread of tail, that it was 
constantly getting between his legs, and it was so 
heavy that it was as much as he could do to find 
strength to carry it. But having asked for it, he was 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

ashamed to say a word; and they all started off in 
company, dashing up a ravine. 

After getting into the woods for some distance, 
they fell in with the tracks of moose. The young 
ones scampered off in pursuit, the old wolf and 
Manabozho following at their leisure. 

" Well," said the old wolf, by way of opening dis- 
course, " who do you think is the fastest of the boys ? 
Can you tell by the jumps they take % " 

" Why," he replied, " the one that takes such 
long jumps, he is the fastest to be sure." 

" Ha ! ha ! you are mistaken," said the old wolf. 
" He makes a good start, but he will be the first to 
tire out; this one, who appears to be behind, will be 
the one to kill the game." 

By this time they had come to the spot where the 
boys had started in chase. One had dropped what 
seemed to be a small medicine-sack, which he carried 
for the use of the hunting party. 

" Take that, Manabozho," said the old wolf. 

" Esa," he replied, " what will I do with a dirty 
dog-skin ? " 

The old wolf took it up ; it was a beautiful robe. 

" Oh, I will carry it now," cried Manabozho. 

" Oh, no," said the old wolf, who had exerted his 
magical powers, " it is a robe of pearls. Come 
along ! " And away sped the old wolf at a great 
rate of speed. 

" Not so fast," called Manabozho after him ; and 
then he added to himself as he panted after, " Oh, 
this tail ! " 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Coming to a place where the moose had lain down, 
they saw that the young wolves had made a fresh 
start after their prey. 

" Why/' said the old wolf, " this moose is poor. I 
know by the tracks; for I can always tell whether 
they are fat or not." 

A little further on, one of the young wolves, in 
dashing at the moose, had broken a tooth on a tree. 

" Manabozho," said the old wolf, " one of your 
grandchildren has shot at the game. Take his ar- 
row ; there it is." 

" No," replied Manabozho ; " what will I do with 
a dirty dog's tooth?" 

The old wolf took it up, and behold it was a beau- 
tiful silver arrow. 

When they at last overtook them, they found that 
the youngsters had killed a very fat moose. Mana- 
bozho was very hungry; but the old wolf just then 
again exerted his magical powers, and Manabozho 
saw nothing but the bones picked quite clean. He 
thought to himself, "Just as I expected; dirty, 
greedy fellows. If it had not been for this log at my 
back, I should have been in time to have got a mouth- 
ful : " and he cursed the bushy tail which he carried, 
to the bottom of his heart. He, however, sat down 
without saying a word. 

At length the old wolf spoke to one of the young 
ones, saying: 

" Give some meat to your grandfather." 

One of them obeyed, and coming near to Mana- 
bozho, he presented him the other end of his own 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

bushy tail, which was nicely seasoned with burs, 

gathered in the course of the hunt. 

Manabozho jumped up and called out: 

" You dog, now that your stomach is full, do you 

think I am going to eat you to get at my dinner? 

Get you gone into some other place." 

Saying which Manabozho, in his anger, walked off 

by himself. 

" Come back, brother," cried the wolf. " You are 
losing your eyes." 

Manabozho turned back. 

" You do the child injustice. Look there ! " and 
behold, a heap of fresh, ruddy meat, was lying on the 
spot, already prepared. 

Manabozho, at the view of so much good provision, 
put on a smiling face. 

" In amazement," he said ; " how fine the meat is ! 99 

" Yes," replied the old wolf, " it is always so with 
us ; we know our work, and always get the best. It 
is not a long tail that makes the hunter." 

Manabozho bit his lip. 

They now fixed their winter quarters. The young- 
sters went out in search of game, and they soon 
brought in a large supply. One day, during the ab- 
sence of the young hunters, the old wolf amused him- 
self in cracking the large bones of a moose. 

" Manabozho," said he, " cover your head with the 
robe, and do not look at me while I am busy with 
these bones, for a piece may fly in your eye." 

He did as he was bid ; but looking through a rent 
that was in the robe, he saw what the other was 

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A Guide to Mythology 

about. Just at that moment a piece new off and hit 
him on the eye. He cried out: 

" Tyau, why do you strike me, you old dog? " 

The wolf answered, " You must have been look- 
ing at me." 

" No, no," retorted Manabozho, " why should I 
want to look at you ? " 

" Manabozho," said the old wolf, " you must have 
been looking or you would not have got hurt." 

" No, no," he replied again, " I was not. I will 
repay the saucy wolf this mischief," he thought to 
himself. 

So the next day, taking up a bone to obtain the 
marrow, he said to the wolf : 

" Brother, cover your head and do not look at 
me, for I very much fear a piece may fly in your 
eye." 

The wolf did so ; and Manabozho, taking the large 
leg-bone of the moose, first looking to see if the wolf 
was well covered, hit him a blow with all his might. 
The wolf jumped up, cried out, and fell prostrate 
from the effects of the blow. 

" Why," said he, when he came to a little and 
was able to sit up, " why do you strike me so ? " 

" Strike you ? " said Manabozho, with well-feigned 
surprise ; "no; you must have been looking at me." 

" No," answered the wolf, " I say I have not." 

But Manabozho insisted, and as the old wolf was 
no great master of tricky argument, he was obliged 
to give it up. 

Shortly after this the old wolf suggested to Mana- 
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Animals In Primitive Myths 

bozho that he should go out and try his luck in hunt- 
ing by himself. 

When he chose to put his mind upon it he was 
quite expert, and this time he succeeded in killing a 
fine fat moose, which he thought he would take aside 
slyly, and devour alone, having prepared to tell the 
old wolf a pretty story on his return, to account for 
his failure to bring anything with him. 

He was very hungry, and he sat down to eat; but 
as he never could go to work in a straightforward 
way, he immediately fell into great doubts as to the 
proper point at which to begin. 

" Well," said he, " I do not know where to com- 
mence. At the head ? 'No. People will laugh, and 
say, ' He ate him backward.' " 

He went to the side. " No," said he, " they will 
say I ate him sideways." 

He then went to the hind-quarter. " No, that 
will not do, either ; they will say I ate him forward. 
I will begin here, say what they will." 

He took a delicate piece from the small of the 
back, and was just on the point of putting it to his 
mouth, when a tree close by made a creaking noise. 
He seemed vexed at the sound. He raised the mor- 
sel to his mouth the second time, when the tree 
creaked again. 

" Why," he exclaimed, " I cannot eat when I hear 
such a noise. Stop, stop ! " he said to the tree. He 
put it down, exclaiming, " I cannot eat with such 
a noise ; " and starting away he climbed the tree, 
and was pulling at the limb which had offended him, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

when his fore paw was caught between the branches 
so that he could not free himself. 

While thus held f ast, he saw a pack of wolves ad- 
vancing through the wood in the direction of his 
meat. He suspected them to be the old wolf and 
his cubs, but night was coming on and he could not 
make them out. 

" Go the other way, go the other way ! " he cried 
out ; " what would you come to get here ? " 

The wolves stopped for a while and talked among 
themselves, and said: 

" Manabozho must have something there, or he 
would not tell us to go another way." 

" I begin to know him," said an old wolf, " and all 
his tricks. Let us go forward and see." 

They came on, and finding the moose, they soon 
made away with it. Manabozho looked wistfully on 
to see them eat till they were fully satisfied, when 
they scampered off in high spirits. 

A heavy blast of wind opened the branches and re- 
leased Manabozho, who found that the wolves had 
left nothing but the bare bones. He made for home, 
where, when he related his mishap, the old wolf, tak- 
ing him by the fore paw, condoled with him deeply 
on his ill-luck. A tear even started to his eye as he 
added : 

" My brother, this should teach us not to meddle 
with points of ceremony when we have good meat to 
eat." 

The winter having by this time drawn fairly to a 
close, on a bright morning in the early spring the 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

old wolf addressed Manabozho : " My brother, I am 
obliged to leave you ; and although I have sometimes 
been merry at your expense, I will show that I care 
for your comfort. I shall leave one of the boys be- 
hind me to be your hunter, and to keep you company 
through the long summer afternoons." 

The old wolf galloped off with his five young ones ; 
and as they disappeared from view, Manabozho was 
disenchanted in a moment, and returned to his mor- 
tal shape. 

Although he had been sometimes vexed and im- 
posed upon, he had, altogether, passed a pleasant 
winter with the cunning old wolf, and now that he 
was gone, Manabozho was downcast and low in spirit. 
But as the days grew brighter he recovered by de- 
grees his air of cheerful confidence, and was ready 
to try his hand upon any new adventure that might 
occur to him. The old spirit of mischief was still 
alive within him. 

The young wolf who had been left with him was a 
good hunter, and never failed to keep the lodge well 
supplied with meat. One day Manabozho addressed 
him as follows: 

" My grandson, I had a dream last night, and it 
does not portend good. It is of the large lake which 
lies in that direction. You must be careful always 
to go across it, whether the ice seem strong or not. 
!Never go around it, for there are enemies on the 
further shore who lie in wait for you. The ice is 
always safe." 

Now Manabozho knew well that the ice was thin- 
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A Guide to Mythology 

ning every day under the warm sun, but he could not 
stay himself from playing a trick upon the young 
wolf. 

In the evening when he came to the lake, after a 
long day's travel in quest of game, the young wolf, 
confiding in his grandfather, said, " Hwooh ! the ice 
does look thin, but Nesho says it is sound ; " and he 
trotted upon the glassy plain. 

He had not got half way across when the ice 
snapped, and with a mournful cry the young wolf 
fell in and he was immediately seized by the water- 
serpents who knew that it was Manabozho's grand- 
son, and were thirsting for revenge upon him for 
the death of their relations in the war upon Pearl 
Feather. 

Manabozho heard the young wolf's cry as he sat in 
his lodge; he knew what had happened; and, from 
that moment, he was deprived of the greater part of 
his magical power. 

He returned, scarcely more than an ordinary mor- 
tal, to his former place of dwelling, whence his 
grandmother had departed no one knew whither. He 
married the arrow-maker's daughter, and became the 
father of several children, and very poor. He was 
scarcely able to procure the means of living. His 
lodge was pitched in a remote part of the country, 
where he could get no game. It was winter, and he 
had not the common comforts of life. He said to his 
wife one day, " I will go out walking and see if I 
cannot find some lodges." 

After walking some time he saw a lodge at a dis- 
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Animals In Primitive Myths 

tance. The children were playing at the door. When 
they saw him approaching they ran in and told their 
parents that Manabozho was coming. 

It was the residence of the large red-headed wood- 
pecker. He came to the door and asked Manabozho 
to enter. This invitation was promptly accepted. 

After some time, the woodpecker, who was a ma- 
gician, said to his wife: 

"Have you nothing to give Manabozho? He 
must be hungry." 

She answered, " No." 

" He ought not to go without his supper," said the 
woodpecker. " I will see what I can do." 

In the center of the lodge stood a large tamarack- 
tree. Upon this the woodpecker flew, and com- 
menced going up, turning his head on each side of 
the tree, and every now and then driving in his bill. 
At last he pulled something out of the tree and 
threw it down; when, behold, a fine fat raccoon lay 
on the ground. He drew out six or seven more. 
He then descended, and told his wife to prepare 
them. 

" Manabozho," he said, " this is the only thing we 
eat ; what else can we give you % " 

" It is very good," replied Manabozho. 

They smoked their pipes and conversed with each 
other. 

After eating, Manabozho got ready to go home; 
when the woodpecker said to his wife, " Give him 
the other raccoons to take home for his children." 

In the act of leaving the lodge, Manabozho, on 
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A Guide to Mythology 

purpose, dropped one of his mittens, which was soon 
after observed on the ground. 

" Run," said the woodpecker to his eldest son, 
" and give it to him ; but mind that you do not give 
it into his hand; throw it at him, for there is no 
knowing him, he acts so curiously." 

The boy did as he was directed. 

" Grandfather," said he to Manabozho, as he came 
up to him, " you have left one of your mittens; here 
it is." 

" Yes," he said, affecting to be ignorant of the cir- 
cumstance, "it is so; but don't throw it, you will 
soil it on the snow." 

The lad, however, threw it, and was about to re- 
turn, when Manabozho cried out, " Bakah ! Bakah ! 
stop — stop ; is that all you eat ? Do you eat nothing 
else with your raccoon? Tell me! " 

" Yes, that is all," answered the young wood- 
pecker ; " we have nothing else." 

" Tell your father," continued Manabozho, " to 
come and visit me, and let him bring a sack. I 
will give him what he shall eat with his raccoon- 
meat." 

When the young one returned and reported this 
message to his father, the old woodpecker turned up 
his nose at the invitation. " I wonder," he said, 
" what he thinks he has got, poor fellow ! " 

He was bound, however, to answer the proffer of 
hospitality, and he went accordingly, taking along a 
cedar-sack, to pay a visit to Manabozho. 

Manabozho received the old red-headed wood- 
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Animals In Primitive Myths 

pecker with great ceremony. He had stood at the 
door awaiting his arrival, and as soon as he came in 
sight Manabozho commenced, while he was yet far 
off, bowing and opening wide his arms, in token of 
welcome; all of which the woodpecker returned in 
due form, by ducking his bill, and hopping to right 
and left, upon the ground, extending his wings to 
their full length and fluttering them back to his 
breast. 

When the woodpecker at last reached the lodge, 
Manabozho made various remarks upon the weather, 
the appearance of the country, and especially on the 
scarcity of game. 

" But we," he added, " we always have enough. 
Come in, and you shall not go away hungry, my 
noble bird ! " 

Manabozho had always prided himself on being 
able to give as good as he had received ; and to be up 
with the woodpecker, he had shifted his lodge so as 
to enclose a large dry tamarack-tree. 

" What can I give you," said he to the wood- 
pecker ; " but as we eat so shall you eat." 

With this he hopped forward, and, jumping on 
the tamarack-tree, he attempted to climb it just as 
he had seen the woodpecker do in his own lodge. He 
turned his head first on one side, then pn the other, 
in the manner of the bird, meanwhile striving to go 
up, and as often slipping down. Ever and anon he 
would strike the tree with his nose, as if it had been 
a bill, and draw back, but he pulled out no raccoons ; 
and he dashed his nose so often against the trunk 

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A Guide to Mythology 

that at last the blood began to flow, and he tumbled 
down senseless upon the ground. 

The woodpecker started up with his drum and 
rattle to restore him, and by beating them violently 
he succeeded in bringing him to. 

As soon as he came to his senses, Manabozho be- 
gan to lay the blame of his failure upon his wife, 
saying to his guest : 

" ISTemesho, it is this woman-relation of yours — she 
is the cause of my not succeeding. She has made 
me a worthless fellow. Before I took her I also 
could get raccoons." 

The woodpecker said nothing, but flying on the 
tree he drew out several fine raccoons. 

" Here," said he, " this is the way we do ! " and 
left him in disdain, carrying his bill high in the air, 
and stepping over the door-sill as if it were not wor- 
thy to be touched by his toes. 

After this visit, Manabozho was sitting in the 
lodge one day with his head down. He heard the 
wind whistling round it, and thought that by atten- 
tively listening he could hear the voice of some one 
speaking to him. It seemed to say to him : 

" Great chief, why are you sorrowful ? Am not I 
your friend — your guardian spirit ? " 

Manabozho immediately took up his rattle, and 
without rising from the ground where he was sit- 
ting, began to sing the chant which has at every close 
the refrain of, " TVha lay le aw." 

When he had dwelt for a long time on this pecu- 
liar chant, which he had been used to sing in all his 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

times of trouble, he laid his rattle aside and deter- 
mined to fast. For this purpose he went to a cave 
which faced the setting sun, and built a very small 
fire, near which he lay down, first telling his wife that 
neither she nor the children must come near him till 
he had finished his fast. 

At the end of seven days he came back to the 
lodge, pale and thin, looking like a spirit himself, and 
as if he had seen spirits. His wife had in the mean- 
time dug through the snow and got a few of the plants 
called truffles. These she boiled and set before him, 
and this was all the food they had or seemed likely 
to obtain. 

When he had finished his light repast, Manabozho 
took up his station in the door to see what would 
happen. As he stood thus, holding in his hand his 
large bow, with a quiver well filled with arrows, a 
deer glided past along the far edge of the prairie but 
it was miles away, and no shaft that Manabozho 
could shoot would be able to touch it. 

Presently a cry came down the air, and looking up 
he beheld a great flight of birds, but they were so far 
up in the sky that he would have lost his arrows in a 
vain attempt among the clouds. 

Still he stood watchful, and confident that some 
turn of luck was about to occur, when there came 
near to the lodge two hunters, who bore between 
them, on poles upon their shoulders, a bear, and it 
was so fine and fat a bear that it was as much as 
the two hunters could do with all their strength to 
carry it. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

As they came to the lodge-door, one of the hunters 
asked if Manabozho lived thereabout. 

" He is here/' answered Manabozho. 

" I have often heard of you," said the first hunter, 
" and I was curious to see you. But you have lost 
your magical power. Do you know whether any of 
it is left ? " 

Manabozho answered that he was himself in the 
dark on the subject. 

" Suppose you make a trial," said the hunter. 

" What shall I do?" asked Manabozho. 

" There is my friend," said the hunter, pointing to 
his companion, " who with me owns this bear which 
we are carrying home. Suppose you see if you can 
change him into a piece of rock." 

" Very well," said Manabozho ; and he had scarcely 
spoken before the other hunter became a rock. 

" Now change him back again," said the first 
hunter. 

" That I can't do," Manabozho answered ; " there 
my power ends." 

The hunter looked at the rock with a bewildered 
face. 

" What shall I do ? " he asked. " This bear I can 
never carry alone, and it was agreed between my 
friend there and myself that we should not divide it 
till we reached home. Can't you change my friend 
back, Manabozho ? " 

" I would like to oblige you," answered Mana- 
bozho, " but it is utterly out of my power." 

With this, looking again at the rock with a sad 
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Animals In Primitive Myths 

and bewildered face, and then casting a sorrowful 
glance at the bear, which lay by the door of the lodge, 
the hunter took his leave, bewailing bitterly at heart 
the loss of his friend and his bear. 

He was scarcely out of sight when Manabozho sent 
the children to get red willow sticks. Of these he 
cut off as many pieces of equal length as would 
serve to invite his friends among the beasts and birds 
to a feast. A red stick was sent to each one, not for- 
getting the woodpecker and his family. 

When they arrived they were astonished to see 
such an abundance of meat prepared for them at 
such a time of scarcity. Manabozho understood their 
glance, and was proud of a chance to make such a 
display. 

" Akewazi," he said to the oldest of the party, 
" the weather is very cold, and the snow lasts a long 
time; we can kill nothing now but small squirrels, 
and they are all black; and I have sent for you to 
help me eat some of them." 

The woodpecker was the first to try a mouthful 
of the bear's meat, but he had no sooner begun to 
taste it than it changed into a dry powder, and set 
him coughing. It appeared as bitter as ashes. 

The moose was affected in the same way, and it 
brought on such a dry cough as to shake every bone 
in his body. 

One by one, each in turn joined the company of 
coughers, except Manabozho and his family, to whom 
the bear's meat proved very savory. 

But the visitors had too high a sense of what was 
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A Guide to Mythology 

due to decorum and good manners to say anything. 
The meat looked very fine, and being keenly set and 
strongly tempted by its promising look, they thought 
they would try more of it. The more they ate the 
faster they coughed, and the louder became the up- 
roar, until Manabozho, exerting the magical gift 
which he found he retained, changed them all into 
squirrels; and to this day the squirrel suffers from 
the same dry cough which was brought on by at- 
tempting to sup off of Manabozho's ashen bear's 
meat. 

And ever after this transformation, when Mana- 
bozho lacked provisions for his family, he would 
hunt the squirrel, a supply of which never failed 
him, so that he was always sure to have a number 
of his friends present in this shape at the banquet. 

The rock into which he changed the hunter, and 
so became possessed of the bear, and thus laid the 
foundations of his good fortune, ever after remained 
by his lodge-door, and it was called the Game-Bag 
of Manabozho, the Mischief-Maker. 

HOW GLOOSKAP MADE HIS UNCLE MIKCHICH THE 
TURTLE INTO A GREAT MAN, AND GOT HIM A 
WIFE. OF TURTLES' EGGS, AND HOW GLOOSKAP 
VANQUISHED A SORCERER BY SMOKING TOBACCO. 

{Micmac and Passamaquoddy) 

"Now when Glooskap left Uktukamkw, or New- 
foundland, it was in a canoe, and he came to Piktook 
(M. for Pictou), which means the bubbling up of air, 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

because there is much bubbling in the water near that 
place. And here there was an Indian village, and 
in that place the Master met with a man whom he 
loved all his life. 

And this was not because this man, whose name in 
Micmac is Mikchich and in Passamaquoddy Chick- 
we-notchk, meaning the Turtle, was great, or well 
favored, or rich. For truly he was none of these, 
being very poor and lazy, no longer young, and not 
very clever or wise in any way. It is said that he 
was indeed Glooskap's uncle, but others think that 
this was by adoption. However, this old fellow bore 
all his wants with such good nature that the Master, 
taking him in great affection, resolved to make of him 
a mighty man. Which came to pass, and that in a 
strange manner, as we shall see. 

For coming to Piktook, where there were above a 
hundred wigwams, Glooskap, being a very handsome, 
stately man, with the manner of a great chief, was 
much admired, and that not a little by all the women, 
so that every one wished to have him in the house. 
Yet he gave them all the go-by, and dwelt with his 
old uncle, in whose quaint ways and old time stories 
he took great delight. And there was to be a great 
feast with games, but Glooskap did not care to go, 
either as a guest or a performer in the play. 

Still he inquired of Mikchich if he would not take 
part in it, telling him that all the maidens would be 
there, and asking him why he had never married, and 
saying that he should not live alone. Then the uncle 
said, " Poor and old and plain am I ; I have not even 

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garments fit for a feast; better were it for me to 
smoke my pipe at home." " Truly, if that be all, 
uncle," replied Glooskap, " I trow I can turn tailor 
and fit you to a turn; and have no care as to your 
outside or your face, for to him who knows how, 
't is as easy to make a man over as a suit of clothes." 
" Yes ; but, nephew," said Mikchich, " how say you 
as to making over the inside of a mortal ? " " By the 
great Beaver ! " answered the Master, " that is some- 
thing harder to do, else I were not so long at work 
in this world. But before I leave this town I shall 
do that also for you; and as for this present sport, 
do but put on my belt." And when he had done 
that, Mikchich became so young and handsome that 
no man or woman ever saw the like. And then 
Glooskap dressed him in his own best clothes, and 
promised him that to the end of his days, whenever 
he should be a man, he would be the comeliest of men ; 
and because he was patient and tough, he should, as 
an animal, become the hardest to kill of all creatures 
on the face of the earth, as it came to pass. 

So Mikchich went to the feast. Now the chief of 
Piktook had three beautiful daughters, and the young- 
est was the loveliest in the land. And on her he cast 
his eyes, and returning said, " I have seen one whom 
I want." Now all the young men in Piktook desired 
this girl, and would kill any one who would win her. 

So the next day Glooskap, taking a bunch of waw- 
bap (P., wampum), went to the chief and proposed 
for Mikchich, and the mother at once said " Yes." 
So the girl made up a bed of fresh twigs and covered 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

it with a great white bear-skin, and went to Mik- 
chich, and they returned and had dried meat for 
supper. So they were married. 

Now Turtle seemed to be very lazy, and when 
others hunted he lounged at home. One day his 
young wife said to him that if this went on thus they 
must soon starve. So he put on his snow-shoes and 
went forth, and she followed him to see what he 
would do. And he had not gone far ere he tripped 
and fell down, and the girl, returning, told her 
mother that he was worthless. But the mother said, 
" He will do something yet. Be patient." 

One day it came to pass that Glooskap said to Mik- 
chich, " To-morrow there will be a great game at 
ball, and you must play. But because you have made 
yourself enemies of all the young men here, they 
will seek to slay you, by crowding altogether and 
trampling upon you. And when they do this it will 
be by your father-in-law's lodge, and to escape them 
I give you the power to jump high over it. This 
you may do twice, but the third time will be terrible 
for you, and yet it must be." 

All this happened as he foretold; for the young 
men indeed tried to take his life, and to escape them 
Mikchich jumped over the lodge, so that he seemed 
like a bird flying. But the third time he did this he 
was caught on the top of the tent-poles, and hung 
there dangling in the smoke which rose from below. 

Then Glooskap, who was seated in the tent, said, 
" Uncle, I will now make you the sogmo, or great 
chief of the Tortoises, and you shall bear up a great 

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A Guide to Mythology 

nation." Then he smoked Mikchich so long that his 
skin became a hard shell, and the marks of the smoke 
may be seen thereon to this day. And removing his 
entrails he destroyed them, so that but one short one 
was left. And he cried aloud, " Milooks! (M.) My 
nephew, you will kill me ! " But the nephew re- 
plied, " Not so. I am giving you great life. From 
this time you may roll through a flame and never 
feel it, and live on land or in the water. And though 
your head be cut off, it will live for nine days, 
and your heart, even, shall beat as long when taken 
from your body." So Mikchich rejoiced greatly. 

And this came betimes, for he soon had need of it 
all. For the next day all the men went on a hunt, 
and the Master warned him that they would seek to 
slay him. Now the young men went on before, and 
Turtle lingered behind; but all at once he made a 
magic flight far over their heads, unseen, and deep 
in the forest he slew a moose. Then he drew this to 
the snow-shoe track or road, and when his foes came 
up there he sat upon the moose, smoking, and wait- 
ing for them. Now Glooskap had told them that 
they would see some one come out ahead of them 
all that day, and when this came to pass they were 
more angered in their hearts than ever. 

So they plotted to kill Turtle, and his nephew, who 
was about to leave, told him how it would be. " First 
of all, they will build a mighty fire and throw you 
in it. But do thou, O uncle, go cheerfully, for by 
my power thou wilt in no wise suffer. Then they will 
speak of drowning, but thou must beg and pray that 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

this may not be ; and then they will the more seek to 
do so, and thou shalt fight them to the bitter end, and 
yet it shall be." 

And as he said, so it came to pass ; and Mikchich, 
being of good cheer, bade farewell to his nephew. 
And they seized him and threw him into a great fire, 
but he turned over and went to sleep in it, being 
very lazy ; and when the fire had burnt out he awoke, 
and called for more wood, because it was a cold 
night. 

Then they seized him yet again, and spoke of 
drowning. But, hearing this, he, as if he were in 
mortal dread, begged them not to do this thing. And 
he said they might cut him to pieces, or burn him, as 
they would, but not to throw him into the water. 
Therefore they resolved to do so, and dragged him 
on. Then he screamed horribly and fought lustily, 
and tore up trees and roots and rocks like a madman ; 
but they took him into a canoe and paddled out into 
the middle of the lake (or to the sea), and, throw- 
ing him in, watched him sink as he vanished far 
down below. So they thought him dead, and re- 
turned rejoicing. 

!N*ow the next day at noon there was a hot sun- 
shine, and something was seen basking on a great 
rock, about a mile out in the lake. So two young 
men took a canoe and went forth to see what this 
might be. And when they came to the edge of the 
rock, which was about a foot high, there lay Mik- 
chich sunning himself; but seeing them coming to 
take him, he only said, " Good-by," and rolled over 

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A Guide to Mythology 

plump into the water, where he is living to this day. 
In memory whereof all turtles, when they see any 
one coming, tip tilt themselves over into the water at 
once. 

In the following Hindoo story of " Punchkin " 
you will see the expression of the primitive notion 
that the life of a person may be bound up in some 
external object. Invention runs riot in the attempts 
to make this object as inaccessible as possible. 
There is the iNorse story of the " Giant who had 
no Heart in his Body," who finally tells the lovely 
princess he keeps in bondage that " Far, far away 
in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a 
church ; in that church is a well ; in that well swims 
a duck; in that duck there is an egg; and in that 
egg there lies my heart, you darling." The hero, 
of course, goes and finds the giant's heart, and so 
kills him, and rescues the princess. There is also 
the story of the little Hindoo princess, called Sodawa 
Bai, whose soul was in the beautiful golden necklace 
she was born with around her neck, and who died 
when another princess who hated her finally took 
it off. 

PUNCHKIN 

(A Hindoo Story) 

Once upon a time there was a Rajah who had 
seven beautiful daughters. They were all good girls ; 
but the youngest, named Balna, was more clever 
than the rest. The Rajah's wife died when they 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

were quite little children, so these seven poor prin- 
cesses were left with no mother to take care of them. 

The Rajah's daughters took it by turns to cook 
their father's dinner every day, whilst he was absent 
deliberating with his ministers on the affairs of the 
nation. 

About this time the Purdan died, leaving a widow 
and one daughter; and every day^ when the seven 
princesses were preparing their father's dinner, the 
Purdan's widow and daughter would come and beg 
for a little fire from the hearth. Then Balna used 
to say to her sisters, " Send that woman away; send 
her away. Let her get the fire at her own house. 
What does she want with ours? If we allow her 
to come here we shall suffer for it some day." But 
the other sisters would answer, " Be quiet, Balna; 
why must you always be quarrelling with this poor 
woman? Let her take some fire if she likes." Then 
the Purdan's widow used to go to the hearth and 
take a few sticks from it; and, whilst no one was 
looking, she would quickly throw some mud into 
the midst of the dishes which were being prepared 
for the Rajah's dinner. 

!Now the Rajah was very fond of his daughters. 
Ever since their mother's death they had cooked his 
dinner with their own hands, in order to avoid the 
danger of his being poisoned by his enemies. So, 
when he found the mud mixed up with his dinner, 
he thought it must arise from their carelessness, as it 
appeared improbable that any one should have put 
mud there on purpose; but being very kind, he did 

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A Guide to Mythology 

not like to reprove them for it, although this spoiling 
of the curry was repeated many successive days. 

At last, one day, he determined to hide and watch 
his daughters cooking and see how it all happened ; 
so he went into the next room, and watched them 
through a hole in the wall. 

There he saw his seven daughters carefully wash- 
ing the rice and preparing the curry, and as each 
dish was completed they put it hy the fire ready to 
be cooked. Next he noticed the Purdan's widow 
come to the door, and beg for a few sticks from the 
fire to cook her dinner with. Balna turned to her, 
angrily, and said, " Why don't you keep fuel in 
your own house and not come here every day and 
take ours ? Sisters, don't give this woman any more ; 
let her buy it for herself." 

Then the eldest sister answered, " Balna, let the 
poor woman take the wood and the fire; she does 
us no harm." But Balna replied, " If you let her 
come here so often, maybe she will do us some harm, 
and make us sorry for it, some day." 

The Rajah then saw the Purdan's widow go to the 
place where all his dinner was nicely prepared, and, 
as she took the wood, she threw a little mud into 
each of the dishes. 

At this he was very angry, and sent to have the 
woman seized and brought before him. But when the 
widow came, she told him that she had played this 
trick because she wanted to gain an audience with 
him; and she spoke so cleverly, and pleased him 
so well with her cunning words, that instead of pun- 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

ishing her the Rajah married her, and made her his 
Ranee, and she and her daughter came to live in the 
palace. 

The new Ranee hated the seven poor princesses, 
and wanted to get them, if possible, out of the way, 
in order that her daughter might have all their 
riches and live in the palace as princess in their 
place; and instead of being grateful to them for 
their kindness to her, she did all she could to make 
them miserable. She gave them nothing but bread 
to eat, and very little of that, and very little water to 
drink; so these seven poor little princesses, who had 
been accustomed to have everything comfortable 
about them, and good food and good clothes all their 
lives long, were very miserable and unhappy; and 
they used to go out every day and sit by their dead 
mother's tomb and cry ; and used to say, " Oh 
mother, mother, cannot you see your poor children, 
how unhappy we are, and how we are starved by our 
cruel step-mother ? " 

One day, whilst they were sobbing and crying, lo 
and behold! a beautiful pomelo tree grew up out of 
the grave, covered with fresh ripe pomeloes, and 
the children satisfied their hunger by eating some 
of the fruit ; and every day after this, instead of try- 
ing to eat the nasty dinner their step-mother provided 
for them, they used to go out to their mother's grave 
and eat the pomeloes which grew there on the beau- 
tiful tree. 

Then the Ranee said to her daughter, " I can- 
not tell how it is; every day those seven girls say 

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A Guide to Mythology 

they don't want any dinner, and won't eat any, and 
yet they never grow thin nor look ill ; they look bet- 
ter than you do. I cannot tell how it is ; " and she 
bade her watch the seven princesses and see if any 
one gave them anything to eat. 

So next day, when the princesses went to their 
mother's grave, and were eating the beautiful pom- 
eloes, the Purdan's daughter followed them and saw 
them gathering the fruit. 

Then Balna said to her sisters, " Do you see that 
girl watching us ? Let us drive her away or hide 
the pomeloes, else she will go and tell her mother 
all about it, and that will be very bad for us." 

But the other sisters said, " Oh, no, do not be un- 
kind, Balna. The girl would never be so cruel as 
to tell her mother. Let us rather invite her to come 
and have some of the fruit ; " and calling her to 
them, they gave her one of the pomeloes. 

~No sooner had she eaten it, however, than the 
Purdan's daughter went home and said to her 
mother, " I do not wonder the seven princesses will 
not eat the nasty dinner you prepare for them, for 
by their mother's grave there grows a beautiful pom- 
elo tree, and they go there every day and eat the 
pomeloes. I ate one, and it was the nicest I have 
ever tasted." 

The cruel Ranee was much vexed at hearing 
this, and all next day she stayed in her room, and 
told the Rajah that she had a very bad headache. 
The Rajah at hearing this was deeply grieved, and 
said to his wife, " What can I do for you ? " She 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

answered, " There is only one thing that will make 
my headache well. By your dead wife's tomb there 
grows a fine pomelo tree; you must bring that here, 
and boil it, root and branch, and put a little of the 
water in which it has been boiled on my forehead, 
and that will cure my headache." So the Rajah 
sent his servants, and had the beautiful pomelo tree 
pulled up by the roots, and did as the Ranee desired ; 
and when some of the water in which it had been 
boiled was put on her forehead she said her head- 
ache was gone and she felt quite well. 

Next day, when the seven princesses went as 
usual to the grave of their mother, the pomelo tree 
had disappeared. Then they all began to cry very 
bitterly. 

ISTow there was by the Ranee's tomb a small tank, 
and as they were crying they saw that the tank was 
filled with a rich, cream-like substance, which quickly 
hardened into a thick white cake. At seeing this 
all the princesses were very glad, and they ate some 
of the cake, and liked it; and next day the same 
thing happened, and so it went on for many days. 
Every morning the princesses went to their mother's 
grave, and found the little tank filled with nour- 
ishing, cream-like cake. Then the cruel step-mother 
said to her daughter, " I cannot tell how it is ; I 
have had the pomelo tree which used to grow by the 
Ranee's grave destroyed, and yet the princesses grow 
no thinner, nor look more sad, though they never 
eat the dinner I give them. I cannot tell how 
it is ! " 

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A Guide to Mythology 

And her daughter said, " I will watch." 

Next day, while the princesses were eating the 
cream cake, who should come by but their step- 
mother's daughter. Balna saw her first, and said, 
" See, sisters, there comes that girl again. Let us 
sit round the edge of the tank, and not allow her 
to see it; for if we give her some of our cake she 
will go and tell her mother, and that will be very 
unfortunate for us." 

The other sisters, however, thought Balna unnec- 
essarily suspicious, and instead of following her ad- 
vice they gave the Purdan's daughter some of the 
cake, and she went home and told her mother all 
about it. 

The Ranee, on hearing how well the princesses 
fared, was exceedingly angry, and sent her servants 
to pull down the dead Ranee's tomb and fill the 
little tank with the ruins. And not content with this, 
she next day pretended to be very, very ill — in fact, 
at the point of death; and when the Rajah was 
much grieved, and asked her whether it was in his 
power to procure her any remedy, she said to him, 
" Only one thing can save my life, but I know you 
will not do it." He replied, " Yes, whatever it is, I 
will do it," She then said, " To save my life, you 
must kill the seven daughters of your first wife, and 
put some of their blood on my forehead and on the 
palms of my hands, and their death will be my life." 
At these words the Rajah was very sorrowful; but 
because he feared to break his word, he went out 
with a heavy heart to find his daughters. 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

He found, them crying by the ruins of their 
mother's grave. 

Then, feeling he could not kill them, the Kajah 
spoke kindly to them, and told them to come out 
into the jungle with him; and there he made a fire 
and cooked some rice, and gave it to them. But in 
the afternoon, it being very hot, the seven princesses 
all fell asleep, and when he saw they were fast 
asleep the Kajah, their father, stole away and left 
them (for he feared his wife), saying to himself, 
" It is better my poor daughters should die here 
than be killed by their step-mother." 

He then shot a deer, and returning home, put 
some of the blood on the forehead and hands of the 
Ranee, and she thought then that he had really 
killed the princesses and said she felt quite well. 

Meantime the seven princesses awoke, and when 
they found themselves all alone in the thick jungle 
they were much frightened, and began to call out 
as loud as they could, in hopes of making their father 
hear ; but he was by that time far away, and would 
not have been able to hear them, even had their 
voices been as loud as thunder. 

It so happened that this very day the seven young 
sons of a neighboring Rajah chanced to be hunting 
in the same jungle, and as they were returning 
home after the day's sport was over, the youngest 
prince said to his brothers : " Stop, I think I hear 
some one crying and calling out. Do you not hear 
voices? Let us go in the direction of the sound, 
and try and find out what it is." 

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A Guide to Mythology 

So the seven princes rode through the wood until 
they came to the place where the seven princesses 
sat crying and wringing their hands. At the sight 
of them the young princes were very much aston- 
ished, and still more so on learning their story; 
and they settled that each should take one of these 
poor forlorn ladies home with him and marry 
her. 

So the first and eldest prince took the eldest 
princess home with him and married her. 

And the second took the second; 

And the third took the third; 

And the fourth took the fourth; 

And the fifth took the fifth; 

And the sixth took the sixth; 

And the seventh, and handsomest of all, took the 
beautiful Balna. 

And when they got to their own land there was 
great rejoicing throughout the kingdom at the mar- 
riage of the seven young princes to seven such 
beautiful princesses. 

About a year after this Balna had a little son, 
and his uncles and aunts were so fond of the boy 
that it was as if he had seven fathers and seven 
mothers. None of the other princes or princesses 
had any children, so the son of the seventh prince 
and Balna was acknowledged their heir by all the 
rest. 

They had thus lived very happily for some time, 
when one fine day the seventh prince (Balna's hus- 
band) said he would go out hunting, and away he 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

went; and they waited long for him, but he never 
came back. 

Then his six brothers said they would go and see 
what had become of him; and they went away, but 
they also did not return. 

And the seven princesses grieved very much, for 
they felt sure their kind husbands must have been 
killed. 

One day, not long after this had happened, as 
Balna was rocking her baby's cradle, and whilst her 
sisters were working in the room below, there came 
to the palace door a man in a long black dress, who 
said that he was a Fakir, and came to beg. The 
servants said to him, " You cannot go into the pal- 
ace — the Eajah's sons have all gone away ; we think 
they must be dead, and their widows cannot be in- 
terrupted by your begging." But he said, " I am a 
holy man; you must let me in." Then the stupid 
servants let him walk through the palace, but they 
did not know that this man was no Fakir, but a 
wicked magician named Punchkin. 

Punchkin Fakir wandered through the palace, 
and saw many beautiful things there, till at last he 
reached the room where Balna sat singing beside 
her little boy's cradle. The magician thought her 
more beautiful than all the other beautiful things he 
had seen, insomuch that he asked her to go home 
with him and to marry him. But she said, " My 
husband, I fear, is dead, but my little boy is still 
quite young; I will stay here and teach him to grow 
up a clever man, and when he is grown up he shall 

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A Guide to Mythology 

go out into the world, and try and learn tidings of 
his father. Heaven forbid that I should ever leave 
him or marry you." At these words the magician 
was very angry, and turned her into a little black 
dog, and led her away, saying, " Since you will not 
come with me of your own free will, I will make 
you." So the poor princess was dragged away, with- 
out any power of effecting an escape, or of letting 
her sisters know what had become of her. As Punch- 
kin passed through the palace gate the servants said 
to him, " Where did you get that pretty little dog ? " 
And he answered, " One of the princesses gave it 
to me as a present." At hearing which they let him 
go without further questioning. 

Soon after this the six elder princesses heard the 
little baby, their nephew, begin to cry, and when 
they went upstairs they were much surprised to 
find him all alone, and Balna nowhere to be seen. 
Then they questioned the servants, and when they 
heard of the Fakir and the little black dog they 
guessed what had happened, and sent in every direc- 
tion seeking them, but neither the Fakir nor the 
dog was to be found. What could six poor women 
do? They had to give up all hopes of ever seeing 
their kind husbands and their sister and her husband 
again, and they devoted themselves thenceforward 
to teaching and taking care of their little nephew. 

Thus time went on, till Balna's son was four- 
teen years old. Then one day his aunts told him 
the history of the family ; and no sooner did he hear 
it than he was seized with a great desire to go in 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

search of his father and mother and uncles, and 
bring them home again if he could find them alive. 
His aunts, on learning his determination, were much 
alarmed and tried to dissuade him, saying, " We have 
lost our husbands, and our sister and her husband, 
and you are now our sole hope; if you go away, 
what shall we do ? " But he replied, " I pray you 
not to be discouraged; I shall return soon, and, if 
it is possible, bring my father and mother and uncles 
with me." So he set out on his travels, but for 
some months he could learn nothing to help him in 
his search. 

At last, after he had journeyed many hundreds 
of weary miles, and become almost hopeless of ever 
being able to hear anything further of his parents, 
he one day came to a country which seemed full of 
stones and rocks and trees, and there he saw a 
large palace with a high tower; hard by which was 
a Malee's little house. 

As he was looking about, the Malee's wife saw 
him, and ran out of the house and said, " My dear 
boy, who are you that dare venture to this dan- 
gerous place ? " And he answered, " I am a Rajah's 
son, and I come in search of my father and my 
uncles and my mother whom a wicked enchanter 
bewitched." Then the Malee's wife said, " This 
country and this palace belong to a great enchanter ; 
he is all-powerful, and if any one displeases him, he 
can turn them into stones and trees. All the rocks 
and trees you see here were living people once, and 
the magician turned them to what they now are. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Some time ago a Rajah's son came here, and shortly 
afterward came his six brothers, and they were all 
turned into stones and trees; and these are not 
the only unfortunate ones, for up in that tower lives 
a beautiful princess, whom the magician has kept 
prisoner there for twelve years, because she hates 
him and will not marry him." 

Then the little prince thought, " These must be 
my parents and my uncles. I have found what I 
seek at last." So he told his story to the Malee's 
wife, and begged her to help him to remain in that 
place a while, and inquire further concerning the 
unhappy people she mentioned ; and she promised to 
befriend him, and advised his disguising himself, 
lest the magician should see him, and turn him 
likewise into stone. To this the prince agreed. 
So the Malee's wife dressed him up in a saree, and 
pretended that he was her daughter. 

One day, not long after this, as the magician was 
walking in his garden, he saw the little girl (as he 
thought) playing about, and he asked her who she 
was. She told him she was the Malee's daughter, 
and the magician said, " You are a pretty little 
girl, and to-morrow you shall take a present of flow- 
ers from me to the beautiful lady who lives in the 
tower." 

The young prince was much delighted at hearing 
this, and after some consultation with the Malee's 
wife, he settled that it would be more safe for 
him to retain his disguise, and trust to the chance 
of a favorable opportunity for establishing some 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

communication with his mother, if it were indeed 
she. 

~Now it happened that at Balna's marriage her 
husband had given her a small gold ring on which 
her name was engraved, and she put it on her little 
son's finger when he was a baby, and afterward when 
he was older, his aunts had had it enlarged for him, 
so that he was still able to wear it. The Malee's wife 
advised him to fasten the well-known treasure to 
one of the bouquets he presented to his mother, and 
trust to her recognizing it. This was not to be done 
without difficulty, as such a strict watch was kept 
over the poor princess (for fear of her ever estab- 
lishing communication with her friends) that though 
the supposed Malee's daughter was permitted to take 
her flowers every day, the magician or one of his 
slaves was always in the room at the same time. At 
last one day, however, opportunity favored him and 
when no one was looking the boy tied the ring to a 
nosegay and threw it at Balna's feet. The ring fell 
with a clang on the floor, and Balna, looking to see 
what made the strange sound, found the little ring 
tied to the flowers. On recognizing it, she at once 
believed the story her son told her of his long search, 
and begged him to advise her as to what she had 
better do; at the same time entreating him on no 
account to endanger his life by trying to rescue her. 
She told him that for twelve long years the magician 
had kept her shut up in the tower because she re- 
fused to marry him, and she was so closely guarded 
that she saw no hope of release. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Now Balna's son was a bright, clever boy; so he 
said, " Do not fear, dear mother ; the first thing to 
do is to discover how far the magician's power ex- 
tends, in order that we may be able to liberate my 
father and uncles, whom he has imprisoned in the 
form of rocks and trees. You have spoken to him 
angrily for twelve long years; do you now rather 
speak kindly. Tell him you have given up all hopes 
of again seeing the husband you have so long 
mourned, and say you are willing to marry him. 
Then endeavor to find out what his power consists 
in, and whether he is immortal or can be put to 
death." 

Balna determined to take her son's advice; and 
the next day sent for Punchkin and spoke to him as 
had been suggested. 

The magician, greatly delighted, begged her to al- 
low the wedding to take place as soon as possible. 

But she told him that before she married him he 
must allow her a little more time in which she 
might make his acquaintance, and that, after being 
enemies so long, their friendship could but strengthen 
by degrees. " And do tell me," she said, " are you 
quite immortal ? Can death never touch you ? And 
are you too great an enchanter ever to feel human 
suffering ? " 

" Why do you ask ? " said he. 

" Because," she replied, " if I am to be your wife 
I would fain know all about you, in order, if any 
calamity threatens you, to overcome, or, if possible, 
to avert it." 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

" It is true/' lie said, " that I am not as others. 
Far, far away, hundreds of thousands of miles from 
this, there lies a desolate country covered with thick 
jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle 
of palm trees, and in the center of the circle stand 
six chattees full of water, piled one above another; 
below the sixth chattee is a small cage which con- 
tains a little green parrot; on the life of the parrot 
depends my life, and if the parrot is killed I must 
die. It is, however," he added, " impossible that 
the parrot should sustain any injury, both on account 
of the inaccessibility of the country and because, 
by my appointment, many thousand evil genii sur- 
round the palm trees, and kill all who approach the 
place." 

Balna told her son what Punchkin had said, but, 
at the same time, implored him to give up all idea 
of getting the parrot. 

The prince, however, replied, " Mother, unless I 
can get hold of that parrot you and my father and 
uncles cannot be liberated: be not afraid, I will 
shortly return. Do you, meantime, keep the ma- 
gician in good humor — still putting off your mar- 
riage with him on various pretexts; and before he 
finds out the cause of delay I will return." So say- 
ing he went away. 

Many, many weary miles did he travel, till at last 
he came to a thick jungle, and being very tired, sat 
down under a tree and fell asleep. He was awak- 
ened by a soft rustling sound, and, looking about- 
turn, saw a large serpent which was making its way 

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A Guide to Mythology 

to an eagle's nest built in the tree under which he 
lay, and in the nest were two young eagles. The 
prince, seeing the danger of the young birds, drew 
his sword and killed the serpent; at the same mo- 
ment a rushing sound was heard in the air, and the 
two old eagles, who had been out hunting for food 
for their young ones, returned. They quickly saw 
the dead serpent and the young prince standing 
over it ; and the old mother eagle said to him, " Dear 
boy, for many years all our young have been de- 
voured by that cruel serpent: you have now saved 
the lives of our children ; whenever you are in need, 
therefore, send to us and we will help you; and as 
for these little eagles, take them, and let them be 
your servants." 

At this the prince was very glad, and the two 
eaglets crossed their wings, on which he mounted; 
and they carried him far, far away over the 
thick jungles until he came to the place where 
grew the circle of palm trees in the midst of 
which stood the six chattees full of water. It 
was the middle of the day. All around the trees 
were the genii fast asleep; nevertheless, there were 
such countless thousands of them that it would have 
been quite impossible for any one to walk through 
their ranks to the place. Down swooped the strong- 
winged eaglets — down jumped the prince; in an in- 
stant he had overthrown the six chattees full of 
water, and seized the little green parrot, which he 
rolled up in his cloak; while, as he mounted again 
into the air, all the genii below awoke, and, finding 

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Animals In Primitive Myths 

their treasure gone, set up a wild and melancholy 
howl. 

Away, away flew the little eagles till they came 
to their home in the great tree ; then the prince said 
to the old eagles, " Take back your little ones ; they 
have done me good service; if ever again I stand 
in need of help I shall not fail to come to you." He 
then continued his journey on foot till he arrived 
once more at the magician's palace, where he sat 
down at the door and began playing with the parrot. 
The magician saw him, and came to him quickly 
and said, " My boy, where did you get that parrot ? 
Give it to me, I pray you." But the prince an- 
swered, " Oh, no, I cannot give away my parrot ; 
it is a great pet of mine ; I have had it many years." 
Then the magician said, " If it is an old favorite, 
I can understand you not caring to give it away; 
but come, what will you sell it for ? " " Sir," re- 
plied the prince, " I will not sell my parrot." 

Then the magician got frightened and said, 
" Anything, anything ; name what price you will, and 
it shall be yours." " Then," the prince answered, 
" I will that you liberate the Rajah's seven sons 
whom you turned into rocks and trees." " It is done 
as you desire," said the magician, " only give me 
my parrot " (and with that, by a stroke of his wand, 
Balna's husband and his brothers resumed their 
natural shapes). "Now give me my parrot," re- 
peated Punchkin. " Not so fast, my master," re- 
joined the prince ; " I must first beg that you restore 
to life all whom you have thus imprisoned," 

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A Guide to Mythology 

The magician immediately waved his wand again ; 
and whilst he cried in an imploring voice, " Give 
me my parrot ! " the whole garden became suddenly 
alive: where rocks and stones and trees had been 
before, stood Kajahs and Punts and Sirdars, and 
mighty men on prancing horses, and jewelled pages 
and troops of armed attendants. 

" Give me my parrot ! " cried Punchkin. Then 
the boy took hold of the parrot and tore off one of 
its wings; and as he did so the magician's right arm 
fell off. 

Punchkin then stretched out his left arm, crying 
" Give me my parrot ! " The prince pulled off the 
parrot's second wing, and the magician's left arm 
tumbled off. 

" Give me my parrot ! " cried he, and fell on his 
knees. The prince pulled off the parrot's right leg — 
the magician's right leg fell off ; the prince pulled off 
the parrot's left leg — down fell the magician's left. 

Nothing remained of him save the limbless body 
and the head ; but still he rolled his eyes, and cried, 
" Give me my parrot ! " " Take your parrot, then," 
cried the boy, and with that he wrung the bird's 
neck and threw it at the magician ; and as he did so, 
Punchkin's head twisted round, and with a fearful 
groan he died! 

Then they let Balna out of the tower; and she, 
her son, and the seven princes went to their own 
country, and lived very happily ever afterward. And 
as to the rest of the world, every one went to his 
own house. 

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CHAPTER III 
ANIMALS IN CULTURE MYTHS 

ALL the stories so far have reflected primitive 
> man's way of thinking and acting. Passing now 
to more developed phases of life, we are confronted in 
myths by such an array of animals — definite per- 
sonifications of natural phenomena — that no pos- 
sible ark would hold these cosmical monsters. 

Now if we imagine ourselves off for a hunt for 
some of these animals in the mythology of people 
no longer primitive but with a considerable degree 
of culture, we shall find ourselves rewarded to the 
full in the myths of India. The ancient Hindoo 
revels in animal cosmic myths. The sky seems to 
be in his imagination one vast pasture land for cows 
and bulls, though frequently it is turned into a 
battle-ground because of the incursions of an evil 
serpent who has a predilection for carrying off cows. 
These tremendous dramas in the imaginative sky of 
the Hindoo are a magnified reflection of the state 
of affairs existing upon the earth. Cosmic cattle 
would be expected to be more glorious than mun- 
dane cattle, yet we see through these myths how 
important the cow was to the existence of the Hin- 
doo. 1 To increase the number of cows, to render 
1 See Gubernatis "Zoological Mythology." 
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them fruitful iu milk and prolific in calves, to have 
them well looked after, is the dream, the ideal of 
the ancient Hindoo. His worst enemy, therefore, 
is he that robs him of his cows, while his best 
friend would be he who rescues the cows from the 
robber. 

The dewy moon, the dawn, the watery cloud, in 
fact, the entire vault of heaven which gives the 
benignant and quickening rain as cows give their 
milk, are all personified as the beneficent Cow of 
Abundance. 

The great and awful ruler of all these cows is the 
God Indra, who rides in a car to which are har- 
nessed magnificent bay steeds. Sometimes he is 
called a Bull and sometimes he is said to roar like 
a Bull. 

From the hymns of the " Rig Veda/' probably 
three or four thousand years old, many of which 
were written in honor of Indra, may be gathered the 
characteristics of Indra and these remarkable cattle. 
In her cloudy aspects, this cow of the sky was called 
the spotted one, and was said to be the mother of 
the storm winds or Maruts, while Indra, who hides 
himself in thunder-clouds is the Bull of Bulls, in- 
vincible son of a cow that bellows like the Maruts. 
This terrible creature bellows and shows his strength 
as he sharpens his horns, who is able of himself to 
overthrow all peoples. His horns are the lightning, 
and he is sometimes said to have a thousand of them. 
With all these animals prancing about in the sky, 
there is a fine opportunity for brilliant onslaughts 



Animals In Culture Myths 

upon the enemy who steals the cows. Indra with 
his thunder-bolts and the Maruts with their winds 
are the leaders on one side, while in the hostile camp 
will be found a horrid monster called by different 
names, such as Valas, Yritras, Cushnas, meaning 
the enemy, black one, thief, serpent, wolf, or wild 
boar. This awful being generally seems to throw 
down the gauntlet by stealing the cows of Indra 
and imprisoning them in a dark and dismal cavern 
in the clouds. Then an exciting battle follows; 
Indra bellows, the thunder-bolt bellows, the Maruts 
bellow, and ascend the rock, now by their own ef- 
forts making the sonorous stone, the rock mountain 
fall; now, with the iron edge of their rolling char- 
iots violently splitting the mountain; then the val- 
iant hero, Indra, beloved by the gods, moves the 
stone; he hears the cows, by aid of the Maruts he 
finds the cows hidden in the cavern. Furnished with 
an arm of stone he opens the grotto of Valas, who 
keeps the cows; he vanquishes, kills or pursues the 
thieves in battle. We may see this battle every time 
there is a thunder-storm, the lightning often leaps 
between the clouds, and the thunder roars before the 
rain falls, but when there comes the heavy down- 
pour of rain, the ancient Hindoo would compare it 
to the refreshing milk of the cows which have been 
rescued by Indra. 

Horses are also important animals in Hindoo 
myths. The Asvins, who gallop across the sky from 
morning till night, are sometimes called the sons 
of the Sun and the Dawn and sometimes they are 

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A Guide to Mythology 

called the steeds of Indra. They are described in 
the hymns of the " Rig Veda " as full of life, hav- 
ing eyes like the sun, drawing the chariot with the 
golden yoke, the two most rapid ones, who carry 
Indra as every day they carry the sun. They are 
as two rays of the sun, which illumine the sky with 
manes the color of a peacock, bridled sixty times, 
beneficent, winged, indefatigable, resolute destroyers 
of enemies. 

The Hindoo deities all have animals on which 
they ride, called Yahans or Vehicles; thus, Indra 
sometimes rides an elephant, Siva, a bull, Durga, 
a tiger, and so on. These ail share in the honors of 
worship accorded to their riders. These vehicles of 
the gods were probably once impersonations of the 
gods themselves, or animals into which they changed 
themselves as they do in the primitive myths with 
which we are already familiar. 

The cow does not seem to have been a Vahan for 
any of the gods. She was too much of a goddess 
in her own right, shown by the fact that she was 
regularly worshipped every year with great cere- 
mony. 

Egypt, however, was the land where animals re- 
ceived the greatest reverence. We find there a com- 
plete archaeological museum of mythological animals. 
Cats and dogs, mice and crocodiles, birds and insects 
— all were worshipped. So sacred did the Egyp- 
tians consider animals in general that it was a capital 
crime if any of them were killed. Should an Ibis 
or a Hawk be even accidentally killed, the unf ortu- 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

nate person who happened to do it was put to death 
by the multitude without form of law. Even if a 
cat died, everybody in the house cut off his eye- 
brows. Nothing, not even the direst extremes of 
famine, could tempt an Egyptian to eat a sacred 
animal. They would rather devour each other than 
this. 

But of all the animals, the ox kind received the 
highest honors. Bulls were occasionally sacrificed, 
but cows never. They were sacred to Isis, the Moon 
Goddess. There were special individuals of the 
species, however, who were looked upon with the 
utmost veneration. They were called Apis and Mne- 
vis. Apis was a black bull, but had a white star on 
his forehead, the figure of an eagle on his back, a 
crescent on his right side, with a knot under his 
tongue, resembling the Scarabeus or sacred beetle. 
Apis is described as living twenty-five years, when 
he jumped into a well or into the river Nile. Upon 
the discovery of a new Apis the Egyptians cele- 
brated a joyful festival. 

According to an ancient account, as soon as a re- 
port had been spread abroad that the Egyptian god 
had been brought to light, certain sacred scribes, 
who were well versed in the mystic marks, which 
they had learned by tradition, approached the divine 
calf. They fed it during four months with milk, in 
a house that fronted the rising sun. After this the 
sacred scribes carried him in a vessel prepared for 
the purpose to Memphis, where he had a convenient 
and delightful abode, with pleasure grounds and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ample space for salubrious exercise. Companions 
were provided for him. He drank from a well or 
fountain of clean water. 

Dances and festivities and joyful assemblies were 
held in honor of this animal at the rising of the 
Nile, and the man from whose flock the divine beast 
sprang was the happiest of mortals and was looked 
upon with admiration by all the people. According 
to some, Apis was dedicated to Isis or the Moon. 
Next to Apis the highest honors were paid to the 
sacred bull of Heliopolis, called Mnevis. This bull 
was black and was dedicated to Osiris. He was kept 
in a stable in the Temple of the Sun and was wor- 
shipped as a god. The warring principle in na- 
ture, Typhon, was identified with various hideous 
animals, such as the crocodile and hippopotamus. 
The most sacred of beetles was the Scarabeus, the 
symbol either of the sun or immortality. Even the 
higher gods were frequently represented as animals, 
or in part animals, while to those gods imaged 
in human form, like Osiris and Isis, animals were 
sacred. There was also an important bird, which was 
itself mythical, called the Phoenix. This wonderful 
bird was said to rise from time to time out of its 
own ashes. 

Animals occupy a somewhat different position in 
Norse mythology. They are also survivals, very 
likely, from an earlier stage of life when animals 
were worshipped, but when we meet with them in 
the Norse myths they have become symbols of the 
various ideas of mankind in regard to the mind and 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

spirit, and no longer appear simply as personifica- 
tions of the events of nature like Indra and the cows 
in Hindoo mythology. 

The Norse gods appear galloping into view on their 
wonderful steeds across the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, 
from Heaven to Earth. Their names are very sig- 
nificant: Odin rides Sleipner; Heimdal, Goldtop. 
The other horses are Glad (Bright), Gyller (Gilder), 
Gler (the Shining One), Skeidbrimer (Fleetfoot), 
Silfrintop (Silvertop), Siner (Sinews), Gisl (the Sun- 
beam), Falhofner (Palehoof), Letfet (Lightfoot). 

Thor, the thunderer, unlike Indra, who often 
drove two bay steeds, had no horse upon which to 
ride over the rainbow bridge. He would destroy it 
with his thunder-bolts, so he had to wade through 
three rivers every day in order to reach the council 
of the gods. Odin's horse, Sleipner, is the most 
wonderful — a genuine cosmic animal, with eight 
legs that symbolize the eight winds of heaven. 

The maiden Sol drove two gentle and beautiful 
steeds which were harnessed to the car of the sun. 
She drove in great haste, for she as well as her 
brother, who watches over the moon, are pursued by 
two wolves, by which is probably meant eclipses of 
the sun and moon. Day and Night also drive round 
the sky after each other. Night first with his steed 
Bine-fax. Every morning, as he ends his course, 
Rine-fax bedews the earth with the foam from his 
bit. Then Day follows with her steed, Shining-fax, 
from whose mane all the sky and earth glisten. The 
god Frey rides on a boar named Golden-bristle, and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

his sister, Freyja, the goddess of love, is drawn by 
two cats. 

The Midgard serpent or the worm which sup- 
ported the earth with its tail in its mouth, is another 
most interesting mythical animal, whose story will 
be found in this chapter. 

Finally, there is a Norse cow, still more remark- 
able than the Hindoo cow. She was made of frozen 
vapor, and four rivers of milk ran from her and 
fed the giant Yiner, or the earth. It is easy to 
recognize these rivers of milk as mountain streams 
of melted snow. This poor cow had only rime stones 
to live on, which she licked because of the salt. 
After she had licked them for some time, two magi- 
cal, godlike beings sprang out of the stones and be- 
came the parents of Odin. The name of this 
strange cow was Audhumbla. 

In the Norse Heaven, Valhalla, there are two 
more strange animals. The food of the Gods of 
Valhalla, Mead, is supplied by the milk of a she- 
goat who feeds upon the leaves of an extraordinary 
tree. Upon this same tree feeds a stag, and from 
his antlers fall so many drops of dew that water 
is supplied to thirty-six rivers, twelve of which flow 
to the abodes of the gods, twelve to the abodes of 
men, and twelve to Nifleheim. 

Fenris, the wolf, is another important animal who 
typifies evil. 

Turning now to Greek mythology, we find that 
animals, on the whole, play a subordinate part. Ani- 
mals are sacrificed to the gods of Greece, but they 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

are not often worshipped. Many of the gods have 
more than one animal sacred to them or sacrificed 
to them in their worship, and very likely some of 
these animals, as in Indian mythology, were origi- 
nally worshipped. When the ideas of early mankind 
once began to develop it would soon occur to them 
that human beings would be better impersonations 
for their gods than animals, yet the animals, once 
having been sacred, it would be very difficult to 
banish them altogether, hence they remained in the 
more developed myths as animals sacred to gods in 
human form. Greek myths, too, abound in trans- 
formations into animal form, Zeus (Roman name 
Jupiter or Jove), the ruling god of heaven and 
earth, being especially given to appearing on earth 
in the form of some animal. Gods of the earth and 
sea were also often represented as half man, half 
animal, the most famous of these being Pan, the god 
of the woods, who was half man, half goat, and the 
mermaids, who had the bodies of women with fishes' 
tails. Though not so prominent as in India, the sky 
is the pasture land for flocks and herds in Greece, 
as you will see illustrated in the story of Odysseus's 
meeting with them. There are animals, also, which 
talk, like the celebrated steeds of Achilles, described 
in the " Iliad." In one place they are pictured as 
weeping when they saw the Greek hero Patroclus 
slain. As Pope translates this affecting scene: 

" Along their face 
The big round drops cours'd down with silent pace 
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A Guide to Mythology 



Conglobing on the dust. Their manes that late 
Circled their arched necks and waved in state 
Trailed on the dust beneath the yoke, were spread, 
And prone to earth was hung their languid head." 

But even more marvellous was the time when 
Xanthus broke into speech and warned his master 
of his approaching doom. It is quite in the manner 
of an animal in a savage myth, but in the days of 
Homer's " Iliad " thought had advanced so far 
among the Greeks that the speech of this horse was 
not regarded as a perfectly natural event as it would 
be in a savage myth. It was Juno, the goddess, who 
willed that Xanthus should break eternal silence 
and portentous speak. Achilles addresses his horses, 
and Xanthus answers: 

" 'Xanthus and Balius! of Podarges* strain; 
(Unless ye boast that heavenly race in vain) 
Be swift, be mindful of the load ye bear 
And learn to make your master more your care : 
Through falling squadrons bear my slaughtering sword, 
Nor, as ye left Patroclus, leave your lord/ 
The generous Xanthus, as the words he said, 
Seemed sensible of woe, and droop 'd his head: 
Trembling he stood before the golden wain, 
And bow'd to dust the honors of his mane; 
When, strange to tell! (so Juno will'd) he broke 
Eternal silence, and portentous spoke: 
'Achilles! yes! this day at least we bear 
Thy rage in safety through the files of war: 
But come it will, the fatal time must come; 
Not ours the fault, but God decrees thy doom. 
Not through our crime, or slowness in the course, 
Tell thy Patroclus, but by heavenly force : 
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Zeus. From Pompeii. 



Animals In Culture Myths 



The bright far-shooting god who gilds the day 
(Confess 'd we saw him) tore his arms away. 
No: could our swiftness o'er the winds prevail, 
Or beat the pinions of the western gale, 
All were in vain : the fates thy death demand, 
Due to a mortal and immortal hand.' 
Then ceas'd forever, by the Furies tied, 
This fateful voice. Th' intrepid chief replied 
With unabated rage: 'So let it be! 
Portents and prodigies are lost on me/ " 

In Pegasus, the winged steed of the Nine Muses, 
we have what might be called the prize horse of 
all mythology. The old Greek writer Hesiod says 
he was born near the springs of Ocean. And he, 
indeed, winging his flight away, left Earth, the 
mother of flocks, and came to the immortals ; in Jove's 
house he dwells, bearing to counsellor Jove thunder 
and lightning. This looks very much as if he began 
life as a personification of a natural phenomenon, 
like the Hindoo Asvins and the Norse Sleipner. But 
he was destined to a more glorious career than any 
of them. The goddess of wisdom, Athene, caught 
him and tamed him, and he became the symbol of 
the imagination in its highest flights into the region 
of poetic aspiration and inspiration, a fitting climax 
to an idea, going back to the very fountains of the 
imagination which bubbled up in that early stage 
of life when animals as well as men were thought 
to be endowed with spirit. 

In the two hymns following, one from the most 
ancient of Hindoo books, the " Kig Veda," and one 
from a still more ancient Egyptian book called " The 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Book of the Dead," there is quite a contrast, though 
they both represent myths in the highly developed 
religious form of hymns or songs to the gods. The 
Hindoo song sings the praises of Indra, while the 
Egyptian song is a prayer. Ba, who is mentioned, 
was the God of the Sun in Egypt. 

Instead of driving steeds as many other sun-gods 
did, he was said to ride in a boat. But according 
to this hymn, there were four sacred apes in the 
boat, to whom the ancient Egyptians offered prayers 
as they did to the sacred bulls Apis and Mnevis. 

HYMNS TO INDRA 
{From the "Rig Veda") 

I will declare the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he 

achieved, the thunder-wielder. 
He slew the dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the 

channels of the mountain torrents. 
He slew the dragon lying on the mountain; his heavenly 

bolt of thunder Twashtar fashioned. 
Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending the waters glided 

downward to the ocean. 
Impetuous as a bull, he chose the Soma, and quaffed in three- 
fold sacrifice the juices. 
Magna van grasped the thunder for his weapon, and smote to 

death this first born of the dragons. 
When, Indra, thou hadst slain the dragon's first born, and 

overcome the charms of the enchanters, 
Then, giving life to sun and dawn and heaven, thou foundest 

not one foe to stand against thee. 
Indra with his own great and deadly thunder smote into 

pieces Vritra worst of Vritras. 

• *••■« 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

They who pervaded earth's extremest limit subdued not with 

their charms the wealth-bestower : 
Indra, the bull, made his ally the thunder, and with its light 

milked cows from out the darkness. 
The waters flowed according to their nature; he mid the 

navigable streams waxed mighty. 
Then, Indra, with his spirit concentrated, smote him forever 

with his strongest weapon. 
Indra broke through Ilibisa's strong castles, and Sushna 

with his horn he cut to pieces : 
Thou, Maghavan, for all his might and swiftness, slewest thy 

fighting foeman with thy thunder. 
Fierce on his enemies fell Indra 's weapon: with his sharp horn 

he rent their towns in pieces. 
He with his thunderbolt dealt blows on Vritra, and con- 
quered, executing all his purpose. 

THE FOUR APES 
(From the " Book of the Dead ") 

" Hail, ye four apes, who sit in the bows of the 
boat of Ra, who convey right and truth to Neb-er- 
tchu, who sit in judgment on my misery and on my 
strength, who make the gods to rest contented by 
means of the flame of your mouths, who offer holy 
offerings to the gods and sepulchral meals to the 
Khus who live upon right and truth, and who feed 
upon right and truth of heart, who are without de- 
ceit and fraud and to whom wickedness is an abom- 
ination, do ye away with my evil deeds, and put 
ye away my sin which deserved stripes upon earth, 
and destroy ye any evil whatsoever that belongeth 
unto me, and let there be no obstacle whatsoever on 
my part toward you. O, grant ye I may make my 

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A Guide to Mythology 

way through the underworld. O, grant that there 
may be given to me cakes and ale and sweet- 
meats, even as they are given to the living 
Khus." 

The four apes make answer, saying, " Come then, 
for we have done away with thy wickedness, and we 
have put away thy sin, along with the sin deserving 
of stripes which thou didst commit upon earth, and 
we have destroyed all the evil which belonged to 
thee upon earth. There shall be given unto thee 
cakes and ale and sweetmeats, and thou shalt come 
forth and thou shalt enter in at thy desire, even 
as do those Khus who are favored of the god, 
and thou shalt be proclaimed each day in the 
horizon." 

STORY OF THE MIDGARD SERPENT AND 
FENRIS THE WOLF 
{From the Norse Eddas) 

This huge beast was one of the children of Loke, 
a troublesome, mischievous giant, who forced him- 
self upon the society of the gods. His delight was 
to get them into all sorts of difficulties, and then 
by his cunning, wit and skill to extricate them. 
The gods knew that as the Midgard serpent grew 
larger he would bring untold troubles upon gods 
and men. So Odin thought the best way to dis- 
pose of him would be to throw him into the deep 
ocean which surrounds the earth. He did so, but 
the serpent has grown to such an enormous size, that 

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Animals In Culture Myths 



holding his tail in his mouth, he encircles the whole 
earth. One time the god Thor went with his ser- 
vant Loke to the land of the giants. After some 
adventures they came to a city, standing in the 
middle of a plain. It was so lofty that they were 
obliged to bend their necks quite back on their shoul- 
ders in order to see the top of it. On arriving, they 
entered the city, and seeing a large palace before 
them with the door wide open, they went in and 
found a number of men of prodigious stature sitting 
on benches in the hall. Going further they came 
before the king, Utgard-Loke, whom they saluted 
with great respect. The king, regarding them with 
a scornful smile, said, " If I do not mistake me, that 
stripling yonder must be the god Thor." Utgard- 
Loke then asked Thor and his companions in what 
feats they excelled, for he said, " ~No one is permitted 
to remain here who does not, in some feat or other, 
excel all other men." Various feats of strength 
were tried, then Utgard-Loke said, " We have a very 
trifling game here. It consists merely in lifting my 
cat from the ground; nor should I have dared to 
mention such a feat to the great Thor if I had not 
already observed that thou art by no means what 
we took thee for." 

As he finished a large gray cat sprang on the hall 
floor. Thor put his hand under the cat, and did his 
utmost to raise him from the floor, but the cat, bend- 
ing his back, had, notwithstanding all Thor's efforts, 
only one of his feet lifted up, seeing which Thor 
made no further attempt. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

" This trial has turned out," said Utgard-Loke, 
" just as I imagined it would. The cat is large, but 
Thor is little in comparison with our men." 

The next morning, at break of day, Thor and his 
companions dressed themselves and prepared for 
their departure. Utgard-Loke ordered a table to be 
set for them, on which there was no lack of victuals 
or drink. After the repast, Utgard-Loke led them 
to the gate of the city, and on parting asked Thor 
how he thought his journey had turned out, and 
whether he had met with any men stronger than 
himself. Thor told him that he could not deny but 
that he had brought great shame on himself. " And 
what grieves me most," he added, " is that thou wilt 
call me a person of little worth." 

" iN"ay," said L'tgard-Loke, " it behooves me to tell 
thee the truth, now thou art out of the city, which 
so long as I live and have my way thou shalt never 
enter again. And, by my troth, had I known before- 
hand that thou hadst so much strength in thee, and 
wouldst have brought me so near to a great mishap, 
I would not have suffered thee to enter this time. 
Know then that I have all along deceived thee by my 
illusions." He then complimented Thor upon each 
feat he had performed, and as for the cat, he said, 
" Thou hast indeed performed a wonderful feat by 
lifting up the cat, and to tell thee the truth, when 
we saw that one of his paws was off the floor we 
were all of us terror-stricken, for what thou tookest 
for a cat was in reality the Midgard serpent that en- 
compasseth the earth, and he was so stretched by 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

thee that he was barely long enough to enclose it 
between his head and tail." 

The wolf Fenris was also one of Loke's children, 
and gave the gods a great deal of trouble until they 
succeeded in chaining him. He broke the strongest 
fetters as if they were made of cobwebs. Finally 
the gods sent a messenger to the mountain spirits, 
who made for them the chain called Gleipnir. It 
was fashioned of various things: the noise made by 
the footfall of a cat, the roots of stones, the breath 
of fishes, the nerves of bears, and the spittle of 
birds. When finished it was as smooth and soft as 
a silken string. But when the gods asked the wolf 
to suffer himself to be bound with this apparently 
slight ribbon he suspected their design, fearing that 
it was made by enchantment. He therefore only 
consented to be bound with it on condition that one 
of the gods put his hand in his (Fenris's) mouth 
as a pledge that the band was to be removed again. 
Tyr alone had sufficient courage to do this. But 
when the wolf found that he could not break his 
fetters and that the gods would not release him, he 
bit off Tyr's hand. Tyr, consequently, has ever since 
remained one-handed. 

THE STORY OF APOLLO AND PHAETON 
(Greek: After Ovid) 

Phaeton was the son of Apollo and the earthly 
nymph Clymene. One day Epaphus, the son of 
Zeus and Io, scoffed at the idea of Phaeton's being 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the son of a god. Phaeton complained of the insult 
to his mother, Clymene. She sent him to Phoebus 
Apollo to ask for himself whether he had not been 
truly informed concerning his parentage. Gladly 
Phaeton travelled toward the regions of the sunrise, 
and gained at last the palace of the Sun. He ap- 
proached his father's presence, but stopped at a 
distance, for the light was more than he could bear. 
Phoebus Apollo, arrayed in purple, sat on a throne 
that glittered with diamonds. Beside him stood the 
Day, the Month, the Year, the Hours and the Sea- 
sons. Surrounded by these attendants, the Sun be- 
held the youth dazzled with the novelty and splen- 
dor of the scene, and inquired the purpose of his er- 
rand. The youth replied, " Oh, light of the bound- 
less world, Phoebus, my father — give me some proof, 
I beseech thee, by which I may be known as thine ! " 
He ceased. His father, laying aside the beams that 
shone around his head, bade him approach, embraced 
him, and swore by the river Styx that whatever 
proof he might ask should be granted. Phaeton 
immediately asked to be permitted for one day to 
drive the chariot of the Sun. The father repented 
of his promise, and tried to dissuade the boy by tell- 
ing him the perils of the undertaking. " None but 
myself," he said, " may drive the naming car of 
day. ~Not even Zeus, whose terrible right arm hurls 
the thunder-bolts. The first part of the way is steep, 
and such as the horses when fresh in the morning 
can hardly climb ; the middle part is high up in the 
heavens, whence I myself can scarcely, without 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

alarm, look down and behold the earth and sea 
stretched beneath me. The last part of the road 
descends rapidly and requires most careful driving. 
Tethys, who is waiting to receive me, often trem- 
bles for me lest I should fall headlong. Add to this 
that the heaven is all the time turning round and 
carrying the stars with it. Couldst thou keep thy 
course, while the sphere revolved beneath thee ? The 
road, also, is through the midst of frightful mon- 
sters. Thou must pass by the horns of the Bull, in 
front of the Archer, and near the Lion's jaws, and 
where the Scorpion stretches its arms in one direc- 
tion and the Crab in another. ~Nov wilt thou find 
it easy to guide these horses, with their breasts full 
of fire that they breathe forth from their mouths 
and nostrils. Beware, my son, lest I be the donor of 
a fatal gift ; recall the request while yet thou canst." 
He ended; but the youth rejected admonition, and 
held to his demand. So, having resisted as long as 
he might, Phoebus at last led the way to where 
stood the lofty chariot. 

It was of gold, the gift of Vulcan: the axle of 
gold, the pole and wheels of gold, the spokes of 
silver. Along the seat were rows of chrysolites and 
diamonds reflecting the brightness of the sun. While 
the daring youth gazed in admiration, the Dawn 
threw open the purple doors of the east, and showed 
the pathway strewn with roses. The stars with- 
drew, marshalled by the Day Star, which last of 
all retired also. The father when he saw the earth 
beginning to glow and the moon preparing to retire, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ordered the Hours to harness up the horses. They 
led forth from the lofty stalls the steeds full fed 
with ambrosia, and attached the reins. Then the 
father, smearing the face of his son with a powerful 
unguent, made him capable of enduring the bright- 
ness of the flame. He set the rays on the lad's 
head, and, with a foreboding sigh, told him to spare 
the whip and hold tight the reins ; not to take the 
straight road between the five circles, but to turn 
off to the left; to keep within the limit of the mid- 
dle zone, and avoid the northern and the southern 
alike; finally, to keep in the well-worn ruts, and to 
drive neither too high nor too low, for the middle 
course was safest and best. 

Forthwith the agile youth sprang into the chariot, 
stood erect and grasped the reins with delight, pour- 
ing out thanks to his reluctant parent. But the 
steeds soon perceived that the load they drew was 
lighter than usual; and as a ship without ballast is 
tossed hither and thither on the sea, the chariot, 
without its accustomed weight, was dashed about as 
if empty. The horses rushed headlong and left the 
travelled road. Then for the first time the Great 
and Little Bears were scorched with heat, and would 
fain, if it were possible, have plunged into the wa- 
ter; and the serpent which lies coiled round the 
north pole, torpid and harmless, grew warm, and 
with warmth felt its rage revive. Bootes, they say, 
fled away though encumbered with his plough and 
unused to rapid motion. 

When hapless Phaeton looked down upon the 
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Animals In Culture Myths 

earth, now spreading in vast extent beneath him, he 
grew pale, and his knees shook with terror. He lost 
his self-command, and knew not whether to draw 
tight the reins or throw them loose; he forgot the 
names of the horses. But when he beheld the mon- 
strous forms scattered over the surface of heaven — 
the Scorpion extending two great arms, his tail, and 
his crooked claws over the space of two signs of the 
Zodiac — when the boy beheld him, reeking with 
poison and menacing with fangs, his courage failed, 
and the reins fell from his hands. The horses, un- 
restrained, went off into unknown regions of the sky, 
in among the stars, hurling the chariot over pathless 
places, now up in high heaven, now down almost to 
the earth. The Moon saw with astonishment her 
brother's chariot running beneath her own. The 
clouds began to smoke, the forest-clad mountains 
burned — Athos and Taurus and Timolus and (Eti; 
Ida, once celebrated for fountains; the Muses' 
Mountain, Helicon and Hsemus; iEtna, with fires 
within and without, and Parnassus, with his two 
peaks, and Phodope, forced at last to part with his 
snowy crown. The cold climate was no protection 
to Scythia; Caucasus burned, and Ossa and Pindus, 
and, greater than both, Olympus, — the Alps high 
in air, and the Apennines crowned with clouds. 

Phaeton beheld the world on fire, and felt the heat 
intolerable. Then, too, it is said, the people of 
Ethiopia became black because the blood was called 
by the heat so suddenly to the surface; and the 
Libyan Desert was dried up to the condition in which 

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A Guide to Mythology 

it remains to this day. The nymphs of the foun- 
tains, with dishevelled hair, mourned their waters, 
nor were the rivers safe beneath their banks ; Tanai's 
smoked, and Caicus, Xanthus and Mseander; Baby- 
lonian Euphrates and Ganges, Tagus with golden 
sands, and Cayster where the swans resort. Nile 
fled away and hid his head in the desert, and there 
it still remains, concealed. Where he used to dis- 
charge his waters through seven mouths into the 
sea, seven dry channels alone remained. The earth 
cracked open and through the chinks light broke 
into Tartarus, and frightened the king of shadows 
and his queen. The sea shrank up. Even Nereus 
and his wife Doris, with the Nereids, their daughters, 
sought the deepest caves for refuge. 

Thrice Neptune essayed to raise his head above the 
surface, and thrice he was driven back by the heat. 
Earth, surrounded as she was by waters, yet with 
head and shoulders bare, screening her face with her 
hand, looked up to heaven, and with husky voice 
prayed Zeus, if it were his will that she should perish 
by fire, to end her agony at once by his thunder- 
bolts, or else to consider his own heaven, how both 
the poles were smoking that sustained his palace, and 
that all must fall if they were destroyed. 

Earth, overcome with heat and thirst, could say 
no more. Then Zeus, calling the gods to witness 
that all was lost unless some speedy remedy were 
applied, thundered, brandished a lightning-bolt in 
his right hand, launched it against the charioteer, 
and struck him at the same moment from his seat 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

and from existence. Phaeton with his hair on fire, 
fell headlong like a shooting star which marks the 
heavens with its brightness as it falls, and Eridanus, 
the great river, received him and cooled his burning 
frame. His sisters, the Heliades, as they lamented 
his fate, were turned into poplar trees, on the banks 
of the river, and their tears, which continued to flow, 
became amber as they dropped into the stream. 

THE STORY OF ODYSSEUS 
AND 

THE OXEN OF THE SUIT 
(Greek: From the " Odyssey ") 

When Odysseus (called also Ulysses) one of 
the heroes of the Trojan war, was returning 
to his home in Ithaca, he had many adven- 
tures and suffered many hardships which caused 
him to be years making the voyage from Troy 
to Ithaca. One of these adventures was his visit to the 
Isle of the Sun, about which he had been warned by 
the goddess Circe. Odysseus himself tells how the 
ship in which he and his comrades were embarked 
entered the great deep and reached the Isle iEacea, 
where the Morning, child of Dawn, abides and holds 
her dances, and the Sun goes up from the earth. 
There they landed, and drew their galley up on the 
beach. After disembarking, they all lay down to 
sleep beside the sea and waited for the holy Moon 
to rise. 

As soon as Circe, for this was the island where 
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A Guide to Mythology 

this goddess dwelt, heard that Odysseus and his com- 
rades were there, she quickly attired herself and 
came down to the beach with her maids who fol- 
lowed, bringing bread and store of meats and gener- 
ous wines. Then the wise goddess, standing in their 
midst, spake to them and said, " Take food and wine, 
and hold a feast to-day, and with the dawn of morn- 
ing you shall sail away. I will show you the way, 
and point out to you all its dangers, so that you may 
not come to any harm through following false coun- 
sels, either on the land or on the water." The con- 
fiding minds of Odysseus and his men were easily 
swayed by her counsels. So all that day they sat and 
banqueted upon the abundant meats and generous 
wines. And when the sun went down and darkness 
came, the crew lay down to sleep beside the moor- 
ings of the ship, and Circe, taking the hand of Odys- 
seus, led him apart, made him sit down, and sitting 
before him made him tell all that he had seen. 

Then she addressed him, saying, " Thus far all is 
well; now needfully attend to what I say, and may 
some deity help you to remember it." She told him 
first about the Sirens' haunt, which it would be diffi- 
cult for him to pass, and then about the horrible 
rocks where Scylla and Charybdis dwelt, giving him 
instructions how to meet these dangers; then con- 
tinuing she said, " In your voyage you will reach 
the Isle Trinacria, where in pastures belonging to 
the Sun many beeves and fatling sheep of his are 
fed — seven herds of oxen, and as many flocks of 
sheep, and fifty in each flock and herd. They never 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

increase and they never die, and they are tended by 
two shepherdesses, goddesses with redundant locks. 
One is named Lampetia, the other Phaethusa. If 
your desire be to return to Ithaca, your home, only 
leave these flocks and herds unharmed, and you and 
all your men will return, though after many toils. 
But if you rashly harm them, I foretell destruction 
to your ship and all its crew; and if you should es- 
cape, yet your return will be late and in sorrow, 
with all your comrades lost." 

As she finished speaking, the Morning on her 
golden throne looked forth; the glorious goddess 
went her way into the isle, and Odysseus went to 
his ship and bade the men embark and cast the haw- 
sers loose. Straightway they all went on board, 
and duly manned the benches, smiting the hoary 
waters with their oars. Then Circe, amber-haired, 
the mighty goddess of the musical voice, sent a fair 
wind behind the dark-prowed ship, which gayly bore 
them company and filled the sails. 

Odysseus then told the crew all that Circe, the am- 
ber-haired, had said to him. He warns them of the 
dangers to come, and how they may be escaped, 
first the Sirens, and the rocks where Scylla and 
Charybdis dwelt. They escaped these dangers, and 
approached the pleasant island of the Sun, where the 
oxen with broad, beautiful foreheads were grazing, 
and flocks of sheep, the fatlings of the god who 
makes the round of heaven. While yet at sea, Odys- 
seus heard from his ship the lowing of the herds 
in the stables and the bleating of the flocks, and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

when he heard them he immediately thought of the 
words the blind seer, Tiresias of Thebes, had said to 
him, and those of Circe, by whom he had often been 
warned to shun the island of the god whose light 
is sweet to all. Then with a sorrowing heart he 
said to his companions, " My comrades, sufferers as 
you are, listen to me, and I shall disclose the oracles 
which lately Tiresias and Circe gave me. The god- 
dess earnestly admonished me not to approach the 
island of the Sun, whose light is sweet to all, for 
there she said some great misfortune lay in wait for 
us. E"ow let us speed the ship and pass the isle." 

The hearts of the men were broken by this speech, 
and one of them, Eurylochus, bitterly replied, " How 
austere you are, Odysseus. You are exceedingly 
strong and no labor tires your limbs; they must be 
made of iron, since by your will you deny to us, 
overcome with toil and sleeplessness, the chance to 
tread the land again, and make a generous banquet 
in that island amid the waters. You would have us 
sail into the swiftly coming night, and stray far 
from the island, through the misty sea. By night 
the mighty winds spring up that make a wreck of 
ships ; and how can one escape destruction, should a 
sudden hurricane rise from the south or the hard- 
blowing west, causing a ship to founder in the dark 
in spite of all the sovereign gods ? Let us obey the 
dark-browed Night, and take our evening meal, re- 
maining close beside our gallant bark, and go on 
board again when morning breaks, and enter the 
wide sea." The others all approved, and Odysseus 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

knew at once that some god was meditating evil 
against them, and he replied, " Eurylochus, you force 
me to your will since I am only one. Now all of 
you, bind yourselves to me firmly, by an oath, that 
if you here shall meet a herd of beeves or flock of 
sheep, you will not dare to slay a single ox or sheep, 
but feed contented on the stores that Circe gave." 
The crew swore as Odysseus asked, and when the 
solemn oath was taken they brought the galley to 
land and moored it in a winding creek, beside a 
fountain of sweet water. They then stepped from 
the deck and made ready their evening meal. 
They ate and drank until their thirst and hunger 
were appeased, and then they thought of those whom 
Scylla had snatched from the galley's deck and de- 
voured, and wept until sleep stole softly over them 
amid their tears. Now came the third part of the 
night; the stars were sinking, when the cloud-com- 
peller, Jove, sent forth a violent wind with eddying 
gusts, and covered both the earth and the sky with 
clouds, and darkness fell from heaven. When morn- 
ing came, the rosy-fingered daughter of the Dawn, 
they drew the ship into a spacious bay. The home 
of the nymphs was there, and there they saw the 
smooth fair places where they danced. Then Odys- 
seus called a council of his men and said to them, 
" My friends, in our good ship are food and drink; 
we must abstain from these beeves, lest we be made 
to suffer, for these herds and these fair flocks are 
sacred to a dreaded god, the Sun — the all-behold- 
ing and all-hearing Sun." All were swayed full 

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A Guide to Mythology 

easily by what he said. Now for an entire month 
the gales blew from the south, and after that no 
wind save east and south. As long as they had the 
bread and wine Circe had given them, the men 
spared the beeves, moved by the love of life. But 
when the stores on board the galley were consumed, 
they roamed the island in their need, and sought for 
prey. They snared with baited hooks the fish and 
birds — whatever came to hand — till they were gaunt 
with famine. 

Meanwhile, Odysseus withdrew apart within the 
isle to supplicate the gods, hoping one of them 
might reveal the way of his return. As he strayed 
into the land apart from all the rest, he found a shel- 
tered nook where no wind came, and prayed with 
washed hands to all the gods who dwelt in heaven. 
At last he fell into a soft slumber. But Eurylochus, 
in the meantime, was beguiling the men with fatal 
counsels. 

" Hear, my companions, sufferers as you are, the 
words that I shall speak. All modes of death 
are hateful to the wretched race of men; but this of 
hunger, thus to meet our fate, is the most fearful. 
Let us drive apart the best of all the oxen of the 
Sun, and sacrifice them to the immortal ones, who 
dwell in the broad heaven. And if we come to Itha- 
ca, our country, we will there build to the Sun, 
whose path is o'er our heads, a sumptuous temple, 
and endow its shrine with many gifts and rare. But 
if it be his will, approved by all the other gods, to 
sink our bark in anger, for the sake of these high- 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

horned oxen, I should choose sooner to gasp my life 
away amid the billows of the deep, than pine to 
death by famine in this melancholy isle." 

The crew approved of this, and now from the 
neighboring herd they drove the best of all the 
beeves; for near the dark-pro wed ship the fair broad- 
fronted herd with crooked horns was feeding. The 
crew stood round the victims and, offering their pe- 
titions to the gods, held tender oak leaves in their 
hands, just plucked from a tall tree, for in the good 
ship's hold there was left no more white barley. 
When they had prayed, and slain and dressed the 
beeves, they hewed away the thighs and covered 
them with double folds of skin, and laid raw slices 
over these. They had no wine to pour in sacrifice 
upon the burning flesh, so they poured water instead, 
and roasted all the entrails thus. When the thighs 
were thoroughly consumed, the entrails tasted, all 
the rest was carved into small portions, and trans- 
fixed with spits. 

Just at this moment Odysseus awoke, and hurry- 
ing to the shore and his good ship, he perceived the 
savory steam from the burnt offering, and sorrow- 
fully, then, he called upon the ever-living gods: — 
" O Father Jove, and all ye blessed gods, who live 
forever, 'twas a cruel sleep in which ye lulled me to 
my grievous harm. My comrades here have done a 
fearful wrong." 

Then Lampetia, of the trailing robes, flew in haste 
to the Sun, who journeys round the earth, to tell him 
that the men had slain his beeves. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

In anger then he thus addressed the gods : 
" O Father Jove, and all ye blessed gods who 
never die, avenge the wrong I bear upon the com- 
rades of Laertes' son, Odysseus, who have foully 
slain my beeves, in which I took delight whene'er I 
rose into the starry heaven, and when again I sank 
from heaven to earth. If they make not large 
amends for this great wrong, I shall go down to 
Hades, there to shine among the dead." 

And cloud-compelling Zeus replied: " Still shine, 
O Sun! among the deathless gods and mortal men, 
upon the nourishing earth. Soon will I cleave with 
a white thunder-bolt their galley in the midst of a 
black sea." 

When Odysseus came to the ship beside the sea, 
he spoke to them all sternly, man after man, yet he 
could think of no redress. The beeves were dead, 
and now the gods amazed them with prodigies. The 
skins moved and crawled, the flesh, both raw and 
roasted on the spits, lowed with the voice of oxen. 
Six whole days the men feasted, taking from the herd 
the Sun's best oxen. When Jove brought the sev- 
enth day, the tempest ceased; the wind fell, and they 
straightway went on board. They set the mast up- 
right, and, spreading the white sails, they ventured 
on the great wide sea again. 

When they had left the isle and there appeared no 
other land, but only sea and sky, the son of Saturn 
(Jove) caused a lurid cloud to gather o'er the galley, 
and to cast its darkness on the ship. Not long the 
ship ran onward, ere the furious west wind rose and 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

blew a hurricane. A strong blast snapped both ropes 
that held the mast; the mast fell back; the tackle 
dropped entangled to the hold ; the mast in falling on 
the galley's stem, dashed on the pilot's head and 
crushed the bones, and from the deck he plunged 
like one who dives into the deep. His gallant spirit 
left the limbs at once. Jove thundered from on 
high, and sent a thunder-bolt into the ship, that, 
quaking with the fearful blow, and filled with stifling 
sulphur, shook the men off into the deep. They 
floated round the ship like sea mews; Jupiter had 
cut them off from their return. 

Odysseus moved from place to place, still in the 
ship, until the tempest's force parted the sides and 
keel. The naked keel was swept before the waves. 
The mast had snapped just at the base, but round it 
was a thong made of a bullock's hide. With this 
Odysseus bound the mast and keel together. He 
took his seat upon them and the wild winds bore 
him on. 

STORY OF ARACHNE AND ATHENE 

(Greek: After Ovid) 

There was once a beautiful maiden, named 
Arachne, who was so accomplished in the arts of 
carding and spinning, of weaving and embroidery, 
that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves 
and fountains to come and gaze upon her work. It 
was not only beautiful when it was done, but beauti- 
ful also in the doing. To watch her one would have 
said that Athene herself had taught her. But this 

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A Guide to Mythology 

she denied, and could not bear to be thought even a 
pupil of a goddess. " Let Athene try her skill with 
mine/' she said; " if beaten I will pay the penalty." 

Athene heard this and was much displeased. As- 
suming the form of an old woman, she appeared to 
Arachne, and kindly advised her to challenge her 
fellow mortals if she would, but at once to ask for- 
giveness of the goddess. Arachne bade the old dame 
to keep her counsel for others. " I am not afraid 
of the goddess. Let her try her skill if she dare 
venture." " She comes," said Athene, and drop- 
ping her disguise stood confessed. The nymphs bent 
low in homage, and all the bystanders paid rever- 
ence. Arachne alone was unterrified. A sudden 
color dyed her cheeks, and then she grew pale; but 
she stood to her resolve, and rushed on her fate. 
They proceed to the contest. Each takes her station 
and attaches the web to the beam. Then the slender 
shuttle is passed in and out among the threads. The 
reed with its fine teeth strikes up the woof into its 
place, and compacts the web. Wool of Tyrian dye 
is contrasted with that of other colors, shaded off 
into one another so adroitly that the joining deceives 
the eye. And the effect is like the bow whose long 
arch tinges the heavens, formed by sunbeams re- 
flected from the shower, in which, when the colors 
meet, they seem as one, but at a little distance from 
the point of contact are wholly different. 

Athene wrought on her web the scene of her con- 
test with Posidon. Twelve of the heavenly powers 
were represented, Zeus with august gravity sitting in 

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Animals In Culture Myths 

the midst. Posidon, the ruler of the sea, held his 
trident, and appeared to have just smitten the earth, 
from which a horse had leaped forth. The bright- 
eyed goddess depicted herself with helmeted head, her 
aegis covering her breast, as when she had created 
the olive tree, with its berries and its dark green 
leaves. But the most astonishing example of her 
skill appeared in a butterfly, so beautiful that only a 
poet can describe it properly. Listen to the charm- 
ing description of the poet Spenser: 

Amongst these leaves she made a Butterfly, 

With excellent device and wondrous slight, 
Fluttering among the olives wantonly, 

That seemed to live, so like it was in sight; 
The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie, 

The silken down with which his back is dight, 
His broad outstretched horns, his hairy thighs, 

His glorious colors, and his glistening eyes. 
Which when Arachne saw, as overlaid 

And mastered with workmanship so rare, 
She stood astonished long, ne aught gainsaid; 

And with fast fixed eyes on her did stare. 

Such was the central circle of Athene's web; and 
in the four corners were represented incidents illus- 
trating the displeasure of the gods at such presump- 
tuous mortals as had dared to contend with them. 
These were meant as warnings from Athene to her 
rival to give up the contest before it was too late. 

But Arachne did not yield. She filled her web 
with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit the fail- 
ings and errors of the gods, wonderfully well done, 

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but strongly marking her presumption and impiety. 
Athene could not forbear to admire, yet was indig- 
nant at the insult. She struck the web with her 
shuttle, and rent it in pieces ; then, touching the fore- 
head of Arachne, she made her realize her guilt. 
It was more than mortal could bear; and forthwith 
Arachne hanged herself. " Live, guilty woman," 
said Athene, " but that thou mayest preserve the 
memory of this lesson, continue to hang, both thou 
and thy descendants, to all future times." Then 
sprinkling her with the juices of aconite, the goddess 
transformed her into a spider, forever spinning the 
thread by which she is suspended. 



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CHAPTER IV 



TREE AND PLANT MYTHS 

TO primitive man, trees and plants seemed as mys- 
terious as animals, and there are many myths 
which tell of the descent of mankind from trees, and 
many cases in which plants were totems instead of 
animals. Among various Indian tribes who had 
such a belief may be mentioned the Miztecs, who de- 
clared they were descended from two majestic trees 
that stood in the gorge of the mountain of Apiola. 
The Chiapanecas thought they sprang from the roots 
of a silk cotton tree. The Tamaraquas of South 
America have a tradition that the human race sprang 
from the fruits of the date palm after the Mexican 
age of water. Passing half way round the world 
to the Damaras of South Africa we find still more 
remarkable qualities attributed to the first tree. " In 
the beginning/' they say, " there was a tree, and out 
of this tree came Damaras, Bushmen (the wildest 
of South African tribes), oxen and zebras. The Dam- 
aras lit a fire which frightened away the Bushmen 
and the zebras, but the oxen remained. Hence it 
is that Bushmen and wild beasts live together in all 
sorts of inaccessible places, but the Damaras and 
oxen possess the land." 

Even in Greek mythology, the idea of descent from 
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A Guide to Mythology 

trees had not quite died out, for we read in the "Odys- 
sey " that Penelope says to Odysseus, while still in 
the disguise of a beggar, so that she does not recog- 
nize him, " Now, I pray, declare thy lineage, for 
thou surely art not sprung from the old fabulous 
oak nor from the rock." 

The oak was regarded with very great reverence 
by the Greeks. They declared it to be the first tree 
that grew upon the earth, its acorns being the earli- 
est food of man. There is an interesting story to 
the effect that the Deluge was due to quarrels be- 
tween Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera (Juno), and when 
the waters subsided an oaken statue emerged sup- 
posed to be a symbol of peace between the king of 
gods and his consort. 

When the imagination begins to sprout a little 
more the savage invents a story telling how the first 
men and animals were made out of trees by some 
divinity. Thus Glooskap, the Algonquin divinity, 
made man in this way : " He took his bow and ar- 
rows and shot at trees, the basket tree, the ash. Then 
Indians came out of the bark of the ash trees." In 
JSTorse mythology there is a similar legend, according 
to which there were no intelligent men on earth un- 
til there came three mighty and benevolent gods to 
the world. Men had no sense, nor blood, nor motive 
powers, nor goodly color. Odin gave spirit, Haemir 
gave sense, and Lodur gave blood by bestowing it 
upon the senseless ashes and elms. 

The worship of trees is told of in stories from one 
end of the world to the other. 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

The Ainos of Japan have a story that " at the be- 
ginning of the world the ground was so hot that the 
creatures called men even got their feet burnt. For 
this reason no tree or herb could grow. The only 
herb that grew at that time was the mugwort. Of 
trees the only ones were the oak and pine. For this 
reason these two trees are the oldest among trees. 
This being so, these two trees are divine; they are 
trees which human beings worship." 

They also believe in a mystic pine tree made 
of metal which grew at the head of the world, against 
which the swords of the gods broke and bent where 
they attacked it. The Japanese god, Izanagi, repels 
the eight thunder gods in the infernal regions by 
throwing at them the three fruit& of the peach tree 
that grew at the entrance of the level pass of the dark 
world. 

There is also a Chinese peach tree of the gods 
which grows near the palace of Si Wang Mu, the 
West Queen Mother. Its fruit of immortality ripens 
once in thirteen thousand years and gives three 
thousand years of life to the eater. Tung Fang So 
stole three and lived nine thousand years. 

The Hindoos have more than one marvellous myth- 
ical tree. According to the " Rig Veda," the god 
Brahma himself was a tree and all the other gods 
are considered branches of the divine parent stem. 
There is also a supernatural tree sacred to Buddha. 
This cloud tree is the tree of knowledge and wisdom 
and is covered with divine flowers. It glows and 
sparkles with the brilliance of all manner of precious 

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A Guide to Mythology 

stones. The root, the trunk, the branches, and the 
leaves are formed of gems of the most glorious de- 
scription. It grows in soil pure and delightfully 
even to which the rich verdure of grass imparts the 
tints of a peacock's neck. This tree receives the hom- 
age of the gods. The arm of Maya, the mother of 
Buddha, when she stretches it forth to grasp the 
bough which bends toward her shines as the light- 
ning illumines the sky. Beneath this tree Buddha, 
at whose birth a flash of light pierced through all 
the world, sat down with the firm resolve not to rise 
until he had attained the knowledge which mak- 
eth free. Then the tempter Mara advanced with 
his demoniacal forces. Encircling the sacred tree, 
hosts of demons assailed Buddha with fiery darts, 
amid the whirl of hurricanes, darkness and the 
downpour of floods of water, to drive him from the 
tree. 

Buddha, however, maintained his position un- 
moved and at length the demons were compelled to 

fly. 

Still another marvellous tree is that of the Per- 
sians. It is called the Haoma. It is the sacred 
vine of the Zoroastrians, which produces the primal 
drink of immortality, after which it is named. It is 
the first of all trees, planted in heaven by Ormuzd 
in the fountain of life. Near this tree grows another, 
called the " impassive " or " inviolable," which bears 
the seeds of every kind of vegetable life. Both these 
trees are situated in a lake and guarded by ten fish, 
who keep a ceaseless watch upon a lizard sent by 

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Tree and Plant Myths 



the evil power, Ahriman, to destroy the sacred Ha- 
oma. The inviolable tree is also known both as the 
eagle's and the owl's tree. Either one or the other 
of these birds sits perched upon the top. The mo- 
ment he rises from the tree a thousand branches 
shoot forth ; when he settles again, he breaks a thou- 
sand branches, and causes their seed to fall. Another 
bird, his constant companion, picks up these seeds 
and carries them to where the god Tistar draws 
water, which he then rains down upon the earth with 
the seeds it contains. 



ygdeasil: the noese woeld teee 

The chief of all the great mythical trees is the 
[Norse World Tree, an ash tree called " Ygdrasil." 
One of the stems of this tree springs from the central 
primordial abyss, from the subterranean source of 
matter, runs up through the earth which it supports, 
and issuing out of the celestial mountain in the 
world's center, called Asgard, spreads its branches 
over the entire universe. These widespread branches 
are the ethereal or celestial regions, their leaves the 
clouds, their buds or fruits the stars. Four harts 
run across the branches of the tree and bite the buds. 
These are the four cardinal winds. Perched upon 
the top branches is an eagle and between his eyes 
sits a hawk. The eagle symbolizes the air and the 
hawk the wind-still ether. A squirrel runs up and 
down the ash, and seeks to cause strife between the 
eagle and Nidhogg, a monster which is constantly 

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A Guide to Mythology 

gnawing the roots. The squirrel signifies hail and 
other atmospheric phenomena. Nidhogg and ser- 
pents which gnaw the roots of the tree are the vol- 
canic agencies which are constantly seeking to destroy 
the earth's foundation. Another stem springs from 
the holy Urdan-fountain where the gods sit in judg- 
ment. In this fountain swim two swans, the pro- 
genitors of all the species. These are by some 
thought to typify the sun and the moon. Near the 
fountain dwell three maidens who fix the lifetime 
of all men, called Norns. Every day they draw 
water from the spring and with it sprinkle the ash 
Ygdrasil in order that its branches may not rot and 
wither away. This water is so holy that everything 
placed in the spring becomes as white as the film 
within an egg-shell. The dew that falls from the 
tree upon the earth men call honey-dew, and it is 
the food of the bees. The third stem of the Ygdrasil 
takes its rise in the cold and cheerless regions of the 
North (the land of the Erost Giants), over the source 
of the ocean, which is typified by a spring called 
Mirmir's Well, in which wisdom and wit lie hidden. 
Mirmir, the owner of this spring, is full of wisdom 
because he drinks of the waters. 

In this myth the whole universe is symbolized as 
a tree, and so we see how the simple thoughts of the 
early savage about trees grow and expand until a 
great poet comes upon the earth and with his larger 
powers of imagination throws into a myth so much 
wonder and beauty that we can scarcely realize what 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

a humble little beginning it had in the groping mind 
of a primitive savage. 

In Greek mythology the woods are peopled with 
fauns and satyrs, dryads and hamadryads. The 
first were spirits or gods of the wood and were repre- 
sented as goats with the heads of men. The princi- 
pal of these was Pan, already mentioned as an ex- 
ample of an animal myth. Since, however, he is a 
personification of nature as a whole he partakes of 
the qualities of a plant myth, as do all the other 
gods of the wood. 

The dryads and hamadryads sometimes appeared 
in the form of peasant girls, or shepherdesses, 
or followers of the hunt, but it was thought that 
they perished when certain trees which had been 
their abode died or were felled, and upon whose ex- 
istence theirs depended. The Romans, whose mythol- 
ogy is based for the most part upon the Greek my- 
thology, except that their names for the gods were 
different, have some special plant gods of their own. 
Faunus was worshipped as a god of fields and shep- 
herds, and the god Sylvanus presided over forest 
glades and ploughed fields. Then there was Flora, 
the goddess of flowers, and Pomona, the goddess of 
fruit trees, and Vertumnus, the husband of Pomona, 
the guardian of fruit trees, gardens and vegetables. 

Many lovely stories are based upon this idea that 
the plant world is also a living world, some of which 
you may read for yourselves in this chapter. 



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A Guide to Mythology 



STOEY OF THE AINO WHO FELL ASLEEP AT THE FOOT 
OF A PINE TREE 
{Japanese) 

There was once a young Aino who fell asleep at 
the foot of a pine of extraordinary height. While 
asleep there appeared to him in a dream the god- 
dess of the tree. This pine was near the entrance 
of an immense cavern at the far end of which is a 
gleam of light, where there is an issue to another 
world. He found this cavern by pursuing a hear, 
who turned out to be a god, up a mountain of the 
underworld, until it took refuge in a hole in the 
ground which led into the cavern. When he awoke, 
he offered up thanks to the tree and set up divine 
symbols in its honor. 

WUNZH, THE FATHER OF INDIAN CORN 
(North American Indian) 

In time past — we cannot tell exactly how many, 
many years ago — a poor Indian was living, with 
his wife and children, in a beautiful part of the 
country. He was not only poor, but he had the mis- 
fortune to be inexpert in procuring food for his fam- 
ily, and his children were all too young to give him 
assistance. 

Although of a lowly condition and straitened in 
his circumstances, he was a man of kind and con- 
tented disposition. He was always thankful to the 
Great Spirit for everything he received. He even 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

stood in the door of his lodge to bless the birds that 
flew past in the summer evenings ; although, if he had 
been of a complaining temper, he might have re- 
pined that they were not rather spread upon the 
table for his evening meal. 

The same gracious and sweet disposition was in- 
herited by his eldest son, who had now arrived at the 
proper age to undertake the ceremony of the fast, to 
learn what kind of a spirit would be his guide and 
guardian through life. 

Wunzh, for that was his name, had been an obedi- 
ent boy from his infancy — pensive, thoughtful, and 
gentle — so that he was beloved by the whole family. 

As soon as the first buds of spring appeared, and 
the delicious fragrance of the young year began to 
sweeten the air, his father, with the help of his 
younger brothers, built for Wunzh the customary 
little lodge, at a retired spot at some distance from 
their own, where he would not be disturbed during 
the solemn rite. 

To prepare himself, Wunzh sought to clear his 
heart of every evil thought, and to think of nothing 
that was not good and beautiful and kindly. 

That he might store his mind with pleasant ideas 
for his dreams, for the first few days he amused him- 
self by walking in the woods and over the mountains, 
examining the early plants and flowers. 

As he rambled far and wide, through the wild 
country, he felt a strong desire to know how the 
plants and herbs and berries grew, without any aid 
from man, and why it was that some kinds were good 

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A Guide to Mythology 

to eat, and that others were possessed of medicinal 
or poisonous power. 

After he had become too languid to walk about, 
and confined himself strictly to the lodge, he re- 
called these thoughts, and turning them in his mind, 
he wished he could dream of something that would 
prove a benefit to his father and family, and to all 
others of his fellow-creatures. 

" True," thought Wunzh, " the Great Spirit made 
all things, and it is to him that we owe our lives. 
Could he not make it easier for us to get our food 
than by hunting animals and taking fish? I must 
try to find this out in my visions." 

On the third day Wunzh became weak and faint, 
and kept his bed. Suddenly he fancied, as he lay 
thus, that a bright light came in at the lodge door, 
and ere he was aware he saw a handsome young 
man, with a complexion of the softest and purest 
white, coming down from the sky, and advancing 
toward him. 

The beautiful stranger was richly and gayly 
dressed, having on a great many garments of green 
and yellow colors, but differing in their deeper or 
lighter shades. He had a plume of waving feathers 
on his head, and all his motions were graceful, and 
reminded Wunzh of the deep green of the summer 
grass, and the clear amber of the summer sky, and 
the gentle blowing of the summer wind. Beautiful 
as the stranger was, he paused on a little mound of 
earth, just before the door of the lodge. 

" I am sent to you, my friend," said this celestial 
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Tree and Plant Myths 

visitor, in a voice most soft and musical to listen to, 
" I am sent to you by that Great Spirit who made all 
things in the sky and on the earth. He has seen and 
knows your motives in fasting. He sees that it is 
from a kind and benevolent wish to do good to your 
people and to procure a benefit for them; that you 
do not seek for strength in war, or the praise of the 
men of the bloody hand. I am sent to instruct you 
and to show you how you can do your kindred good." 

He then told the young man to arise, and to pre- 
pare to wrestle with him, as it was only by this means 
that he could hope to succeed in his wishes. 

Wunzh knew how weak he was from fasting, but 
the voice of the stranger was cheery, and put such a 
courage in his heart, that he promptly sprang up, de- 
termined to die rather than fail. Brave Wunzh ! if 
you ever accomplish anything, it will be through the 
power of the resolve that spake within you at that 
moment. 

He began the trial, and after a long-sustained 
struggle he was almost overpowered, when the beauti- 
ful stranger said: 

" My friend, it is enough for once, I will come 
again to try you ; " and smiling on him, he returned 
through the air in the same direction in which he 
had come. 

The next day, although he saw how sweetly the 
wild flowers bloomed upon the slopes, and the birds 
warbled from the woodland, he longed to see the 
celestial visitor, and to hear his voice. 

To his great joy he reappeared at the same hour, 
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A Guide to Mythology 

toward the going down of the sun, and rechallenged 
Wunzh to a trial of strength. 

The brave Wunzh felt that his strength of body 
was even less than on the day before, but the cour- 
age of his mind seemed to grow. Observing this, and 
how Wunzh put his whole heart in the struggle, the 
stranger again spoke to him in the words he used 
before, adding: 

" To-morrow will be your last trial. Be strong, 
my friend, for this is the only way in which you can 
overcome me and obtain the boon you seek." 

The light which shone after him as he left Wunzh 
was brighter than before. 

On the third day he came again and renewed the 
struggle. Very faint in body was poor Wunzh, but 
he was stronger at heart than ever, and determined 
to prevail now or perish. He put forth his utmost 
powers, and after a contest more severe than either 
of the others, the stranger ceased his efforts, and de- 
clared himself conquered. 

For the first time he entered Wunzh's little fast- 
ing-lodge, and sitting down beside the youth, he be- 
gan to deliver his instructions to him and to inform 
him in what manner he should proceed to take ad- 
vantage of his victory. 

" You have won your desire of the Great Spirit," 
said the beautiful stranger. " You have wrestled 
manfully. To-morrow will be the seventh day of 
your fasting. Your father will give you food to 
strengthen you, and as it is the last day of trial you 
will prevail. I know this, and now tell you what you 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

must do to benefit your family and your people. To- 
morrow," he repeated, " I shall meet you and wrestle 
with you for the last time. As soon as you have pre- 
vailed against me, you will strip off my garments and 
throw me down, clean the earth of roots and weeds, 
make it soft, and bury me in the spot. When you 
have done this, leave my body in the earth, and do 
not disturb it, but come at times to visit the place, to 
see whether I have come to life, and above all be 
careful never to let the grass or weeds grow upon my 
grave. Once a month cover me with fresh earth. If 
you follow these my instructions you will accomplish 
your object of doing good to your fellow-creatures by 
teaching them the knowledge I now teach you." 

He then shook Wunzh by the hand and disap- 
peared, but he was gone so soon that Wunzh could 
not tell what direction he took. 

In the morning, Wunzh's father came to his lodge 
with some slight refreshments, saying: 

" My son, you have fasted long enough. If the 
Great Spirit will favor you, he will do it now. It is 
seven days since you have tasted food, and you must 
not sacrifice your life. The Master of Life does not 
require that." 

" My father," replied Wunzh, " wait till the sun 
goes down. I have a particular reason for extending 
my fast to that hour." 

" Very well," said the old man, " I shall wait till 
the hour arrives, and you shall be inclined to eat." 

At his usual hour of appearing, the beautiful 
sky-visitor returned, and the trial of strength was re- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

newed. Although he had not availed himself of his 
father's offer of food, Wunzh felt that new strength 
had been given him. His heart was mighty within 
him to achieve some great purpose. Courage within 
the bosom of the brave Wunzh was like the eagle 
that spreads his wings within the treetop for a great 
flight. 

He grasped his angel challenger with supernatural 
strength, threw him down, and, mindful of his own 
instructions, tore from him his beautiful garments 
and plume, and finding him dead, he immediately 
buried him on the spot, using all the precautions he 
had been told of, and very confident was Wunzh, all 
the time, that his friend would again come to life. 

Wunzh now returned to his father's lodge, where 
he was warmly welcomed, for as it had been ap- 
pointed to him during the days of his fasting to walk 
apart with Heaven, he was not permitted to see any 
human face save that of his father, the representative 
to the little household upon earth of the Good Father 
who is in Heaven. 

Wunzh partook sparingly of the meal that had 
been prepared for him, and once more mingled in 
the cares and sports of the family. But he never for 
a moment forgot the grave of his friend. He care- 
fully visited it throughout the spring, and weeded 
out the grass, and kept the ground in a soft and pli- 
ant state; and sometimes, when the brave Wunzh 
thought of his friend that was gone from his sight, 
he dropped a tear upon the earth where he lay. 

Watching and tending, and moistening the earth 
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Tree and Plant Myths 

with his tears, it was not long before Wunzh saw the 
tops of green plumes coming through the ground; 
and the more faithful he was in obeying his instruc- 
tions in keeping the ground in order, and in cherish- 
ing the memory of his departed friend, the faster 
they grew. He was, however, careful to conceal the 
charge of the earth which he had from his father. 

Days and weeks had passed in this way ; the sum- 
mer was drawing toward a close, when one day, after 
a long absence in hunting, Wunzh invited his father 
to follow him to the quiet and lonesome spot of his 
former fast. 

The little fasting-lodge had been removed, and the 
weeds kept from growing on the circle where it had 
stood ; but in its place rose a tall and graceful plant, 
surmounted with nodding plumes and stately leaves 
and golden clusters. There was in its aspect and 
bearing the deep green of the summer grass, the clear 
amber of the summer sky, and the gentle blowing of 
the summer wind. 

" It is my friend ! " shouted Wunzh, " it is the 
friend of all mankind. It is Mondawmin: it is our 
Indian Corn! We need no longer rely on hunting 
alone, for as long as this gift is cherished and taken 
care of, the ground itself will give us a living." 

He then pulled an ear. 

" See, my father," said he, " this is what I fasted 
for. The Great Spirit has listened to my voice, and 
sent us something new, and henceforth our people 
will not alone depend upon the chase or upon the 
waters." 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Wunzh then communicated to his father the in- 
structions given to him by the stranger. He told him 
that the broad husks must be torn away, as he had 
pulled off the garments in his wrestling, and having 
done this, he directed him how the ear must be held 
before the fire till the outer skin became brown — as 
the complexion of his angel friend had been tinted 
by the sun — while all the milk was retained in the 
grain. 

The whole family, in high spirits, and deeply 
grateful to the Merciful Master who gave it, assisted 
in a feast on the newly grown ears of corn. 

So came that mighty blessing into the world, and 
we owe all of those beautiful fields of healthful grain 
to the dream of the brave boy Wunzh. 

LEEEINATJ, THE LOST DAUGHTER 
(North American Indian) 

Leelinau was the favorite daughter of a hunter 
who lived on the lake shore, near the base of the 
lofty highlands, called Kang Wudjoo. 

From her earliest youth she was observed to be 
thoughtful and retiring. She passed much of her 
time in solitude, and seemed ever to prefer the com- 
panionship of her own shadow to the society of the 
lodge circle. 

Whenever she could leave her father's lodge she 
would fly to remote haunts and recesses in the woods, 
or sit in lonely revery upon some high promontory 
of rock overlooking the lake. In such places she 

180 



Tree and Plant Myths 

would often, with her face turned upward, linger 
long in contemplation of the air, as if she were in- 
voking her guardian spirit, and beseeching him to 
lighten her sadness. 

But amid all the leafy haunts, none drew her steps 
toward it so often as a forest of pines on the open 
shore, called Manitowok, or the Sacred Wood. It 
was one of those hallowed places which is the resort 
of the little wild men of the woods, and of the turtle 
spirits or fairies which delight in romantic scenes. 
Owing to this circumstance, its green retirement was 
seldom visited by Indians, who feared to fall under 
the influence of its mischievous inhabitants. 

And whenever they were compelled by stress of 
weather to make a landing on this part of the coast, 
they never failed to leave an offering of tobacco, or 
some other token, to show that they desired to stand 
well with the proprietors of the fairy ground. 

To this sacred spot Leelinau had made her way at 
an early age, gathering strange flowers and plants, 
which she would bring home to her parents, and re- 
late to them all the haps and mishaps that had oc- 
curred in her rambles. 

Although they discountenanced her frequent visits 
to the place, they were not able to restrain them, for 
she was of so gentle and delicate a temper that they 
feared to thwart her. 

Her attachment to the fairy wood, therefore, grew 
with her years. If she wished to solicit her spirits to 
procure pleasant dreams, or any other maiden favor, 
Leelinau repaired to the Manitowok. If her father 

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A Guide to Mythology 

remained abroad in the hunt later than usual, and it 
was feared that he had been overwhelmed by the 
tempest, or had met with some other mischance, Lee- 
linau offered up her prayers for safety at the Mani- 
towok. It was there that she fasted, mused, and 
strolled. 

She at length became so engrossed by the fairy 
pines that her parents began to suspect that some 
evil spirit had enticed her to its haunts, and had cast 
upon her a charm which she had not the power to 
resist. 

This belief was confirmed when, one day, her 
mother, who had secretly followed her, overheard her 
murmuring to some unknown and invisible compan- 
ion appeals like these: 

" Spirit of the dancing leaves ! " whispered Leeli- 
nau, " hear a throbbing heart in its sadness. Spirit 
of the foaming stream ! visit thou my nightly pillow, 
shedding over it silver dreams of mountain brook and 
pebbly rivulet. Spirit of the starry night! lead my 
footprints to the blushing mis-kodeed, or where the 
burning passion-flower shines with carmine hue. 
Spirit of the greenwood plume ! " she concluded, 
turning with passionate gaze to the beautiful young 
pines which stood waving their green beauty over 
her head, " shed on me, on Leelinau the sad, thy leafy 
fragrance, such as spring unfolds from sweetest flow- 
ers, or hearts that to each other show their inmost 
grief. Spirits ! hear, O hear a maiden's prayer ! " 

Day by day these strange communings with un- 
seen beings drew away the heart of Leelinau more 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

and more from the simple duties of the lodge, and 
she walked among her people, melancholy and silent, 
like a spirit who had visited them from another 
land. 

The pastimes which engaged the frolic moments 
of her young companions, passed by her as little 
trivial pageants in which she had no concern. 

When the girls of the neighboring lodges assembled 
to play at the favorite female game of pappus-e-ko- 
waun, or the block and string, before the lodge-door, 
Leelinau would sit vacantly by, or enter so feebly 
into the spirit of the play as to show that it was irk- 
some to her. 

Again, in the evening, when the young people 
formed a ring around the lodge, and the piepeend- 
jigun, or leather and bone, passed rapidly from one 
to the other, she either handed it along without at- 
tempting to play, or if she took a part, it was with no 
effort to succeed. 

The time of the corn gathering had come, and the 
young people of the tribe were assembled in the field, 
busy in plucking the ripened maize. One of the girls, 
noted for her beauty, had found a red ear, and every 
one congratulated her that a brave admirer was on 
his way to her father's lodge. She blushed, and 
hiding the trophy in her bosom, she thanked the 
Good Spirit that it was a red ear, and not a crooked, 
that she had found. 

Presently it chanced that one who was there among 
the young men espied in the hands of Leelinau, who 
had plucked it indifferently, one of the crooked kind, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

and at once the word " Wa-ge-min ! " was shouted 
aloud through the field, and the whole circle was set 
in a roar. 

" The thief is in the corn-field ! " exclaimed the 
young man, Iagoo by name, and famous in the tribe 
for his mirthful powers of story-telling ; " see you not 
the old man stooping as he enters the field? See 
you not signs that he crouched as he crept in the 
dark ? Is it not plain by this mark on the stalk that 
he was heavily bent in his back? Old man, be 
nimble, or some one will take thee while thou art 
taking the ear." 

These questions Iagoo accompanied with the action 
of one bowed with age stealthily entering the corn- 
field. He went on: 

" See how he stoops as he breaks off the ear. 
[Nushka! He seems for a moment to tremble. 
Walker, be nimble ! Hooh ! It is plain the old man 
is the thief." 

He turned suddenly where she sat in the circle, 
pensively regarding the crooked ear which she held 
in her hand, and exclaimed: 

" Leelinau, the old man is thine ! " 

Laughter rang merrily through the corn-field, but 
Leelinau, casting down upon the ground the crooked 
ear of maize, walked pensively away. 

The next morning the eldest son of a neighboring 
chief called at her father's lodge. He was quite ad- 
vanced in years ; but he enjoyed such renown in bat- 
tle, and his name was so famous in the hunt, that 
the parents accepted him as a suitor for their daugh- 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

ter. They hoped that his shining qualities would 
draw back the thoughts of Leelinau from that spirit- 
land whither she seemed to have wholly directed her 
affections. 

It was this chief's son whom Iagoo had pictured 
as the corn-taker, but, without objecting to his age, or 
giving any other reason, Leelinau firmly declined his 
proposals. The parents ascribed the young daughter's 
hesitancy to maiden fear, and paying no further heed 
to her refusal, a day was fixed for the marriage- 
visit to the lodge. 

The warrior came to the lodge-door, and Leeli- 
nau refused to see him, informing her parents, at 
the same time, that she would never consent to the 
match. 

It had been her custom to pass many of her hours 
in her favorite place of retirement, under a broad- 
topped young pine, whose leaves whispered in every 
wind that blew; but most of all in that gentle mur- 
mur of the air at the evening hour, dear to lovers, 
when the twilight steals on. 

Thither she now repaired, and, while reclining 
pensively against the young pine tree, she fancied 
that she heard a voice addressing her. At first it was 
scarcely more than a sigh; presently it grew more 
clear, and she heard it distinctly whisper: 

" Maiden, think me not a tree, but thine own 
dear lover, glad to be with thee in my tall and 
blooming strength, with the bright green nodding 
plume that waves above thee. Thou art leaning on 
my breast, Leelinau; lean forever there and be at 

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A Guide to Mythology 

peace. Fly from men who are false and cruel, and 
quit the tumult of their dusty strife, for this quiet, 
lonely shade. Over thee I my arms will fling, fairer 
than the lodge's roof. I will breathe a perfume like 
that of flowers over thy happy evening rest. In my 
bark canoe I'll waft thee o'er the waters of the sky- 
blue lake. I will deck the folds of thy mantle with 
the sim's last rays. Come, and on the mountain free 
rove a fairy bright with me ! " 

Leelinau drank in with eager ear these magical 
words. Her heart was fixed. ]STo warrior's son should 
clasp her hand. She listened in the hope to hear the 
airy voice speak more ; but it only repeated, " Again ! 
again ! " and entirely ceased. 

On the eve of the day fixed for her marriage, Lee- 
linau decked herself in her best garments. She 
arranged her hair according to the fashion of her 
tribe, and put on all of her maiden ornaments in 
beautiful array. With a smile, she presented herself 
before her parents. 

" I am going," she said, " to meet my little lover, 
the chieftain of the Green Plume, who is waiting for 
me at the Spirit Grove." 

Her face was radiant with joy, and the parents, 
taking what she had said as her own fanciful way of 
expressing acquiescence in their plans, wished her 
good fortune in the happy meeting. 

" I am going," she continued, addressing her 
mother as they left the lodge, " I am going from one 
who has watched my infancy and guarded my youth ; 
who has given me medicine when I was sick, and 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

prepared my food when I was well. I am going 
from a father who has ranged the forest to procure 
the choicest skins for my dress, and kept his lodge 
supplied with the best spoil of the chase. I am going 
from a lodge which has been my shelter from the 
storms of winter, and my shield from the heats of 
summer. Farewell, my parents, farewell ! " 

So saying, she sped faster than any could follow 
her to the margin of the fairy wood, and in a moment 
was lost to sight. 

As she had often thus withdrawn herself from the 
lodge, the parents were not in fear, but confidently 
awaited her return. Hour chased hour, as the clouds 
of evening rolled up in the west; darkness came on, 
but no daughter returned. With torches they hast- 
ened to the wood, and although they lit up every dark 
recess and leafy gloom, their search was in vain. 
Leelinau was nowhere to be seen. They called aloud, 
in lament, upon her name, but she answered not. 

Suns rose and set, but nevermore in their light did 
the bereaved parents' eyes behold the lost form of 
their beloved child. Their daughter was lost indeed. 
Whither she had vanished no mortal tongue could 
tell; although it chanced that a company of fisher- 
men, who were spearing fish near the Spirit Grove, 
descried something that seemed to resemble a female 
figure standing on the shore. As the evening was 
mild and the waters calm, they cautiously pulled 
their canoe toward land, but the slight ripple of their 
oars excited alarm. The figure fled in haste, but 
they could recognize in the shape and dress as she 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ascended the bank, the lost daughter, and they saw 
the green plumes of her fairy-lover waving over his 
forehead as he glided lightly through the forest of 
young pines. 

BIRTH OF THE ARBUTUS 
(Iroquois) 

Many, many moons ago there lived an old man 
alone in his lodge beside a frozen stream in the 
great forest beyond the wide waters of the north- 
ern lakes. His locks were long and white with age 
and frost. The fur of the bear and cunning beaver 
covered his body, but none too warmly, for snow and 
ice were everywhere. Over all the earth there was 
winter. The winds came down the bleak mountain 
sides and wildly hurried through the branches of 
the trees and bushes, looking for song birds that they 
might chill to the heart. Even the evil spirits shiv- 
ered in the desolation and sought to dig for them- 
selves sheltering caves in the deep snow and ice. 
Lonely and halting, the old man went abroad in the 
forest, looking for the broken branches that had fal- 
len from the trees that he might keep alive the fire 
in his lodge. Few fagots could he find, and in despair 
he again sought his lodge, where, hovering over the 
fading embers on his hearth, he cried in anguish to 
the Great Spirit that he might not perish. 

Then the wind moaned in the tree-tops, and circling 
through the forests came back and blew aside the skin 
of the great bear hanging over his lodge-door, and, lo ! 
a beautiful maiden entered. Her cheeks were red 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

like the leaves of wild roses ; her eyes were large and 
glowed like the eyes of the fawn at night; her hair 
was black as the wing of the crow, and so long that 
it brushed the ground as she walked; her hands 
were clad in willow buds ; over her head was a crown 
of flowers ; her mantle was woven with sweet grasses 
and ferns, and her moccasins were white lilies, laced 
and embroidered with the petals of honeysuckle. 
When she breathed, the air of the lodge became 
warm, and the cold winds rushed back in affright. 

The old man looked in wonder at his strange vis- 
itor, and then opened his lips and said : " My daugh- 
ter, thou art welcome to the poor shelter of my cheer- 
less lodge. It is lonely and desolate, and the Great 
Spirit has covered the fallen branches of the trees 
with his death-cloth that I may not find them and 
light again the fire of my lodge. Come sit thou 
here and tell me who thou art that thou dost wander 
like the deer in the forest. Tell me also of thy coun- 
try and what people gave thee such beauty and 
grace, and then I, the desolate Manito, will tell thee 
of my victories till thou dost weary of my greatness." 

The maiden smiled, and the sunlight streamed 
forth and shot its warmth through the roof of the 
lodge. The desolate Manito filled his pipe of friend- 
ship, and when he had drawn of the fragrant to- 
bacco, he said : " When I, the Manito, blow the 
breath from my nostrils the waters of the river stand 
still, the great waves on the lakes rest, and the mur- 
murings of the streams die away in silence." 

Then the maiden said : " The Manito is great and 
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A Guide to Mythology 

strong and the waters know the touch of his breath ; 
but when I, the loved of the birds, smile, the flowers 
spring up over all the forest and the plains are cov- 
ered with a carpet of green." 

Then said the Manito : " I shake my locks, and 
lo ! the earth is wrapped in the death-cloth of snow." 

Then the maiden replied : " I breathe into the 
air and the warm rains come and the death-cloth 
vanishes like the darkness when the great fire awak- 
ens from its bed in the morning." 

Then the Manito said : " When I walk about, 
the leaves die on the trees and fall to the ground; 
the birds desert their nests and fly away beyond the 
lakes; the animals bury themselves in holes in the 
earth or in caves in the mountain side, and the winds 
wail the death-chant over all the land." 

" Ah, great is the Manito," said the maiden, " and 
his mighty name is feared by all living things in the 
land. i Great is the Manito,' says all the world, and 
his fame has spread among the children of the Great 
Spirit till they crouch with fear and say : ' Mighty 
and cruel is the Manito ! Terrible is the Manito, and 
more cruel and cunning in his tortures than the red 
men. His strength is greater than the strength of 
the giant trees of the forest, for does he not rend 
them with his mighty hands ? ' But when I, the gen- 
tle maiden, walk forth, the trees cover with many 
leaves the nakedness which thou, the great Manito, 
hath caused ; the birds sing in the branches and build 
again the nests from which thou drivest them ; the 
animals seek their mates and rear their young; the 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

wind sings soft and pleasant music to the ears of 
the red man, while his wives and pappooses sport in 
the warm sunshine near his wigwam." 

As the maiden spoke the lodge grew warm and 
bright, but the boasting Manito heeded it not, for 
his head drooped forward on his breast, and he slept. 

Then the maiden passed her hands above the 
Manito's head and he began to grow small. The 
bluebirds came and filled the trees about the lodge, 
and sang, while the rivers lifted up their waters and 
boiled with freedom. Streams of water poured from 
the Manito's mouth, and the garments that covered 
his shrunken and vanishing form turned into bright 
and glistening leaves. 

Then the maiden knelt upon the ground and took 
from her bosom most precious and beautiful rose- 
white flow r ers. She hid them under the leaves all 
about her, and as she breathed with love upon them, 
said: 

" I give to you, oh, precious jewels, all my vir- 
tues and my sweetest breath, and men shall pluck 
thee with bowed head on bended knee." 

Then the maiden moved over the plains, the hills 
and the mountains. The birds and the winds sang 
together in joyous chorus, while the flowers lifted 
up their heads and greeted her with fragrance. 

Wherever she stepped, and nowhere else, grows the 
arbutus. 

In the two little poems following, by an ancient 
Mexican Indian, the poet calls the songs he sings 

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A Guide to Mythology 

" flowers," which he seems to think he gathers in 
some mysterious land of the spirit. The idea is a 
very beautiful one, worthy of any poet, and certainly 
shows that some, at least, of the Indians had reached 
a high plane of poetic fancy. 

SONG AT THE BEGINNING 
(Ancient Mexican Indian) 

L I am wondering where I may gather some 
pretty, sweet flowers. Whom shall I ask ? Suppose 
that I ask the brilliant humming-bird, the emerald 
trembler; suppose that I ask the yellow butterfly; 
they will tell me they know where bloom the pretty, 
sweet flowers, whether I may get them here in the 
laurel woods where dwell the tzinitzcan birds, or 
whether I may gather them in the flowery forests 
where the thanquehol lives. There they may be 
plucked sparkling with dew, there they come forth 
in perfection. Perhaps there I shall see them if 
they have appeared ; I shall place them in the folds 
of my garment, and with them I shall greet the 
children, I shall make glad the nobles. 

2. Truly as I walk along I hear the rocks as it 
were replying to the sweet songs of the flowers ; truly 
the glittering, chattering water answers; the bird- 
green fountain, there it sings, it dashes forth, it 
sings again; the mocking-bird answers; perhaps the 
coyol bird answers; and many sweet singing birds 
scatter their songs around like music. They bless 
the earth, pouring out their sweet voices. 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

3. I said, I cried aloud: May I not cause you 
pain, ye beloved ones, who are seated to listen; may 
the brilliant humming-birds come soon. Whom do 
we seek, O noble poet? I ask, I say: Where are 
the pretty, fragrant flowers with which I may make 
glad you, my noble compeers % Soon they will sing 
to me: "Here we will make thee to see, thou singer, 
truly wherewith thou shalt make glad the nobles, thy 
companions." 

4. They led me within a valley to a fertile spot, 
a flowery spot, where the dew spread out in glitter- 
ing splendor, where I saw various lovely fragrant 
flowers, lovely odorous flowers, clothed with the dew, 
scattered around in rainbow glory. There they said 
to me : " Pluck the flowers, whichever thou wishest, 
mayest thou the singer be glad, and give them to 
thy friends, to the nobles, that they may rejoice on 
the earth." 

5. So I gathered in the folds of my garment 
the various fragrant flowers, delicate scented, de- 
licious, and I said: May some of our people enter 
here, may very many of us be here ; and I thought 
I should go forth to announce to our friends that 
here all of us should rejoice in the different lovely, 
odorous flowers, and that we should cull the various 
sweet songs with which we might rejoice our friends 
here on earth, and the nobles in their grandeur and 
dignity. 

6. So I, the singer, gathered all the flowers to 
place them upon the nobles, to clothe them and put 
them in their hands, and soon I lifted my voice in 

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A Guide to Mythology 

a worthy song glorifying the nobles before the face 
of the Cause of All, where there is no servitude. 

7. Where shall one pluck them? Where gather 
the sweet flowers ? And how shall I attain the flow- 
ery land, that fertile land, where there is no servi- 
tude nor affliction? If one purchases it here on 
earth, it is only through submission to the Cause of 
All; here on earth grief fills my soul as I recall 
where I, the singer, saw the flowery spot. 

8. And I said: Truly there is no good spot here 
on earth, truly in some other bourne there is glad- 
ness; for what good is this earth? Truly there is 
another life in the hereafter. There may I go, there 
the sweet birds sing, there may I learn to know 
those good flowers, those sweet flowers, those de- 
licious ones, which alone pleasurably, sweetly in- 
toxicate, which alone pleasurably, sweetly intoxi- 
cate. 

FLOWER SONG 
(Ancient Mexican Indian) 

1. In the place of tears, I, the singer, watch my 
flowers; they are in my hand; they intoxicate my 
soul and my song, as I walk alone with them, with 
my sad soul among them. 

2. In this spot, where the herbage is like sweet 
ointment and green as the turquoise and emerald, 
I think upon my song, holding the beauteous flowers 
in my hand, as I walk alone with them, with my 
sad soul among them. 

3. In this spot of turquoise and emerald, I think 

in 



Tree and Plant Myths 

upon beauteous songs, beauteous flowers; let us re- 
joice now, dear friends and children, for life is not 
long upon earth. 

4. I shall hasten forth, I shall go to the sweet 
songs, the sweet flowers, dear friends and children. 

5. O he! I cried aloud; O he! I rained down 
flowers as I left. 

6. Let us go forth anywhere; I, the singer, shall 
find and bring forth the flowers ; let us be glad while 
we live; listen to my song. 

7. I, the poet, cry out a song for a place of joy, 
a glorious song which descends to Mictlan, and there 
turns about and comes forth again. 

8. I seek neither vestment nor riches, O chil- 
dren, but a song for a place of joy. 

THE STORY OF EEISICHTHOU" 
{Greek) 

Erisichthon was a profane person and a despiser of 
the gods. On one occasion he presumed to violate 
with the axe a grove sacred to Ceres (Demeter). 
There stood in this grove a venerable oak, so large 
that it seemed a wood in itself, its ancient trunk 
towering aloft, whereon votive garlands were often 
hung and inscriptions carved expressing the grati- 
tude of suppliants to the nymph of the tree. Often 
had the dryads danced round it hand in hand. Its 
trunk measured fifteen cubits round, and it over- 
topped the other trees as they overtopped the shrub- 
bery. But for all that, Erisichthon saw no reason 

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A Guide to Mythology 

why he should spare it, and he ordered his servants 
to cut it down. When he saw them hesitate he 
snatched an axe from one, and thus impiously ex- 
claimed, " I care not whether it be a tree beloved of 
the goddess or not. Were it the goddess herself it 
should come down, if it stood in my way." So say- 
ing, he lifted the axe, and the oak seemed to shudder 
and utter a groan. When the first blow fell upon 
the trunk, blood flowed from the wound. All the 
bystanders were horror-struck, and one of them ven- 
tured to remonstrate and hold back the fatal axe. 
Erisichthon, with a scornful look, said to him, " Re- 
ceive the reward of your piety," and turned against 
him the weapon which he had held aside from the 
tree, gashed his body with many wounds, and cut 
off his head. Then from the midst of the oak came 
a voice : " I who dwell in this tree am a nymph, be- 
loved by Ceres, and, dying by your hands, forewarn 
you that punishment awaits you." He desisted not 
from his crime; and at last the tree, sundered by 
repeated blows and drawn by ropes, fell with a crash, 
and prostrated a great part of the grove in its fall. 

The dryads, in dismay at the loss of their com- 
panion, and at seeing the pride of the forest laid 
low, went in a body to Ceres, all clad in garments of 
mourning, and invoked punishment upon Erisich- 
thon. She nodded her assent, and as she bowed her 
head, the grain ripe for harvest in the laden fields 
bowed also. She planned a punishment so dire that 
one would pity him, if such a culprit as he could 
be pitied — to deliver him over to Famine. As Ceres 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

herself could not approach Famine, for the Pates 
have ordained that these two goddesses shall never 
come together, she called on Oread from her moun- 
tain and spoke to her in these words : " There is 
a place in the farthest part of ice-clad Scythia, a 
sad and sterile region without trees and without 
crops. Cold dwells there, and Pear, and Shudder- 
ing, and Famine. Go and tell the last to take posses- 
sion of the bowels of Erisichthon. Let not Abund- 
ance subdue her, nor the power of my gifts drive her 
away. Be not alarmed at the distance, for Famine 
dwells very far from Ceres, but take my chariot. 
The dragons are fleet and obey the rein, and will 
take you through the air in a short time." So she 
gave her the reins, and she drove away and soon 
reached Scythia. On arriving at Mount Caucasus 
she stopped the dragons and found Famine in a 
stony field, pulling up with teeth and claws the 
scanty herbage. Her hair was rough, her eyes sunk, 
her face pale, her lips blanched, her jaws covered 
with dust, and her skin drawn tight, so as to show 
all her bones. As Oread saw her afar off (for she 
did not dare to come near), she delivered the com- 
mands of Ceres; and though she stopped as short a 
time as possible, and kept her distance as well as 
she could, yet she began to feel hungry, and turned 
the dragons' heads and drove back to Thessaly. 

Famine obeyed the commands of Ceres and sped 
through the air to the dwelling of Erisichthon, en- 
tered the bed-chamber of the guilty man, and found 
him asleep. She enfolded him with her wings and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

breathed herself into him, infusing her poison into 
his veins. Having discharged her task, she hastened 
to leave the land of plenty and returned to her ac- 
customed haunts. Erisichthon still slept, and in his 
dreams craved food, and moved his jaws as if eating. 
When he awoke his hunger was raging. Without a 
moment's delay he would have food set before him, 
of whatever kind earth, sea, or air produces, and 
complained of hunger even while he ate. What 
would have sufficed for a city or a nation was not 
enough for him. The more he ate the more he 
craved. 

His property rapidly diminished under the un- 
ceasing demands of his appetite, but his hunger con- 
tinued unabated. At length he had spent all, and had 
only his daughter left, a daughter worthy of a better 
parent. Her, too, he sold. She scorned to be the 
slave of a purchaser, and, as she stood by the sea- 
side, raised her hands in prayer to Neptune. He 
heard her prayer, and, though her new master was 
not far off, and had his eyes on her a moment before, 
Neptune changed her form, and made her assume 
that of a fisherman busy at his occupation. Her mas- 
ter, looking for her and seeing her in her altered 
form, addressed her and said : " Good fisherman, 
whither went the maiden whom I saw just now, with 
hair dishevelled and in humble garb, standing about 
where you stand ? Tell me truly, so may your luck 
be good, and not a fish nibble at your hook and get 
away." She perceived that her prayer was an- 
swered, and rejoiced inwardly at hearing herself in- 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

quired of about herself. She replied : " Pardon me, 
stranger, but I have been so intent upon my line 
that I have seen nothing else; but I wish I may 
never catch another fish if I believe any woman or 
other person except myself to have been hereabouts 
for some time." He was deceived and went his way, 
thinking his slave had escaped. Then she resumed 
her own form. Her father was well pleased to find 
her still with him, and the money, too, that he got 
by the sale of her; so he sold her again. But she 
was changed by the favor of Neptune as often as 
she was sold — now into a horse, now a bird, now an 
ox, and now a stag — got away from her purchasers, 
and came home. 

TAN AND SYRIETX 
(Greek) 

Once there was a beautiful nymph of the woods 
whose name was Syrinx. She was much admired by 
all the satyrs and spirits of the wood, but she was 
a faithful worshipper of Artemis and did not re- 
spond to the attentions of any of her admirers. One 
day, however, Pan met her, and was so delighted 
with her that he persistently wooed her with many 
compliments. Away she ran from him without stop- 
ping to hear what he had to say, but on the bank 
of the river he overtook her. Then she called on 
her friends the water-nymphs to help her. They 
heard her, and just as Pan was about to throw his 
arms around her they changed her into a tuft of 
reeds. As he breathed a sigh, the air sounded through 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the reeds and produced a plaintive melody. Pan, de- 
lighted with the music and with the novelty of the 
experience, exclaimed, " Thus, then, at least, you 
shall be mine." So he took some of the reeds, of 
unequal lengths, and placing them together side by 
side, he made an instrument and called it Syrinx, 
in honor of the nymph. 

POMONA AND VEETUMNUS 
(Roman) 

Pomona was a hamadryad who presided over fruit 
trees and especially over apple orchards. She had 
scorned the offers of love made her by Pan and 
other spirits of the woods, and also those of Ver- 
tumnus, the god of gardens and of the changing 
seasons. But, unwearied, he wooed her in as many 
guises as his seasons themselves could assume. Now 
as a reaper, now as haymaker, now as ploughman, 
now as vine-dresser, now as apple picker, now as 
fisherman, now as soldier, all to no avail. 

At last he disguised himself as an old woman 
and came to her. He admired her fruit, especially 
the luxuriance of her grapes, and enlarged upon the 
dependence of the luxuriant vine, close by, upon the 
elm to which it was clinging; advised Pomona, like- 
wise, to choose some youth — say, for instance, the 
young Vertumnus — about whom to twine her arms. 
Then he told the melancholy tale of how the worthy 
Iphio, spurned by Anaxarete, had hanged himself 
to her gate-post; and how the gods had turned 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

the hard-hearted virgin to stone even as she gazed 
on her lover's funeral. " Consider these things, 
dearest child/' said the seeming old woman, " lay 
aside thy scorn and thy delays, and accept a 
lover. So may neither the vernal frosts blight 
thy young fruits, nor furious winds scatter thy 
blossoms ! " 

When Yertumnus had thus spoken he dropped his 
disguise, and stood before Pomona in his proper 
person, a comely youth. Pleased with such ardent 
wooing, Pomona consented and became his wife. 

Although the god Osiris in Egyptian Mythology 
has been frequently identified with the sun, there is 
no doubt that he was also regarded as a god of vege- 
tation. There is a representation of him in one 
of the great temples in Egypt in which the dead 
body of Osiris is shown with stalks of corn spring- 
ing from it, and a priest is watering the stalks from 
a pitcher which he holds in his hands. The inscrip- 
tion which accompanies this representation sets 
forth, " This is the form of him one may not name, 
Osiris of the Mysteries, who springs from the re- 
turning waters. " He is often spoken of, also, as 
" The one in the tree," "The solitary one in the 
Acacia." The myth here related seems to be one 
of the death of vegetation, slain by the evil Typhon. 
This was caused in Egypt by drought, while the 
springing up of vegetation was caused by the annual 
overflow of the Nile. 

A similar myth exists in Greece in which the god 
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A Guide to Mythology 

of vegetation, Adonis, is mourned by Aphrodite, also 
called Cypris and Cytherea (Roman Venus), who 
loved him. 

MYTH OF OSIEIS AND ISIS 
(Egyptian) 

Osiris and Isis were at one time induced to de- 
scend to the earth to bestow gifts and blessings on 
its inhabitants. Isis showed them first the use of 
wheat and barley, and Osiris made the instruments 
of agriculture and taught men the use of them, as 
well as how to harness the ox to the plough. He then 
gave men laws, the institution of marriage, a civil 
organization, and taught them how to worship the 
gods. After he had thus made the valley of the 
Nile a happy country, he assembled a host with 
which he went to bestow his blessings upon the rest 
of the world. He conquered the nations everywhere 
but only with music and eloquence. His brother 
Typhon saw this, and sought during his absence to 
usurp his throne. But Isis, who held the reins of 
government, frustrated his plans. Still more imbit- 
tered, he now resolved to kill his brother. Hav- 
ing organized a conspiracy of seventy-two mem- 
bers, he went with them to the feast which was 
celebrated in honor of the king's return. He then 
caused a box or chest to be brought in, which had 
been made to fit exactly the size of Osiris, and de- 
clared that he would give that chest of precious 
wood to whosoever could get into it. The rest tried 
in vain, but no sooner was Osiris in it than Typhon 

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Tree and Plant Myths 

and his companions closed the lid and flung the chest 
into the Kile. When Isis heard of the cruel murder 
she wept and mourned; and then, with her hair 
shorn, clothed in black, and beating her breast, she 
sought diligently for the body of her husband. In 
the search she was assisted by Anubis. They sought 
in vain for some time; for when the chest, carried 
by the waves to the shores of Byblos, had become en- 
tangled in the reeds that grew at the edge of the 
water, the divine power that dwelt in the body of 
Osiris imparted such strength to the shrub that it 
grew into a mighty tree, enclosing in its trunk the 
coffin of the god. This tree, with its sacred deposit, 
was shortly after felled, and erected as a column in 
the palace of the King of Phoenicia. But at length, 
by the aid of Anubis and the sacred birds, Isis 
ascertained these facts, and then went to the royal 
city. There she offered herself at the palace as 
a servant, and, being admitted, threw off her dis- 
guise, and appeared as the goddess, surrounded with 
thunder and lightning. Striking the column with 
her wand, she caused it to split open and give up 
the sacred coffin. This she seized, and returned 
with it, and concealed it in the depth of a forest; 
but Typhon discovered it, and cutting the body into 
fourteen pieces, scattered them hither and thither. 
After a tedious search, Isis found thirteen pieces, 
the fishes of the Nile having eaten the other. This 
she replaced by an imitation of sycamore wood, 
and buried the body at Philse, which became ever 
after the burying place of the nation, and the spot 

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A Guide to Mythology 

to which pilgrimages were made from all parts of 
the country. A temple of surpassing magnificence 
was also erected there in honor of the god, and 
at every place where one of his limbs had been 
found minor temples and tombs were built in com- 
memoration of the event. 

THE DEATH OF ADONIS 1 
{From Bion's Lament for Adonis) 

Low on the hills is lying the lovely Adonis, and 
his thigh with the boar's tusk, his white thigh with 
the boar's tusk, is wounded, and sorrow on Cypris he 
brings, as softly he breathes his life away. 

To Cypris his kiss is dear, though he lives no 
longer, but Adonis knew not that she kissed him 
whenas he died. 

Woe, woe for Adonis, the Loves join in the la- 
ment! 

A cruel, cruel wound on his thigh hath Adonis, but 
a deeper wound in her heart Cytherea bears. About 
him his dear hounds are loudly baying, and the 
nymphs of the wild wood wail him; but Aphrodite 
with unbound locks through the glades goes wander- 
ing — wretched, with hair unbraided, with feet un- 
sandalled, and the thorns as she passes wound her 
and pluck the blossom of her sacred blood. Shrill 
she wails as down the long woodlands she is borne, 
lamenting her Assyrian lord, and again calling him 
and again. 

1 Andrew Lang's translation. 
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Tree and Plant Myths 

Woe, woe for Cytherea, the Loves join in the la- 
ment! 

• • • • • 

!No more in the oak woods, Cypris, lament thy 
lord. It is no fair couch for Adonis, the lonely bed 
of reeds ! 

~Ngw lay him down to sleep in his own soft cover- 
lets, in a conch all of gold, that yearns for Adonis, 
though sad is he to look upon. Oast on him garlands 
and blossoms: all things have perished in his death, 
yea, all the flowers are faded. Sprinkle him with 
ointments of Syria, sprinkle him with unguents of 
myrrh. Nay, perish all perfumes, for Adonis, who 
was thy perfume, hath perished. 

He reclines, the delicate Adonis, in his raiment of 
purple, and around him the Loves are weeping, and 
groaning aloud, clipping their locks for Adonis. And 
one upon his shafts, another on his bow is treading, 
and one hath loosed the sandals of Adonis, and an- 
other hath broken his own feathered quiver, and 
one in a golden vessel bears water, and another laves 
the wound, and another from behind him with his 
wings is fanning Adonis. 

Woe, woe for Cytherea, the Loves join in the la- 
ment! 

• • • • • 

And woe, woe for Adonis, shrilly cry the Muses, 
neglecting Paean (Apollo), and they lament Adonis 
aloud, and songs they chant to him, but he does not 

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A Guide to Mythology 

heed them, not that he is loath to hear, hut that the 
Maiden of Hades doth not let him go. 

Cease, Cytherea, from thy lamentations, to-day re- 
frain from thy dirges. Thou must again bewail 
him, again must weep for him another year. 



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CHAPTER V 



MYTHS OF THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS 

WE come now to myths in which the Sun and 
the Moon, and other objects of nature, play 
the most important part. We find myths of this sort 
all over the globe, some of them crude and simple, 
and some of them in the form of very beautiful 
stories. 

The Incas of Peru believed they were descended 
from the Sun, so with them the Sun was their totem 
instead of an animal or a plant. But there came a 
time when the Incas established a higher god than 
the Sun. They deposed the Sun because it could 
move only in one part of the heavens and so must 
have a ruler over it. So then to the question: "What 
are the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars," they an- 
swered : " They are men and women. At evening 
they swim in the waters, they go down from sight in 
the west. In the morning the Sun cometh forth at 
Wau-bunong, the Place of Breaking Light." 

According to the Cherokee Indians, a number of 
beings were employed in constructing the Sun, the 
first planet made. " It was the intention of the 
Creator that men should live always, but the Sun, 
having surveyed the land, and, finding an insuffi- 

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ciency for their support, changed this design, and 
arranged that they should die. The daughter of the 
Sun was the first to suffer under this law. She was 
bitten by a serpent, and died. Thereupon the Sun 
decreed that men should live always. At the same 
time, he commissioned a few persons to take a box, 
and seek the spirit of his daughter, and return with 
it encased therein. In no wise must the box be 
opened. But the box was opened. Immortality fled. 
Men must die." 

The Sun-God was not always able to carry every- 
thing before him, as the story of his battle with the 
Hare-God shows, as well as the various stories about 
his being ensnared and his course regulated. In 
some countries, the Sun is the husband of the 
Moon, in others the Moon is the husband of the 
Sun. Again the Moon will be the sister of the Sun 
or the Sun the sister of the Moon. 

THE NAVAJO STOEY OF THE MAKING OF THE SUN, 
MOON, AND STARS 

At the beginning, when the people had all crept 
out of the aperture in the cave in which they had 
previously lived, a council of wise men was held to 
discuss the propriety of introducing more light upon 
the earth, which at that time was very small, being 
lit only by a twilight, like that seen just at the 
breaking of dawn. Having deliberated some time, 
the wise men concluded to have a sun and moon, and 
a variety of stars placed above the earth. They first 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

made the heavens for them to be placed in ; then the 
old men of the Navajos commenced building a sun, 
which was done in a large house constructed for the 
purpose. 

To the other tribes was confided the making of 
the moon and stars, which they soon accomplished; 
when it was decided to give the sun and moon 
to the guidance of the two dumb Fluters, who had 
figured with some importance as musicians in their 
former place of residence in the cave, and one of 
whom had accidentally conceived the plan of leaving 
that place for their present more agreeable quarters. 
These two men, who have carried the two heavenly 
bodies ever since, staggered at first with their weight ; 
and the one who carried the sun came near burning 
the earth by bearing it too near, before he had 
reached the aperture in the mountain through which 
he was to pass during the night. This misfortune, 
however, was prevented by the old men, who puffed 
the smoke of their pipes toward it, which caused it 
to retire to a greater distance in the heavens. These 
men have been obliged to do this four times since the 
dumb man — the Fluter — has carried the sun in the 
heavens; for the earth has grown very much larger 
than at the beginning, and consequently the sun 
would have to be removed, or the earth and all there- 
in would perish in its heat. JSTow, after the sun and 
moon had taken their places, the people commenced 
embroidering the stars upon the heavens the wise 
men had made, in beautiful and varied patterns 
and images. Bears and fishes and all varieties of 

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A Guide to Mythology 

animals were being skilfully drawn, when in rushed 
a prairie wolf, roughly exclaiming : " What folly is 
this ? Why are you making all this fuss to make a 
bit of embroidery? Just stick the stars about the 
sky anywhere ; " and, suiting the action to the word, 
the villanous wolf scattered a large pile all over the 
heavens. Thus it is that there is such confusion 
among the few images which the tasteful Navajos 
had so carefully elaborated. 

THE STORY OF THE CONQUERING OF THE SUN 
{North American Indian) 

Once upon a time Ta-vwotz, the Hare-God, was 
sitting with his family by the camp-fire in the sol- 
emn woods, anxiously waiting for the return of Ta-vi, 
the wayward Sun-God. Weary with long watching, 
the Hare-God fell asleep, and the Sun-God came so 
near that he scorched the shoulders of Ta-vwotz. 
Foreseeing the vengeance which would be thus pro- 
voked, he fled back to his cave beneath the earth. 
Ta-vwotz awoke in great wrath and speedily deter- 
mined to go and fight the Sun-God. 

After a long journey of many adventures the 
Hare-God came to the brink of the earth, and there 
watched long and patiently, till at last, the Sun-God 
coming out, he shot an arrow in his face; but the 
fierce heat consumed the arrow ere it had finished 
its course. Then other arrows were sped, till only 
one remained in his quiver; but this was the magical 
arrow that never failed its mark. Ta-vwotz, holding 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

it in his hand, lifted the barb to his eye and bap- 
tized it in a divine tear; then the arrow was sped 
and struck the Sun-God full in the face, and the 
sun was shivered into a thousand fragments, which 
fell to the earth and caused a general conflagration. 
Then Ta-vwotz, the Hare-God, fled before the de- 
struction he had wrought; and as he fled, the burn- 
ing earth consumed his feet, consumed his legs, con- 
sumed his body, his hands and arms. All were 
consumed but the head alone, which rolled across 
valleys and over mountains, fleeing destruction from 
the burning earth, until at last, swollen with heat, 
the eyes of the god burst, and the tears gushed forth 
in a flood which spread over the earth and extin- 
guished the fire. The Sun-God was now conquered; 
and he appeared before a council of the gods to 
await sentence. 

In that long council were established the days and 
nights, the seasons and years, with the length there- 
of, and the Sun-God was condemned to travel across 
the firmament by the same trail every day. 

Another view of the religion of the sun is shown 
in the Indian hymns to the sun, as it is rising, at 
mid-day, and at sunset. After the Indian hymn, we 
shall find it interesting to go to the opposite side of 
the earth and see what a Hindoo hymn to the sun 
is like. It is less a prayer than the Indian hymn, 
and, like the other Hindoo hymns, a song of praise. 



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HYMN TO THE SUN 
(North American Indian) 

Great Spirit ! Master of our lives. Great Spirit ! 
Master of things visible and invisible, and who daily 
makes them visible and invisible. Great Spirit! 
Master of every other spirit, good or bad, command 
the good to be favorable unto us, and deter the bad 
from the commission of evil. 

O Grand Spirit ! preserve the strength and cour- 
age of our warriors, and augment their numbers, that 
they may resist oppression from our enemies, and 
recover our country and the rights of our fathers. 

O Grand Spirit ! preserve the lives of such of our 
old men as are inclined to give counsel to the young. 
Preserve our children and multiply their number, 
and let them be the comfort and support of declining 
age. Preserve our corn and our animals, and let no 
famine desolate the land. Protect our villages, guard 
our lives ! 

O Great Spirit! when hidden in the west protect 
us from our enemies, who violate the night and do 
evil when thou art not present. Good Spirit ! make 
known to us your pleasure by sending to us the 
Spirit of Dreams. Let the Spirit of Dreams pro- 
claim thy will in the night, and we will perform it 
in the day; and if it say the time of some be closed, 
send them, Master of Life, to the great country of 
souls, where they may meet their friends, and where 
thou art pleased to shine upon them with a bright, 
warm and perpetual blaze! 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

O Grand, Great Spirit! hearken to the voice 
of the nations, hearken to all thy children, and re- 
member us always, for we are descended from thee. 

Courage, nations, courage! the Great Spirit, now 
above our heads, will make us vanquish our ene- 
mies ; he will cover our fields with corn, and increase 
the animals of our woods. He will see that the old 
be made happy, and that the young augment. He 
will make the nations prosper, make them rejoice, 
and make them put up their voice to him, while he 
rises and sets in their land, and while his heat and 
light can thus gloriously shine out. 

The nations must prosper; they have been looked 
upon by the Great Spirit. What more can they 
wish ? Is not that happiness enough ? See, he re- 
tires, great and content, after having visited his chil- 
dren with light and universal good. 

O Grand Spirit ! sleep not longer in the gloomy 
west, but return and call your people to light and 
life — to light and life — to light and life. 

HYMN TO SURYA, THE SUN 
(From the "Rig Veda") 

His heralds bear him up aloft, the god who knoweth all that 
lives, 

Surya, that all may look on him. 

The constellations pass away, like thieves, together with 

their beams, 
Before the all-beholding Sun. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

His herald rays are seen afar refulgent o'er the world of men, 
Like flames of fire that hum and blaze. 

Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Stirya, maker of the light, 
Illuming all the radiant realm 

Thou goest to the hosts of the gods, thou comest hither to 

mankind, 
Hither all light to be beheld. 

Traversing sky and wide mid-air, thou makest with thy 

beams our days, 
Sun, seeing all things that have birth. 

Seven bay steeds harnessed to thy car bear thee, O thou far- 
seeing one, 
God, Surya, with the radiant hair. 

Sfirya hath yoked the pure bright seven, the daughters of the 
chariot; 

With these, self-yoked, he goeth forth. 

Looking upon the loftier light above the darkness we have 

come 

To Surya, god among the gods, the light that is most excellent. 

THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN", AND THE DREAM OF 
ONAWUTAQUTO 
(North American Indian) 

On the shores of Lake Huron there lived, a long 
time ago, an aged Odjibwa and his wife, who had 
an only son — a very beautiful boy — whose name was 
Onawutaquto, or He that catches Clouds. These 
parents were proud of their son, and anticipated the 
time when they should see him a celebrated warrior. 
But when Onawutaquto arrived at the proper age, 
he was unwilling to submit to the fast prescribed to 
youths entering manhood, which very much disturbed 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

his parents, who denied him food at their lodge, giv- 
ing him only charcoal with which to blacken his face, 
according to the custom. Finally he consented to 
their wishes, and left the lodge for a place of soli- 
tude. The night came on and the youth slept. In 
his dream a beautiful woman came down from the 
clouds and stood by his side. " Onawutaquto," said 
she, " I am come for you ; follow in my footsteps." 
The young man obeyed, and presently found him- 
self ascending gradually above the trees, where, pass- 
ing through an orifice in the clouds, he perceived 
that he had arrived upon a beautiful plain. Follow- 
ing his guide, he entered a splendidly furnished 
lodge, on one side of which there were bows and 
arrows, clubs and spears, and various warlike imple- 
ments, tipped with silver. On the other side were 
articles exclusively belonging to women, which were 
of the most elegant description. 

This, the young man found, was the home of his 
fair guide, who, exhibiting to him a broad rich belt 
that she was embroidering with many colors, said: 
" Let me conceal you beneath this belt, for my 
brother is coming, and I must hide you from him." 
Then, placing him in one corner of the lodge, she 
concealed him entirely with the belt. Presently her 
brother came in. He was very richly dressed, and 
his whole person shone as if he had bright points of 
silver glittering all over his garments. Without 
speaking, the brother took down from the wall a 
very richly carved pipe, within which he placed 
a fragrant smoking mixture, and regaled himself. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

When he had finished he turned to his sister, saying : 
" Nemissa, my elder sister, when will you quit these 
practices? Do you forget that the Great Spirit has 
commanded that you should not take away the chil- 
dren from below? Perhaps you suppose that you 
have effectually concealed Onawutaquto, and I do 
not know of his presence. If you would not offend 
me, send him immediately down to his parents." 
But !Nemissa was resolved to retain the young man, 
and the brother desisted from urging his request. 
Addressing the youth, he said : " Come forth from 
your concealment, and walk about and amuse your- 
self ! You will become hungry if you remain there." 
He then presented him with a bow and arrow, and a 
pipe of red stone elaborately ornamented. This was 
a signal that he consented to the marriage of Nemissa 
to Onawutaquto, which immediately took place. The 
young man found that the lodge, which was now 
his home, was situated in the most delightful part 
of the plain; and all things — the flowers and trees 
and birds — were more beautiful than any on earth. 
The streams ran more swiftly, and gleamed like sil- 
ver. The animals were full of enjoyment, while the 
birds wore feathers of gorgeous colors. Onawuta- 
quto observed that the brother regularly left in the 
morning, returning in the evening, when his sister 
would depart, remaining away a portion of the 
night. This aroused his curiosity, and, wishing to 
solve the mystery of this singular habit, he sought 
and obtained consent to accompany the brother in 
one of his daily journeys. They travelled over a 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

smooth plain without boundaries, until Onawutaquto 
felt exceedingly fatigued and very much in need of 
food, and he asked his companion if there were no 
game in that region. " Patience, my brother," an- 
swered he, " we shall soon reach the spot where I 
eat my dinner, and you will then see in what way 
I am provided." After walking on a long time, they 
came to a place which was spread over with very 
fine mats, where they sat down to rest. There was 
at this place a round aperture in the sky, looking 
through which Onawutaquto discovered the earth, 
with its gleaming lakes and thick forests. In some 
places he could see the villages of the Indians, and 
in others he saw a war party stealing upon the camp 
of its enemy. In another place he saw feasting and 
dancing, where, on the green plain, young men were 
engaged at ball. Along the stream the women were 
employed in gathering apukwa for mats. " Do you 
see," said the brother, " that group of children play- 
ing beside a lodge? Observe that beautiful and ac- 
tive boy," said he, at the same time darting some- 
thing at him from his hand. The child immediately 
fell upon the ground, and was carried into a lodge 
where the people gathered in crowds; when Ona- 
wutaquto heard the Jossakeed, or priest, asking the 
child's life in the sheshegwam, or " song of entreaty." 
To this entreaty the companion of Onawutaquto 
made answer : " Send me up the sacrifice of a white 
dog." Immediately a feast was ordered by the par- 
ents of the child; the white dog was killed, his 
carcass was roasted, and all the wise men and the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Jossakeed of the village assembled to witness the 
ceremony. " There are many below," said the 
brother to Onawutaquto, " whom you call Jossakeed, 
because of their great success in the medical science, 
but it is to me they owe their skill. When I have 
struck one of the people with sickness, the Jossakeed 
directs them to look to me; and when they send me 
the offering I ask, I remove my hand from off them 
and they recover." The sacrifice was now parcelled 
out in dishes, when the master of the feast said : " We 
send this to thee, great Manito, thou that dwellest 
in the sun." And immediately the roasted animal 
came up to the two residents of the sky. After par- 
taking of this repast, they returned to the lodge by 
another way. It was in this manner Onawutaquto 
lived for some time; but at last he became wearied 
of such a life, and, thinking of his friends he had 
left, one day he asked permission of his wife to 
return to the earth, to which, with great reluctance 
and with many delays, she consented. " Since you 
are better pleased," she said, " with the cares and 
the ills and the poverty of your earthly life than with 
the peaceful delights of the sky, go! I give you 
permission, and I will guide your return; but re- 
member, you are still my husband. I hold a chain 
in my hand by which I can draw you back whenever 
I will. Beware, therefore, how you venture to take 
a wife among the people below. Should you ever 
do so, it is then you shall feel the full force of my 
displeasure." As she said this her eyes flashed and 
she straightened herself up with a majestic air, and 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

— Onawutaquto awoke from his dream. He found 
himself where he had lain down to fast, and his 
mother told him he had been absent a year. The 
change from the beautiful realms in which he had 
been living to the scenes of earthly existence was 
at first distasteful. He became moody and ab- 
stracted. By degrees, however, these impressions 
wore away, and he regained his interest in terres- 
trial pursuits. Now, forgetting the admonition of 
his heavenly spouse, he married a beautiful woman 
of his tribe, but his bride died in four days after 
their marriage. Although thus reminded, Onawuta- 
quto soon married again; when one day he left his 
lodge for the purpose of hunting, and from that 
time never was seen by mortal eyes. 

THE WITCH AND THE SUIT'S SISTER 
(Russian) 

In a certain far-off country there once lived a 
king and queen. And they had an only son, Prince 
Ivan, who was dumb from his birth. One day, when 
he was twelve years old, he went into the stable to 
see a groom who was a great friend of his. 

That groom always used to tell him tales (skazki), 
and on this occasion Prince Ivan went to him ex- 
pecting to hear some stories (slcazochhi) , but that 
wasn't what he heard. 

" Prince Ivan ! " said the groom, " your mother 
will soon have a daughter, and you a sister. She 
will be a terrible witch, and she will eat up her father 

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A Guide to Mythology 

and her mother, and all their subjects. So go and 
ask your father for the best horse he has — as if you 
wanted a gallop — and then, if you want to be out 
of harm's way, ride away withersoever your eyes 
guide you." 

Prince Ivan ran off to his father and, for the first 
time in his life, began speaking to him. 

At that the king was so delighted that he never 
thought of asking what he wanted a good steed for, 
but immediately ordered the very best horse he had 
in his stud to be saddled for the prince. 

Prince Ivan mounted, and rode off without caring 
where he went. Long, long did he ride. 

At length he came to where two old women were 
sewing, and he begged them to let him live with 
them. But they said: 

" Gladly would we do so, Prince Ivan, only we 
have now but a short time to live. As soon as we 
have broken that trunkful of needles, and used up 
that trunkful of thread, that instant will death ar- 
rive!" 

Prince Ivan burst into tears and rode on. Long, 
long did he ride. At length he came to where the 
giant Vertodub was, and he besought him, saying: 
" Take me to live with you." 

" Gladly would I have taken you, Prince Ivan," 
replied the giant, " but now I have very little longer 
to live. As soon as I have pulled up all these trees 
by the roots, instantly will come my death ! " 

More bitterly still did the prince weep as he rode 
farther and farther on. By and by he came to where 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

the giant Vertogor was, and made the same request 
to him, but he replied: 

" Gladly would I have taken you, Prince Ivan, < 
but I myself have very little longer to live. I am set 
here, you "know, to level mountains. The moment I 
have settled matters with these you see remaining, 
then will my death come ! " 

Prince Ivan burst into a flood of bitter tears, and 
rode on still farther. Long, long did he ride. At 
last he came to the dwelling of the Sun's Sister. 
She received him into her house, gave him food and 
drink, and treated him just as if he had been her 
own son. 

The prince now led an easy life. But it was all 
no use ; he couldn't help being miserable. He longed 
so to know what was going on at home. 

He often went to the top of a high mountain, and 
thence gazed at the palace in which he used to live, 
and he could see that it was all eaten away ; nothing 
but the bare walls remained! Then he would sigh 
and weep. Once when he returned after he had 
been thus looking and crying, the Sun's Sister asked 
him: 

" What makes your eyes so red to-day, Prince 
Ivan?" 

" The wind has been blowing in them," said he. 

The same thing happened the second time. Then 
the Sun's Sister ordered the wind to stop blowing. 
Again, a third time did Prince Ivan come back with 
a blubbered face. This time there was no help for 
it; he had to confess everything, and then he took 

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A Guide to Mythology 

to entreating the Sun's Sister to let him go, that he 
might satisfy himself about his old home. She 
would not let him go, but he went on urgently en- 
treating. 

So at last he persuaded her, and she let him go 
away to find out about his home. But first she pro- 
vided him for the journey with a brush, a comb, 
and two youth-giving apples. However old anyone 
might be, let him eat one of these apples, he would 
grow young again in an instant. 

Well, Prince Ivan came to where Vertogor was. 
There was only just one mountain left ! He took 
his brush and cast it down on the open plain. Im- 
mediately there rose out of the earth, goodness knows 
whence, high, ever so high mountains, their peaks 
touching the sky. And the number of them was 
such that there were more than the eye could see ! 
Vertogor rejoiced greatly and blithely recommenced 
his work. 

After a time Prince Ivan came to where Ver- 
todub was, and found that there were only three 
trees remaining there. So he took the comb and 
flung it on the open plain. Immediately from some- 
where or other there came a sound of trees, and 
forth from the ground arose dense oak forests, each 
stem more huge than the others ! Yertodub was de- 
lighted, thanked the prince, and set to work uproot- 
ing the ancient oaks. 

By and by Prince Ivan reached the old women, 
and gave each of them an apple. They ate them, and 
straightway became young again. So they gave him 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

a handkerchief ; you only had to wave it, and behind 
you lay a whole lake ! At last Prince Ivan arrived 
at home. Out came running his sister to meet him, 
and caressed him fondly. 

" Sit thee down, my brother ! " she said. " Play 
a tune on the lute while I go and get dinner ready." 

The prince sat down and strummed away on the 
lute (gusli). 

Then there crept a mouse out of a hole, and said 
to him in a human voice : 

" Save yourself, Prince. Run away quick ! your 
sister has gone to sharpen her teeth." 

Prince Ivan fled from the room, jumped upon his 
horse, and galloped away back. Meantime the mouse 
kept running over the strings of the lute. They 
twanged, and the sister never guessed that her brother 
was off. When she had sharpened her teeth she 
burst into the room. Lo and behold ! not a soul was 
there; nothing but the mouse bolting into his hole. 
The witch waxed wroth, ground her teeth like any- 
thing, and set off in pursuit. 

Prince Ivan heard a loud noise and looked back. 
There was his sister chasing him. So he waved his 
handkerchief, and a deep lake lay behind him. While 
the witch was swimming across the water, Prince 
Ivan got a long way ahead. But on she came faster 
than ever ; and now she was close at hand ! Verto- 
dub guessed that the prince was trying to escape from 
his sister. So he began tearing up oaks and strew- 
ing them across the road. A regular mountain did 
he pile up ! there was no passing by for the witch ! 

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A Guide to Mythology 

So she set to work to clear the way. She gnawed, 
and gnawed, and at length contrived by hard work 
to bore her way through; but by this time Prince 
Ivan was far ahead. 

On she dashed in pursuit, chased and chased. Just 
a little more, and it would be impossible for him 
to escape ! But Vertogor spied the witch, laid hold 
of the very highest of all the mountains, pitched 
it down all of a heap on the road, and flung another 
mountain right on top of it. While the witch was 
climbing and clambering, Prince Ivan rode and rode, 
and found himself a long way ahead. At last the 
witch got across the mountain, and once more set off 
in pursuit of her brother. By and by she caught 
sight of him and exclaimed : 

" You sha'n't get away from me this time ! " And 
now she is close, now she is just going to catch him ! 

At that very moment Prince Ivan dashed up to 
the abode of the Sun's Sister and cried. 

" Sun, Sun ! open the window ! " 

The Sun's Sister opened the window, and the 
prince bounded through it, horse and all. 

Then the witch began to ask that her brother might 
be given up to her for punishment. The Sun's 
Sister would not listen to her, nor would she give 
him up. Then the witch said: 

" Let Prince Ivan be weighed against me, to see 
which is the heavier. If I am, then I will eat him ; 
but if he is, then let him kill me ! " 

This was done. Prince Ivan was the first to get 
into one of the scales; then the witch began to get 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

into the other. But no sooner had she set foot in 
it than up shot Prince Ivan in the air, and that 
with such force that he flew right up into the sky, 
and into the house of the Sun's Sister. 

But as for the Witch-Snake, she remained down 
below on earth. 

THE MAKING OF THE MIRROR 
(Japanese) 

Now, when Amaterasu, the Sun-Goddess, ascended 
into her kingdom, she reigned there peacefully in 
great glory; and the fair light of her beauty flooded 
the earth and the heavens. 

Her brother Susa-wo, at the time of his banish- 
ment to the under-world, beheld her shining and 
said: 

" I will go and bid farewell to my sister the Sun- 
Goddess, ere I depart ! " 

So he mounted to heaven with such sudden vio- 
lence that the rivers and mountains shook and 
groaned aloud, and every land and country quaked. 

Amaterasu was greatly alarmed and said : " I 
know my brother desires to take my kingdom from 
me ! " So she girt on her ten-span sword and her 
nine-span sword, and her necklace of five hundred 
jewels which she twisted round her hair and arms, 
and she slung on her thousand-arrow quiver, and 
great high-sounding elbow-shield. Then she bran- 
dished her bow and stamped her feet into the hard 
ground till it fell away from her like rotten snow ? 

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A Guide to Mythology 

and she stood valiantly, uttering a mighty cry of 
defiance. 

Then Susa-wo stood on the farther side of the 
Tranquil River of Heaven, which is the Milky Way, 
and answered her softly with fair words: 

" O my sister ! I am come hither with a pure 
heart to bid thee farewell. Why dost thou put on a 
stern countenance? Let me but see thee once and 
speak with thee, face to face, ere I depart." Then 
the heart of the Sun-Goddess was softened, and she 
let him enter and cross the River of Heaven. But 
even here Susa-wo could not rest from his turbulent 
ways. 

Now, in her wisdom, Amaterasu would wonder 
how best to help and comfort mankind, and on a 
certain day she sent Susa-wo on a journey to find 
her sister, the Food-Goddess, as she had many things 
to inquire of her. When the Food-Goddess looked 
and saw Susa-wo descending toward her, she quickly 
prepared a great banquet in his honor, and by her 
miraculous power she produced from her mouth 
boiled rice and every kind of fish and game. But 
Susa-wo, watching her, flew into a rage and cried 
out : " Thou art unclean ! Dost thou offer me what 
comes from thy mouth ! " And he took out his 
sword and slew her. 

When Amaterasu heard this, she was very wroth 
with her brother, and sent a second messenger to 
see if the Food-Goddess were really dead. And 
when he found her, behold, a miracle! All things, 
good for man were growing from her head and body. 

22Q 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

Millet and grass, mulherry trees with silkworms on 
them, rice and wheat and large and small beans. 
The messenger took them all and presented them to 
the Sun-Goddess, who rejoiced greatly and gave them 
to mankind, rice for the wet fields and other grains 
for the dry. 

And she planted the mulberry trees on the fra- 
grant hills of heaven, and chewed the cocoons of the 
silkworms, and spun thread to weave silk garments 
for the gods. 

Now, one day, while she was weaving with her 
maidens in the sacred hall, word was brought to 
her that her brother had trampled the rice fields and 
polluted her storehouses. And when she sought to 
excuse him he angered her yet more by his folly and 
violence. So Amaterasu covered her face, and in her 
grief and anger she hid herself from the sight of 
all men in a rocky cave, and closed the door. 

When her radiance was hidden, all the world was 
left in deep darkness and confusion, the whole plain 
of heaven was obscured, and the Land of the Reed- 
Plains darkened. Night and day were unknown, 
and neither in heaven nor earth was there any light 
at all. The sound of many voices rose and fell, like 
the swarming of bees, and everywhere was trouble 
and dismay. 

In the midst of the gloom the eighty myriads of 
gods met together in council, and their meeting- 
place was on the banks of the Milky Way of Heaven. 
And the Great Wise God, wiser than his fellows, 
who held in his mind the thoughts and imaginings 

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A Guide to Mythology 

of all men, said softly : " She is a woman, and 
surely will be curious. Let us show her something 
more beautiful than herself ! " But as in all High 
Heaven nothing fairer could be found, they made a 
mighty mirror, forged by the Blacksmith God from 
the metals of heaven. Yet the gods were not satis- 
fied, and commanded him to make another. So with 
his anvil from the Milky Way, and bellows, fash- 
ioned from a single deer-skin, he forged a second 
and yet a third, and this last was perfect and flaw- 
less, in shape like the Sun. 

And they lit great fires outside the cave and hung 
the mirror there on the branches of the sacred Sakaki 
tree, above it a necklace of ever-bright and glittering 
jewels, and below it some strips of fine-woven cloth. 
Then the Wise God took from his fellows six long 
bows and bound them together, and placed them 
upright in the ground and gently brushed the 
strings. 

And the fair Goddess Ame-no-Uzume was led 
forth to dance, her flowing sleeves bound up with 
the creeping plant Masaki, and her head-dress of 
trailing Kadsura vine, gathered from the mountains 
of Heavenly Fragrance, and in her hands the 
branches of young bamboos hung with tiny bells. 
These she waved rhythmically to and fro to the 
sound of her stepping, and as the humming of the 
bow-strings rose and fell, the eighty Myriad Gods 
sat around her and joyfully beat the measure. 

She sang of the beauty of an unknown goddess, 
and as her body swayed in cadence, the great assem- 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

bly of gods laughed aloud till the vault of heaven 
shook. 

The Sun-Goddess wondered greatly at all this 
mirth and music, and said : " How is it that while 
the whole Plain of Heaven and the Land of the 
Eeed-Plains is darkened, Uzume sings and frolics, 
and the eighty Myriad Gods do laugh ? " She 
peeped inquisitive out of the cave. 

Uzume still sang of the beauty of the Unknown 
Goddess, and the words of the first song were these : 

Gods! from the cavern's gloom 
Comes she majestical. 
Shall not our hearts rejoice? 
Mine is the victory! 
Who can resist my charms? 
Hail, Ever-Shining One! 

And wondering — longing — yet unwilling to ven- 
ture forth, Amaterasu looked from the depths of the 
cave and listened to the strains, and heard the gods 
make merry; till, opening wider the door, she stood 
upon the threshold. 

Two gods hastily held forward the mirror, and 
she saw, amazed, the vision of her own exceeding 
loveliness. Then the first flush of dawn appeared 
suddenly in the east, there was a stir as of awaken- 
ing birds, the mountain-tops blushed pink, and all 
the gods held their breath. 

She stepped forward softly, still gazing entranced, 
while broad shafts of light shot upward in the sky, 
and her glory filled the air with rosy radiance. As 

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A Guide to Mythology 

she looked on her ineffable beauty, the Wise God, 
twisting a rice-straw rope, stretched it across the 
mouth of the cave — for never more could she desire 
to hide her face from a sorrowing world. 

And thus with the sunshine came music and danc- 
ing, for the delight of men. 

In Norse mythology, the story is told that the 
heavenly bodies were formed of the sparks from 
Muspelheim. The gods did not create them, but 
they placed them in the heavens to give light to 
the world, and assigned them a prescribed locality 
and motion. Mundilf are was the father of the sun 
and moon. He had two children, a son and a 
daughter, so lovely and graceful that he called 
the boy Maane (Moon), and the girl Sol (Sun), 
and Sol he gave in marriage to Glener (the Shining 
One). 

The gods, however, were much incensed at the 
presumption of Mundilfare, so they took his two 
children and placed them in the heavens, where they 
let Sol drive the horses of the Sun, while Maane 
guides the Moon and regulates its increasing and 
waning aspect. 

Very closely akin to a god of the Sun in Norse 
mythology is Balder the Good. He is the favorite 
of all the gods and of all men and nature. So fair 
and dazzling is he in form and features that rays of 
light seem to issue from him. Some idea of the 
beauty of his hair may be formed from the fact 
that the whitest of all plants is called Balder's brow. 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

Balder is described as the mildest, the wisest and 
the most eloquent of all the gods, yet such is his 
nature that the judgment he has pronounced can 
never he altered. He dwells in the heavenly mansion 
called Breidablik, meaning the broad-shining splen- 
dor, into which nothing unclean can enter. He is, 
in fact, the God of Light. Some one says of him, 1 
" Light is the best thing we have in the world ; 
it is white and pure; it cannot be wounded; no 
shock can disturb it ; nothing in the world can kill it 
excepting its own negative, darkness (Hoder). Loke 
(Fire) is jealous of it; the pure light of heaven 
and the blaze of fire are each other's enemies. Balder 
does not fight, the mythology gives no exploits by 
him; he only shines and dazzles, conferring bless- 
ings upon all, and this he continues to do steadfast 
and unchangeable, until darkness steals upon him — 
darkness that does not itself know what harm it is 
doing; and when Balder is dead, cries of lamenta- 
tion are heard throughout all nature. How his 
death occurred will be related in the story of him in 
this chapter. 

The God of the Sun in Egypt was Ka, though 
Osiris is often called the God of the Sun; and prob- 
ably was identified with the sun in some stage of the 
long development of this myth, as already mentioned. 

Like Balder and other sun gods, Ka has his fight 
with the demon of darkness in the under world, as 
described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, a trans- 
lation of which is given in this chapter. 

1 See Anderson's "Norse Mythology." 
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A Guide to Mythology 

In Greek mythology there are two gods of the 
sun and two goddesses of the moon. 1 The older 
ones were Helios and Selene, but they became iden- 
tified with the later celebrated pair, Phoebus Apollo 
and Artemis or Diana, as the Komans called her, 
the children of Zeus, the God of the Sky, and Latona. 
Apollo was not only a god of the sun, who brought 
the warm sun and the spring, but he was the healer, 
who warded off the dangers and diseases of summer 
and autumn. He had a temple at Delphi, where a 
priestess was wont to give forth oracles in regard 
to the future, supposed to be revealed by Apollo. 
He was a founder of cities, a promoter of coloniza- 
tion, a giver of good laws, and, finally, he was the 
patron of music and poetry. To him were sacred 
the wolf, the roe, the mouse, the he-goat, the ram, 
the dolphin, and the swan. 

An ancient hymn by Callimachus (240 b.c.) de- 
scribes him as follows: 

" How hath the laurel shoot of Apollo heaved! 
How the whole of the shrine ! Afar, afar be ye, sin- 
ners. Now verily doth Phoebus knock at the doors 
with beauteous foot. See you not? The Delian 
palm has nodded in a pleasant fashion on a sudden, 
and the swan sings sweetly on the air. Now of 
your own accord fall back, ye bolts of the doors, and 
of yourselves, ye bars. For no longer is the god 
afar off. Make ready, ye young men, for the song 
and the choir. Not to every one doth Apollo mani- 
1 See Gayley's "Classic Myths in English Literature." 
232 




Apollo with the Lyre. Glyptothek, Munich. 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

fest himself, but to only the good. Whoso shall 
have seen him, great is he; small that man who 
hath not seen him. 

" We shall behold thee, O Fardarter ! and shall be 
no more of small account. Nor silent lyre, nor 
noiseless tread should the servants of Phoebus have, 
when he sojourns among them. Listen and keep 
holy silence at the song in honor of Apollo. 

" Golden are both the garment and the clasp of 
Apollo, his lyre, his Lyctian bow, and his quiver: 
golden, too, his sandals; for Apollo is rich in gold, 
and has also many possessions. 

" And indeed he is ever beauteous, ever young. 

" Great, too, in art is no one so much as Apollo. 
" To Phoebus the care of the bow as well as of song 
is intrusted. 

" To him, likewise, belong divinations and divin- 
ers: and from Phoebus physicians have learned the 
art of delaying death. 

" And following Phoebus men are wont to measure 
out cities. For Phoebus ever delights in founding 
cities and Phoebus himself lays their foundations." 

The twin sister of Apollo, Artemis, is first of all 
the Goddess of the Moon. Its slender arc is her 
bow ; its beams are her arrows, with which she sends 
upon womenkind a painless death. She determined 

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A Guide to Mythology 

herself never to fall in love or marry, and so she 
imposed upon the nymphs she gathered about her 
vows of perpetual maidenhood, and if any of them 
broke these vows she punished them severely and 
swiftly. Graceful in form and free of movement, 
equipped for the chase, and surrounded by a bevy of 
fair companions, the swift-rushing goddess was wont 
to scour hill, valley, forest, and plain. She was, 
however, not only huntress, but guardian of wild 
beasts, mistress of horses and kine and other do- 
mestic brutes. She ruled marsh and mountain; 
her gleaming arrows smote sea as well as land. 
Springs and woodland brooks she favored, for in 
them she and her attendants were accustomed to 
bathe. She blessed with verdure the meadows and 
arable lands, and from them obtained a meed of 
thanks. When weary of the chase, she turned to 
music and dancing, for the lyre and flute and song 
were dear to her. Muses, graces, nymphs, and the 
fair goddesses themselves thronged the rites of the 
chorus-leading queen. But ordinarily a woodland 
chapel or a rustic altar sufficed for her worship. 
There the hunter laid his offering — antlers, skin, 
or edible portions of the deer that Artemis of the 
golden arrows had herself vouchsafed him. 

She was mistress of the brute creation, protec- 
tress of youth, patron of temperance in all things, 
guardian of civil right. The cypress tree was sacred 
to her; and her favorites were the bear, the boar, 
the dog, the goat, and especially the hind. 

A pretty picture is given of Artemis in a hymn 
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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

by Callimachus which describes how, when sitting 
yet a blooming child on the knees of her sire, she 
thus addressed him: 

" ' G-rant me, kind father, to preserve eternal 
maidenhood, and many names, that so Phoebus may 
not vie with me. And give me arrows and bow. 
Grant it, sire! I ask not a quiver of thee, nor a 
large bow: the cyclopes will forthwith forge me 
arrows, and fashion a flexible bow. And I ask to 
be girt as far as the knee with a tunic of colored 
border, that I may slay wild beasts. And give me 
sixty ocean nymphs to form my chorus, all young 
and of the same age. Give me likewise as attend- 
ants twenty Amnisian nymphs, who may duly take 
care of my buskins, and, when I no longer am 
shooting lynxes and stags, may tend my fleet dogs. 
Give me all mountains, and assign to me any city, 
whichsoever thou choosest. For 'twill be rare, when 
Artemis shall go down into a city. On mountains 
will I dwell.' 

" Thus having spoken, the maiden wished to touch 
the beard of her sire, and oft outstretched her hands 
to no purpose, until at last she might touch it. 
Then her father assented with a smile, and said as 
he fondled her: ' Have, child, whatever you ask of 
your own choice; but other yet greater gifts will 
your sire bestow. Thrice ten cities will I present to 
you, which shall not learn to honor any other god, 
but thee alone, and shall be called the cities of Arte- 
mis. And I will give thee many cities to measure 

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A Guide to Mythology 

out in common with other gods, on the continent and 
islands ; in all shall be altars and sacred groves of 
Artemis, and thou shalt be guardian over ways and 
harbors/ " 

THE DEATH OF BALDER THE GOOD 
(From the Norse Eddas) 

This was an event which the asas deemed of 
great importance. Balder the Good having been 
tormented by terrible dreams, indicating that his 
life was in great peril, communicated them to 
the assembled gods, who, sorrow-stricken, resolved 
to conjure all things to avert from him the threat- 
ened danger. Then Frigg exacted an oath from 
fire and water, from iron and all other metals, as 
well as from stones, earths, diseases, beasts, birds, 
poisons, and creeping things, that none of them 
would do any harm to Balder. Still Odin feared 
that the prosperity of the gods had vanished. He 
saddled his steed Sleipner and rode down to JSTifl- 
heim, where the dog from Hel met him; it was 
bloody on the breast and barked a long time at Odin. 
Odin advanced ; the earth trembled beneath him, and 
he came to the high dwelling of Hel. East of the 
door he knew the grave of the vala was situated; 
thither he rode and sang magic songs (Jcvao galdra), 
until she unwillingly stood up and asked who dis- 
turbed her peace, after she had been lying so long 
covered with snow and wet with dew. Odin called 
himself Vegtam, a son of Valtam, and asked for 
whom the benches were strewn with rings and the 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

couches were swimming in gold. She replied that 
the mead was brewed for Balder, but all the gods 
would despair. When Odin asked further who 
should be Balder's bane, she answered that Hoder 
would hurl the famous branch and become the bane 
of Odin's son; but Kind should give birth to a son 
who, only one night old, should wield a sword, and 
would neither wash his hands nor comb his hair be- 
fore he had avenged his brother. But recognizing 
Odin by an enigmatical question, she said : " You are 
not Vegtam, as I believed, but you are Odin, the 
old ruler." Odin replied: " You are no vala, but the 
mother of three giants." Then the vala told Odin 
to ride home and boast of his journey, but assured 
him that no one should again visit her thus before 
Loke should be loosed from his chains and the ruin 
of the gods had come. 

When it had been made known that nothing in 
the world would harm Balder, it became a favorite 
pastime of the gods at their meetings to get Balder 
to stand up and serve them as a mark, some hurling 
darts at him, some stones, while others hewed at 
him with their swords and battle-axes; for what- 
ever they did none of them could harm him, and 
this was regarded by all as a great honor shown 
to Balder. But when Loke Laufeyarson beheld the 
scene he was sorely vexed that Balder was not hurt. 
Assuming, therefore, the guise of a woman he went 
to Fensal, the mansion of Frigg. That goddess, see- 
ing the pretended woman, inquired of her whether 
she knew what the gods were doing at their meet- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ings. The woman (Loke) replied that they were 
throwing darts and stones at Balder without being 
able to hurt him. 

" Ay," said Frigg, " neither metal nor wood can 
hurt Balder, for I have exacted an oath from all of 
them." 

" What ! " exclaimed the woman, " have all 
things sworn to spare Balder ? " 

" All things," replied Frigg, " except one little 
shrub that grows on the eastern side of Valhal, and 
is called mistletoe, and which I thought too young 
and feeble to crave an oath from." 

As soon as Loke heard this he went away, and, 
resuming his natural form, pulled up the mistletoe 
and repaired to the place where the gods were as- 
sembled. There he found Hoder standing far to 
one side without engaging in the sport on account 
of his blindness. Loke, going up to him, said: 
" Why do not you also throw something at Balder ? " 

" Because I am blind," answered Hoder, " and 
cannot see where Balder is, and besides I have noth- 
ing to throw at him." 

" Come, then," said Loke, " do like the rest, and 
show honor to Balder by throwing this twig at him, 
and I will direct your arm toward the place where 
he stands." 

Hoder then took the mistletoe, and under the 
guidance of Loke darted it at Balder, who, pierced 
through and through, fell down lifeless. Surely 
never was there witnessed, either among gods or 
men, a more atrocious deed than this ! When Balder 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

fell the gods were struck speechless with horror, and 
then they looked at each other; and all were of one 
mind to lay hands on him who had done the deed, 
but they were obliged to delay their vengeance out 
of respect for the sacred place (place of peace) 
where they were assembled. They at length gave 
vent to their grief by such loud lamentations that 
they were not able to express their grief to one an- 
other. Odin, however, felt this misfortune most 
severely, because he knew best how great was the 
mischief and the loss which the gods had sustained 
by the death of Balder. When the gods were a little 
composed, Trigg asked who among them wished to 
gain all her love and favor by riding to the lower 
world to try and find Balder, and offer a ransom 
to Hel if she would permit Balder to return to As- 
gard; whereupon Hermod, surnamed the Nimble, 
offered to undertake the journey. Odin's horse 
Sleipner was then led forth and prepared for the 
journey ; Hermod mounted him and galloped hastily 
away. 

The gods then took the dead body of Balder and 
carried it to the sea, where lay Balder's ship, Ring- 
horn, which was the largest of all ships. But when 
they wanted to launch this ship, in order to make 
Balder's funeral pile on it, they were unable to 
move it from the place. In this predicament they 
sent a messenger to Jotunheim for a certain giantess 
named Hyrroken (the smoking fire), who came rid- 
ing on a wolf and had twisted serpents for her reins. 
As soon as she alighted Odin ordered four berserks 

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A Guide to Mythology 

to hold her steed, but they were obliged to throw 
the animal down on the ground before they could 
manage it. Hyrroken then went to the prow of the 
ship, and with a single push set it afloat; but the 
motion was so violent that fire sparkled from the 
underlaid rollers and the whole world shook. Thor, 
enraged at the sight, grasped his mallet and would 
have broken the woman's skull had not the gods in- 
terceded for her. Balder's body was then carried 
to the funeral pile on board the ship, and this cere- 
mony had such an effect upon Balder's wife Nanna, 
daughter of ISTep, that her heart broke with grief, 
and her body was laid upon the same pile and burned 
with that of her husband. Thor stood beside the 
pile and consecrated it with his hammer M joiner. 
Before his feet sprang up a dwarf called Lit. Thor 
kicked him with his foot into the fire, so that he 
also was burned. There was a vast concourse of 
various kinds of people at Balder's funeral proces- 
sion. First of all came Odin, accompanied by 
Frigg, the valkyries, and his ravens. Then came 
Frey in his chariot, drawn by the boar Gullinburste 
(gold-brush), or Slidrugtanne (the sharp-toothed). 
Heimdal rode his horse Goldtop, and Frey j a drove 
in her chariot drawn by cats. There were also a 
great number of frost giants and mountain giants 
present. Odin cast upon the funeral pile the famous 
ring Draupner, which had been made for him by 
the dwarfs, and possessed the property of producing 
every ninth night eight rings of equal weight. 
Balder's horse, fully caparisoned, was also laid upon 

240 



Diana or Artemis the Huntress. Versailles 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

the pile, and consumed in the same flames with the 
body of his master. 

Meanwhile Hermod was proceeding on his mis- 
sion. Of him it is to be related that he rode nine 
days and as many nights through dark and deep 
valleys — so dark that he could not discern anything 
until he came to the river Gjol and passed over the 
Gjallar bridge (bridge over the river Gjol), which 
is covered with glittering gold. Modgud, the maiden 
who kept the bridge, asked him his name and par- 
entage, and added that the day before five fylkes 
(kingdoms, bands) of dead men had ridden over the 
bridge; "but," she said, "it did not shake as much 
beneath all of them together as it does under you 
alone, and you have not the complexion of the dead; 
why, then, do you ride here on your way to Hel? " 
" I ride to Hel/' answered Hermod, " to seek for 
Balder; have you perchance seen him pass this 
way? " She replied that Balder had ridden over 
the Gjallar bridge, and that the road to the abodes 
of death (to Hel) lay downward and toward the 
north. 

Hermod then continued his journey until he came 
to the barred gates of Hel. Then he alighted from 
his horse, drew the girths tighter, remounted him, 
and clapped both spurs into him. The horse cleared 
the gate with a tremendous leap without touching it. 
Hermod then rode forward to the palace, alighted 
and went in, where he found his brother Balder 
occupying the most distinguished seat in the hall, 
and spent the night in his company. The next morn- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ing he entreated Hel (death) to let Balder ride 
home with him, representing to her the sorrow which 
prevailed among the gods. Hel replied that it 
should now be tried whether Balder was so univer- 
sally beloved as he was said to be; if, therefore, 
she added, all things in the world, the living as 
well as the lifeless, will weep for him, then he shall 
return to the gods, but if anything speak against 
him or refuse to weep, then Hel will keep him. 

After this Hermod rose up ; Balder went with him 
out of the hall and gave him the ring Draupner, to 
present as a keepsake to Odin. Nanna sent Frigg 
a carpet, together with several other gifts, and to 
Fulla she sent a gold finger-ring. Hermod then 
rode back to Asgard and related everything that he 
had heard and witnessed. 

The gods upon this dispatched messengers through- 
out all the world to beseech everything to weep, in 
order that Balder might be delivered from the power 
of Hel. All things very willingly complied with 
the request — man, animals, the earth, stones, trees, 
and all metals — just as we see things weep when 
they come out of the frost into the warm air. When 
the messengers were returning, with the conviction 
that their mission had been quite successful, they 
found on their way home a giantess (ogress, gygr) y 
who called herself Thok. They bade her also weep 
Balder out of the dominion of Hel. But she an- 
swered: 

Thok will weep 
With dry tears 
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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

For Balder 's death; 
Neither in life nor in death 
Gave he me gladness; 
Let Hel keep what she has. 

BATTLE BETWEEN" RA AND ANAPEF OR APEP IN THE 
UNDERWORLD 
(Egyptian) 

Get thee back, depart, retreat from me, O Ana- 
pef; withdraw, or thou shalt be drowned at the 
pool of jNu, at the place where thy father hath 
ordered that thy slaughter be performed. Depart 
thou from the divine place of birth of Ra, wherein 
is thy terror. I am Ra who dwelleth in his terror. 
Get thee back, Fiend, before the darts of his beams. 
Ra hath overthrown thy words, the gods have turned 
thy face backward, the Lynx hath torn open thy 
breast, the Scorpion hath cast fetters upon thee, and 
Maat hath sent forth thy destruction. Those who 
are in the ways have overthrown thee; fall down 
and depart, O Apep, thou Enemy of Ra! O thou 
that passest over the region in the eastern part of 
heaven with the sound of the roaring thunder-cloud, 
O Ra, who openest the gates of the horizon straight- 
way on thy appearance, Apep hath sunk helpless 
under thy gashings. I have performed thy will, 
O Ra, I have performed thy will, L have done 
that which is fair, L have done that which is fair, I 
have labored for the peace of Ra. I have made 
to advance thy fetters, O Ra, and Apep hath fallen 
through thy drawing them tight. The gods of the 

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A Guide to Mythology 



south and of the north, of the west and of the east, 
have fastened chains upon him, and they have fet- 
tered him with fetters; the god Rekes hath over- 
thrown him and the god Hertit hath put him in 
chains. Ra setteth, Ra setteth, Ra is strong at his 
setting. Apep hath fallen; Apep, the enemy of Ra, 
departeth. Greater is the punishment which hath 
been inflicted on thee than the sting which is the Scor- 
pion goddess, and mightily hath she, whose course 
is everlasting, worked in upon thee, and with deadly 
effect. Thou shalt never enjoy the delights of love, 
thou shalt never fulfil thy desire, O Apep, thou 
Enemy of Ra ! He maketh thee to go back, O 
thou who art hateful to Ra; he looketh upon thee, 
get thee back! He pierceth thy head, he cutteth 
through thy face, he divideth thy head at the two 
sides of the ways, and it is crushed in his land; 
thy bones are smashed in pieces, thy members are 
hacked off thee, and the god Aker hath condemned 
thee, O Apep, thou Enemy of Ra! Thy mariners 
are those who keep the reckoning for thee, O Ra; 
as thou advancest and thou resteth there within 
are the offerings made to thee. As thou advancest, 
as thou advancest toward the House. Let not any 
baleful obstacle proceed from thy mouth against me 
when thou workest on my behalf. I am Set, who 
let loose the storm-clouds and the thunder in the 
horizon of heaven. 



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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

THE STOKY OF PHCEBUS APOLLO 

(Greek) 

Soon after his birth the Sun God spent a year 
among the Hyperboreans, where for six continuous 
months of the year there is sunshine and spring, 
soft climate, profusion of herbs and flowers, and 
the very ecstasy of life. During this delay the 
Delphians sang pseans — hymns of praise — to Apollo, 
and danced in chorus about the tripod, or three- 
legged stool, where the expectant priestess of Apollo 
had taken her seat. At last, when the year was 
warm, came the god in his chariot drawn by swans — 
heralded by songs of springtide, of nightingales and 
swallows and crickets. Then the crystal fount of 
"Castalia and the stream Cephissus overflowed their 
bounds, and mankind made grateful offerings to the 
god. But his advent was not altogether peaceful. 
An enormous serpent (Python) had crept forth from 
the slime with which, after the flood, the earth was 
covered; and in the caves of Mount Parnassus this 
terror of the people lurked. Him Apollo encoun- 
tered, and after fearful combat slew with arrows, 
weapons which the god of the silver bow had not 
before used against any but feeble animals. In 
commemoration of this conquest, he instituted the 
Pythian games, in which the victor, in feats of 
strength, swiftness of foot, or in the chariot race, 
should be crowned with a wreath of beach leaves. 

In his conflict with another monster of darkness, 
Apollo had the assistance of his sister Artemis 

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A Guide to Mythology 

(Diana). By their unerring, fiery darts they sub- 
dued the giant Tityus, who not only had obstructed 
the peaceful ways to the oracle of Delphi, but had 
ventured to insult the mother of the twin deities. 

Another event in the life of Apollo shows the 
fatal effect of his fiery darts upon a young friend, 
Hyacinthus. The god of the silver bow was in the 
habit of going with Hyacinthus when he went forth 
on his hunting and fishing expeditions, or upon 
tramps in the mountains. One day they decided 
to play a game of quoits together. Apollo, heaving 
aloft the discus with strength mingled with skill, 
sent it high and far. Hyacinthus, excited with the 
sport and eager to make his throw, ran forward 
to seize the missile; but it bounded from the earth 
and struck him in the forehead. He fainted and 
fell. The god, as pale as himself, raised him and 
tried all his art to staunch the wound and retain 
the flitting life, but in vain. As when one has 
broken the stem of a lily in the garden it hangs 
its head and turns its flowers to the earth, so the 
head of the dying boy, as if too heavy for his neck, 
lell over on his shoulder. " Thou diest, Hyacinth," 
said Phcebus, " robbed of thy life by me. Would 
that I could die for thee ! But since that may not 
be, my lyre shall celebrate thee, my song shall tell 
thy fate, and thou shalt become a flower inscribed 
with my regret." While the golden god spoke, the 
blood which had flowed on the ground and stained 
the herbage ceased to be blood, and a flower of 
hue more beautiful than Tyrian purple sprang up, 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

resembling in shape the lily. Phoebns then, to con- 
fer still greater honor, marked the petals with his 
sorrow, inscribing " Ai ! ai ! " npon them. The 
flower bears the name of Hyacinthus, and with re- 
turning spring revives the memory of his fate. 

Apollo was also a perfect magician in music. 
He helped Neptune, the God of the Sea, to build 
the walls of the ancient and far-famed city of Troy 
simply by playing on his lyre. 

It is said that upon one occasion Pan had the 
temerity to compare his music with that of Apollo, 
and to challenge the God of the Lyre to a trial of 
skill. The challenge was accepted, and Tmolus, 
the Mountain God, was chosen umpire. The Senior 
took his seat, and cleared away the trees from his 
ears to listen. At a given signal, Pan blew on his 
pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satis- 
faction to himself and his faithful follower Midas, 
who happened to be present. Then Tmolus turned 
his head toward the Sun God, and all his trees 
turned with him. Apollo rose, his brow wreathed 
with Parnassian laurel, while his robe of Tyrian 
purple swept the ground. In his left hand he held 
the lyre, and with his right hand struck the strings. 
Tmolus at once awarded the victory to the lyric 
god, and all but Midas acquiesced in the judgment. 
He dissented, and questioned the justice of the 
award, and Apollo promptly transformed his de- 
praved pair of ears into those of an ass. 



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A Guide to Mythology 



THE STORY OF ARTEMIS AND ORION 
(Greek) 

Orion, the son of Neptune, was a giant and a 
mighty hunter, whose prowess and manly favor 
gained for him the rare good-will of Artemis. It is 
related that he loved Merope, the daughter of 
(Enopion, king of Chios, and sought her in mar- 
riage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and 
brought the spoils of the chase as presents to his 
beloved; but as (Enopion constantly deferred his 
consent, Orion attempted to gain possession of the 
maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this 
conduct, made Orion drunk, deprived him of his 
sight, and cast him out on the seashore. The 
blinded hero, instructed by an oracle to seek the 
rays of morning, followed the sound of a Cyclop's 
hammer till he reached Lenmos, where Vulcan, 
taking pity on him, gave him Cedalion, one of his 
men, to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Plac- 
ing Oedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to 
the east, and there meeting the Sun God, was re- 
stored to sight by his beam. 

After this he used to go hunting with Artemis, 
much to the displeasure of Apollo, who did not like 
his sister to make such a friend of Orion. One 
day, therefore, observing Orion as he walked through 
the sea, with his head just above water, Apollo 
pointed out the black object to his sister, and main- 
tained that she could not hit it. The archer goddess 
discharged a shaft with fatal aim; the waves rolled 

248 



Diana or Artemis. Correggio. 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

the dead body of Orion to the land. Then, be- 
wailing with many tears the death of her friend, 
Artemis placed him among the stars, where he ap- 
pears as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, 
and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the 
Pleiades fly before him. In the beginning of win- 
ter, all through the night, Orion follows the chase 
across the heavens, but with dawn he sinks toward 
the waters of his father, Neptune. In the begin- 
ning of summer he may be seen, with daybreak, in 
the eastern sky, till Artemis draws again her darts 
and slays him. 

The myths of the stars are almost as numerous 
as those of the sun and moon, and exist every- 
where. A very prevalent idea in regard to them 
is that human beings are transformed into stars; 
for example, in Australia they say that the god 
Pundjel made stars of all the good men and women 
after the Deluge. In Greek mythology, the gods 
very frequently turned men and women into stars. 
Both in Australia and Greece the stars the Greeks 
called, and we know now as, Castor and Pollux were 
two young men. In the first case they are said to 
be two hunters, in the second they were two brothers 
so famous for their brotherly love that Zeus, desir- 
ing to make their memory immortal, placed them 
both among the stars. Sometimes a human being 
or an animal is transformed into a whole constella- 
tion or group of stars. The story told about the 
constellations of the Great Bear and the Little Bear 

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A Guide to Mythology 

in Greece is that once a nymph, Callisto, of the train 
of Artemis, who fell in love, was changed into a 
bear by Juno. One day long after she saw a youth 
hunting, and recognized him as her own son. She 
stopped and wanted to embrace him, but her son, not 
recognizing her in her bear form, was on the point 
of transfixing her when Zeus arrested the crime, 
and, snatching away both of them, placed them in 
the heavens as the Great Bear and the Little Bear. 
The story of Orion's translation into a constellation 
has already been given. Around the group of stars 
called the Pleiades cluster many legends. Of this 
group of seven stars one is so dim that it seems 
entirely to disappear. A South Australian legend 
tells that the Pleiades were a queen and her six 
attendants. The Crow fell in love with the queen, 
who refused to be his wife. The Crow, however, 
found that the queen and her six maidens were in 
the habit of hunting for white, edible grubs in the 
bark of trees. The Crow at once changed himself 
into a grub and hid in the bark of a tree. The 
six maidens sought to pick him out with their 
wooden hooks, but he broke the points of all the 
hooks. Then came the queen with her pretty bone 
hook ; he let himself -be drawn out, took the shape 
of a giant, and ran away with her. Ever since there 
have only been six stars and six maidens in the 
Pleiades. According to a Greek myth, the Pleiades, 
who still fly before Orion in the heavens, were 
daughters of Atlas and nymphs of the train of 
Artemis. One day they were pursued by the giant 

250 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

hunter Orion, and, being very much frightened, 
they prayed to the gods to change their form. Zeus 
heard their prayers, changed them into pigeons, and 
placed them among the stars. Though their num- 
ber was seven, only six stars are now visible, for 
it is said Electra left her place that she might not 
behold the ruin of Troy, which had been founded 
by her son Dardanus. The sight had such an effect 
on her sisters that they blanched, and have been 
pale ever since. But Electra became a comet. Her 
hair floating wildly, she still ranges inconsolably the 
expanse of heaven. 

The prettiest notion in regard to the stars is that 
they are the souls of the dead. In Germany, for 
example, they thought that when a child died, God 
made a new star. 

The North American Indians are particularly fond 
of star myths, and they have invented some charm- 
ing star stories. According to them, stars might 
come down and talk to men, after the manner of 
one whose story is given below. It came down and 
told a hunter where to find game. 

Some of the animal constellations among the stars 
are evidently metamorphosed totems, for there is a 
widespread belief that these star animals or men 
were the ancestors of the people, and that ages ago 
they had been lifted up to heaven. The Milky Way 
is described by the Indians sometimes as the " path 
of spirits and the road of souls," sometimes as the 
" road of birds along which the souls of the good go 
flitting like birds, to dwell at last in heaven in peace." 

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A Guide to Mythology 



STORY OF THE CHILD AND THE STAR 
(Iowa Indian) 

Many years ago a child, when very young, ob- 
served a star in the heavens that attracted him more 
than any others. As the child grew to manhood his 
attachment increased. His thoughts dwelt contin- 
ually on this beauty of the night. One day, while 
hunting, as he sat down, travel-worn and weary 
with his ill-success, his beloved star appeared to him 
and comforted him with encouraging words, and then 
conducted him to a place where he found a great 
plenty and variety of game. From this time the 
young man showed a wonderful improvement in the 
art of hunting, and soon became celebrated in this 
pursuit. 

OSSEO, THE SON OF THE EVENING STAR 
(North American Indian) 

There once lived an Indian in the north who had 
ten daughters, all of whom grew up to womanhood. 
They were noted for their beauty, especially Owee- 
nee, the youngest, who was very independent in her 
way of thinking. She was a great admirer of ro- 
mantic places, and spent much of her time with the 
flowers and winds and clouds in the open air. 
Though the flower were homely, if it was fragrant 
— though the wind were rough, if it was healthful — 
and though the cloud were dark, if it embosomed 
the fruitful rain, she knew how, in spite of appear- 

252 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

ances, to acknowledge the good qualities concealed 
from the eye. She paid very little attention to the 
many handsome young men who came to her father's 
lodge for the purpose of seeing her. 

Her elder sisters were all sought in marriage, and 
one after the other they went off to dwell in the 
lodges of their husbands; but Oweenee was deaf to 
all proposals of the kind. At last she married an 
old man called Osseo, who was scarcely able to walk, 
and who was too poor to have things like others. 
The only property he owned in the world was the 
walking-staff which he carried in his hand. Though 
thus poor and homely, Osseo was a devout and good 
man; faithful in all his duties, and obedient in all 
things to the Good Spirit. Of course they jeered 
and laughed at Oweenee on all sides, but she seemed 
to be quite happy, and said to them, " It is my 
choice and you will see in the end who has acted 
the wisest." 

They made a special mock of the walking-staff, 
and scarcely an hour in the day passed that they did 
not make some disparaging reference to it. Among 
themselves they spoke of Osseo of the walking-staff, 
in derision, as the owner of the big woods, or the 
great timber-man. 

" True," said Oweenee, " it is but a simple stick ; 
but as it supports the steps of my husband, it is 
more precious to me than all the forests of the 
north." 

A time came when the sisters, and their husbands, 
and their parents were all invited to a feast. As 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the distance was considerable, they doubted whether 
Osseo, so aged and feeble, would be able to under- 
take the journey; but in spite of their friendly 
doubts, he joined them, and set out with a good 
heart. 

As they walked along the path they could not 
help pitying their young and handsome sister who 
had such an unsuitable mate. She, however, smiled 
upon Osseo, and kept with him by the way the same 
as if he had been the comeliest bridegroom in all 
the company. Osseo often stopped and gazed up- 
ward; but they could perceive nothing in the direc- 
tion in which he looked^ unless it was the faint 
glimmering of the evening star. They heard him 
muttering to himself as they went along, and one 
of the elder sisters caught the words, " Pity me, my 
father !" 

" Poor old man," said she ; " he is talking to his 
father. What a pity it is that he would not fall 
and break his neck, that our sister might have a 
young husband." 

Presently, as they came to a great rock where 
Osseo had been used to breathe his morning and 
his evening prayer, the star emitted a brighter ray, 
which shone directly in his face. Osseo, with a 
sharp cry, fell trembling to the earth, where the 
others would have left him ; but his good wife raised 
him up, and he sprang forward on the path, and 
with steps light as the reindeer he led the party, 
no longer decrepit and infirm, but a beautiful young 
man. On turning around to look for his wife, be- 

254 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

hold! she had become changed, at the same mo- 
ment, into an aged and feeble woman, bent almost 
double, and walking with the staff which he had cast 
aside. 

Osseo immediately joined her, and with looks of 
fondness and the tenderest regard, bestowed on her 
every endearing attention, and constantly addressed 
her by the term of ne-ne-moosh-a, or my sweetheart. 

As they walked along, whenever they were not 
gazing fondly in each other's face, they bent their 
looks on heaven, and a light, as if of far-off stars, 
was in their eyes. 

On arriving at the lodge of the hunter with whom 
they were to feast, they found the banquet ready, 
and as soon as their entertainer had finished his 
harangue — in which he told them his feasting was 
in honor of the Evening or Woman's Star — they 
began to partake of the portion dealt out, according 
to age and character, to each one of the guests. The 
food was very delicious, and they were all happy 
but Osseo, who looked at his wife, and then gazed 
upward, as if he was looking into the substance of 
the sky. Sounds were soon heard, as if from far- 
off voices in the air, and they became plainer and 
plainer, till he could clearly distinguish some of the 
words. 

" My son, my son," said the voice, " I have seen 
your afflictions, and pity your wants. I come to call 
you away from a scene that is stained with blood and 
tears. The earth is full of sorrows. Wicked spirits, 
the enemies of mankind, walk abroad, and lie in wait 

255 



A Guide to Mythology 

to ensnare the children of the sky. Every night 
they are lifting their voices to the Power of Evil, 
and every day they make themselves busy in casting 
mischief in the hunter's path. You have long been 
their victim, but you shall be their victim no more. 
The spell you were under is broken. Your evil 
genius is overcome. I have cast him down by my 
superior strength, and it is this strength I now exert 
for your happiness. Ascend, my son; ascend into 
the skies, and partake of the feast I have prepared 
for you in the stars, and bring with you those you 
love. 

" The food set before you is enchanted and blessed. 
Fear not to partake of it. It is endowed with magic 
power to give immortality to mortals, and to change 
men to spirits. Your bowls and kettles shall no 
longer be wood and earth. The one shall become 
silver and the other pure gold. They shall shine 
like fire, and glisten like the most beautiful scarlet. 
Every female shall also change her state and looks, 
and no longer be doomed to laborious tasks. She 
shall put on the beauty of the starlight, and become 
a shining bird of the air. She shall dance, and 
not work. She shall sing, and not cry. 

" My beams," continued the voice, " shine faintly 
on your lodge, but they have power to transform it 
into the lightness of the skies, and decorate it with 
the colors of the clouds. Come, Osseo, my son, and 
dwell no longer on earth. Think strongly on my 
words, and look steadfastly at my beams. My power 
is now at its height. Doubt not, delay not. It is 

256 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

the voice of the Spirit of the Stars that calls you 
away to happiness and celestial rest." 

The words were intelligible to Osseo, but his com- 
panions thought them some far-off sounds of music, 
or birds singing in the woods. Very soon the lodge 
began to shake and tremble, and they felt it rising 
into the air. It was too late to run out, for they 
were already as high as the tops of the trees. Osseo 
looked around him as the lodge passed through the 
topmost boughs, and behold! their wooden dishes 
were changed into shells of a scarlet color, the poles 
of the lodge to glittering rods of silver, and the bark 
that covered them into the gorgeous wings of insects. 

A moment more and his brothers and sisters, and 
their parents and friends, were transformed into 
birds of various plumage. Some were jays, some 
partridges and pigeons, and others gay singing birds, 
who hopped about, displaying their many-colored 
feathers, and singing songs of cheerful note. 

But his wife, Oweenee, still kept her earthly garb, 
and exhibited all the indications of extreme old age. 
He again cast his eyes in the direction of the clouds, 
and uttered the peculiar cry which had given him 
the victory at the rock. In a moment the youth and 
beauty of his wife returned; her dingy garments 
assumed the shining appearance of green silk, and 
her staff was changed into a silver feather. 

The lodge again shook and trembled, for they 
were now passing through the uppermost clouds, and 
they immediately after found themselves in the 
Evening Star, the residence of Osseo' s father. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

" My son," said the old man, " hang that cage of 
birds which you have brought along in your hand 
at the door, and I will inform you why you and 
your wife have been sent for." 

Osseo obeyed, and then took his seat in the lodge. 

" Pity was shown to you," resumed the King of 
the Star, " on account of the contempt of your 
wife's sisters, who laughed at her ill fortune, and 
ridiculed you while you were under the power of 
that wicked spirit whom you overcame at the rock. 
That spirit lives in the next lodge, being the small 
star you see on the left of mine, and he has always 
felt envious of my family because we had greater 
power, and especially because we had committed to us 
the care of the female world. He failed in many 
attempts to destroy your brothers and sisters-in-law, 
but succeeded at last in transforming yourself and 
your wife into decrepit old persons. You must be 
careful and not let the light of his beams fall on 
you while you are here, for therein lies the power 
of his enchantment. A ray of light is the bow and 
arrow he uses." 

Osseo lived happy and contented in the parental 
lodge, and in due time his wife presented him with 
a son, who grew up rapidly, and in the very likeness 
of Osseo himself. He was very quick and ready in 
learning everything that was done in his grand- 
father's dominions, but he wished also to learn the 
art of hunting, for he had heard that this was a 
favorite pursuit below. To gratify him, his father 
made him a bow and arrows, and he then let the 

256 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

birds out of the cage that he might practise in shoot- 
ing. In this pastime he soon became expert, and 
the very first day he brought down a bird ; but when 
he went to pick it up, to his amazement it was a 
beautiful young woman, with the arrow sticking in 
her breast. It was one of his younger aunts. 

The moment her blood fell upon the surface of 
that pure and spotless planet, the charm was dis- 
solved. The boy immediately found himself sink- 
ing, although he was partly upheld by something 
like wings until he passed through the lower clouds, 
and he then suddenly dropped upon a high, breezy 
island in a large lake. He was pleased, on looking 
up, to see all his aunts and uncles following him in 
the form of birds, and he soon discovered the silver 
lodge, with his father and mother, descending, with 
its waving tassels fluttering like so many insects' 
gilded wings. It rested on the loftiest cliffs of the 
island, and there they fixed their residence. They 
all resumed their natural shapes, but they were di- 
minished to the size of fairies; and as a mark of 
homage to the King of the Evening Star, they never 
failed on every pleasant evening during the summer 
season to join hands and dance upon the top of the 
rocks. These rocks were quickly observed by the 
Indians to be covered, in moonlight evenings, with a 
larger sort of Ininees, or little men, and were called 
Mish-in-e-mok-in-ok-ong, or Little Spirits, and the 
island is named from them to this day. 

Their shining lodge can be seen in the summer 
evenings, when the moon beams strongly on the pin- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

nacles of the rocks; and the fishermen who go near 
those high cliffs at night have even heard the voices 
of the happy little dancers. And Osseo and his 
wife, as fondly attached to each other as ever, al- 
ways lead the dance. 

THE WANDERING STAB 
(A Chippewa Legend) 

A quarrel arose among the stars, when one of 
them was driven from its home in the heavens, and 
descended to the earth. It wandered from one path 
to another, and was seen hovering over the camp- 
fires when the people were preparing to sleep. 
Among all the people in the world, only one could 
be found who was not afraid of this star, and this 
was a daughter of a Chippewa. She was not afraid 
of the star, but admired and loved it. When she 
awoke in the night she always beheld it, for the 
star loved the maiden. In midsummer the young 
girl, on going into the woods for berries, lost her 
way, when a storm arose. Her cries for rescue were 
answered only by the frogs. A lonely night came, 
when she looked for her star in vain; the storm 
overcast the sky, and at length caught her in its* 
fury and bore her away. Many seasons passed, 
during which the star was seen, dimmed and wan- 
dering, in the sky. At length, one autumn, it dis- 
appeared. Then a hunter saw a small light hang- 
ing over the water within the marshland in which 
he was hunting. He returned to announce the 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

strange sight. " That," said the old wise man, " was 
the star driven from heaven, now wandering in 
search of our lost maiden, our beautiful child of 
the Chippewas." 

THE DAUGHTERS OF THE STARS 
(North American Indian) 

Waupee, or the White Hawk, lived in a remote 
part of the forest, where animals abounded. Every 
day he returned from the chase with a large spoil, 
for he was one of the most skilful and lucky hunt- 
ers of his tribe. His form was like the cedar; the 
fire of youth beamed from his eye; there was no 
forest too gloomy for him to penetrate, and no track 
made by bird or beast of any kind which he could 
not readily follow. 

One day he had gone beyond any point which he 
had ever before visited. He travelled through an 
open wood, which enabled him to see a great dis- 
tance. At length he beheld a light breaking through 
the foliage of the distant trees, which made him 
sure that he was on the borders of a prairie. It 
was a wide plain, covered with long blue grass, and 
enamelled with flowers of a thousand lovely tints. 

After walking for some time without a path, 
musing upon the open country, and enjoying the 
fragrant breeze, he suddenly came to a ring worn 
among the grass and the flowers, as if it had been 
made by footsteps moving lightly round and round. 
But it was strange — so strange as to cause the White 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Hawk to pause and gaze long and fixedly upon the 
ground — there was no path which led to this flowery 
circle. There was not even a crushed leaf nor a 
broken twig, nor the least trace of a footstep, ap- 
proaching or retiring, to be found. He thought he 
would hide himself and lie in wait to discover^ if 
he could, what this strange circle meant. 

Presently he heard the faint sounds of music in 
the air. He looked up in the direction they came 
from, and as the magic notes died away he saw a 
small object, like a little summer cloud that ap- 
proaches the earth, floating down from above. At 
first it was very small, and seemed as if it could 
have been blown away by the first breeze that came 
along; but it rapidly grew as he gazed upon it, and 
the music every moment came clearer and more 
sweetly to his ear. As it neared the earth it ap- 
peared as a basket, and it was filled with twelve 
sisters, of the most lovely forms and enchanting 
beauty. 

As soon as the basket touched the ground they 
leaped out, and began straightway to dance, in the 
most joyous manner, around the magic ring, strik- 
ing, as they did so, a shining ball, which uttered the 
most ravishing melodies, and kept time as they 
danced. 

The White Hawk, from his concealment, en- 
tranced, gazed upon their graceful forms and move- 
ments. He admired them all, but he was most 
pleased with the youngest. He longed to be at 
her side, to embrace her, to call her his own; and 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

unable to remain longer a silent admirer, he rushed 
out and endeavored to seize this twelfth beauty who 
so enchanted him. But the sisters, with the quick- 
ness of birds, the moment they descried the form 
of a man, leaped back into the basket, and were 
drawn up into the sky. 

Lamenting his ill-luck, Waupee gazed longingly 
upon the fairy basket as it ascended and bore the 
lovely sisters from his view. " They are gone," he 
said, " and I shall see them no more." 

He returned to his solitary lodge, but he found 
no relief to his mind. He walked abroad, but to 
look at the sky, which had withdrawn from his sight 
the only being he had ever loved, was painful to 
him now. 

The next day, selecting the same hour, the White 
Hawk went back to the prairie, and took his station 
near the ring; in order to deceive the sisters, he 
assumed the form of an opossum, and sat among 
the grass as if he were there engaged in chewing 
the cud. He had not waited long when he saw the 
cloudy basket descend, and heard the same sweet 
music falling as before. He crept slowly toward 
the ring; but the instant the sisters caught sight of 
him they were startled, and sprang into their car. 
It rose a short distance when one of the elder sisters 
spoke. 

" Perhaps," she said, " it has come to show us how 
the game is played by mortals." 

" Oh, no ! " the youngest replied. " Quick, let 
us ascend." 

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A Guide to Mythology 

And all joining in a chant, they rose out of 
sight. 

Waupee, casting off his disguise, walked sorrow- 
fully back to his lodge — but, ah! the night seemed 
very long to lonely White Hawk. His whole soul 
was filled with the thought of the beautiful sister. 

Betimes, the next day, he returned to the haunted 
spot, hoping and fearing, and sighing as though his 
very soul would leave his body in its anguish. He 
reflected upon the plan he should follow to secure 
success. He had already failed twice; to fail a 
third time would be fatal. Xear by he found an 
old stump, much covered with moss, and just then 
in use as the residence of a number of mice, who 
had stopped there on a pilgrimage to some relatives 
on the other side of the prairie. The White Hawk 
was so pleased with their tidy little forms that he 
thought he, too, would be a mouse, especially as they 
were by no means formidable to look at, and would 
not be at all likely to create alarm. 

He accordingly, having first brought the stump 
and set it near the ring, without further notice 
became a mouse, and peeped and sported about, and 
kept his sharp little eyes busy with the others; but 
he did not forget to keep one eye up toward the sky, 
and one ear wide open in the same direction. 

It was not long before the sisters, at their custom- 
ary hour, came down and resumed their sport. 

" But see," cried the younger sister, " that stump 
was not there before." 

She ran off, frightened, toward the basket. Her 
264 



Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

sisters only smiled, and gathering round the old 
tree stump, they struck it, in jest, when out ran 
the mice, and among them Waupee. They killed 
them all but one, which was pursued by the younger 
sister. Just as she had raised a silver stick which 
she held in her hand to put an end to it, too, the 
form of the White Hawk arose, and he clasped his 
prize in his arms. The other eleven sprang to their 
basket, and were drawn up to the skies. 

Waupee exerted all his skill to please his bride 
and win her affections. He wiped the tears from 
her eyes; he related his adventures in the chase; he 
dwelt upon the charms of life on the earth. He was 
constant in his attentions, keeping fondly by her 
side, and picking out the way for her to walk as he 
led her gently toward his lodge. He felt his heart 
glow with joy as he entered it, and from that mo- 
ment he was one of the happiest of men. 

Winter and summer passed rapidly away, and as 
the spring drew near with its balmy gales and its 
many-colored flowers, their happiness was increased 
by the presence of a beautiful boy in their lodge. 
What more of earthly blessing was there for them 
to enjoy % 

Waupee's wife was a daughter of one of the stars, 
and as the scenes of earth began to pall upon her 
sight, she sighed to revisit her father. But she 
was obliged to hide these feelings from her hus- 
band. She remembered the charm that would carry 
her up, and while White Hawk was engaged in the 
chase, she took occasion to construct a wicker bas- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

ket, which she kept concealed. In the meantime 
she collected such rarities from the earth as she 
thought would please her father, as well as the most 
dainty kinds of food. 

One day when Waupee was absent, and all was 
in readiness, she went out to the charmed ring, 
taking with her her little son. As they entered the 
car she commenced her magical song, and the basket 
rose. The song was sad, and of a lowly and mourn- 
ful cadence, and as it was wafted far away by the 
wind, it caught her husband's ear. It was a voice 
which he well knew, and he instantly ran to the 
prairie. Though he made breathless speed, he could 
not reach the ring before his wife and child had 
ascended beyond his reach. He lifted up his voice 
in loud appeals, but they were unavailing. The 
basket still went up. He watched it till it became 
a small speck, and finally it vanished in the sky. 
He then bent his head down to the ground, and was 
miserable. 

Through a long winter and a long summer Wau- 
pee bewailed his loss, but he found no relief. The 
beautiful spirit had come and gone, and he should 
see it no more ! 

He mourned his wife's loss sorely, but his son's 
still more ; for the boy had both the mother's beauty 
and the father's strength. 

In the meantime his wife had reached her home 
in the stars, and in the blissful employments of her 
father's house she had almost forgotten that she had 
left a husband upon the earth. But her son, as he 

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Myths of the Sun, Moon, and Stars 

grew up, resembled more and more his father, and 
every day he was restless and anxious to visit the 
scene of his birth. His grandfather said to his 
daughter, one day: 

" Go, my child, and take your son down to his 
father, and ask him to come up and live with us. 
But tell him to bring along a specimen of each kind 
of bird and animal he kills in the chase." 

She accordingly took the boy and descended. 
The White Hawk, who was ever near the enchanted 
spot, heard her voice as she came down the sky. 
His heart beat with impatience as he saw her form 
and that of his son, and they were soon clasped in 
his arms. 

He heard the message of the Star, and he began 
to hunt with the greatest activity, that he might 
collect the presents with all dispatch. He spent 
whole nights, as well as days, in searching for every 
curious and beautiful animal and bird. He only 
preserved a foot, a wing, or a tail of each. 

When all was ready, Waupee visited once more 
each favorite spot — the hill-top whence he had been 
used to see the rising sun; the stream where he had 
sported as a boy ; the old lodge, now looking sad and 
solemn, which he was to sit in no more; and, last 
of all, coming to the magic circle, he gazed widely 
around him with tearful eyes, and, taking his wife 
and child by the hand, they entered the car and 
were drawn up — into a country far beyond the flight 
of birds, or the power of mortal eye to pierce. 

Great joy was manifested upon their arrival at the 
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A Guide to Mythology 



starry plains. The Star Chief invited all his people 
to a feast; and when they had assembled, he pro- 
claimed aloud that each one might continue as he 
was, an inhabitant of his own dominions, or select 
of the earthly gifts such as he liked best. A very 
strange confusion immediately arose; not one but 
sprang forward. Some chose a foot, some a wing, 
some a tail, and some a claw. Those who selected 
tails or claws were changed into animals, and ran 
off; the others assumed the form of birds, and flew 
away. Waupee chose a white hawk's feather. His 
wife and son followed his example, and each one 
became a white hawk. He spread his wings, and, 
followed by his wife and son, descended with the 
other birds to the earth, where he is still to be 
found, with the brightness of the starry plains in 
his eye and the freedom of the heavenly breezes 
in his wings. 



268 



CHAPTER VI 



MYTHS OF THE SKY AND AIR 

THE sky and the air are identified with the 
highest conceptions of divinity reached in the 
myths either of savage or more cultured races. The 
Great Spirit of the North American Indians was 
the god of the sky. Varuna, the all-seeing, merciful 
god of the Hindoos, was the god of the vault of 
heaven. Zeus, the supreme god of the Greeks, was 
the sky god; also Odin, the great god in Norse 
mythology (although above him was a mysterious, 
unnamable god), Ormuzd in Persian mythology, 
Rangi in Polynesian, in Japan the Invisible Lord 
of the Middle Heaven. Closely related in power 
to the gods of the sky are the gods of wind or storm. 
Sometimes the god of the sky is himself the wielder 
of the thunder, as in the case of Zeus, and sometimes 
there is a special god of storm or thunder, as the 
Indra of the Hindoos or the Thor of the Norsemen. 
In Indian myths, Manabozho often wielded the thun- 
der and lightning, and he has contests with another 
god of the air, Paup-puk-keewis, the wind, a person- 
age full of mischief, as wind gods are apt to be, like 
the Greek Hermes. The personification of wind and 
thunder as birds is very common, and many a quaint 

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A Guide to Mythology 

tale results from this mythical idea. The Sioux 
Indians believed in a god, Wah-keen-yan, in the 
form of a large bird, whose flapping wings made 
the thunder. He lived in the far, far west, on a 
mound rising from a mountain top. To his tent 
there are four openings, in which there are senti- 
nels clothed in red down. At the east is a butter- 
fly, at the west a bear; a fawn is at the south, and 
a reindeer is at the north. He fashioned the first 
spear and tomahawk, and attempted to kill the 
offspring of Oan-tay-hee, his bitter enemy. If 
Oan-tay-he came near the surface of the earth, then 
Wah-keen-yan would fire a hot thunderbolt at him. 
Another of his enemies was Chaho-ter'dah, the god 
of the forest. It was said that the god of thunder 
often came racing along, hurling lightning at a tree, 
to kill the forest god, who, having been warned, 
had taken refuge in the water. Then Chaho-ter'dah 
would ascend a tree and hurl his lightning at his 
adversary to bring him down to submission. 

Another thunder bird is Sootooch, believed in by 
the natives of Vancouver's Island. He is a mighty 
bird, dwelling aloft and far away, the flap of whose 
wings makes the thunder, and his tongue is the 
forked lightning. There were once four of these 
birds in the land, and they fed on whales. But 
the great deity Quawteaht, entering into a whale, 
enticed one thunder bird after another to swoop 
down and seize him with its talons. Then he would 
plunge to the bottom of the sea and drown it. Thus 
three of them perished, but the last one spread his 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

wings and flew to the distant height, where he has 
since remained. 

The Dakotahs say that thunder is a large bird 
flying through the air. Its bright tracks are seen 
in the air before you hear the clapping of its wings. 
The old bird begins the thunder, but its rumbling 
noise is caused by an immense quantity of young 
birds or thunders that do the mischief. They are 
like the young, mischievous men that will not listen to 
good counsel. The old Thunder is wise and good, and 
does not kill anybody nor do any kind of mischief. 

The chief god of the Brazilians is a large bird 
who sweeps over the heavens, watching his children 
and watering their crops. He warns them of his 
presence by the mighty sound of his voice, the rush- 
ing of his wings, and the flash of his eye. This 
interesting bird is worshipped in a way befitting his 
nature. A dry gourd is filled with pebbles and 
decked with feathers and arrows, which is rattled 
vigorously to symbolize the drama of the storm. 
This curious implement has another element of in- 
terest in the fact that it is one of the earliest forms 
of musical instrument. 

An equally remarkable variety of bird is the wind 
bird, who wings his way through all mythologies in 
one form or another. Although the wind in Greece 
had risen to man's estate, it was still represented 
as having wings. Even the wind god Hermes, far 
removed as he is from the savage idea of the wind, 
could not get along without wings for his feet and 
head. Zeus, also, has a raven for his messenger, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

and Odin has the ravens Hugin and Munin, who 
fly every day over the whole world and report to 
him on their return what they have seen. Besides, 
there is a ^Norse god of the winds — a giant who 
sits in the northern extremity of heaven, clad in 
eagle's plumes. When he spreads out his wings for 
flight the winds arise from under them. 

The thunder, however, like the wind, even among 
savages, is sometimes personified as men, as in the 
following Algonquin stories: 

HOW A HUNTER VISITED THE THUNDER SPIRITS WHO 
DWELL IN MOUNT KATAHDIN 
(Passamaquoddy) 

Wharnayoo. Of old times. Once an Indian 
went forth to hunt. And he departed from the 
east hranch of the Penobscot, and came to the head 
of another hranch that leads into the east branch, 
and this he followed even to the foot of Mount 
Katahdin. And there he hunted many a day alone, 
and met none, till one morning in midwinter he 
found the track of snowshoes. So he returned to 
his camp; but the next day he met with it again 
in a far-distant place. And thus it was that, wher- 
ever he went, this track came to him every day. 
Then noting this, as a sign to be observed, he fol- 
lowed it, and it went up the mountain Katahdin, 
which, being interpreted, means " the great moun- 
tain," until at last it was lost in a hard suowshoe 
road made by many travellers. And since it was 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

hard and even, he took off his agahmooh (P.), or 
snowshoes, and went ever on and up with the road; 
and it was a strange path and strange was its end- 
ing, for it stopped just before a high ledge, like an 
immense wall, on a platform at its foot. And there 
were many signs there, as of many people, yet he 
saw no one. And as he stayed it seemed to grow 
stranger and stranger. At last he heard a sound as 
of footsteps coming, yet within the wall, when lo! 
a girl stepped directly out of the precipice upon the 
platform. But though she was beautiful beyond 
belief, he was afraid. And to his every thought 
she answered in words, and that so sweetly and 
kindly and cleverly that he was soon without fear, 
though he saw that she had powerful m'teoulin, or 
great magic power. And they being soon pleased 
one with the other, and wanting each other, she 
bade him accompany her, and that by walking di- 
rectly through the rock. " Have no fear," said she, 
" but advance boldly ! " So he obeyed, and lo ! the 
rock was as the air, and it gave way as he went on. 
And ever as they went the maiden talked to him, 
answering his thoughts, so that he spoke not aloud. 

And anon they came to a great cavern far within, 
and there was an old man seated by a fire, and the 
old man welcomed him. And he was very kindly 
treated by the strange pair all day : in all his life he 
had never been so happy. Now as the night drew 
near, the old man said to his daughter, " Can you 
hear aught of your brothers ? " Then she went out 
to the terrace, and, returning, said, " No." Then 

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A Guide to Mythology 

anon he asked her again, and she, going and return- 
ing as before, replied, " Now I hear them coming." 
Then they listened, when lo ! there came, as at the 
door without, a crash of thunder with a flash of 
lightning, and out of the light stepped two young 
men of great beauty, but like giants, stupendous and 
of awful mien. And, like their father, their eye- 
brows were of stone, while their cheeks were as rocks. 

And the hunter was told by their sister that when 
they went forth, which was every few days, their 
father said to them : " Sons, arise ! it is time now 
for you to go forth over the world and save our 
friends. Go not too near the trees, but if you see 
aught that is harmful to those whom we love, strike, 
and spare not ! " Then when they went forth they 
flew on high, among the clouds: and thus it is that 
the Thunder and Lightning, whose home is in the 
mighty Katahdin, are made. And when the thun- 
der strikes, the brothers are shooting at the enemies 
of their friends. 

Now when the day was done the hunter returned 
to his home, and when there found he had been 
gone seven years. All this I have heard from the 
old people who are dead and gone. 

THE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING MEN 
(Passamaquoddy) 

This is truly an old Indian story of old time. 
Once an Indian was whirled up by the roaring 
wind: he was taken up in a thunder-storm, and set 

274 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

down again in the village of the Thunders. In 
after times he described them as very like human 
beings: they used bows and arrows (tah-bokque) , 
and had wings. 

But these wings can be laid aside, and kept for 
use. And from time to time their chief gives these 
Thunders orders to put them on, and tells them 
where to go. He also tells them how long they are 
to be gone, and warns them not to go too low, for 
it is sure death for them to be caught in the crotch 
of a tree. 

The great chief of the Thunders, hearing of the 
stranger's arrival, sent for him, and received him 
very kindly, and told him that he would do well to be- 
come one of them. To which the man being willing, 
the chief soon after called all his people together to 
see the ceremony of thunderifying the Indian. 

Then they bade him go into a square thing, or 
box, and while in it he lost his senses and became 
a Thunder. Then they brought him a pair of wings, 
and he put them on. So he flew about like the rest 
of the Thunders; he became quite like them, and 
followed all their ways. And he said that they 
always flew toward the sou n snook, or south, and 
that the roar and crash of the thunder was the sound 
of their wings. Their great amusement is to play 
at ball across the sky. When they return they care- 
fully put away their wings for their next flight. 
There is a big bird in the south, and this they are 
always trying to kill, but never succeed in doing so. 

They made long journeys, and always took him 
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A Guide to Mythology 

with them. So it went on for a long time, but it 
came to pass that the Indian began to tire of his 
strange friends. Then he told the chief that he 
wished to see his family on earth, and the sagamore 
listened to him and was very kind. Then he called 
all his people together, and said that their brother 
from the other world was very lonesome, and wished 
to return. They were all very sorry indeed to lose 
him, but because they loved him they let him have 
his own way, and decided to carry him back again. 
So bidding him close his eyes till he should be on 
earth, they carried him down. 

The Indians saw a great thunder-storm drawing 
near; they heard such thunder as they never knew 
before, and then something in the shape of a human 
being coming down with lightning; then they ran 
to the spot where he sat, and it was their long-lost 
brother, who had been gone seven years. 

He had been in the Thunder-world. He told them 
how he had been playing ball with the Thunder- 
boys ; yes, how he had been turned into a real Thun- 
der himself. 

HOW GLOOSKAP BOUND WUCHOWSEN, THE GREAT 
WIND-BIRD, AND MADE ALL THE WATERS IN 
ALL THE WORLD STAGNANT 
(Passamaquoddy) 

The Indians believe in a great bird called by them 
Wocliowsen or Wuchowsen, meaning Wind-Blow or 
the Wind-Blower, who lives far to the North, and 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

sits upon a great rock at the end of the sky. And 
it is because whenever he moves his wings the wind 
blows they of old times called him that. 

When Glooskap was among men he often went 
out in his canoe with bow and arrows to kill sea- 
fowl. At one time it was every day very windy; 
it grew worse; at last it blew a tempest, and he 
could not go out at all. Then he said : " Wuchow- 
sen, the Great Bird, has done this ! " 

He went to find him; it was long ere he reached 
his abode. He found sitting on a high rock a large 
white Bird. 

" Grandfather," said Glooskap, " you take no com- 
passion on your Koosesek, your grandchildren. You 
have caused this wind and storm; it is too much. 
Be easier with your wings ! " 

The Giant Bird replied : " I have been here since 
ancient times; in the earliest days, ere aught else 
spoke, I first moved my wings; mine was the first 
voice — and I will ever move my wings as I will." 

Then Glooskap rose in his might; he rose to the 
clouds; he took the Great Bird-giant Wuchowsen as 
though he were a duck, and tied both his wings, 
and threw him down into a chasm between deep 
rocks, and left him lying there. 

The Indians could now go out in their canoes all 
day long, for there was a dead calm for many weeks 
and months. And with that all the waters became 
stagnant. They were so thick that Glooskap could 
not paddle his canoe. Then he thought of the Great 
Bird, and went to see him. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

As he had left him he found him, for Wuchowsen 
is immortal. So, raising him, he put him on his 
rock again, and untied one of his wings. Since then 
the winds have never heen so terrible as in the old 
time. 

THE WONDERFUL EXPLOITS OF PAUP-PUE>KEEWISS 

A man of large stature found himself standing 
alone on a prairie. He thought to himself : " How 
came I here ? Are there no beings on this earth 
but myself ? I must travel and see. I must walk 
till I find the abodes of men." 

So soon as his mind was made up he set out, he 
knew not whither, in search of habitations. He was 
a resolute fellow, and no difficulties could turn him 
from his purpose: neither prairies, rivers, woods, 
nor storms had the effect to daunt his courage or 
turn him back. After travelling a long time he 
came to a wood, in which he saw decayed stumps 
of trees, as if they had been cut in ancient times, 
but no other trace of men. Pursuing his journey, 
he found more recent marks of the same kind ; after 
this he came upon fresh traces of human beings; 
first their footsteps, and then the wood they had 
felled, lying in heaps. Pushing on, he emerged 
toward dusk from the forest, and beheld at a dis- 
tance a large village of high lodges standing on 
rising ground. 

" I am tired of this dog-trot," he said to himself. 
" I will arrive there on a run." 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

He started off with all his speed. On coming to 
the first lodge, without any especial exertion, he 
jumped over it, and found himself standing by the 
door on the other side. Those within saw some- 
thing pass over the opening in the roof, and then 
they heard a thump upon the ground. " What is 
that ? " they all said, and one ran out to see and 
invited him in. He found himself in company with 
an old chief and several men who were seated in 
the lodge. Meat was set before him, after which 
the old chief asked him whither he was going, and 
what was his name. He answered that he was in 
search of adventures, and that his name was " Paup- 
puk-keewiss." 

They all opened their eyes upon the stranger with 
a broad stare. 

" Paup-puk-keewiss ! " whispered one to another, 
and a general titter went round. 

They invited him to stay with them, which he 
was inclined to do, for it was a pleasant village, 
but so small as constantly to embarrass Paup-puk- 
keewiss. He was in perpetual trouble ; whenever 
he shook hands with a stranger to whom he might 
be introduced, such was the abundance of his 
strength, without meaning it, he wrung his arm 
off at the shoulder. Once or twice, in mere sport, 
he cuffed the boys about the lodge by the side of 
the head, and they flew out of sight as though they 
had been shot from a bow; nor could they ever 
be found again, though they were searched for in 
all the country round, far and wide. If Paup-puk- 

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f A Guide to Mythology 

keewiss proposed to himself a short stroll in the 
morning, he was at once miles out of town. When 
he entered a lodge, if he happened for a moment 
to forget himself, he walked straight through the 
leathern, or wooden, or earthen walls as if he had 
been merely passing through a bush. At his meals 
he broke in pieces all the dishes, set them down 
as lightly as he would; and, putting a leg out of 
bed when he rose, it was a common thing for him 
to push off the top of the lodge. 

He wanted more elbow-room, and after a short 
stay, in which, by the accidental letting go of his 
strength, he had nearly laid waste the whole place, 
and filled it with demolished lodges and broken pot- 
tery and one-armed men, he made up his mind to 
go farther, taking with him a young man who had 
formed a strong attachment for him, and who might 
serve him as his pipe-bearer; for Paup-puk-keewiss 
was a huge smoker, and vast clouds followed him 
wherever he went, so that people could say, " Paup- 
puk-keewiss is coming ! " by the mighty smoke he 
raised. 

They set out together, and when his companion 
was fatigued with walking, Paup-puk-keewiss would 
put him forward on his journey a mile or two by 
giving him a cast in the air and lighting him in a 
soft place among the trees, or in a cool spot in a 
water-pond, among the sedges and water-lilies. At 
other times he would lighten the way by showing 
off a few tricks, such as leaping over trees, and 
turning round on one leg till he made the dust fly; 

280 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

at which the pipe-bearer was mightily pleased, al- 
though it sometimes happened that the character of 
these gambols frightened him. For Paup-puk-kee- 
wiss would, without the least hint of such an in- 
tention, jump into the air far ahead, and it would 
cost the little pipe-bearer half a day's hard travel 
to come up with him; and then the dust Paup-puk- 
keewiss raised was often so thick and heavy as com- 
pletely to bury the poor little pipe-bearer, and com- 
pel Paup-puk-keewiss to dig diligently and with 
might and main to get him out alive. 

One day they came to a very large village, where 
they were well received. After staying in it some 
time (in the course of which Paup-puk-keewiss, in 
a fit of abstraction, walked straight through the sides 
of three lodges without stopping to look for the 
door), they were informed of a number of wicked 
spirits, who lived at a distance, and who made it 
a practice to kill all who came to their lodge. At- 
tempts had been made to destroy them, but they 
had always proved more than a match for such as 
had come out against them. 

Paup-puk-keewiss determined to pay them a visit, 
although he was strongly advised not to do so. The 
chief of the village warned him of the great danger 
he would incur, but finding Paup-puk-keewiss re- 
solved, he said: 

" Well, if you will go, being my guest I will send 
twenty warriors to serve you." 

Paup-puk-keewiss thanked him for the offer, al- 
though he suggested that he thought he could get 

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A Guide to Mythology 

along without them, at which the little pipe-bearer 
grinned, for his master had never shown in that 
village what he could do, and the chief thought that 
he, Paup-puk-keewiss, would be likely to need twenty 
warriors, at the least, to encounter the wicked spirits 
with any chance of success. Twenty young men 
made their appearance. They set forward, and after 
about a day's journey they descried the lodge of the 
Manitoes. 

Paup-puk-keewiss placed his friend, Pipe-bearer, 
and the warriors near enough to see all that passed, 
while he went alone to the lodge. 

As he entered, Paup-puk-keewiss saw five horrid- 
looking Manitoes in the act of eating. It was the 
father and his four sons. They were really hideous 
to look upon. Their eyes were swimming low in 
their heads, and they glared about as if they were 
half starved. They offered Paup-puk-keewiss some- 
thing to eat, which he politely refused, for he had 
a strong suspicion that it was the thigh-bone of a 
man. 

" What have you come for ? " said the old one. 
" Nothing/' answered Paup-puk-keewiss. 
They all stared at him. 

" Do you not wish to wrestle % " they all asked. 

" Yes," replied Paup-puk-keewiss, " I don't mind 
if I do take a turn." 

Pipe-bearer, who stood near enough to overhear 
the conversation, grinned from ear to ear when he 
caught this remark. A hideous smile came over the 
faces of the Manitoes. 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

"You go," they said to the eldest brother. 

The two got ready — the Manito and Paup-puk- 
keewiss — and they were soon clinched in each other's 
arms for a deadly throw. Paup-puk-keewiss knew 
their object — his death; they wanted a taste of his 
body, and he was determined they should have it, 
perhaps in a different sense from that they in- 
tended. 

" Haw ! haw ! " they cried, and soon the dust and 
dry leaves flew about as if driven by a strong wind. 
The Manito was strong, but Paup-puk-keewiss 
thought he could master him; and all at once, 
giving him a sly trip as the wicked spirit was 
trying to finish his breakfast with a piece out of 
his shoulder, he sent the Manito headforemost 
against a stone, and, calling aloud to the three 
others, he bade them come and take the body away. 

The brothers now stepped forth in quick succes- 
sion, but Paup-puk-keewiss, having got his blood 
up and limbered himself by exercise, soon dispatched 
the three — sending one this way, another that, and 
the third straight up into the air so high that he 
never came down again. 

It was time for the old Manito to be frightened, 
and dreadfully frightened he got, and ran for his 
life, which was the very worst thing he could have 
done; for Paup-puk-keewiss, of all his gifts of 
strength, was most noted for his speed of foot. The 
old Manito set off, and for mere sport's sake Paup- 
puk-keewiss pursued him. Sometimes he was be- 
fore the wicked old spirit, sometimes he was flying 

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A Guide to Mythology 

over his head, and then he would keep along at a 
steady trot just at his heels, till he had blown all 
the breath out of the old knave's body. 

Meantime his friend, Pipe-bearer, and the twenty 
young warriors cried out: 

" Ha, ha, ah ! ha, ha, ah ! Paup-puk-keewiss is 
driving him before him ! " 

The Manito only turned his head now and then 
to look back. At length, when he was tired of the 
sport, to be rid of him, Paup-puk-keewiss, with a 
gentle application of his foot, sent the wicked old 
Manito whirling away through the air, in which he 
made a great number of the most curious turnovers 
in the world, till he came to alight, when it so 
happened that he fell astride of an old bull buffalo, 
grazing in a distant pasture, who straightway set 
off with him at a long gallop, and the old Manito 
has not been heard of to this day. 

The warriors and Pipe-bearer and Paup-puk- 
keewiss set to work and burned down the lodge of 
the wicked spirits, and then when they came to 
look about, they saw that the ground was strewn on 
all sides with human bones bleaching in the sun; 
these were the unhappy victims of the Manitoes. 
Paup-puk-keewiss then took three arrows from his 
girdle, and, after having performed a ceremony to 
the Great Spirit, he shot one into the air, cry- 
ing : " You are lying down ; rise up or you will be 
hit!" 

The bones all moved to one place. He shot the 
second arrow, repeating the same words, when each 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

bone drew toward its fellow-bone; the third arrow 
brought forth to life the whole multitude of people 
who had been killed by the Manitoes. Paup-puk- 
keewiss conducted the crowd to the chief of the 
village, who had proved his friend, and gave them 
into his hands. The chief was there with his coun- 
sellors, to whom he spoke apart. 

" Who is more worthy," said the chief to Paup- 
puk-keewiss, " to rule than you ? You alone can de- 
fend them." 

Paup-puk-keewiss thanked him, and told him that 
he was in search of more adventures. " I have done 
some things," said Paup-puk-keewiss, rather boast- 
fully, " and I think I can do some more." 

The chief still urged him, but he was eager to 
go, and, naming Pipe-bearer to tarry and take his 
place, he set out again on his travels, promising that 
he would some time or other come back and see 
them. 

"Ho! ho! ho!" they all cried. "Come back 
again and see us ! " He renewed his promise that 
he would, and then set out alone. 

After travelling some time he came to a great 
lake, and on looking about he discovered a very 
large otter on an island. He thought to himself: 
" His skin will make me a fine pouch." And he 
immediately drew up at long shots and drove an 
arrow into his side. He waded into the lake, and 
with some difficulty dragged him ashore, and up a 
hill overlooking the lake. 

As soon as Paup-puk-keewiss got the otter into 
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A Guide to Mythology 

the sunshine where it was warm, he skinned him, 
and threw the carcass some distance off, thinking 
the war-eagle would come, and that he should have 
a chance to secure his feathers as ornaments for the 
head; for Paup-puk-keewiss hegan to be proud, and 
was disposed to display himself. 

He soon heard a rushing noise as of a loud wind, 
but could see nothing. Presently a large eagle 
dropped, as if from the air, upon the otter's car- 
cass. Paup-puk-keewiss drew his bow, and the 
arrow passed through under both of his wings. The 
bird made a convulsive flight upward, with such 
force that the cumbrous body was borne up several 
feet from the ground; but, with its claws deeply 
fixed, the heavy otter brought the eagle back to the 
earth. Paup-puk-keewiss possessed himself of a 
handful of the prime feathers, crowned his head 
with the trophy, and set off in high spirits on the 
lookout for something new. 

After walking awhile, he came to a body of wa- 
ter which flooded the trees on its banks — it was a 
lake made by beavers. Taking his station on the 
raised dam where the stream escaped, he watched 
to see whether any of the beavers would show them- 
selves. A head presently peeped out of the water 
to see who it was that disturbed them. 

" My friend," said Paup-puk-keewiss, in his most 
persuasive manner, " could you not oblige me by 
turning me into a beaver like yourself. Nothing 
would please me so much as to make your acquaint- 
ance, I can assure you," for Paup-puk-keewiss was 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

curious to know how these watery creatures lived, 
and what kind of notions they had. 

" I do not know/' replied the beaver, who was 
rather short-nosed and surly. " I will go and ask 
the others. Meanwhile stay where you are, if you 
please." 

" To be sure," answered Paup-puk-keewiss, steal- 
ing down the bank several paces as soon as the 
beaver's back was turned. 

Presently there was a great splashing of the water, 
and all the beavers showed their heads and looked 
warily to where he stood, to see if he was armed; 
but he had knowingly left his bow and arrows in 
a hollow tree at a short distance. 

After a long conversation, which they conducted 
in a whisper so that Paup-puk-keewiss could not 
catch a word, strain his ears as he would, they all 
advanced in a body toward the spot where he stood, 
the chief approaching the nearest, and lifting his 
head highest out of the water. 

" Can you not," said Paup-puk-keewiss, noticing 
that they waited for him to speak first, " turn me 
into a beaver? I wish to live among you." 

" Yes," answered their chief ; " lie down." And 
Paup-puk-keewiss in a moment found himself a 
beaver, and was gliding into the water, when a 
thought seemed to strike him, and he paused at the 
edge of the lake. " I am very small," he said to the 
beaver, in a sorrowful tone. " You must make me 
large," he said; for Paup-puk-keewiss was terribly 
ambitious, and wanted always to be the first person 

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A Guide to Mythology 

in every company. " Larger than any of you ; in 
my present size it's hardly worth my while to go 
into the water." 

" Yes, yes ! " said they. " By and by, when we 
get into the lodge, it shall be done." 

They all dived into the lake, and in passing great 
heaps of limbs and logs at the bottom, he asked the 
use of them. They answered, " It is for our win- 
ter's provisions." 

When they all got into the lodge their number 
was about one hundred. The lodge was large and 
warm. 

" Now we will make you large," said they. " Will 
that do ? " 

" Yes," he answered ; for he found that he was 
ten times the size of the largest. 

" You need not go out," said the others ; " we 
will bring you food into the lodge, and you will be 
our chief." 

" Very well," Paup-puk-keewiss answered. He 
thought, " I will stay here and grow fat at their 
expense." But, soon after, one ran into the lodge, 
out of breath, crying out, " We are visited by the 
Indians ! " 

All huddled together in great fear. The water 
began to lower, for the hunters had broken down 
the dam, and they soon heard them on the roof 
of the lodge, breaking it up. Out jumped all the 
beavers into the water, and so escaped. 

Paup-puk-keewiss tried to follow them, but, un- 
fortunately, to gratify his ambition they had made 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

him so large that he could not creep out at the hole. 
He tried to call them back, but either they did not 
hear or would not attend to him; he worried him- 
self so much in searching for a door to let him 
out that he looked like a great bladder, swollen and 
blistering in the sun, and the sweat stood out upon 
his forehead in knobs and huge bubbles. 

Although he heard and understood every word 
that the hunters spoke — and some of their expres- 
sions suggested terrible ideas — he could not turn 
himself back into a man. He had chosen to be a 
beaver, and a beaver he must be. One of the hunt- 
ers, a prying little man, with a single lock dangling 
over one eye, put his head in at the top of the lodge. 
" Ty-au! " cried he. " Tut ty-au! Me-shau-mik — 
king of beavers — is in." Whereupon the whole 
crowd of hunters began upon him with their clubs, 
and knocked his skull about until it was no harder 
than a morass in the middle of summer. Paup- 
puk-keewiss thought as well as ever he did, al- 
though he was a beaver; and he felt that he was in 
a rather foolish scrape, inhabiting the carcass of a 
beaver. 

Presently seven or eight of the hunters hoisted 
his body upon long poles, and marched away home 
with him. As they went, he reflected in this man- 
ner: "What will become of me? My ghost or 
shadow will not die after they get me to their 
lodges." 

Invitations were immediately sent out for a grand 
feast; but as soon as his body got cold, his soul, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

being uncomfortable in a bouse without heat, flew 
off. 

Having reassumed his mortal shape, Paup-puk- 
keewiss found himself standing near a prairie. 
After walking a distance, he saw a herd of elk 
feeding. He admired their apparent ease and en- 
joyment of life, and thought there could be nothing 
more pleasant than the liberty of running about and 
feeding on the prairies. He had been a water 
animal, and now he wished to become a land ani- 
mal, to learn what passed in an elk's head as he 
roved about. He asked them if they could not turn 
him into one of themselves. 

" Yes," they answered, after a pause. " Get 
down on your hands and feet." 

He obeyed their directions, and forthwith found 
himself to be an elk. 

" I want big horns, big feet," said he ; "I wish 
to be very large," for all the conceit and vainglory 
had not been knocked out of Paup-puk-keewiss, even 
by the sturdy thwacks of the hunters' clubs. 

" Yes, yes," they answered. " There," exerting 
their power, " are you big enough % " 

" That will do," he replied, for, looking into a 
lake hard by, Paup-puk-keewiss saw that he was 
very large. They spent their time in grazing and 
running to and fro; but what astonished Paup-puk- 
keewiss, although he often lifted up his head and 
directed his eyes that way, he could never see the 
stars, which he had so admired as a human being. 

Being rather cold one day, Paup-puk-keewiss went 
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Myths of the Sky and Air 

into a thick wood for shelter, whither he was fol- 
lowed by most of the herd. They had not been 
long there when some elks from behind passed the 
others like a strong wind, calling out: 

" The hunters are after us ! " 

All took the alarm, and off they ran, Paup-puk- 
keewiss with the rest. 

" Keep out on the plains/' they said. But it 
was too late to profit by this advice, for they had 
already got entangled in the thick woods. Paup- 
puk-keewiss soon scented the hunters, who were 
closely following his trail, for they had left all the 
others and were making after him in full cry. He 
jumped furiously, dashed through the underwood, 
and broke down whole groves of saplings in his 
flight. But this only made it the harder for him to 
get on, such a huge and lusty elk was he by his 
own request. 

Presently, as he dashed past an open space, he 
felt an arrow in his side. They could not well 
miss it, he presented so wide a mark to the shot. 
He bounded over trees under the smart, but the 
shafts clattered thicker and thicker at his ribs, and 
at last one entered his heart. He fell to the ground, 
and heard the whoop of triumph sounded by the 
hunters. On coming up, they looked on the car- 
cass with astonishment, and with their hands up 
to their mouths, exclaimed: "Ty-au! ty-au! " 

There were about sixty in the party, who had 
come out on a special hunt, as one of their number 
had, the day before, observed his large tracks on 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the plains. When they had skinned him his flesh 
grew cold and his spirit took its flight from the 
dead body, and Paup-puk-keewiss found himself in 
human shape, with a bow and arrows. 

But his passion for adventure was not yet cooled ; 
for, on coming to a large lake with a sandy beach, 
he saw a large flock of brant, and speaking to them 
in the brant language, he requested them to make 
a brant of him. 

" Yes," they replied at once, for the brant is a 
bird of a very obliging disposition. 

" But I want to be very large/' he said. There 
was no end to the ambition of Paup-puk-keewiss. 

" Very well," they answered ; and he soon found 
himself a large brant, all the others standing gazing 
in astonishment at his great size. 

" You must fly as leader," they said. 

" No," answered Paup-puk-keewiss ; " I will fly 
behind." 

" Very well," rejoined the brant. " One thing 
more we have to say to you Brother Paup-puk- 
keewiss " (for he had told them his name) ; " you 
must be careful, in flying, not to look down, for 
something may happen to you." 

" Well, it is so," said he ; and soon the flock rose 
up into the air, for they were bound north. They 
flew very fast — he behind. One day, while going 
with a strong wind, and as swift as their wings 
could flap, as they passed over a large village the 
Indians raised a great shout on seeing them, par- 
ticularly on Paup-puk-keewiss's account, for his 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

wings were broader than two large mats. The 
village people made such a frightful noise that he 
forgot what had been told him about looking down. 
They were now scudding along as swift as arrows, 
and as soon as he brought his neck in and stretched 
it down to look at the shouters, his huge tail was 
caught by the wind, and over and over he was blown. 
He tried to right himself, but without success, for 
he had no sooner got out of one heavy air-current 
than he fell into another, which treated him even 
more rudely than that he had escaped from. Down, 
down he went, making more turns than he wished 
for, from a height of several miles. 

The first moment he had to look about him, Paup- 
puk-keewiss, in the shape of a big brant, was aware 
that he was jammed into a large, hollow tree. To 
get backward or forward was out of the question, 
and there, in spite of himself, was Paup-puk-kee- 
wiss forced to tarry till his brant life was ended by 
starvation, when, his spirit being at liberty, he was 
once more a human being. 

As he journeyed on in search of further adven- 
tures, Paup-puk-keewiss came to a lodge in which 
were two old men, with heads white from extreme 
age. They were very fine old men to look at. There 
was such sweetness and innocence in their features 
that Paup-puk-keewiss would have enjoyed himself 
very much at their lodge if he had had no other 
entertainment than such as the gazing upon the 
serene and happy faces of the two innocent old 
men, with heads white from extreme age, afforded. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

They treated him well, and he made known to 
them that he was going back to his village, his 
friends and people, whereupon the two white-headed 
old men very heartily wished him a good journey 
and abundance of comfort in seeing his friends once 
more. They even arose, old and infirm as they 
were, and, tottering with exceeding difficulty to the 
door, were at great pains to point out to him the 
exact course he should take; and they called his 
attention to the circumstance that it was much 
shorter and more direct than he would have taken 
himself. Ah ! what merry deceivers were these two 
old men with very white heads. 

Paup-puk-keewiss, with blessings showered on him 
until he was fairly out of sight, set forth with good 
heart. He thought he heard loud laughter resound- 
ing after him in the direction of the lodge of the 
two old men ; but it could not have been the two old 
men, for they were certainly too old to laugh. 

He walked briskly all day, and at night he had 
the satisfaction of reaching a lodge in all respects 
like that which he had left in the morning. There 
were two fine old men, and his treatment was in 
every particular the same, even down to the part- 
ing blessing and the laughter that followed him as 
he went his way. 

After walking the third day, and coming to a 
lodge the same as before, he was satisfied from the 
bearings of the course he had taken that he had 
been journeying in a circle, and by a notch which 
he had cut in the door-post that these were the same 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

two old men all along; and that, despite their inno- 
cent faces and their very white heads, they had 
been playing him a sorry trick. 

" Who are you/' said Paup-puk-keewiss, u to treat 
me so ? Come forth, I say ! " 

They were compelled to obey his summons lest, 
in his anger, he should take their lives, and they 
appeared on the outside of the lodge. 

" We must have a little trial of speed now," said 
Paup-puk-keewiss. 

" A race ? " they asked. " We are very old ; we 
cannot run." 

" We will see," said Paup-puk-keewiss ; whereupon 
he set them out upon the road, and then he gave 
them a gentle push, which put them in motion. 
Then he pushed them again — harder — harder — un- 
til they got under fine headway, when he gave each 
of them an astounding shock with his foot, and off 
they flew at a great rate, round and round the 
course; and such was the magic virtue of the foot 
of Paup-puk-keewiss that no object once set going 
by it could by any possibility stop; so that, for 
aught we know to the contrary, the two innocent, 
white-headed, merry old men are trotting with all 
their might and main around the circle in which 
they beguiled Paup-puk-keewiss to this day. 

Continuing his journey, Paup-puk-keewiss, al- 
though his head was warm and buzzing with all 
sorts of schemes, did not know exactly what to do 
until he came to a big lake. He mounted a high 
hill to try and see to the other side, but he could 

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A Guide to Mythology 

not. He then made a canoe, and sailed forth. The 
water was very clear — a transparent blue — and he 
saw that it abounded with fish of a rare and deli- 
cate complexion. This circumstance inspired him 
with a wish to return to his village, and to bring 
his people to live near this beautiful lake. 

Toward evening, coming to a woody island, he 
encamped and ate the fish he had speared, and they 
proved to be as comforting to the stomach as they 
were pleasing to the eye. The next day Paup-puk- 
keewiss returned to the mainland, and as he wan- 
dered along the shore he espied at a distance the 
celebrated giant, Manabozho, who is a bitter enemy 
of Paup-puk-keewiss, and loses no opportunity to 
stop him on his journey ings and to thwart his plans. 

At first it occurred to Paup-puk-keewiss to have 
a trial of wits with the giant, but on second thoughts 
he said to himself : " I am in a hurry now ; I will 
see him another time." 

With no further mischief than raising a great 
whirlwind of dust, which caused Manabozho to rub 
his eyes severely, Paup-puk-keewiss quietly slipped 
out of the way; and he made good speed withal, 
for in much less time than you could count half 
the stars in the sky of a winter night, he had reached 
home. 

His return was welcomed with a great hubbub of 
feasting and songs; and he had scarcely set foot in 
the village before he had invitations to take pot- 
luck at different lodges, which would have lasted 
him the rest of his natural life. Pipe-bearer, who 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

had some time before given up the cares of a ruler, 
and fallen back upon his native place, fairly danced 
with joy at the sight of Paup-puk-keewiss, who, not 
to be outdone, dandled him affectionately in his 
arms by casting him up and down in the air half 
a mile or so, till little Pipe-bearer had no breath 
left in his body to say that he was happy to see 
Paup-puk-keewiss home again. 

Paup-puk-keewiss gave the village folks a lively 
account of his adventures, and when he came to the 
blue lake and the abundant fish, he dwelt upon their 
charms with such effect that they agreed, with one 
voice, that it must be a glorious place to live in, 
and if he would show them the way they would 
shift camp and settle there at once. 

He not only showed them the way, but, bringing 
his wonderful strength and speed of foot to bear, 
in less than half a day he had transported the whole 
village, with its children, women, tents, and imple- 
ments of war, to the new water-side. 

Here, for a time, Paup-puk-keewiss appeared to 
be content, until one day a message came for him 
in the shape of a bear, who said that their king 
wished to see him immediately at his village. Paup- 
puk-keewiss was ready in an instant, and, mounting 
upon the messenger's back, off he ran. Toward 
evening they climbed a high mountain, and came 
to a cave where the bear-king lived. He was a 
very large person, and, puffing with fat and a sense 
of his own importance, he made Paup-puk-keewiss 
welcome by inviting him into his lodge. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

As soon as it was -proper, he spoke, and said that 
he had sent for him on hearing that he was the 
chief who was moving a large party toward his 
hunting-grounds. 

" You must know," said the bear-king with a 
terrible growl, " that you have no right there, and 
I wish you would leave the country with your party, 
or else the strongest force will take possession. Take 
notice." 

" Very well," replied Paup-puk-keewiss, going 
toward the door, for he suspected that the king of 
the bears was preparing to give him a hug, " so 
be it." 

He wished to gain time and to consult his people, 
for he had seen, as he came along, that the bears 
were gathering in great force on the side of the 
mountain. He also made known to the bear-king 
that he would go back that night, that his people 
might be put in immediate possession of his royal 
behest. 

The bear-king replied that Paup-puk-keewiss 
might do as he pleased, but that one of his young 
men was at his command; and, jumping nimbly on 
his back, Paup-puk-keewiss rode home. 

He assembled the people, and ordered the bear's 
head off, to be hung outside of the village, that the 
bear-spies, who were lurking in the neighborhood, 
might see it and carry the news to their chief. 

The next morning, by break of day, Paup-puk- 
keewiss had all of his young warriors under arms 
and ready for a fight. About the middle of the 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

afternoon the bear war-party came in sight, led 
on by the pnrsy king, and making a tremendous 
noise. They advanced on their hind-legs, and 
made a very imposing display of their teeth and 
eyeballs. 

The bear-chief himself came forward, and, with 
a majestic wave of his right hand, said that he did 
not wish to shed the blood of the yonng warriors, 
but that if Paup-puk-keewiss, who appeared to be 
the head of the war-party, consented, they two 
would have a race, and the winner should kill the 
losing chief, and all his young men should be serv- 
ants to the other. 

Paup-puk-keewiss agreed, of course — how little 
Pipe-bearer, who stood by, grinned as they came to 
terms ! — and they started to run before the whole 
company of warriors, who stood in a circle look- 
ing, on. 

At first there was a prospect that Paup-puk-kee- 
wiss would be badly beaten; for, although he kept 
crowding the great fat bear-king till the sweat 
trickled from his shaggy ears, he never seemed to 
be able to push past him. By and by, Paup-puk- 
keewiss, going through a number of the most ex- 
traordinary maneuvers in the world, raised about 
the great fat bear-king such eddies and whirlwinds 
with the sand, and so danced about before and after 
him, that he at last got fairly bewildered, and cried 
out for them to come and take him off. Out of 
sight before him in reaching the goal, Paup-puk- 
keewiss only waited for the bear-king to come up, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

when he drove an arrow straight through him and 
ordered them to take the body away and make it 
ready for supper, as he was getting hungry. 

He then directed all of the other bears to fall 
to and help prepare the feast, for in fulfilment of 
the agreement they had become servants. With 
many wry faces the bears, although bound to act 
becomingly in their new character, according to the 
forfeit, served up the body of their late royal mas- 
ter; and in doing this they fell, either by accident 
or design, into many curious mistakes. 

When the feast came to be served up and they 
were summoned to be in attendance, one of them, 
a sprightly young fellow of an inquisitive turn of 
mind, was found upon the roof of the lodge, with 
his head half way down the smoke-hole, with a view 
to learn what they were to have for dinner. An- 
other, a middle-aged bear with very long arms, who 
was put in charge of the children in the character 
of nurse, squeezed three or four of the most prom- 
ising young pappooses to death, while the mothers 
were outside to look after the preparations; and 
another, when he should have been waiting at the 
back of his master, had climbed a shady tree and 
was indulging in his afternoon nap. And when, at 
last, the dinner was ready to be served, they came 
tumbling in with the dishes, heels over head, one 
after the other, so that one half of the feast was 
spread upon the ground and the other half depos- 
ited out of doors, on the other side of the lodge. 

After a while, however, by strict discipline and 
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Myths of the Sky and Air 

threatening to cut off their provisions, the bear- 
servants were brought into tolerable control. 

Yet Paup-puk-keewiss, with his ever-restless dis- 
position, was uneasy; and, having done so many 
wonderful things, he resolved upon a strict and thor- 
ough reform in all the affairs of the village. To 
prevent future difficulty he determined to adopt new 
regulations between the bears and their masters. 

With this view, he issued an edict that hence- 
forward the bears should eat at the first table, and 
that the Indians were to wait upon them; that in 
all public processions of an honorable character the 
bears should go first; and that when any fighting 
was to be done, the Indians should have the priv- 
ilege reserved of receiving the first shots. A special 
exemption was made in behalf of Paup-puk-keewiss's 
favorite and confidential adviser, Pipe-bearer (who 
had been very busy in private recommending the 
new order of things), who was to be allowed to sit 
at the head of the feast, and to stay at home with 
the old women in the event of battle. 

Having seen his orders strictly enforced, and the 
rights of the bears over the Indians fairly estab- 
lished, Paup-puk-keewiss fixed his mind upon fur- 
ther adventures. He determined to go abroad for 
a time, and having an old score to settle with Mana- 
bozho, he set out with a hope of soon falling in with 
that famous giant. Paup-puk-keewiss was a blood 
relation of Dais Imid, or He of the Little Shell, 
and had heard of what had passed between that 
giant and his kinsman. 

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A Guide to Mythology 



After wandering a long time he came to the lodge 
of Maoabozho, who was absent. He thought he 
must play him a trick, and so he turned everything 
in the lodge upside down and killed his birds, of 
which there was an extraordinarv attendance, for 
Manabozho is master of the fowls of the air, and 
this was the appointed morning for them to call 
and pay their court to him. Among the number 
was a raven, accounted the meanest of birds, which 
Paup-puk-keewiss killed and hung up by the neck, 
to insult him. 

He then went on till he came to a very high 
point of rocks running out into the lake, from the 
top of which he could see the coiintry back as far 
as the eye could reach. While sitting there, Mana- 
bozho's mountain chickens flew round and past him 
in great numbers. Out of mere spite to their mas- 
ter, Paup-puk-keewiss shot them by the score, for 
his arrows were very sure and the birds very 
plenty, and he amused himself by throwing the 
birds down the rocks. At length a wary bird 
cried out : 

" Paup-puk-keewiss is killing us ; go and tell our 
father." 

Away sped a delegation of the birds which were 
the quickest of wing, and Manabozho soon made his 
appearance on the plain below. Paup-puk-keewiss. 
who when he is in the wrong is no match for Mana- 
bozho, made his escape on the other side. Mana- 
bozho, who had in two or three strides reached the 
top of the moimtain, cried out: 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

" You are a rogue. The earth is not so large 
but I can get up to you." 

Off ran Paup-puk-keewiss, and Manabozho after 
him. The race was sharp, and such leaps and strides 
as they made ! Over hills and prairies, with all his 
speed, went Paup-puk-keewiss, and Manabozho hard 
upon him. Paup-puk-keewiss had some mischiev- 
ous notions still left in his head which he thought 
might befriend him. He knew that Manabozho 
was under a spell to restore whatever he, Paup- 
puk-keewiss, destroyed. Forthwith he stopped and 
climbed a large pine-tree, stripped off its beauti- 
ful green foliage, threw it to the winds, and then 
went on. 

When Manabozho reached the spot, the tree ad- 
dressed him. " Great chief/' said the tree, " will 
you give me my life again? Paup-puk-keewiss has 
killed me." 

" Yes," replied Manabozho, who as quickly as he 
could gathered the scattered leaves and branches, 
renewed its beauty with his breath, and set off. 
Although Paup-puk-keewiss in the same way com- 
pelled Manabozho to lose time in repairing the hem- 
lock, the sycamore, cedar, and many other trees, the 
giant did not falter, but pushing briskly forward, 
was fast overtaking him when Paup-puk-keewiss 
happened to see an elk. And asking him, for old 
acquaintance' sake, to take him on his back, the 
elk did so, and for some time he made good head- 
way; but still Manabozho was in sight. 

He was fast gaining upon him when Paup-puk- 
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A Guide to Mythology 

keewiss threw himself off the elk's hack, and, strik- 
ing a great sandstone rock near the path, he broke 
it into pieces, and scattered the grains in a thousand 
directions; for this was nearly his last hope of 
escape. Manabozho was so close upon him at this 
place that he had almost caught him; but the foun- 
dation of the rock cried out: 

" Haye ! Ne-me-sho, Paup-puk-keewiss has spoiled 
me. Will you not restore me to life ? " 

" Yes," replied Manabozho. He re-established the 
rock in all its strength. 

He then pushed on in pursuit, and had got so 
near to Paup-puk-keewiss as to put out his arm to 
seize him ; but Paup-puk-keewiss dodged him and, as 
his last chance, he immediately raised such a dust and 
commotion by whirlwinds as made the trees break 
and the sand and leaves dance in the air. Again and 
again Manabozho stretched his arm, but he escaped 
him at every turn, and kept up such a tumult of 
dust that he dashed into a hollow tree which had 
been blown down, changed himself into a snake, 
and crept out at the roots just in time to save his 
life; for at that moment Manabozho, who had the 
power of lightning, struck it, and it was strewn 
about in little pieces. 

Again Paup-puk-keewiss was in human shape, 
and Manabozho was pressing him hard. At a dis- 
tance he saw a very high bluff of rocks jutting out 
into a lake, and he ran for the foot of the precipice, 
which was abrupt and elevated. As he came near, 
to his surprise and great relief, the Manito of the 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

rock opened his door and told Paup-puk-keewiss to 
come in. The door was no sooner closed than Mana- 
bozho knocked. 

" Open it ! " he cried, with a loud voice. The 
Manito was afraid of him, but he said to Paup- 
puk-keewiss : " Since I have taken you as my guest, 
I would sooner die with you than open the door." 

" Open it ! " Manabozho again cried, in a louder 
voice than before. 

The Manito kept silent. 

" Very well," said Manabozho ; " I give you till 
morning to live." 

Paup-puk-keewiss trembled, for he thought his 
last hour had come. 

When the night came on the clouds were thick 
and black, and as they were torn open by the light- 
ning, such discharges of thunder were never heard 
as bellowed forth. The clouds advanced slowly and 
wrapped the earth about with their vast shadows 
as in a huge cloak. All night long the clouds gath- 
ered, and the lightning flashed, and the thunder 
roared, and above all could be heard Manabozho 
muttering vengeance upon poor Paup-puk-keewiss. 

" You have led a very foolish kind of life, Paup- 
puk-keewiss," said his friend the Manito. 

" I know it — I know it ! " Paup-puk-keewiss an- 
swered. 

" You had great gifts of strength awarded to 
you," said the Manito. 

" I am aware of it," replied Paup-puk-keewiss. 
" Instead of employing it for useful purposes, and 
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A Guide to Mythology 

for the good of your fellow-creatures, you have done 
nothing since you became a man but raise whirl- 
winds on the highways, leap over trees, break what- 
ever you met in pieces, and perform a thousand 
idle pranks." 

Paup-puk-keewiss, with great penitence, confessed 
that his friend the Manito spoke but too truly. Then 
Manabozho as Animiki, the Spirit of Lightning, in a 
cloud of heavy blackness, floated over the bluff of 
rocks that protected Paup-puk-keewiss. The threat- 
ening roar of his voice was heard rending the air, 
and Paup-puk-keewiss, with his companion, the 
Manito of the Kocks, trembled with fear. Mighty 
arrows of fire darted through the air from Mana- 
bozho's bow; the mountains themselves gave way; 
the solid rocks were broken, and, tottering apart, 
fell, crushing Paup-puk-keewiss and the Manito into 
fragments. For the first time Paup-puk-keewiss ex- 
perienced death, for he was incapable of entering by 
his own will a new form, as he was in the human 
form when crushed between the rocks of the moun- 
tain. 

The Norse god of the sky, 1 Odin, was depicted 
in a most picturesque fashion. He is said to look 
like an old, tall, one-eyed man, with a long beard, 
a broad-brimmed hat, a striped cloak of many col- 
ors, and a spear in his hand. On his arm he wears 
the gold ring Draupner and carries a spear called 
Gungner; two ravens sit on his shoulders, two wolves 
1 See Anderson's "Norse Mythology." 
306 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

lie at his feet, and a huge chariot rolls over his head. 
He sits upon a high throne and looks out upon the 
world, or he rides on the winds upon his horse 
Sleipner. There is a deep speculative expression 
upon his countenance. Odin's hat symbolizes the 
arched vault of heaven, and his blue or variegated 
cloak is the blue sky or atmosphere. His horse with 
eight legs, as we learned before, symbolizes the eight 
winds of heaven, and his ring the fruitfulness of 
nature. His spear produces violent trembling or 
shaking. He is regarded as the all-pervading spirit 
of the world, and produces life and spirit, though 
he did not create the world. In whatever creative 
work he does he is helped by others. All knowledge 
comes from him — the arts of war and the arts of 
peace; even poetry was invented by him. He is 
the ruler over all things, and, although other deities 
may have power, they all serve and obey him as 
children do their father. 

He frequently appeared to men. One of the most 
interesting of these revelations of himself is told in 
the Norse epic, the " Volsung Saga." 

THE STORY OF ODER'S SWORD AND SIGMTTND 

King Volsung had made preparations for an en- 
tertainment. Blazing fires burned along the hall, 
and in the middle of the hall stood a large tree, 
whose green and fair foliage covered the roof. King 
Volsung had placed it there, and it was called Odin's 
tree. !Now, as the guests sat around the fire in 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the evening, a man entered the hall whose coun- 
tenance they did not know. He wore a variegated 
cloak, was barefooted, his breeches were of linen, 
and a wide-brimmed hat hung down over his face. 
He was very tall, looked old, and was one-eyed. He 
had a sword in his hand. The man went to the 
tree, and struck his sword into it with so powerful 
a blow that it sunk into it even to the hilt. 'No one 
dared greet this man. Then said he : " He who 
draws this sword out of the trunk of the tree shall 
have it as a gift from me, and shall find it true 
that he never wielded a better sword." Then went 
the old man out of the hall again, and no one knew 
who he was or whither he went. Now all tried to 
draw the sword out, but it would not move before 
Volsung's son, Sigmund, came; for him it seemed 
to be quite loose. 

When Odin went forth to battle, he was resplen- 
dent in armor and a golden helmet; with him were 
his messengers, the Valkyries — giant, warlike maids 
who, when in Valhalla, the home of Odin, brought 
in the drink and waited upon the table, but in time 
of battle were sent forth by Odin to every battle- 
field, carrying the message of death to the brave 
hero, and inviting him home to Odin's hall, a mes- 
sage he received with joy and gladness. To bear 
away to heaven the souls of the dead is often an 
office of a wind god, and in this case of wind 
goddesses, for there can be little doubt that the 
Valkyries had some of the attributes of the wind. 

308 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

The Norse god next in importance to Odin was 
Thor. He wears a red beard. He has a fiery na- 
ture, is girded with a belt of strength, and swings 
a hammer in his hand. He rides in a chariot 
drawn by two goats, from whose hoofs and teeth 
sparks of fire flash, and the scarlet cloud reflects 
his fiery eyes. Over his head he wears a crown of 
stars, under his feet rests the earth, and it shows 
the footprints of his mighty steps. He is enormously 
strong, and very terrible when angry, which is not 
supposed to be often, for he has, on the whole, a 
good-natured disposition. The region in which he 
lives is called Thrudvaug and his mansion Bilski- 
ner, in which there are five hundred and forty halls. 
His hammer, his belt, and his gauntlet are all pos- 
sessed of remarkable qualities. The first is called 
M joiner, and woe be to the frost or mountain giant 
against whom Thor hurls it. His iron gauntlet he 
wears when he is laying about him with his ham- 
mer, and when he puts on his belt of strength his 
power is redoubled. This mighty god has many and 
wonderful adventures. 

There is no better description of the god Thor 
to be found than that by our own poet Longfellow, 
in his " Tales of a Wayside Inn " : 

" I am the god Thor; 
I am the war god, 
I am the Thunderer! 
Here in my Northland, 
My fastness and fortress, 
Reign I forever! 
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A Guide to Mythology 

Here amid icebergs 
Rule I the nations; 
This is my hammer, 
M joiner, the mighty 
Giants and sorcerers 
Cannot withstand it! 

These are the gauntlets 
Wherewith I wield it 
And hurl it afar off ; 
This is my girdle; 
Whenever I brace it 
Strength is redoubled! 

The light thou beholdest 
Stream through the heavens, 
In flashes of crimson, 
Is but my red beard 
Blown by the night wind, 
Affrighting the nations. 

Jove is my brother; 
Mine eyes are the lightning; 
The wheels of my chariot 
Roll in the thunder; 
The blows of my hammer 
Ring in the earthquake! " 



HOW THOR CONQUERED THE STONE GIANT HRTJNGNER 

Thor had once gone eastward to crush trolls, but 
Odin rode on his horse Sleipner to Jotunheim, the 
land of giants, and came to a giant by name Hrung- 
ner. Then he asked Hrungner what man that was, 
who with a helmet of gold rode through the air and 

310 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

over the sea ; and added that it was an extraordinar- 
ily good horse he had. Odin replied that he would 
wager his head that so good a horse could not be 
found in Jotunheim. Hrungner said that it was in- 
deed a very excellent horse, but he had one called 
Goldfax that could take much longer paces, and he 
immediately sprang upon his horse and galloped 
away after Odin. Odin constantly kept ahead, but 
Hrungner's giant nature had become so excited that 
before he was himself aware of it he had come with- 
in the gates of Asgard. When he came to the door 
of the hall the gods invited him in to drink. They 
set before him the bowls out of which Thor was ac- 
customed to drink, and he emptied them each in one 
draught, and so he became drunk and began to boast 
in a most conceited fashion. He was going to take 
Valhal, he said, and carry it off to Jotunheim; he 
would demolish Asgard and kill the gods, except 
Freyja and Lif, whom he would take home with him ; 
and while Freyja was pouring the celestial beverage 
into bowls for him he remarked that he was going to 
drink up all the ale of the gods. At last the gods 
grew very tired of his arrogance. They, therefore, 
called Thor, who came at once. He was very much 
enraged and, swinging his hammer about, he fiercely 
asked who was to blame that dogwise giants should 
be permitted to drink there, or who had given safety 
to Hrungner in Yalhal, and why Freyja should pour 
ale for him as she did at the feasts of the gods. 
Hrungner, looking at Thor with anything but a 
friendly eye, answered that Odin had invited him 

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A Guide to Mythology 

and that he was under his protection. Thor said 
that Hrungner should come to rue that invitation be- 
fore he came out; but the giant answered that it 
would be but little honor to Thor to kill him, 
unarmed, as he was ; it would be a better proof of his 
valor if he dared contend with him at the boundaries 
of his territory. " It was foolish, indeed, of me to 
leave my weapons at home. Had I my shield and 
my flint stone with me 2 we would now try a duel. 
But I declare you to be a coward if you kill me un- 
armed." Thor would not excuse himself from such 
a challenge the like of which no one had ever offered 
him before. Hrungner now went his way and has- 
tened home. This journey of Hrungner was much 
talked of by the giants, and especially did his chal- 
lenge of Thor awaken their interest, and it was of 
great importance to them which of the two should 
come out from the combat victorious. For if Hrung- 
ner, who was the most powerful among the giants, 
should be conquered, they might look for nothing but 
evil from Thor. They, therefore, made a man of 
clay, nine miles high and three miles broad between 
the shoulders. They could not find a heart corre- 
sponding to his size and therefore took one out of a 
mare; but this fluttered and trembled when Thor 
came. Hrungner had a heart of hard stone, sharp 
and three-cornered; his head was also of stone, and 
likewise his shield, which was broad and thick, and 
this shield he held before him when he stood waiting 
for Thor. His weapon was a flint stone, which he 
swung over his shoulders, so that it was no trifle to 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

join in combat with him. By his side stood the clay 
giant, who was so extremely terrified that the sweat 
poured from off him. Thor went to the duel together 
with Thjalfe, a servant, whom he had got from a 
peasant by the sea. Thjalfe ran to the place where 
Hrungner was standing, and said to him: " You stand 
unguarded, giant; you hold the shield before you, 
but Thor has seen you ; he comes with violence from 
beneath the earth and attacks you." Then Hrung- 
ner hastily put the shield beneath his feet and stood 
upon it, but he seized his flint stone with both hands. 
Presently he saw flashes of lightning and heard loud 
crashings, and then he saw Thor in his might rushing 
forward with impetuous speed, swinging his hammer 
and throwing it from the distance against Hrungner. 
The latter lifted the flint stone with both his hands 
and threw it with all his might against the hammer; 
the two met in the air and the flint stone broke into 
two pieces, one piece of which fell on the ground 
(and hence the flint mountains), while the other flew 
with such force against the head of Thor that he fell 
forward to the ground; but the hammer Mjolner hit 
Hrungner right in the head and crushed his skull into 
small pieces, he himself falling over Thor, so that his 
foot lay across Thor's neck. Thor could only be 
released from the giant's foot by his own son Magne 
(strength), and to this day the flint stone sticks fast 
in Thor's forehead. 

Longfellow calls Thor the brother of Zeus. Zeus 
is, however, only like Thor in his character of the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

thunderer. As the All-father of the Greeks he is 
like Odin. 

Zeus, or Jupiter, 1 as he was called by the Romans, 
was regarded as the supreme ruler of the universe. 
Sometimes he was pictured as a god of war. Then 
he rode in his thunder car, hurling the thunderbolt 
or lashing his enemies with a scourge of lightning. 
He wore a breastplate or shield of storm-cloud like 
the skin of a gray goat fearful to behold and made 
by the God of Fire. His special messenger was the 
eagle. 

In his peaceful guise, he sat throned in the high 
clear heavens. There he was the gatherer of clouds 
and snows, the dispenser of gentle rains and winds, 
the moderator of light and heat and the seasons. He 
was worshipped with various rites in different places, 
but everywhere the loftiest trees and the highest 
mountain peaks were sacred to him. 

HOW ZEUS CAME TO BE KING OF GODS 

The story told of Zeus is that he had not always 
been the supreme god. Before him reigned his 
father, Cronus, and before Cronus his grandfather, 
Uranus. Cronus deposed Uranus, and having heard 
that he was destined to be deposed by one of his own 
children, he indulged in the queer habit of swallow- 
ing them all. His wife, Rhea, however, when Zeus 
was born thought of the happy expedient of giving 
Cronus a stone to swallow, which he, unsuspecting, 
1 Gayley's "Classic Myths in English Literature." 
314 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

did. The little Zeus was hidden in the island of 
Crete, where he was tended by nymphs and brought 
up on goat's milk. When he became a full-grown 
god, he made his father disgorge the brothers and sis- 
ters he had swallowed — namely, Vesta, Ceres, Juno, 
Pluto, and Neptune — and then went to war against 
his cruel father. This war is a battle of the powers 
of light against the powers of darkness. Cronus is 
helped by his brothers the Titans, and Zeus is helped 
by the Cyclopes, one-eyed giants, and the Hecaton- 
chires, hundred-handed monsters who had been con- 
fined for ages in Tartarus. Zeus and his hosts held 
Mount Olympus. For ages victory wavered in the 
balance, until by the advice of Rhea, Zeus released 
the Cyclopes and the Hecatonchires. Instantly they 
hastened to the battle-field of Thessaly, the Cyclopes 
to support Zeus with their thunders and lightnings, 
the hundred-handed monsters with the shock of the 
earthquake. Provided with such artillery, shaking 
earth and sea, Zeus issued to the onslaught. "With 
the gleam of the lightning the Titans were blinded, 
by the earthquake they were laid low, with the flames 
they were well-nigh consumed ; overpowered and fet- 
tered by the hands of the Hecatonchires, they were 
consigned to the yawning cave of Tartarus. In the 
council of the gods following this great battle Zeus 
was chosen Sovereign of the World. He delegated 
to his brother Posidon or Neptune the kingdom of 
the sea and all the waters, to his brother Hades or 
Pluto the government of the underworld, dark, uit 
seen, mysterious, where the spirits of the dead should 

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A Guide to Mythology 

dwell, and of Tartarus the prison of the subdued 
Titans. For himself Zeus retained heaven and 
earth. His dwelling and that of the gods was on the 
summit of an ideal mountain called Olympus. The 
gods all had their separate dwellings, but all when 
summoned assembled in the palace of Zeus, there to 
feast upon ambrosia and nectar. Their duties con- 
sisted in discussing the affairs of heaven and earth, 
while for amusement they had the melodies of Apol- 
lo's lyre, and the songs of the muses. There was a 
gate of clouds to this heavenly city kept by god- 
desses, the Hours or Seasons, and through these gates 
the celestials passed when bent upon any errand to 
earth. 

Hermes (Roman name, Mercury) was the personi- 
fication of the wind and the messenger of Zeus, and, 
like the Valkyries, he had the office of conducting 
the souls of the dead to Hades. His summoning 
of the souls of the dead is beautifully described in 
this passage from the Odyssey, translated by the 
poet Bryant: 

" In his hand he bore 
The beautiful golden wand, with which at will 
He shuts the eyes of men, or opens them 
From sleep. With this he guided on their way 
The ghostly rout ; they followed, uttering 
A shrilly wail. As when a flock of bats, 
Deep in a dismal cavern, fly about 
And squeak, if one have fallen from the place 
Where, clinging to each other and the rock, 
They rested, so that crowd of ghosts went forth 
With shrill and plaintive cries. Before them moved 
316 




The Flying Mercury or Hermes. Giovanni di Bologna. 



Myths of the Sky and Air 



Beneficent Hermes through those dreary ways, 

And past the ocean stream they went, and past 

Leucadia's rock, the portals of the Sun, 

And people of the land of dreams, until 

They reached the fields of asphodel, where dwell 

The souls, the bodiless forms of those who die." 

Among the loveliest of the sky deities are the god- 
desses of the dawn. Besides bringing light and joy 
to mankind, they are his kind helpers when he is in 
trouble, and the givers of all good things. We have 
already made the acquaintance of the Hindoo Dawn 
Goddess Ushas, and give here another Vedic hymn 
in her praise. The counterpart of Ushas in Greek 
mythology is Aurora, the Goddess of the Dawn, 
who is pictured flying before the car of Apollo. A 
more developed Dawn Goddess is Pallas Athene. 
(Roman name Minerva.) She is represented as 
having sprung fully armed from the head of her 
father Zeus, as the Dawn springs up in the morning 
sky. But she has a warlike, as well as a beneficent 
side when she wields the lightning and the thunder- 
bolts. When Pallas Athene decided to give her aid 
to any human being, she sometimes took the form 
of Mentes, or of a young shepherd, as she does in 
different scenes in the " Odyssey." When she de- 
scends to earth she is described as fastening under- 
neath her feet 

" The fair, ambrosial golden sandals worn 
To bear her over ocean like the wind, 
And o'er the boundless land. In hand she took, 
Well tipped with trenchant brass, the mighty spear, 
Heavy and huge and strong, with which she bears 
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A Guide to Mythology 

Whole phalanxes of heroes to earth, 

When she, the daughter of a mighty sire, 

Is angered. From the Olympian heights she plunged 

And stood among the men of Ithaca. 

... In her hand she bore the spear, 

And seemed the stranger Mentes." 

When Pallas returned to heaven she 

" Passed like an eagle out of sight and all 
Were seized with deep amazement as they saw." 

Another time Pallas appears to Odysseus or 
Ulysses in the shape 

" Of a young shepherd, delicately formed, 
As are the sons of kings. A mantle lay 
Upon her shoulder in rich folds, her feet 
Shone in their sandals : in her hand she bore 
A javelin. As Ulysses saw, his heart 
Was glad within him, and he hastened on 
And thus accosted her with winged words, 
'Fair youth, who art the first whom I have met 
Upon this shore, I bid thee hail, and hope 
Thou meetest me with no unkind intent. 
Protect what thou beholdest here and me; 
I make my suit to thee as to a god, 
And come to thy dear knees.'" 

After a little talk with Odysseus 

"the blue-eyed goddess, Pallas, smiled 
And touched the chief caressingly. She seemed 
A beautiful and stately woman now, 
Such as are skilled in works of rare device." 

She advises Odysseus and says to him: 

"Hither am I come to frame for thee 
Wise counsels, and to hide away the stores 
318 



Myths of the Sky and Air 



Given by the opulent Phseacian chiefs 

At thy departure. I shall also tell 

What thou must yet endure beneath the roof 

Of thine own palace, by the will of fate. 

Yet bear it bravely, since thou must, nor speak 

To any man or woman of thyself 

And of thy wandering hither, but submit 

To many things that grieve thee, silently, 

And bear indignities from violent men." 

Thus this beneficent Dawn Goddess is always help- 
ing mankind in their troubles, and scattering abroad 
so much wisdom that she came to be called in Greek 
mythology the Goddess of Wisdom. 

The Indian and the Japanese stories following 
show other fancies about gods of the sky and air. 
" The Lover's Vision of the Happy Land " gives a 
picture of the home of departed spirits in the sky. 
" The Message-Bearers 99 is related to the idea that 
the wind is a messenger of the gods, but it is the 
wind in the form of the repeated sounds in echoes. 

The Indians 1 were in the habit of frequenting 
rivers with high, wooded banks, or ravines with pre- 
cipitous sides where reverberations could be heard 
for miles, until they would die away in the distance. 
There they would stand for hours shouting and lis- 
tening to the echoing shouts as they leaped from 
shore to shore, or from hill to mountain, and from 
mountain to valley — on and on into silence; always 
firmly believing that the words were called from one 
to another of the faithful spirits until they reached 

1 See Canfield's "Legends of the Iroquois." 
319 



A Guide to Mythology 



the ears of their loved ones, and finally the Great 
Spirit himself. 

" The Way of the Gods " describes a god of the 
infinite sky as the beginning of all things. 

HYMN TO THE DAWN" 

(From the " Rig Veda ") 

The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white 

splendor live the waves of waters. 
She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and rich hath 

shown herself, benign and friendly. 
We see that thou art good : far shines thy lustre ; thy beams, 

thy splendors have flown up to heaven. 
Decking thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in 

majesty, thou goddess Morning. 
Red are the kine and luminous that bear her, the blessed one 

who spreadeth through the distance. 
The foes she chaseth like a valiant archer, like a swift warrior 

she repelleth darkness. 
Thy ways are easy on the hills : thou passest in windless calm, 

self-luminous! through waters. 
So lofty goddess with thine ample pathway, daughter of 

Heaven, bring wealth to give us courage. 
Dawn, bring me wealth: untroubled, with thine oxen thou 

bearest riches at thy will and pleasure; 
Thou who, a goddess, child of Heaven, hast shown thee lovely 

through bounty when we called thee early. 
As the birds fly forth from their resting-places, so men with 

store of food rise at thy dawning. 
Yea, to the liberal mortal who remaineth at home, O goddess 

Dawn, much good thou bringest. 



320 



Athene: Brandisher of the Spear. Capitol, Rome. 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

THE LOVEK'S VISION OF THE HAPPY ISLAND 

There was once a very beautiful girl, more beau- 
tiful than all the Indian maidens of her tribe, who 
died suddenly, on the eve of her marriage to a hand- 
some young chief ; and, although her lover was brave, 
his heart was not proof against his loss. He mourned 
as one without hope. After her burial he sat near 
the spot where her remains were deposited, without 
speaking, musing and dreaming of her he had lost. 
War and hunting had no charms for him. He pushed 
aside his bow and arrows, for his heart was dead 
within him. He had heard the old people say that 
there was a path that led to the Land of Souls, and 
he determined to follow it. With this resolution he 
left the remains of his beloved, and, after making 
some preparation for the journey, set out at an early 
hour of the morning. 

At first he hardly knew which direction to take, 
for he was guided only by the tradition that he must 
go southward. For a while he could discover no 
change in the appearance of the country; forests, 
hills, valleys, and streams had the same familiar look 
that they wore around his native home. There was 
snow upon the ground, however, when he set out; 
and it was sometimes seen clinging in thick mats 
upon the trees and bushes, but at length it began to 
diminish, and finally, as he travelled swiftly along, 
totally disappeared, when the forest assumed a more 
cheerful appearance. The trees appeared to be put- 
ting forth their leaves, and suddenly, as if by en- 

321 

\ 



A Guide to Mythology 

chantment, as he walked onward, he found himself 
surrounded by the budding flowers of spring; the air 
seemed warm upon his cheek, while overhead, instead 
of wintry clouds, the sky was clear, and his ears were 
saluted with songs of birds. 

The lover's heart beat quickly at these changes, for 
he knew he was in the right path, as appearances 
agreed with the traditions of his tribe. As he sped 
along, he discovered a footpath, which he followed, 
and was led through a dark grove, then up a long pre- 
cipitous ridge, on the extreme summit of which he 
came to a lodge. In the doorway of this lodge stood 
an old man, whose hair was white as snow, and whose 
eyes, though deeply sunken, had a wonderful bril- 
liancy. He had a long robe of skins thrown loosely 
around his shoulders, and a staff in his hand. The 
young lover accosted him and began to tell his story, 
when the old man interrupted him by saying: " I 
have expected you, and had just risen to bid you wel- 
come. She whom you seek passed here a few days 
since. Enter my lodge, for therein she rested, being 
fatigued, and I will answer all your inquiries, and 
give you direction for your journey from this point." 

Having entered and rested within the lodge, ac- 
cording to the old man's invitation, the young lover, 
impatient of delay, soon issued forth from the lodge- 
door, accompanied by the venerable chief. " You 
see yonder gulf," said the chief, " and the wide- 
stretching blue plains beyond. It is the Land of 
Souls. You stand upon its borders, and my lodge is 
its gate of entrance; but you cannot take your body 

322 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

along with you; leave it here with your bow and ar- 
rows, your bundle and your dog ; you will find it safe 
on your return." 

So saying, he turned and reentered his lodge, and 
the freed traveller bounded forward as if his feet 
were winged. He found, as he thus sped forward, 
that all things retained their natural colors and 
shapes, except that they seemed more beautiful — the 
colors being richer and shapes more comely; and he 
would have thought that everything was the same as 
heretofore, had he not seen that the animals bounded 
across his path with the utmost freedom and confi- 
dence, and birds of beautiful plumage inhabited the 
groves, and sported in the waters in fearless and un- 
disturbed enjoyment. As he passed on, however, he 
noticed that his passage was not impeded by trees or 
other objects; he appeared to walk directly through 
them. They were, in fact, but the souls of trees, and 
he then became sensible that he was in the Land of 
Shadows. 

When he had travelled some distance through the 
country, which continually became more and more 
attractive, he came to the banks of a broad lake, in 
the center of which was a beautiful island ; and tied 
upon the shore of this lake he found a canoe of white, 
shining stone, within which were white paddles that 
seemed to be of the same shining material. 

He immediately entered the canoe and took the 
paddles in his hands, when, to his joy and surprise, 
on turning around, he discovered the object of his 
search, the young maiden, in another canoe exactly 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the counterpart of his; who, having imitated his mo- 
tions in gathering up the paddles and making prepa- 
rations for embarking, followed him as he pushed off 
from shore. 

The waves of the lake soon began to rise, and, at 
a distance, looked ready to submerge them in their 
watery embrace; but yet, on approaching their white 
edges, they seemed to melt away. Still, as these enor- 
mous waves followed each other in quick succession, 
it kept them in continual fear; for they felt no cer- 
tainty but that some one of them might break upon 
their canoes and bring them to destruction; while, 
added to this perpetual fear, the water of the lake 
was so clear that it disclosed to their affrighted gaze 
large heaps of bones of human beings who had per- 
ished before. And, as they moved on, they saw many 
persons struggling and sinking in the waves. Old 
men and women, and young men and maidens, were 
there ; and but few were able to pass over. The chil- 
dren alone were seen to glide on without fear. How- 
ever, notwithstanding their terror, the young man and 
maiden moved unharmed along, for their deeds in 
life had been free from evil, and the Master of Life 
had decreed their safety; and, at length, they leaped 
out upon the shore of the Happy Island, the place of 
their destination, and wandered together over the 
blissful fields, where everything was formed to de- 
light the eye and please the ear. The air itself was 
like food, and nourished and strengthened them. 
There were no tempests. ISTo one shivered for the 
want of warm clothes. Xo one suffered from hunger. 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 



Eo one mourned for the dead. They saw no graves. 
They heard of no wars. There was no hunting of 
animals. Gladly the young lover would have re- 
mained forever with his beloved in this beautiful 
land, but this was not permitted ; for, although he did 
not see the Master of Life, he heard his voice in a 
soft breeze which commanded his return: " Go 
back/' said the voice, " to the land from whence you 
came. Your time has not yet come; your work is 
not finished, and the duties for which I made you are 
not completed. Return to your people and accom- 
plish all the duties of a brave man. You will be the 
ruler of your tribe for many years. My messenger 
at the gate shall instruct you in your future work, 
when he surrenders your body. Listen to him, and 
you shall afterwards rejoin the spirit which you must 
now leave behind. She is accepted, and will dwell 
here forever, as young and as happy as when I called 
her from the Land of Snows." And with this the 
lover's vision closed. 



THE MESSAGE-BEARERS 

When the Great Spirit brought the Eedmen from 
the Happy Hunting Grounds and left them upon 
the earth, they were filled with fear lest they could 
never make him hear their wants, and could not 
reach his ears when they desired to tell him of their 
joys and sorrows. The sachems went before him 
and said : " our Father, how will thy children 
tell thee of the deeds they have performed that will 

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A Guide to Mythology 

please thine ear? How will they ask thee to their 
homes to help them drive away the bad spirits; and 
how will they invite thee to their feasts and dances ? 
O our Father, thou canst not at all times be awake 
and watching thy children, and they will not know 
when thou art sleeping. Thy children do not know 
the trail to the Happy Hunting Grounds by which 
to send their wise men and sachems to talk with 
thee, for thou hast covered it with thy hands and 
thy children cannot discover it. How will the words 
of thy children reach thee, O our Father, the Mani- 
to ; how will what they say come to thine ears ? " 

Then the Great Spirit created for each one of the 
Redmen a second self, to whom he gave a home in 
the air. He provided these beings with wings and 
swift feet, so they could move very rapidly. To 
them he imparted the secrets of the entrance to his 
home, and made them guides to his children whom 
he had called on the long journey, so that they 
should not lose the paths leading to their future 
home. Finally, the Great Spirit told these crea- 
tures of the air that they should be message-bearers 
for his children, and convey their words exactly as 
spoken from one point to another until they reached 
the ears of his sachems in the big wigwam by the 
side of the council-fire that never lost its light. 
They must be ready at all times to answer the 
calls of the Redmen, so that none of their words 
might be lost. Messages to the loved ones who had 
left the earth and gone to the Happy Hunting 
Grounds must be transmitted with the same watch- 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

ful care as were those intended for his ears alone. 
If any of his children spoke idle and untruthful 
words, they, too, must be repeated, that their father 
might know whether they were worthy to be ad- 
mitted to the grand council-fire. 

When he had finished his instructions, the Great 
Spirit told the sachems that he would return to his 
home, and that they could go with his children to 
the bank of a beautiful river near which they dwelt, 
and there talk to him. 

Slowly and with a loud voice the chief sachem 
began to speak. From the opposite bank of the 
river the waiting message-bearer caught up the 
sachem's words as they were spoken, and with a 
strong voice shouted them to another dweller of the 
air, who crouched in the tree-tops far down the river, 
ready and alert to do the Great Spirit's bidding. 
On and on, rolling along the ravines and valleys, 
leaping from hill-top to mountainside and from 
mountainside to lake, striding over the forests at 
a bound — fainter and yet fainter, until lost in the 
blue distance of the plain — the message of thank- 
fulness and love was borne from the lips of the 
grateful sachem until it reached the ears of the 
ever-listening and loving father, and was told to the 
chiefs who sat in the light of the council-fire that 
never grows dim. 



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A Guide to Mythology 



THE WAY OF THE GODS 
(Japanese) 

Listen, my children, to the true story of the Be- 
ginning of the World. 

When there was neither Heaven nor Earth, nor 
Sun nor Moon, nor anything that is, there existed 
in Infinite Space the Invisible Lord of the Middle 
Heaven. With him were two other Gods. 

By their miraculous power, a Thing whose shape 
cannot be described came into existence in the midst 
of Space, in appearance like a Floating Cloud. 
Forth from it sprang, as it were, a Flowering Rush- 
sprout, rising from the water — pure, translucent, 
and bright — which grew and grew and widened and 
widened infinitely, till it spread over all things and 
became the Canopy of Heaven. Then downward 
from the Floating Cloud grew the Under-region — 
the Realm of Night — which is the Root-region of 
the World and the abode of Departed Spirits. 

And the center of the Floating Cloud became the 
Earth, which was still liquid and formless and with- 
out life. 

After this were born in Heaven seven generations 
of Gods, and the last and most perfect of these were 
Izanagi and Izanami. Now, Izanagi and Izanami 
were the Parents of the World and all that is in 
it. And it happened in this wise: the Gods of the 
High Plain of Heaven said to Izanagi and Izanami : 

" Descend and make of this drifting mud and 
ocean a firm and beautiful Land, and fill it with 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

living things." And the Gods placed in their hands 
a mystic jewelled Spear. 

Now, in these days the heavens were near to the 
earth, and the space between was spanned by a 
Heavenly Floating Bridge. So they set forth 
bravely on their journey, and, looking down into 
the space beneath them, they saw in the depths the 
green plain of the Sea. They held counsel to- 
gether and said, " Is there not a country beneath ? " 

And Izanagi pushed the jewelled Spear down from 
the Floating Bridge and stirred the green sea round 
and round, and some say that is why the earth 
turns round and round to this day. Then the brine 
went curdle-curdle, and they drew up the Spear, and 
the brine that fell from the end of the Spear dropped 
down and became an island. This island was called 
Onogoro, and is one of the Everlasting Islands of 
the Land of Sunrise, of the Land of Fertile Eeed- 
plains, which is Japan. 

Now, the Gods stepped down on to the Earth, and 
it was strange and desolate, and they shivered, and 
felt lonely and afraid. 

Suddenly sounded a whirring of wings; two tiny 
Sekirei — wagtails — swept by and fluttered to the 
ground. It was early springtime; the living air 
thrilled warm and sweet. With little pecks and 
cheeps, full of busy pride, the pair sought twig? 
and grasses and wove them deftly into a downy 
nest. Quivering with rapture, the lover-bird hov- 
ered round his mate, and sang of love and joy and 
happy days to come. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

While the Great Gods watched, a warmth crept 
round the heart of Izanagi, and in Izanami's eyes 
was a mist of tears. She whispered softly, " Let 
us, too, make a house to dwell in ! " Then Izanagi 
plunged his spear into the ground, and round them 
rose a great and glorious Palace, and the Spear was 
the Heart-Pillar thereof. And they were hidden 
from the sight of Heaven and Earth. 

Then, moving round this Pillar, they met and 
gazed on one another with charmed eyes. The 
Mother of Mankind cried joyfully : " Behold ! I 
have met with a lovely Youth ! " And Izanagi 
cried back : " Behold ! I have met with a lovely 
Maiden! " 

So the Sekirei first taught the Gods the ways of 
Love, and are honored and cherished in Japan to 
this day. 

But Izanagi remembered how Izanami had been 
the first to speak, and in his displeasure said wrath- 
f ully : " I am a Man, and should by right have 
spoken first ! " 

When the first child born to them was ugly and 
deformed, they put him in a boat made of camphor- 
wood, and he sailed away to sea and became the 
God of the fisherfolk. His children are the hairy 
men who live in some of the islands of Japan to 
this day. 

Then the Gods passed round the Pillar a second 
time, and Izanagi spoke first. So his anger was 
appeased, and they lived greatly content. 

Together they made the eight islands of Japan, 
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Myths of the Sky and Air 

and placed them at the summit of the globe. But 
the land was hidden — becovered with mists — so Iza- 
nagi sent forth the God of the Winds. He, blowing 
lustily, rent the clouds, and the earth lay as a bride 
unveiled, shimmering with silver dew on her green 
pastures. 

Next came the Food-Spirit to comfort mankind, 
the Sea Gods, the Mountain Gods, the Gods of the 
Eiver-mouths, the Tree Gods, and the Earth God- 
dess. Last of all was born the fierce Fire God, 
Kagu-tsuchi. Now, this God was of such a hot and 
fiery temper that he burned his Great Mother, and 
she suffered change and departed to the Lower 
World. 

Then Izanagi was wroth, and cried aloud : " Oh, 
that I should have given my Beloved in return for 
a single child ! " 

And his sorrow was so great that he crawled 
round her head and her feet, and from the tears 
that he shed sprang up the Goddess of Weeping. 
Then he took his ten-span sword and hewed Kagu- 
tsuchi in three pieces, and each piece sprang into 
life as the Spirit of Thunder, the Spirit of Moun- 
tains, and the Spirit of Rain. 

Now, Izanagi loved his wife so greatly that he 
could find no rest or peace on earth; and, after 
wandering long in search of comfort and finding 
none, he determined to seek her, even in the realm 
of Departed Spirits. His way lay through a long 
and gloomy passage where few have trod, right 
through the center of the earth, till he came at 

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A Guide to Mythology 

length to the Gate of Everlasting Night, to the 
Kingdom of Yomi, the Ruler of the Under World. 
He knocked at the Gate and cried aloud: 

" my beloved Sister ! come back to me ! " And 
she answered him: 

" O beloved Elder Brother ! gladly would I come, 
but, alas! I have eaten of Yomi's cooking and am 
bewitched. Let me return and speak to him, but 
do not thou follow me ! " 

So Izanagi waited anxiously without, till, grow- 
ing impatient at her long delay, he broke a tooth 
off his comb, lighting it as a torch, and so dared 
to enter those terrible shades. Through dark and 
dreadful ways he wandered, and his heart quailed 
within him. 

But Yomi was wroth with him for his daring, 
and smote Izanami so that when he found her she 
lay as one altered in death, with Eight Witches at 
her head and her feet. Then a great horror fell 
upon Izanagi; he turned and fled swiftly, and the 
Eight Ugly Women rose and pursued him. On he 
ran, through winding ways where icy blasts fly 
shrieking; and the Witches swept after him and 
would have caught him, but he seized the wreath 
from his head and flung it down, and it was changed 
into bunches of grapes. When the Witches saw 
these they stopped and greedily devoured them; 
then, gathering up their robes, rose and pursued 
again. 

Izanagi felt the chill of their coming, and drew 
out a many-toothed comb from the right bunch of 

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Myths of the Sky and Air 

his hair and threw it behind him. Behold! as it 
touched the ground, there sprang up a hedge of 
young bamboo shoots across the path. The Witches 
swooped down, pulled up the young shoots, and ate 
them to the last one; then again gave chase. 

Now, Izanami, too, was angered against him, for 
she had been put to shame; and she sent five hun- 
dred warriors from Yomi to pursue him. When the 
rush and the tramping drew nearer, Izanagi un- 
sheathed his ten-span sword, and in his despair his 
breath failed as at the approach of Death. Then 
suddenly appeared before him the Gate of the Pass 
of Yomi; and hastily plucking some peaches which 
grew by the gate, he threw them, and scattered 
his pursuers, and himself passed through into the 
light. And he rolled a mighty stone across the 
mouth of the opening, so that none hereafter could 
move it. 

The peaches that had saved him he named Their 
Augustness the Great Divine Fruit, and they are 
honored in some parts of Japan to this day. 

Now, when he came back into the world again, 
Izanagi felt very weary, and searched for a clear 
stream to wash away the foulness of the Lower 
Regions which clung to him. When he had found 
one he bathed therein, and of this washing many 
evil gods were born; among them were the Gods 
of Crookedness, who love to plague mankind. See- 
ing this evil, he made the Gods of Straightening, to 
make crooked things straight. 

Now, when he had rested and accomplished his 
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A Guide to Mythology 

purification, he created the greatest of his children 
in this wise: 

Descending once more into the clear stream, he 
bathed his left eye, and forth sprang Amaterasu, 
the great Sun Goddess. 

Sparkling with light, she rose from the waters 
as the Sun rises in the East, and her brightness 
was wonderful, and shone through Heaven and 
Earth; never was seen such radiant glory. 

Izanagi rejoiced greatly, and said, " There is 
none like this Miraculous Child ! " 

Taking a necklace of jewels, he put it round her 
neck and said, " Eule Thou over the Plain of High 
Heaven ! " 

Thus Amaterasu became the source of all life and 
light ; the glory of her shining has warmed and com- 
forted all mankind, and she is worshipped by them 
unto this day. 

Then he bathed his right eye, and there appeared 
her brother, the Moon God. Izanagi said : " Thy 
beauty and radiance are next to the Sun in splen- 
dor ; rule thou over the Dominion of Night ! " 

When the two beautiful ones had departed, a third 
God came forth, whose name was Susa-wo. He was 
a god with a strange destiny, and could never be at 
peace, sweeping ceaselessly over hills and valleys 
with his long beard floating behind him. Izanagi 
gave him dominion over the sea. 

But he was not content and neglected his king- 
dom, restlessly roaming over the earth, so that the 
green mountains withered and the rivers dried up. 

334 



Myths of the Sky and Air 

The murmuring of spirits he woke with his moan- 
ing was as the sound of innumerable bees. 

So Izanagi in his wrath banished him to the 
Nether Regions, and, having accomplished his work, 
withdrew into an Island Cave, and abode there till 
the End. 



335 



CHAPTER VII 



MOTHER-MYTHS AND CHILD-MYTHS 

T N all the myths we have learned about so far there 
**■ has been very little of the purely human element 
of affection, yet it is true that reverence and love for 
the mother of all things was one of the earliest in- 
stincts in the mind of primitive man, as well as love 
and even reverence for children. 

The idea of the earth as a mother is a very simple 
and natural one, and so we find everywhere that the 
earth has been personified as a mother. 

Among the primitive people of America the Earth- 
Mother is a personage of much importance. The 
Peruvians worshipped her as Mama-Pacha or Mother 
Earth. The Caribs, when there was an earthquake 
said it was their Mother Earth dancing and signify- 
ing to them to dance and make merry likewise, which 
accordingly they did. Among the North American 
Indians, the Comanches call on the earth as their 
mother, while they regard the Great Spirit as their 
father. 

In the mythology of the Einns, Lapps and Esths, 
the Earth-Mother is a divinely honored personage. 
One of the most primitive forms of the Earth-Mother 
is that of the Zulus. She is described as a very little 

336 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

animal about as large as a pole-cat, and is marked 
with little white and black stripes. The Zulus say 
of her that she is not commonly seen. We hear it 
said that primitive men knew her. No one existing at 
the present time ever saw her. In spite of this fact, 
however, they seem to have very definite ideas of her 
appearance, for upon one side of this little black and 
white animal there grow a bed of reeds, a forest, and 
grass. She always goes about followed by a large 
troop of children which resemble her, and in whose 
welfare she takes a great interest. The name of this 
goddess is Inkosa-za-na. 

The oldest of all their gods in Polynesian mythol- 
ogy is a mother-goddess called Yari. She is the 
very beginning of things in the abyss. She is cele- 
brated as the source of all from whom all beings 
claim descent. She sheltered the Earth-Mother, who 
in Polynesian mythology is called Papa, whose hus- 
band was Rangi, the Heaven. How these two came 
to be separated is told in the story of the " Children 
of Heaven and Earth." 

We see from this myth of Yari that the earth is 
not the only mother-goddess. 

The very beginnings of things in night and chaos 
were frequently represented as mother goddesses. 
For example, the Egyptian Mother-goddess was 
Neith, the goddess of night. She is celebrated as the 
" Only One." " Glory to thee! Thou art mightier 
than the Gods ! The forms of the living souls which 
are in their places give glory to the terrors of thee, 
their mother; thou art their origin." She is repre- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

sented as self-existing. " I am all that was and is and 
is to be; no mortal hath lifted my veil." In the 
Public Library in Boston the artist Sargent has 
made the vague, black figure of this goddess the 
background in his fresco, giving a symbolic represen- 
tation of Egyptian religion. The face of Keith shows 
inscrutable calm, and she wears as a necklace the con- 
stellations of the Zodiac, and on her head the winged 
globe of the sun. She was said also to have been the 
mother of the sun. 

The Hindoo, Aditi, mother of the gods, seems to 
have been a goddess of the same kind. She is said to 
represent free, unbounded infinity, and is the mother 
of twelve heavenly beings — sun-gods, called Adityas. 
Her kinship with other mother-goddesses is shown 
by the fact that she was invoked as the bestower of 
blessings on children and cattle. 

In the naive and poetical little myth of the Mala- 
yan Peninsula given later, the sun and moon both 
figure as mother-goddesses. 

The worship of mother-goddesses among the an- 
cient Mexican Indians was prominent. Hymns de- 
scriptive of two are given here. The first is to the 
goddess Teteoinan, the " Mother of the Gods." She 
was also called Soci, " Our Mother," and also by an- 
other name which signified " The Heart of the 
Earth." This last name was given to her because 
she was believed to be the cause of earthquakes. She 
presided over the vegetable and animal world and her 
chief temple at Tepeyacac was one of the most re- 
nowned in ancient Mexico. The other goddess, 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Cihuacoatl, was the mythical mother of the human 
race, and was regarded with veneration on account 
of her antiquity. As well as being an Earth-God- 
dess, she was the Goddess of War. 

It would be possible to give many illustrations of 
mother-tree goddesses, but we have space for only 
one, that of the Persian world-tree in whose midst 
dwelt the mother of all. " In Eridu a dark pine 
grew. It was planted in a holy place. Its crown was 
crystal white, which spread toward the deep vault 
above. The Abyss of Hea was its pasturage in 
Eridu, a canal full of waters. Its station was the 
center of the earth. Its shrine was the couch of 
Mother Zicam. The roof of its holy house like a for- 
est spread its shade; there were none who entered 
within. It was the seat of the mighty mother, who 
passes athwart the heavens." 

The JSForse earth-goddess, consort of Odin, appears 
in three forms — J ord, Erigg, and Eind. Jord is the 
original uninhabited earth, Erigg is the inhabited, 
cultivated earth, and Rind is the frozen earth of win- 
ter. The child of the first is Thor, the thunderer; of 
the second is Balder, the good or the beautiful; and 
of the third is Yale, who revenged the death of 
Balder. Of these, Erigg is more nearly like other 
mother-goddesses, though she seems to be somewhat 
withdrawn from active participation in the duties of 
the mother-goddess. These are handed over to her 
maid-servants, of whom she had seven — Eulla, Hlyn, 
Guaa, Snotra, Var, Lofu, and Syn. Eulla, with 
golden hair adorned with a ribbon, looks after har- 

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A Guide to Mythology 

vests. Hlyn is the protectress who delivers people 
from peril. Guaa is the messenger who runs errands 
for Frigg. Yar has charge of marriage, Lofu of love, 
and Syn of justice. The counterpart of Frigg in 
Greek mythology is Demeter (Roman name, Ceres), 
the daughter of another earth-goddess, Rhea. Like 
Frigg, she represents the bountiful life-giving aspects 
of nature. She is best described in the hymn writ- 
ten in her honor by Callimachus given later, and in 
which you will recognize another version of the story 
of Erysichthon. 

MALAYAN STOEY OF THE SUN AND MOON 

The Moon is a woman, and the Sun also. The 
stars are the Moon's children, and the Sun had in 
olden times as many. Fearing, however, that man- 
kind could not bear so much brightness and heat, 
they agreed each to devour her children. But the 
Moon instead of eating up her stars hid them from 
the Sun's sight, who, believing them all devoured, ate 
up her own ; no sooner had she done it than the Moon 
brought her family out of their hiding-place. When 
the Sun saw them, filled with rage, she chased the 
Moon to kill her. The chase has lasted ever since, 
and sometimes the Sun even comes near enough to 
bite the Moon, and that is an eclipse. The Sun, as 
men may see, still devours her stars at dawn, and the 
Moon hides hers all day while the Sun is near, and 
only brings them out at night when her pursuer is far 
away. 

340 



Demeter or Ceres. The Vatican. 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myth; 



HYMN TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS 
(Mexican Indian) 

Hail to our mother, who caused the yellow flowers to blos- 
som, she who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came 
forth from Paradise. 

Hail to our mother, who poured forth white flowers in 
abundance, who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she 
came forth from Paradise. 

Hail to the goddess who shines in the thorn-bush like a 
bright butterfly. 

Ho! she is our mother, goddess of the earth; she supplies 
food in the desert to the wild beasts, and causes them to live. 

Thus, thus, you see her to be an ever-fresh model of 
liberality toward all flesh. 

And as you see the goddess of the earth do to the wild 
beasts, so also does she toward the green herbs and the fishes. 



HYMN TO CTHUACOATL, THE MOTHER OF MORTALS 
(Mexican Indian) 

Quilaztli, plumed with eagle feathers, with the crest of 
eagles, painted with serpents' blood, comes with her hoe ; 
beating her drum, from Colhuacan. 

She alone, who is our flesh, goddess of the fields and shrubs, 
is strong to support us. 

With the hoe, with the hoe, with hands full, with the hoe, 
with hands full, the goddess of the fields is strong to sup- 
port us. 

With a broom in her hands the goddess of the fields strongly 
supports us. 

Our mother is as twelve eagles, goddess of drum-beating, 
filling the fields of tzioac and maguey like our lord Mixcoatl. 
She is our mother, a goddess of war, our mother, a goddess 
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A Guide to Mythology 

of war, an example and a companion from the home of our 

ancestors. 

She comes forth, she appears when war is waged, she pro- 
tects us in war that we shall not be destroyed, an example 
and companion from the home of our ancestors. 

She comes adorned in the ancient manner with the eagle 
crest, in the ancient manner with the eagle crest. 

THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH 
{Polynesian) 

Men had but one pair of primitive ancestors; they 
sprang from the vast Heaven that exists above us, 
and from the Earth which lies beneath us. Accord- 
ing to the traditions of our race, Rangi and Papa, or 
Heaven and Earth, were the source from which, in 
the beginning, all things originated. Darkness then 
rested upon the Heaven and upon the Earth, and 
they still both clave together, for they had not yet 
been rent apart, and their children were ever think- 
ing among themselves what might be the difference 
between darkness and light. 

At last, worn out by the continued darkness, the 
children of Heaven and Earth consulted amongst 
themselves, saying : " Let us now determine what we 
should do with Rangi and Papa, whether it would be 
better to slay them or to rend them apart." Then 
spoke Tu-Matauenga, the fiercest of the children of 
Heaven and Earth : " It is well, let us slay them." 

Then spoke Tane-Mahuta, the father of forests and 
of all things that inhabit them, or that are con- 
structed from trees: " Nay, not so. It is better to 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

rend them apart, and to let the Heaven stand far 
above us, and the Earth lie under our feet. Let the 
Sky become as a stranger to us, but the Earth remain 
close to us as our nursing mother." 

The brothers all consented to this proposal, with 
the exception of Tawhiri-ma-tea, the father of winds 
and storms, and he, fearing that his kingdom was 
about to be overthrown, grieved greatly at the 
thought of his parents being torn apart. 

Finally, however, having come to an agreement as 
to their plans, lo, Rongo-matane, the god and father 
of the cultivated food of man, rises up that he may 
rend apart Heaven and Earth; he struggles, but he 
cannot rend them apart. Lo, next, Tangawa, the 
god and father of fish and reptiles, rises up, that he 
may rend apart Heaven and Earth ; he also struggles, 
but he cannot rend them apart. Lo, next, Haumia- 
tikitiki, the god and father of the food of man which 
springs without cultivation, rises up and struggles, 
but ineffectually. Lo, then, Tu-Matauenga, the god 
and father of fierce human beings, rises up and strug- 
gles, but he, too, fails in his efforts. Then, at last, 
slowly uprises Tane-Mahuta, the god and father of 
forests, of birds, and of insects, and he struggles with 
his parents ; in vain he strives to rend them apart with 
his hands and arms. Lo, he pauses; his head is now 
firmly planted on his mother the Earth, his feet he 
raises up and rests against his father the Heaven, he 
strains his back and limbs with mighty effort. Now 
are rent apart Rangi and Papa, and with cries and 
groans of woe they shriek aloud: " Wherefore slay 

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A Guide to Mythology 

you thus your parents? Why commit you so dread- 
ful a crime as to slay us, as to rend your parents 
apart?" But Tane-Mahuta pauses not; he regards 
not their shrieks and cries; far, far beneath him he 
presses down the Earth ; far, far above him he thrusts 
up the Sky. 

Then, also, there arose in the breast of Tawhiri- 
ma-tea, the god and father of winds and storms, a 
fierce desire to wage war with his brothers, because 
they had rent apart their common parents. 

The god of hurricanes and storms dreads also that 
the world should become too fair and beautiful, so 
he rises, follows his father to the realms above, and 
hurries to the sheltered hollows in the boundless 
skies; there he hides and clings, and nestling in this 
place of rest he consults long with his parent, and as 
the vast Heaven listens to the suggestions of Taw- 
hiri-ma-tea, thoughts and plans are formed in his 
breast, and Tawhiri-ma-tea also understands what he 
must do. 

He sends forth fierce squalls, whirlwinds, dense 
clouds, massy clouds, dark clouds, gloomy thick 
clouds, fiery clouds, clouds which precede hurricanes, 
clouds of fiery black, clouds reflecting glowing red 
light, clouds wildly drifting from all quarters and 
wildly bursting, clouds of thunder-storms, and clouds 
hurriedly flying. In the midst of these Tawhiri-ma- 
tea himself sweeps wildly on. Alas! Alas! then 
rages the fierce hurricane; and whilst Tane-Mahuta 
and his gigantic forests still stand, unconscious and 
unsuspecting, the blast of the breath of the mouth of 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myth's 

Tawhiri-ma-tea smites them, the gigantic trees are 
snapped off right in the middle; alas! alas! they are 
rent to atoms, dashed to the earth, with boughs and 
branches torn and scattered, and lying on the earth, 
trees and branches all alike left for the insect, for 
the grub, and for loathsome rottenness. 

From the forests and their inhabitants Tawhiri- 
ma-tea next swoops down upon the seas, and lashes 
in his wrath the ocean. Ah ! ah ! waves steep as cliffs 
arise, whose summits are so lofty that to look from 
them would make the beholder giddy; these soon 
eddy in whirlpools, and Tangawa, the god of ocean, 
and father of all that dwell therein, flies affrighted 
through his seas. 

Tawhiri-ma-tea next rushed on to attack his broth- 
ers Rongo-matane and Haumia-tikitiki, the gods and 
progenitors of cultivated and uncultivated food; but 
Papa, to save these for her other children, caught 
them up, and hid them in a place of safety; and so 
well were these children of hers concealed by their 
Mother Earth, that Tawhiri-ma-tea sought for them 
in vain. 

Tawhiri-ma-tea having thus vanquished all his 
other brothers, next rushed against Tu-Matauenga, 
to try his strength against his ; he exerted all his force 
against him, but he could neither shake him nor pre- 
vail against him. What did Tu-Matauenga care for 
his brother's wrath ? he was the only one of the whole 
party of brothers who had planned the destruction of 
their parents, and had shown himself brave and fierce 
in war. Tu-Matauenga, or man, still stood erect and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

unshaken upon the breast of his Mother Earth ; and 
now at length the hearts of Heaven and of the god 
of storms became tranquil, and their passions were 
assuaged. 

Up to this time the vast Heaven has still ever re- 
mained separated from his spouse the Earth. Yet 
their mutual love still continues — the soft warm 
sighs of her loving bosom still ever rise up to him, 
ascending from the woody mountains and valleys, 
and men call these mists; and the vast Heaven, as 
he mourns through the long nights his separation 
from his beloved, drops frequent tears upon her 
bosom, and men seeing these, term them dewdrops. 

STORY OF DEMETEE 
{Greek: From the Hymn of Callimachus) 

He sings how Demeter was the first to cut off 
wheat, straw, and handfuls of ears, and introduced 
oxen to tread out the corn. He tells also how she 
punishes those who are guilty of disrespect to her 
power. She made the son of Triopus pitiable by 
hunger. Not yet were the Pelasgians inhabiting 
the Cnidian land, but sacred Dotium; but to thy- 
self had raised a beautiful enclosure, thickly grown 
with trees; scarce would an arrow have penetrated 
it. In it was the pine, in it tall elms, and pear- 
trees also, and beautiful, sweet apples, whilst the 
water, like as amber, was bursting forth from 
springs. Then the son of Triopus hastened forth 
with twenty servants, all in their prime, all giant 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

men, having armed them in both respects with 
hatchets and axes, so they rushed without shame 
into the grove of Demeter. 

Now there was a poplar, a large tree reaching to 
heaven, and under it the nymphs were wont to dis- 
port themselves in the noontide, which, stricken first, 
sounded an evil melody for the rest. Demeter be- 
came aware that her sacred grove was in danger, 
and said in anger, " Who is hewing down my beau- 
tiful trees ? " 

Forthwith she likened herself to Nicippe, whom 
the state had appointed as her public priestess, and 
she grasped in her hand the fillets and poppies and 
kept her key on her shoulders. Then said she, 
soothing the sad and shameless man : " My son who 
fellest the sacred trees which are consecrated to gods, 
stay, my son, child, much beloved by thy parents, 
forbear and turn away thy servants, lest anywise our 
Lady Demeter be wroth with thee; Demeter, whose 
holy precinct thou art pillaging." 

At her then, looking askance more fiercely than 
a lioness with savage brood : " Give way, lest I 
fasten this great axe in thy flesh. These trees thou 
shalt behold my well-roofed house, wherein I shall 
ever and anon hold pleasant banquets to my heart's 
content with my companions." So spake the youth, 
and Nemesis recorded the wicked speech. 

Demeter was wroth in an unspeakable degree, and 
she became the goddess. Her steps, indeed, trod 
the ground, but her head touched Olympus. Then 
were they half dead, I wot, when they had seen 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the awful goddess, and on a sudden rushed away, 
having left the axe among the oaks. The rest she 
left alone, for by constraint they followed beneath 
their lord's hands, but she replied to the king that 
vexed her : " So, so ; build thy hall, thou dog, thou 
dog, wherein thou mayst hold banquets, for frequent 
festivals thou shalt have hereafter." Forthwith she 
sent upon him a grievous, fierce hunger, burning 
and violent. So terrible was his appetite that he 
ate up everything his mother had, causing her to 
call on JSTeptune: 

" Either remove thou from him his sad disorder 
or thyself take and maintain him, for my tables 
have fallen short. Reft are my folds, and my stalls 
now void of beasts; and at length my cooks have 
declined the task. Nay, more, they have unyoked 
the mules from the great wains, and he ate the 
heifer which his mother was feeding for Vesta, and 
the prize-gaining steed and war horse, and the cat 
which lesser animals dread." 

O Demeter, may he be no friend to me who is 
hated by you. . . . Sing ye virgins, and ye mothers 
join the acclaim. All hail, Demeter, many nurtur- 
ing of many measures. And as the four white- 
maned steeds carry the basket, so shall the great 
goddess, wide ruling, come, bringing to us fair 
spring, fair summer, winter and autumn, and shall 
keep them for us to another year. 

Hail, goddess, and preserve this city in harmony 
and prosperity, and bring all things home ripe from 
the fields. Feed our cattle ; support our fruit trees ; 

348 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

bring forth the ear, produce the harvest; nurse also 
peace; that he who has sowed, that same may reap. 
Be propitious at my bidding, O thou, thrice-prayed- 
for, widely ruling among goddesses. 

THE STORY OF DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE 
(Greek) 

Once upon a time, when the giants had all been 
imprisoned by Zeus under Mount JEtna, Pluto, the 
ruler over the lower regions, or Hades, became very 
much alarmed lest the shock of their fall might ex- 
pose his kingdom to the light of day. Under this 
apprehension, he mounted his chariot, drawn by 
black horses, and made a journey of inspection to 
satisfy himself of the extent of the damage. While 
he was thus engaged, he was espied by the Goddess 
of Love, Aphrodite (Yenus), who was sitting on 
Mount Eryx, playing with her little boy Eros 
(Cupid). 

He is one of the children in mythology who never 
grows up and never grows any wiser. He carries 
about with him always a bow and a quiver full of 
arrows, which he shoots right into the hearts of 
people and fills them with a love so overwhelming 
for some one they have seen that they will even 
carry that person off against his or her will, as this 
present story shows. As soon as Aphrodite saw 
Pluto, she exclaimed : " My son, take thy darts 
which subdue all, even Zeus himself, and send one 
into the breast of yonder dark monarch, who rules 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the realm of Tartarus. Dost thou not see that 
even in heaven some despise our power? Athene 
and Artemis defy us; and there is that daughter 
of Demeter, who threatens to follow their example. 
J^ow, if thou regardest thine own interest or mine, 
join these two in one." The hoy selected his sharp- 
est and truest arrow, and sped it right to the heart 
of Pluto. 

Now in the vale of Enna is a lake embowered in 
woods, where Spring reigns perpetual. Here Per- 
sephone (Roman, Proserpina) was playing with her 
companions, gathering lilies and violets, when the 
god Pluto saw her. He immediately loved her, and, 
without waiting to find out whether she returned 
his love or not, he caught her up and carried her 
off. She screamed for help to her mother and her 
companions, but Pluto urged on his steeds and out- 
distanced pursuit. When he reached the river Cy- 
ane, it opposed his passage; whereupon he struck 
the bank with his trident, and the earth opened and 
gave him a passage to Tartarus. 

Then Demeter, overwhelmed with grief, sought 
her daughter through the whole world. Bright- 
haired Aurora, when she came forth in the morn- 
ing, and Hesperus, when he led out the stars in 
the evening, found her still busy in the search. 
At length, weary and sad, she sat down upon a 
stone, and remained nine days and nine nights, in 
the open air, under the sunlight and moonlight and 
falling showers. It was where the city of Eleusis 
now stands, near the home of an old man named 

350 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Celeus. His little girl, pitying the old woman, 
said to her : " Mother " — and the name was sweet 
to the ears of Demeter — " why sittest thou here 
alone upon the rocks ? " The old man begged her 
to come into his cottage. She declined. He urged 
her. " Go in peace," she replied, " and be happy 
in thy daughter; I have lost mine." But their 
compassion finally prevailed. Demeter rose from 
the stone and went with them. As they walked, 
Celeus said that his only son lay sick of a fever. 
The goddess stooped and gathered some poppies. 
Then, entering the cottage where all was in dis- 
tress — for the boy, Triptolemus, seemed past recov- 
ery — she restored the child to life and health with 
a kiss. In grateful happiness the family spread the 
table, and put upon it curds and cream, apples, and 
honey in the comb. While they ate, Demeter 
mingled poppy juice in the milk of the boy. When 
night came, she arose and, taking the sleeping boy, 
moulded his limbs with her hands, and uttered over 
him three times a solemn charm, then went and 
laid him in the ashes. His mother, who had been 
watching what her guest was doing, sprang forward 
with a cry and snatched the child from the fire. 
Then Demeter assumed her own form, and a divine 
splendor shone all around. While they were over- 
come with astonishment, she said : " Mother, thou 
hast been cruel in thy fondness; for I would have 
made thy son immortal. Nevertheless, he shall be 
great and useful. He shall teach men the use of 
the plough, and the rewards which labor can win 

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A Guide to Mythology 

from the soil." So saying, she wrapped a cloud 
about her, and, mounting her chariot, rode away. 

Demeter continued her search for her daughter, 
until at last she returned to Sicily, whence she had 
at first set out, and stood by the banks of the river 
Cyane. The river nymph would have told the god- 
dess all she had witnessed, but dared not for fear of 
Pluto; so she ventured merely to take up the girdle 
which Persephone had dropped in her flight, and 
float it to the feet of her mother. Demeter, seeing 
this, laid her curse upon the innocent earth in which 
her daughter had disappeared. Then succeeded 
drought and famine, flood and plague, until at last 
the fountain Arethusa made intercession for the 
land. Por she had observed that it had opened all 
unwillingly to the might of Pluto, and she had 
also, in her flight from Alpheus through the lower 
regions of the earth, beheld the missing Persephone. 
She reported that the daughter of Demeter seemed 
sad, but no longer showed alarm in her countenance. 
Her look was such as became a queen — the queen 
of Erebus, the powerful bride of the monarch of 
the realm of the dead. 

When Demeter heard this she stood a while like 
one stupefied; then she implored Zeus to interfere 
to procure the restitution of her daughter. Zeus 
consented on condition that Persephone should not, 
during her stay in the lower world, have taken any 
food; otherwise, the Pates forbade her release. Ac- 
cordingly, Hermes was sent, accompanied by Spring, 
to demand Persephone of Pluto. The wily monarch 

352 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

consented ; but, alas ! the maiden had taken a pome- 
granate which Pluto offered her, and had sucked 
the sweet pulp from a few of the seeds. A com- 
promise, however, was effected by which she was to 
pass half the time with her mother and the rest 
with the lord of Hades — so the flowers bloom upon 
the earth for half the year, and for the other half 
are buried underground, out of sight. 

Demeter, pacified with this arrangement, restored 
the earth to her favor. She remembered, also, about 
Celeus and his family, and her promise to his in- 
fant son, Triptolemus. She taught the boy the use 
of the plough and how to sow the seed. She took him 
in her chariot, drawn by winged dragons, through 
all the countries of the earth; and under her guid- 
ance he imparted to mankind valuable grains, and 
the knowledge of agriculture. After his return, 
Triptolemus built a temple to Demeter in Eleusis, 
and established the worship of the goddess under the 
name of the Eleusinian mysteries, which, in the 
splendor and solemnity of their observance, sur- 
passed all other religious celebrations among the 
Greeks. 

Myths in which children figure are so numerous 
that it will be possible to give but a few of the 
most important ones. There are sun and moon chil- 
dren, and star children, and children of the wind; 
strong children and clever children and tricksy 
children, and even children who are worshipped as 
ancestors. A charming tale of the Zuni Indians 

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A Guide to Mythology 

tells how they came to worship children. Once some 
mothers were crossing a river with their children. 
By some magical means the children were changed 
into such ugly and mischievous shapes that many of 
the mothers, in their fright, let them fall into the 
water. Some of them held fast to their children, 
and these were restored to their natural shapes on 
the other side of the river, but those who had lost 
their children grieved deeply, and nothing could 
comfort them. Thereupon, two little twin brothers, 
who were called Sons of the Sun, went downward 
beneath the waters of a lake to the dwelling of the 
children, who as soon as they saw the twins in- 
quired lovingly how it fared with their mothers. 
Their visitors told them of the grief and sorrow of 
their parents, whereupon the children said : " Tell 
our mothers we are not dead, but live and sing in 
this beautiful place, which is the home for them 
when they sleep. One day they will wake here and 
be happy always. And we are here to intercede 
with the Sun, our father, that he may give to our 
people rain and the fruits of the earth, and all that 
is good for thein." Ever since these children have 
been worshipped as ancestral gods. 

We have already had a little story in which the 
stars appear as the children of the sun and moon. 
In another one, of the Indians of British Columbia, 
the dark spots which we see on the moon are sup- 
posed to be a child and her little basket. According 
to this legend, one night a child of the chief class 
awoke and cried for water. Its cries were very 

354 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

affecting — " Mother, give me a drink ! " — but the 
mother heeded not. The Moon was touched, and 
came down, entered the house, and approached the 
child, saying : " Here is water from heaven ; drink.'' 
The child eagerly took hold of the jar and drank 
the water, and was then enticed to go away with its 
benefactor, the Moon. They took an underground 
passage until they got quite clear of the village, 
and then ascended to heaven. And still we see in 
the moon the figure of that very child, carrying the 
lii >b round basket it had in its hand when it went 
to *sleep. 

The Indians of Mt. Shasta have a little wind 
child, who also became the ancestress of the grizzly- 
bear people. They tell how once a terrific storm 
came up from the sea and shook to its base the 
wigwam — Mt. Shasta itself — in which lived the 
Great Spirit and his family. Then the Great Spirit 
commanded his daughter, little more than an in- 
fant, to go up and command the wind to be still; 
but he cautioned her at the same time, in a tender, 
fatherly manner, to be sure and not put her head 
out into the blast, but to thrust out her little red 
arm and make a sign before she delivered her mes- 
sage. But she could not withstand the temptation 
to look out upon the world, and of course, being 
such a little thing, she was caught up by the storm 
and blown down the mountain into the land of the 
grizzly-bear people. She married one of them, and 
became the ancestress of a new race of men. When 
the Great Spirit heard that his daughter still lived, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

he ran down the mountain for joy, but when he 
found out that his daughter had married one of the 
grizzly-bear people, he was so angry that he cursed 
the grizzly people and turned them into the present 
race of bears of that name. Then he drove them 
and the new race of men out of their wigwam, shut 
to the door, and passed away to his mountains, 
carrying his daughter with him; and her or him no 
eye has since seen. 

A very important mythical being in Polynesian 
mythology is a little boy called Maui-tikitiki-o-Tar^n- 
ga, and how he caught the Sun is told in the sftry 
of him in this chapter. 

The Egyptians called the sun itself a child when 
it was rising. The name of this Child-Sun was 
Horus, and he was sometimes regarded as the god 
of silence and represented as a child with his finger 
held up to his lip. The principal children in Greek 
myths are Heracles and Hermes, who, although they 
figure in many stories after they had become full- 
grown gods, were both very remarkable when they 
were babies. Heracles was the God of Strength, 
but it is very probable that there are some cosmic 
elements in the conception of this god. His struggle 
with the serpents in his babyhood resembles very 
closely other battles in mythology between the sun 
and the powers of darkness, E-a and Anapef or 
Apollo and the Python. Hermes, who is a roguish 
little imp, is full of such tricks as the wind plays, 
and he has become the model of many a mediaeval 
tale of tricksy thieves and wonder-workers. 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Other stories to be given in this chapter show 
how important little human children were among 
primitive people — so important in one story that 
all the animals in the world assembled and tried 
to save two little boys who went sound asleep upon 
a rock that gradually rose higher and higher until 
their faces touched the moon; and so important in 
another that even the great god of the Algonquins, 
Glooskap himself, was conquered by the baby; and 
in still another Indian myth so important that if 
it had not been for the wishes of the little son of 
a Manito, there would never have been any summer ; 
but this last, if he really were the son of a Manito, 
was, of course, a little more than human. 

LEGEND OF TU-TOK-A-NU-LA 
(Indians of the Yosemite Valley) 

There were once two little boys living in the 
valley, who went down to the river to swim. After 
paddling and splashing about to their hearts' con- 
tent, they went on shore and crept upon a huge 
bowlder that stood beside the water, on which they 
lay down in the warm sunshine to dry themselves. 
Very soon they fell asleep, and slept so soundly that 
they never wakened more. Through moons and 
snows, winter and summer, they slumbered on. 
Meantime the great rock whereon they slept was 
treacherously rising day and night, little by little, 
until it soon lifted them up beyond the sight of their 
friends, who sought them everywhere, weeping. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Thus they were borne up at last beyond all human 
help or reach of human voice; lifted up into the 
blue heavens, far up, far up, until their faces 
touched the moon; and still they slumbered and 
slept, year after year, safe among the clouds. 

Then, upon a time, all the animals assembled to- 
gether to bring down the little boys from the top 
of the great rock. Every animal made a spring up 
the face of the wall as far as he could leap. The 
little mouse could only jump up a hand-breadth; 
the rat, two hand-breadths; the raccoon, a little far- 
ther; and so on — the grizzly bear making a mighty 
leap far up the wall, but falling back like all the 
others. Last of all the lion tried, and he jumped 
up farther than any other animal, but he, too, fell 
down flat on his back. 

Then came along an insignificant measuring- 
worm, which even the mouse could have crushed by 
treading on it, and began to creep up the rock. 
Step by step, a little at a time, he measured his 
way up, until he presently was above the lion's 
jump, then pretty soon out of sight. So he crawled 
up and up, through many sleeps, for about one whole 
snow, and at last he reached the top. Then he took 
the little boys and came downward as he went up, 
so bringing them safely to ground. 

And the rock is called the measuring-worm — Tu- 
tokanula. 



358 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 



NEZHIK-E-WA-WA-SUN ; OR, THE LONE LIGHTNING 
(Odjibwa) 

A little orphan boy, who had no one to care for 
him, was once living with his uncle, who treated 
him very badly, making him do hard things and 
giving him very little to eat; so that the boy pined 
away, he never grew much, and became, through 
hard usage, very thin and light. At last the uncle 
felt ashamed of this treatment, and determined to 
make amends for it by fattening him up, but his 
real object was to kill him by over-feeding. He told 
his wife to give the boy plenty of bear's meat, and 
let him have the fat, which is thought to be the 
best part. They were both very assiduous in cram- 
ming him, and one day came near choking him to 
death by forcing the fat down his throat. The boy 
escaped and fled from the lodge. He knew not where 
to go, but wandered about. When night came on, 
he was afraid the wild beasts would eat him; so he 
climbed up into the forks of a huge pine tree, and 
there he fell asleep in the branches, and had an 
aupoway, or ominous dream. 

A person appeared to him from the upper sky 
and said : " My poor little lad, I pity you, and the 
bad usage you have received from your uncle has 
led me to visit you; follow me, and step in my 
tracks." Immediately his sleep left him, and he 
rose up and followed his guide, mounting up higher 
and higher into the air, until he reached the upper 
sky. Here twelve arrows were put into his hands, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

and he was told that there were a great many Mani- 
toes in the northern sky, against whom he must go 
to war, and try to waylay and shoot them. Accord- 
ingly, he went to that part of the sky, and at long 
intervals shot arrow after arrow until he had ex- 
pended eleven, in vain attempts to kill the Manitoes. 
At the flight of each arrow there was a long and 
solitary streak of lightning in the sky — then all was 
clear again, and not a cloud or spot could be seen. 
The twelfth arrow he held a long time in his hands, 
and looked around keenly on every side to spy the 
Manitoes he was after. But these Manitoes were 
very cunning, and could change their form in a 
moment. All they feared was the boy's arrows, for 
these were magic arrows, which had been given to 
him by a good spirit, and had power to kill them 
if aimed aright. At length the boy drew up his 
last arrow, settled in his aim, and let fly, as he 
thought, into the very heart of the chief of the 
Manitoes; but before the arrow reached him, the 
Manito changed himself into a rock. Into this rock 
the head of the arrow sank deep and stuck fast. 

" Now your gifts are all expended/' cried the en- 
raged Manito, " and I will make an example of your 
audacity and pride of heart for lifting your bow 
against me." And so saying, he transformed the 
boy into the ISTezhik-e-wa-wa-sun, or Lone Lightning, 
which may be observed in the northern sky to this 
day. 



360 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 



WASIS, THE BABY 

HOW THE LORD OF MEN AND BEASTS STROVE WITH THE MIGHTY 
WASIS, AND WAS SHAMEFULLY DEFEATED 

(Penobscot) 

Now it came to pass when Glooskap had conquered 
all his enemies, even the Kewahqu', who were giants 
and sorcerers, and the M'teoulin, who were magi- 
cians, and the Pamola, who is the evil spirit of the 
night air, and all manner of ghosts, witches, devils, 
cannihals, and goblins, that he thought upon what 
he had done, and wondered if his work was at an 
end. 

And he said this to a certain woman. But she re- 
plied: "Not so fast, Master, for there yet remains 
One whom no one has ever conquered or got the bet- 
ter of in any way, and who will remain uncon- 
quered to the end of time." 

" And who is he ? " inquired the Master. 

" It is the mighty Wasis," she replied, " and 
there he sits; and I warn you that if you meddle 
with him you will be in sore trouble." 

Now Wasis was the Baby. And he sat on the 
floor sucking a piece of maple-sugar, greatly con- 
tented, troubling no one. 

As the Lord of Men and Beasts had never mar- 
ried or had a child, he knew naught of the way of 
managing children. Therefore he was quite cer- 
tain, as is the wont of such people, that he knew all 
about it. So he turned to Baby with a bewitching 
smile and bade him come to him. 

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A Guide to Mythology 

Then Baby smiled again, but did not bndge. 
And the Master spake sweetly and made his voice 
like that of the summer bird, but it was of no avail, 
for Wasis sat still and sucked his maple-sugar. 

Then the Master frowned and spoke terribly, and 
ordered Wasis to come crawling to him immediately. 
And Baby burst out into crying and yelling, but did 
not move for all that. 

Then, since he could do but one thing more, the 
Master had recourse to magic. He used his most 
awful spells, and sang the songs which raise the 
dead and scare the devils. And Wasis sat and 
looked on admiringly, and seemed to find it very in- 
teresting, but all the same he never moved an inch. 

So Glooskap gave it up in despair, and Wasis, sit- 
ting on the floor in the sunshine, went goo ! goo ! and 
crowed. 

And to this day when you see a babe well con- 
tented, going goo! goo! and crowing, and no one can 
tell why, know that it is because he remembers the 
time when he overcame the Master who had con- 
quered all the world. For of all the beings that 
have ever been since the beginning, Baby is alone 
the only invincible one. 

ojeeg aoung; or, the summer-maker 
(North American Indian) 

There lived a celebrated hunter on the southern 
shores of Lake Superior, who was considered a Man- 
ito by some, for there was nothing but what he could 

362 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

accomplish. He lived off the path, in a wild, lone- 
some place, with a wife whom he loved, and they 
were blessed with a son, who had attained his thir- 
teenth year. The hunter's name was Ojeeg, or the 
Fisher, which is the name of an expert, sprightly 
little animal common to the region. He was so suc- 
cessful in the chase that he seldom returned without 
bringing his wife and son a plentiful supply of veni- 
son, or other dainties of the woods. As hunting 
formed his constant occupation, his son began early 
to emulate his father in the same employment, and 
would take his bow and arrows, and exert his skill in 
trying to kill birds and squirrels. The greatest im- 
pediment he met with was the coldness and severity 
of the climate. He often returned home, his little 
fingers benumbed with cold, and crying with vexa- 
tion at his disappointment. Days and months and 
years passed away, but still the same perpetual depth 
of snow was seen, covering all the country as with 
a white cloak. 

One day, after a fruitless trial of his forest skill, 
the little boy was returning homeward with a heavy 
heart, when he saw a small red squirrel gnawing the 
top of a pine bur. He had approached within a 
proper distance to shoot, when the squirrel sat up on 
its hind legs and thus addressed him: 

" My grandchild, put up your arrows, and listen to 
what I have to tell you." The boy complied rather 
reluctantly, when the squirrel continued : " My son, 
I see you pass frequently, with your fingers be- 
numbed with cold, and crying with vexation for not 

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A Guide to Mythology 

having killed any birds. Now, if you will follow my 
advice we will see if you cannot accomplish your 
wishes. If you will strictly pursue my advice, we 
will have perpetual summer, and you will then have 
the pleasure of killing as many birds as you please; 
and I will also have something to eat, as I am now 
myself on the point of starvation. 

" Listen to me. As soon as you get home you must 
commence crying. You must throw away your bow 
and arrows in discontent. If your mother asks you 
what is the matter, you must not answer her, but 
continue crying and sobbing. If she offers you any- 
thing to eat, you must push it away with apparent 
discontent, and continue crying. In the evening, 
when your father returns from hunting, he will in- 
quire of your mother what is the matter with you. 
She will answer that you came home crying, and 
would not so much as mention the cause to her. All 
this while you must not leave off sobbing. At last 
your father will say: ' My son, why is this unneces- 
sary grief? Tell me the cause. You know I am a 
spirit, and that nothing is impossible for me to per- 
form.' You must then answer him, and say that you 
are sorry to see the snow continually on the ground, 
and ask him if he could not cause it to melt, so that 
we might have perpetual summer. Say it in a suppli- 
cating way and tell him this is the cause of your grief. 
Your father will reply : c It is very hard to accom- 
plish your request, but for your sake, and on account 
of my love for you, I will use my utmost endeavors.' 
He will tell you to be still, and cease crying. He 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 



will try to bring summer with all its loveliness. You 
must then be quiet, and eat that which is set before 
you." 

The squirrel ceased. The boy promised obedience 
to his advice, and departed. When he reached home, 
he did as he had been instructed, and all was exactly 
fulfilled, as it had been predicted by the squirrel. 

Ojeeg told him that it was a great undertaking. 
He must first make a feast, and invite some of his 
friends to accompany him on a journey. Next day 
he had a bear roasted whole. All who had been in- 
vited to the feast came punctually to the appointment. 
There were the Otter, Beaver, Lynx, Badger, and 
Wolverine. After the feast, they arranged it among 
themselves to set out on the contemplated journey in 
three days. When the time arrived, the Fisher took 
leave of his wife and son, as he foresaw that it was 
for the last time. He and his companions travelled 
in company day after day, meeting with nothing but 
the ordinary incidents. On the twentieth day they 
arrived at the foot of a high mountain, where they 
saw the tracks of some person who had recently 
killed an animal, which they knew by the blood that 
marked the way. The Fisher told his friends that 
they ought to follow the track, and see if they could 
not procure something to eat. They followed it for 
some time ; at last they arrived at a lodge, which had 
been hidden from their view by a hollow in the 
mountain. Ojeeg told his friends to be very sedate, 
and not to laugh on any account. The first object 
that they saw was a man standing at the door of the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

lodge, but of so deformed a shape that they could not 
possibly make out who or what sort of a man it could 
be. His head was enormously large; he had such a 
queer set of teeth, and no arms. They wondered how 
he could kill animals. But the secret was soon re- 
vealed. He was a great Manito. He invited them to 
pass the night, to which they consented. 

He boiled his meat in a hollow vessel made of 
wood, and took it out of this singular kettle in some 
way unknown to his guests. He carefully gave each 
their portion to eat, but made so many odd move- 
ments that the Otter could not refrain from laugh- 
ing, for he is the only one who is spoken of as a 
jester. The Manito looked at him with a terrible 
look, and then made a spring at him, and got on him 
to smother him, for that was his mode of killing ani- 
mals. But the Otter, when he felt him on his neck, 
slipped his head back and made for the door, which 
he passed in safety; but went out with the curse of 
the Manito. The others passed the night, and they 
conversed on different subjects. The Manito told the 
Fisher that he would accomplish his object, but that 
it would probably cost him his life. He gave them 
his advice, directed them how to act, and described 
a certain road which they must follow, and they 
would thereby be led to the place of action. 

They set off in the morning, and met their friend, 
the Otter, shivering with cold; but Ojeeg had taken 
care to bring along some of the meat that had been 
given him, which he presented to his friend. They 
pursued their way, and travelled twenty days more 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

before they got4o the place of which the Manito 
had told them. It was a most lofty mountain. They 
rested on its highest peak to fill their pipes and re- 
fresh themselves. Before smoking, they made the 
customary ceremony, pointing to the heavens, the 
four winds, the earth, and the zenith; in the mean- 
time, speaking in a loud voice, they addressed the 
Great Spirit, hoping that their object would be ac- 
complished. They then commenced smoking. 

They gazed on the sky in silent admiration and as- 
tonishment, for they were on so elevated a point that 
it appeared to be only a short distance above their 
heads. After they had finished smoking, they pre- 
pared themselves. Ojeeg told the Otter to make the 
first attempt to try and make a hole in the sky. He 
consented with a grin. He made a leap, but fell 
down the hill stunned by the force of his fall; and 
the snow being moist, and falling on his back, he 
slid with velocity down the side of the mountain. 
When he found himself at the bottom, he thought to 
himself: " It is the last time I shall attempt such a 
jump, so I will make the best of my way home." 
Then it was the turn of the Beaver, who made the 
attempt, but fell down senseless; then of the Lynx 
and Badger, who had no better success. 

" Now," says Fisher to the Wolverine, " try your 
skill; your ancestors were celebrated for their activ- 
ity, hardihood, and perseverance, and I depend on 
you for success. Now make the attempt." He did 
so, but also without success. He leaped the second 
time, but now they could see that the sky was giving 

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A Guide to Mythology 

way to their repeated attempts. Mustering strength, 
he made the third leap, and went in. The Fisher 
nimbly followed him. 

They found themselves in a beautiful plain, ex- 
tending as far as the eye could reach, covered with 
flowers of a thousand different hues and fragrance. 
Here and there were clusters of tall, shady trees, 
separated by innumerable streams of the purest 
water, which wound around their courses under the 
cooling shades, and filled the plain with countless 
beautiful lakes, whose banks and bosom were cov- 
ered with water-fowl, basking and sporting in the 
sun. The trees were alive with birds of different 
plumage, warbling their sweet notes, and delighted 
with perpetual spring. 

The Fisher and his friend beheld very long lodges, 
and the celestial inhabitants amusing themselves at a 
distance. Words cannot express the beauty and 
charm of the place. The lodges were empty of in- 
habitants, but they saw them lined with mocuJcs, of 
different sizes, filled with birds and fowls of different 
plumage. Ojeeg thought of his son, and immediately 
commenced cutting open the mocuks and letting out 
the birds, who descended in whole flocks through the 
opening which they had made. The warm air of 
those regions also rushed down through the opening, 
and spread its genial influence over the north. 

When the celestial inhabitants saw the birds let 
loose, and the warm gales descending, they raised a 
shout like thunder, and ran for their lodges. But it 
was too late. Spring, summer, and autumn had gone; 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

even perpetual summer had almost all gone; but 
they separated it with a blow, and only a part de- 
scended; but the ends were so mangled that, wher- 
ever it prevails among the lower inhabitants, it is 
always sickly. 

When the Wolverine heard the noise, he made for 
the opening and safely descended. Not so the Fisher. 
Anxious to fulfil his son's wishes, he continued to 
break open the mocuks. He was, at last, obliged to 
run also, but the opening was now closed by the in- 
habitants. He ran with all his might over the plains 
of heaven, and, it would appear, took a northerly 
direction. He saw his pursuers so close that he had 
to climb the first large tree that he came to. They 
commenced shooting at him with their arrows, but 
without effect, for all his body was invulnerable ex- 
cept the space of about an inch near the tip of his 
tail. At last one of the arrows hit the spot, for he 
had in this chase assumed the shape of the Fisher 
after whom he was named. 

He looked down from the tree, and saw some 
among his assailants with the totems of his ances- 
tors. He claimed relationship, and told them to de- 
sist, which they only did at the approach of night. 
He then came down to try and find an opening in 
the celestial plain, by which he might descend to 
the earth. But he could find none. At last, becom- 
ing faint from the loss of blood from the wound on 
his tail, he laid himself down toward the north of 
the plain, and, stretching out his limbs, said : " I 
have fulfilled my promise to my son, though it has 

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A Guide to Mythology 

cost me my life ; but I die satisfied in the idea that 
I have done so much good, not only for him, but for 
my fellow-beings. Hereafter I will be a sign to the 
inhabitants below for ages to come, who will ven- 
erate my name for having succeeded in procuring 
the varying seasons. They will now have from 
eight to ten moons without snow." 

He was found dead next morning, but they left 
him as they found him, with the arrow sticking in 
his tail, as it can be plainly seen, at this time, in 
the heavens. 

THE LEGEND OF MAUI 
(Polynesian) 

Once when his relations were all dancing in the 
great House of Assembly they found out who he was. 
For little Maui, the infant, crept into the house, 
and went and sat behind one of his brothers, and hid 
himself, so when their mother counted her children 
that they might stand up ready for the dance, she 
said: " One, that's Maui-taha; two, that's Maui- 
roto; three, that's Maui-pae; four, that's Maui- 
waho "; and then she saw another, and cried out: 
" Hollo, where did this fifth come from ? " Then 
little Maui, the infant, answered: "Ah, I'm your 
child, too." Then the mother counted them all over 
again, and said : " Oh, no, there ought to be only 
four of you; now for the first time I've seen you." 
Then little Maui and his mother stood for a long 
time disputing about this in the very middle of the 
ranks of all the dancers. 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

At last she got angry, and cried out: " Come, you, 
be off now, out of the house at once; you are no 
child of mine, you belong to some one else." Then 
little Maui spoke out quite boldly, and said : " Very 
well, I'd better be off, then, for I suppose, as you say 
it, I must be the child of some other person; but 
indeed I did think I was your child when I said so, 
because I knew I was born by the side of the sea, 
and was thrown by you into the foam of the surf, 
after you had wrapped me up in a long tress of your 
hair, which you cut off for the purpose; then the 
seaweed formed and fashioned me, as, caught in its 
long tangles, the ever-heaving surges of the sea 
rolled me, folded as I was in them, from side to 
side; at length the breezes and squalls which blew 
from the ocean drifted me on shore again, and the 
soft jelly-fish of the long, sandy beaches rolled them- 
selves round me to protect me; then again myriads 
of flies buzzed about me, and flocks of birds collected 
round me to tear me to pieces, but at that moment 
appeared there also my great ancestor, Tama-nui-ki- 
te-Rangi, and he saw the flies and birds collected in 
clusters and flocks above the jelly-fish, and behold, 
within there lay a human being ; then he caught me 
up and carried me to his house, and he hung me up 
in the roof that I might feel the warm smoke and 
the heat of the fire, so I was saved alive by the kind- 
ness of that old man. At last I grew, and then I 
heard of the fame of the dancing of this great House 
of Assembly. It was that which brought me here. 
But ever since I can remember I have heard the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

names of these your first-born children, as you have 
been calling them over until this very night, when 
I again heard you repeating them. In proof of this 
I will now recite your names to you, my brothers. 
You are Maui-taha, and you are Maui-roto, and 
you are AEaui-pae, and you are Maui-waho, and as 
for me, I'm little Maui-the-baby, and here I am sit- 
ting before you." 

TThen his mother, Taranga, heard all this, she 
cried out : " You dear little child, you are indeed 
my last-born, therefore I now tell you your name 
shall be Maui-tiki-tiki-o-Taranga," and he was called 
by that name. 

It was now night ; but early in the morning 
Taranga rose up, and suddenly, in a moment of 
time, she was gone from the house where her chil- 
dren were. As soon as they woke up they looked 
all about to no purpose, as they could not see her; 
the elder brothers knew she had left them, and 
were accustomed to it ; but the little child was ex- 
ceedingly vexed ; yet he thought : " I cannot see 
her, 'tis true, but perhaps she has only gone to pre- 
pare some food for us." Xo-no — she was off, far, 
far away. 

Xow, at nightfall when their mother came back 
to them, her children were dancing and singing as 
usual. As soon as they had finished, she called to 
her last-born, " Come here, my child, let us sleep 
together " ; so they slept together ; but as soon as day 
dawned, she disappeared. The little fellow now felt 
quite suspicious at such strange proceedings on the 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

part of his mother every morning. So, at length, 
another night, he crept out of bed in the night and 
stole his mother's apron, her belt, and clothes, and 
hid them; then he went and stopped up every crev- 
ice in the wooden window, and in the doorway, so 
that the light of the dawn might not shine into the 
house, and make his mother hurry to get up. But 
after he had done this his little heart still felt very 
anxious and uneasy, lest his mother should, in her 
impatience, rise in the darkness, and defeat his 
plans. But the night dragged its slow length along 
without his mother moving; at last there came the 
faint light of early morn, but his mother still slept 
on; then the sun rose up, and mounted far up above 
the horizon; now at last his mother moved, and be- 
gan to think to herself, " What kind of night can 
this be, to last so long? " and having thought thus, 
she dropped asleep again. Again she awoke, and 
began to think to herself, but could not tell that it 
was broad daylight outside, as the window and every 
chink in the house were stopped up closely. 

At last up she jumped; and finding herself with- 
out her clothes or her belt or her apron, she ran and 
pulled out the things with which the windows and 
chinks in the doors were stopped up, and whilst 
doing so, oh, dear ! oh, dear ! there she saw the sun 
high up in the heavens; then she snatched up, as 
she ran off, the old flax cloak, with which the door 
of the house had been stopped up, and carried it of! 
as her only covering; getting, at last, outside the 
house, she hurried away, and ran crying at the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

thought of having been so badly treated by her own 

children. 

As soon as his mother got outside the house, little 
Maui jumped up, and kneeling upon his hands and 
knees peeped after her through the doorway into 
the bright light. Whilst he was watching her, she 
reached down to a clump of rushes, and snatching it 
up from the ground, dropped into a hole underneath 
it, and clapping the rushes into the hole again as 
if it were its covering, so disappeared. Then little 
Maui jumped on his feet, and, as hard as he could 
go, ran out of the house, pulled up the clump of 
rushes, and peeping down, discovered a beautiful 
open cave running quite deep into the earth. 

He covered up the hole again and returned to the 
house, and waking up his brothers who were still 
sleeping, said: " Come, come, my brothers, rouse up, 
you have slept long enough; come, get up; here we 
are again cajoled by our mother." Then his broth- 
ers made haste and got up ; alas ! alas ! the sun was 
quite high up in the heavens. 

The little Maui now asked his brothers again, 
" Where do you think the place is where our father 
and mother dwell ? 99 and they answered : " How 
should we know, we have never seen it; although 
we are Maui-taha, and Maui-roto, and Maui-pae, and 
Maui-waho, we have never seen the place; and do 
you think you can find that place which you are so 
anxious to see ? What does it signify to you % Can- 
not you stop quietly with us ? What do we care 
about our father, or about our mother? Did she 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

feed us with food till we grew up to he men? not 
a hit of it. Why, without doubt, Kangi, or the 
Heaven, is our father, who kindly sent his offspring 
down to us: Hau-whenna, or gentle breezes, to cool 
the earth and young plants; and Hau-ma-ringiringi, 
or mists, to moisten them; and Hau-ma-roto-roto, or 
fine weather, to make them grow; and Tonarangi, 
or rain, to water them; and Tomairangi, or dews, 
to nourish them. He gave these his offspring to cause 
our food to grow, and then Papa-tu-a-nuku, or the 
Earth, made her seeds to spring, and grow forth, 
and provide sustenance for her children in this long- 
continuing world." 

Little Maui then answered : " What you say is 
truly quite correct; but such thoughts and sayings 
would better become me than you, for in the foam- 
ing bubbles of the sea I was nursed and fed: it 
would please me better if you would think over and 
remember the time when you were nursed at your 
mother's breast; it could not have been until after 
you had ceased to be nourished by her milk that 
you could have eaten the kinds of food you have 
mentioned ; as for me, oh ! my brothers, I have never 
partaken either of her milk or of her food; yet I 
love her, for this single reason alone — that she is 
my mother; and because I love her, I wish to know 
the place where she and my father dwell." 

His brothers felt quite surprised and pleased with 
their little brother when they heard him talk in this 
way, and when, after a little time, they had recov- 
ered from their amazement, they told him to try and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

find their father and mother. So he said he would 
go. It was a long time ago that he had finished his 
first labor, for when he first appeared to his rela- 
tives in their house of singing and dancing, he had 
on that occasion transformed himself into the like- 
ness of all manner of birds, of every bird in the 
world, and yet no single form that he then assumed 
had pleased his brothers; but now when he showed 
himself to them, transformed into the semblance of 
a pigeon, his brothers said : u Ah ! now indeed, oh, 
brother, you do look very well indeed, very beauti- 
ful, very beautiful, much more beautiful than you 
looked in any of the other forms you assumed, when 
you first discovered yourself to us." What made 
him look so beautiful now were the belt and apron 
he had stolen from his mother. The shining white 
upon his breast was her belt, the glossy black feath- 
ers at his throat, the fastening to the belt. Then 
off he flew until he came to the clump of rushes, 
closing the opening of the cave into which his 
mother had disappeared. Then down he went into 
the cave, shutting up its mouth with the rushes so 
as to hide the entrance. Away he flew, very fast 
indeed, and twice he dipped his wing, because the 
cave was narrow; soon he reached nearlv to the bot- 
torn of the cave, and flew along it; and again, be 
cause the cave was so narrow, he dipped first one- 
wing and then the other, but the cave now widened, 
and he dashed straight on. 

At last he saw a party of people coming along 
under a grove of trees; they were a special kind of 

o r» 
O i O 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

tree, called manapan trees, that belonged to the 
country. Mani flying on, perched upon the top of 
one of these trees, under which the people had seated 
themselves ; and when he saw his mother lying down 
on the grass by the side of her husband, he guessed 
at once who they were, and he thought, " Ah ! there 
sit my father and mother right under me " ; and he 
soon heard their names, as they were called to by 
their friends who were sitting with them; then the 
pigeon hopped down, and perched on another spray 
a little lower, and it pecked off one of the berries 
of the tree and dropped it gently down, and hit the 
father with it on the forehead; and some of the 
party said, " Was it a bird which threw that 
down?" but the father said, " Oh, no, it was only 
a berry that fell by chance." 

Then the pigeon again pecked off some of the 
berries from the tree, and threw them down with 
all its force, and struck both father and mother, so 
that he really hurt them; then they cried out, and 
the whole party jumped up and looked into the tree, 
and as the pigeon began to coo, they soon found out 
from the noise where it was sitting amongst the 
leaves and branches, and the whole of them, the 
chiefs and common people alike, caught up stones 
to pelt the pigeon with, but they threw for a very 
long time without hitting it; at last the father tried 
to throw a stone at it; ah, he struck it, but Maui 
had himself contrived that he should be struck by 
the stone which his father threw; for, but by his 
choice no one could hit him; he was struck exactly 

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A Guide to Mythology 

upon his left leg, and down he fell, and as he lay 
fluttering and struggling upon the ground, they all 
ran to catch him, but lo ! the pigeon had turned into 
a man. 

Then all those who saw him were frightened at 
his fierce glaring eyes, which were red as if painted 
with red ochre, and they said: " Oh, it is now no 
wonder that he so long sat still up in the tree; had 
he been a bird he would 'have flown off long before, 
but he is a man." And some of them said: "No, 
indeed, rather a god — just look at his form and ap- 
pearance; the like has never been seen before since 
Rangi and Papa-tu-a-nuku were torn apart." Then 
Taranga said : " I used to see one who looked like 
this person every night when I went to visit my 
children, but what I saw then excelled what I see 
now; just listen to me." Then she told the story of 
Maui as he had told it to her and his brothers him- 
self. 

Then Taranga asked Maui, who was sitting near 
her, " Where do you come from ? from the west ? 99 
and he answered, " No." " From the north-east, 
then?" "No." "From the south-east then?" 
" No." " From the south then ? " " No." " Was 
it the wind which blows upon me — the wind that 
brought you here to me ? " When she asked this, he 
opened his mouth and answered, " Yes." And she 
cried out, " Oh, this then is indeed my child " ; and 
she said, " Are you Maui-taha ? " He answered, 
" No." Then said she, " Are you Maui-tiki-tiki-o-Ta- 
ranga? " and he answered, " Yes." And she cried 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

aloud: "This is, indeed, my child. By the winds 
and storms and wave-uplifting gales he was fash- 
ioned and became a human being; welcome, oh, my 
child, welcome! By you shall hereafter be climbed 
the threshold of the house of your great ancestor 
Hine-nui-te-po, and death shall thenceforth have no 
power over man." This prophecy, however, was not 
fulfilled, for when the time came for him to en- 
counter Hine-nui-te-po, he was himself killed. 

Maui, after these things, returned to his brothers 
to tell them that he had found his parents, and to 
explain where they dwelt. 

The young hero, Maui, had not been long at home 
with his brothers when he began to think that it 
was too soon after the rising of the sun that it be- 
came night again, and that the sun again sank down 
below the horizon, every day, every day ; in the same 
manner the days appeared too short to him. So at 
last one day he said to his brothers, " Let us now 
catch the sun in a noose, so that we may compel him 
to move more slowly, in order that mankind may 
have long days to labor in to procure subsistence for 
themselves " ; but they answered him, " Why, no 
man could approach it on account of its warmth, 
and the fierceness of its heat " ; but the young hero 
said to them : " Have you not seen the multitude of 
things I have already achieved ? Did I not by de- 
grees transform myself into every bird in the world, 
small or great; and did I not after all this again 
assume the form of a man % As for that feat, I ac- 
complished it by enchantments, and I will by the 

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A Guide to Mythology 

same means accomplish also this other thing which 
I have in mind." When his brothers heard this they 
consented to aid him in his conquest of the sun. 

Then they began to spin and twist ropes to form 
a noose to catch the sun in, and in doing this they 
discovered the mode of plaiting flax into stout, 
square-shaped ropes, and the manner of plaiting 
flat ropes, and of spinning round ropes; at last they 
finished making all the ropes they required. Then 
Maui took up his enchanted weapon, and he took 
his brothers with him, and they carried their pro- 
visions, ropes, and other things with them in their 
hands. They travelled all night, and as soon as day 
broke, they halted in the desert, and hid themselves 
that they might not be seen by the sun ; and at night 
they renewed their journey, and before dawn they 
halted and hid themselves again; at length they got 
very far, very far to the eastward, and came to the 
very edge of the place out of which the sun rises. 

Then they set to work and built on each side of 
this place a long high wall of clay, with huts of 
boughs of trees at each end to hide themselves in; 
when these were finished, they made the loops of the 
noose, and the brothers of Maui then lay in wait on 
one side of the place out of which the sun rises, 
and Maui himself lay in wait upon the other side. 
The young hero held in his hand his enchanted 
weapon, the jaw-bone of his ancestress, and said 
to his brothers : " Mind now, keep yourselves hid, 
and do not go showing yourselves foolishly to the 
sun ; if you do, you will frighten him ; but wait pa- 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

tiently until his head and fore-legs have got well 
into the snare, then I will shout ; you haul away as 
hard as you can on the ropes on both sides, and then 
I'll rush out and attack him, but do you keep your 
ropes tight for a good long time, until he is nearly 
dead, when we will let him go; but mind now, my 
brothers, do not let him move you to pity with his 
shrieks and screams." 

At last the sun came rising up out of his place, 
like a fire spreading far and wide over the moun- 
tains and forests; he rises up, his head passes 
through the noose, and it takes in more and more of 
his body, until his fore-paws pass through; then the 
ropes are pulled tight, and the monster begins to 
struggle and roll himself about, whilst the snare 
jerks backward and forward as he struggles. Ah! 
is he not held fast in the ropes of his enemies! 

Then forth rushes that bold hero, Maui-tiki-tiki- 
o-Taranga, with his enchanted weapon. Alas! the 
sun screams aloud; he roars; Maui strikes him 
fiercely with many blows; they hold him for a long 
time; at last they let him go, and then weak from 
wounds the sun creeps slowly along its course. Then 
men learned the second name of the sun, for in its 
agony the sun screamed out: " Why am I thus smit- 
ten by you! oh, man! do you know what you are 
doing? Why should you wish to kill Tama-nui-te- 
Ka ? " At last they let him go. Oh, then, Tama- 
nui-te-Ra went very slowly and feebly on his course. 



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THE INFANT HERACLES 

(Greek) 

When Heracles (Roman, Hercules) was a very 
wee child, not more than ten months old, he per- 
formed a marvellous feat which was a worthy sam- 
ple of the vast labors he was to accomplish during 
his life. His mother, Alcmena, took him and his 
younger brother, Iphicles, gave them both their bath 
and their evening feast of milk, and then tucked 
them safely away in their cradle, which was not an 
ordinary one by any means, but a magnificent 
bronze shield which their father, Amphitryon, had 
taken from his fallen enemy, Pterelaus. Then the 
mother stroked her little children's heads, and said 
to them: 

" Sleep, my little ones, a light delicious sleep ; 
sleep, soul of mine, two brothers, babes unharmed; 
blessed be your sleep, and blessed may ye come to 
the dawn." 1 

And as she spoke she rocked the huge shield back 
and forth, and soon they both fell asleep. 

But just at midnight, when the constellation of 
the Great Bear wheeled round toward the constella- 
tion of Orion that shows his mighty shoulder, Hera 
(Roman, Juno) sent forth two horrible monsters, 
two snakes with bristling coils of azure — she urged 
them against the broad threshold of the house door, 
intending that they should devour the young child 
Heracles. Then the serpents crawled, writhing 
1 Andrew Lang's translation. 
382 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

along the ground, and ever from their eyes shone 
a baleful fire as they came, and they spat out their 
deadly venom. But when with their flickering 
tongues they were drawing near the children, then 
Alcmena's dear babes wakened, by the will of Zeus 
that knows all things, and there was a bright light 
in the chamber. 

Then one of the children, Iphicles, straightway 
screamed out, when he beheld the hideous monsters 
above the hollow shield, and saw their pitiless fangs, 
and eager to flee from them he kicked off the woollen 
coverlet with his feet. But Heracles set his force 
against them, and grasped them with his hands, 
holding them as in a bond, having got them by the 
throat, wherein lies the evil venom, detested even 
by the gods, of baleful snakes. Then the serpents, 
in their turn, wound their coils about the young 
child, the child unweaned, who never wept in his 
nursling days; but again they relaxed their spines 
on account of the pain, and strove to find some issue 
from the grasp of iron. Alcmena awoke first, hear- 
ing the cry. 

" Arise, Amphitryon, for numbing fear lays hold 
of me : arise, nor stay to put on thy shoes ! Dost thou 
not hear how loud the younger child is wailing? and 
though it is the depth of night, the walls are all plain 
to see as in the clear dawn? I know there is some 
strange thing within the house, my dearest lord! " 

Thus she spoke, and at his wife's bidding Amphi- 
tryon stepped down out of his bed of cedar, making 
for his richly ornamented sword which he always 

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A Guide to Mythology 

kept hanging on a pin above his bed. Just as he was 
reaching out for his new woven belt, and lifting with 
his other hand the mighty sheath of lotus wood, lo! 
the wide chamber was filled again with night. Then 
he called aloud to his servants, who were sleeping 
soundly. " Lights ! Bring lights as quick as may be 
from the hearth, my servants, and thrust back the 
strong bolts of the doors. Arise, serving-men, stout 
of heart. Your master calls you." 

Then quickly came the serving-men with burning 
torches, filling the whole house. When they saw the 
young child Heracles clutching the two snakes in his 
tender grasp, they all cried out and smote their hands 
together. But Heracles displayed the creeping things 
to his father, Amphitryon, and leaped on high in his 
childish glee, and laughing, at his father's feet he 
laid them down, the dread monsters fallen on the 
sleep of death. Then Alcmena took Iphicles, dry- 
eyed and wan with fear, and laid him in her own 
bosom; but Amphitryon placed the other child be- 
neath a lamb's wool coverlet, and betook himself 
again to his rest. 

The cocks had barely sung their third welcome to 
the earliest dawn, when Alcmena called forth the 
seer Tiresias, who cannot lie, and told him of the 
new portent, and bade him declare what things 
should come to pass. 

" Nay, even if the gods devise some mischief, do 
not in pity conceal it from me; let me remind thee 
what thou well knowest, that mortals may not escape 
the doom that Fate speeds from her spindle." 

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The Infant Hercules. Louvre. 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Thus the Queen spoke, and he answered : 
" Be of good cheer, daughter of Perseus, woman 
that hast borne the noblest of children. For by the 
sweet light that long hath left mine eyes, I swear 
that many Achaean women, as they card the soft 
wool about their knees, shall sing at eventide of 
Alcmena's name, and thou shalt be honorable among 
the women of Argos. Such a man, even this thy son, 
shall mount to the starry firmanent, the hero, broad 
of breast, the master of all wild beasts, and of all 
mankind. Twelve labors is he fated to accomplish, 
and thereafter to dwell in the house of Zeus." 

THE STORY OF THE CHILD HERMES 
{Greek) 

The little child-god Hermes was born at the first 
peep of day in a rocky cavern overshadowed by a 
beautiful grove of ancient trees. He was so remark- 
able a child that he began playing on the lyre at noon, 
and the very same evening he stole away the herds 
of Phoebus Apollo. He sprang from the arms of his 
mother, Maia, nor could she keep him in his sacred 
cradle, nor from creeping forth to seek the herds of 
Apollo. 

Wandering forth from the lofty cavern, he found 
a tortoise, and cried out, " What a treasure ! " Be- 
fore the portal, the little beast was depasturing the 
flowery herbage at his leisure, moving his feet in a 
deliberate measure over the turf. Hermes, eyeing 
him and laughing, exclaimed: "You are a useful 

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A Guide to Mythology 

godsend indeed to me, king of the dance, companion 
of the feast, lovely in all your nature! Welcome, 
you excellent plaything! Where, sweet mountain 
beast, did you get that speckled shell? Thus much 
I know, you must come home with me and be my 
guest; you will give joy to me, and I will do all that 
is in my power to honor you. Better to be at home 
than out-of-doors; so come with me, and though it 
has been said that when alive you defend from magic 
power, I know you will sing sweetly when you are 
dead." Having spoken, this quaint infant lifted the 
tortoise up from the grass upon which it was feeding, 
and grasping it tightly in his delighted hold, carried 
off his treasured prize into the cavern. He then 
scooped out all the inside of the tortoise, leaving only 
the shell. Then, through the shell he bored small 
holes at proper distances, and fastened within, the 
cut stems of reeds, and a bridge, over which he 
stretched the strings. 

When he had made this lovely instrument, he tried 
the chords, and brought forth beautiful music. He 
hit the strings with a little instrument called the plec- 
trum, and lo ! up from beneath his hand there went 
a tumult sweet of mighty sounds and from his lips 
he sent a strain of unpremeditated wit, joyous and 
wild and wanton — such as you may hear among rev- 
ellers on a holiday. He sang a lovely song in honor 
of his mother Maia, but while he was singing, he was 
suddenly seized with a new fancy. So he deposited 
in his sacred crib the hollow lyre, and from the sweet 
cavern rushed with great leaps up to the mountain's 

386, 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

head, revolving in his mind some subtle feat of 
thievish craft, such as a swindler might devise in the 
lone season of dim night. The great Sun had driven 
his steeds and chariot under the ocean's bed. Mean- 
while the child strode over the Pierian mountains 
clothed in shadows, where the immortal oxen of the 
God are pastured in the flowering unmown meadows, 
and safely stalled in a remote abode — elate and proud 
he drove fifty from the herd, lowing aloud. He drove 
them wandering over the sandy way, but being of a 
crafty disposition, he drove them backward and for- 
ward astray, so that the tracks which seemed before 
were aft; then he threw his sandals into the ocean 
spray, and for each foot he wrought a kind of raft of 
tamarisk, and tamarisk-like sprigs, and bound them in 
a lump with withy twigs. And on his feet he tied 
these sandals light, so that the trail of the wide leaves 
might confuse his tracks; and then, a self-sufficing 
wight, like a man hastening on some distant way, 
he from Piera's mountain bent his flight ; but an old 
man perceived the infant pass down green Onchestus 
heaped like beds with grass. The old man stood, 
dressing his sunny vine : " Halloo ! old fellow with 
the crooked shoulder ! You grub those stumps ? Be- 
fore they will bear wine methinks even you must 
grow a little older: attend, I pray, to this advice of 
mine if you would escape something which might 
appall a bolder man. Seeing, see not — and hearing, 
hear not — and — if you have understanding — under- 
stand." So saying, Hermes roused the oxen vast; 
over shadowy mountain and resounding dell, and 

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A Guide to Mythology 

flower-paven plains, great Hermes passed; till the 
black night divine, which favoring fell around his 
steps, grew gray, and morning fast wakened the world 
to work, and from her sea-strewn cell, the sublime 
Morn had just begun to climb into her watch-tower. 
Now to Alpheus he drove all the broad foreheaded 
oxen of the Sun. They came unwearied to the lofty 
stall and to the water-troughs which ever run through 
the fresh fields — and when everyone had been pas- 
tured with rush-grass tall, lotus and all sweet herbage, 
the great God drove them into the stall. 

Hermes then heaped a mighty pile of wood, and 
then bethought him how to produce fire. He took 
two smooth laurel branches, stripped off the bark and 
rubbed them in his palms. Suddenly the burning 
vapor leaped forth on high, which the divine child 
saw with delight. And fine dry logs and numerous 
roots he gathered in a delve upon the ground and 
kindled them, and instantaneously the strength of the 
fierce flames was breathed around, and while the 
might of the glorious fire thus wrapped the great pile 
with glare and roaring sound, Hermes dragged forth 
two heifers, lowing loud, close to the fire — such might 
was in the God. He threw them on their backs upon 
the earth and rolled them over and over and bored 
their lives out. Then he cut up the fat and flesh 
and placed the two on spits of wood before the fire, 
toasting their flesh and ribs, and while this was be- 
ing done he stretched their hides over a craggy stone. 
This was a burnt offering to the gods, but the savor 
of the roasted meat tempted him sorely though im- 

388 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

mortal, but he repressed the desire to taste it and put 
not a single morsel into his mouth. 

Then he removed every trace of the fresh butchery 
and cooking, so that it seemed all to have vanished 
through the sky. He burned the hoofs and horns and 
head and hair ; the insatiate fire devoured them hun- 
grily. And when he saw that everything was clear, 
he quenched the coals and trampled the black dust, 
and tossed into the stream his bloody sandals. All 
night he worked in the serene moonshine, but when 
the light of day was spread abroad, he sought his 
natal mountain-peaks. On his long wandering, 
neither man nor god had met him, since he killed 
Apollo's kine, nor had a single house-dog barked at 
him on his road. Now he passed obliquely through 
the keyhole, like a thin mist or an autumnal blast. 
Eight through the temple of the spacious cave he 
went with soft light feet, as if his tread fell not on 
earth. Then he crept quickly to his cradle and 
spread the swaddling clothes about him; and the 
knave lay playing with the covering of the bed, with 
his left hand about his knees and the right hand 
holding his beloved tortoise-lyre tight. There he lay, 
innocent as a new-born child, as gossips say. 

But though he was a god, the goddess, his fair 
mother, was not deceived, and knew all that he 
had been doing while away. So she said to him: 
" Whence come you and what wild adventures have 
you had, you cunning rogue. Where have you been 
all night long, clothed in your impudence? What 
have you done since you departed hence? Apollo will 

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A Guide to Mythology 

soon pass within this gate and bind your tender body 
in a chain inextricably tight and fast as fate, unless 
you can delude the god again. A pretty torment are 
you for gods and men." " Dear mother/' the sly 
Hermes replied, " why scold and bother as if I were 
like other babes of my age, and understood nothing. 
I have hatched a scheme in my subtle brain which, 
while the sacred stars round heaven are rolled, will 
profit you and me, nor shall our lot be as you coun- 
sel, without gifts or food, to spend our lives in this 
obscure abode. We will leave this shadow-peopled 
cave and live among the gods, and pass each day in 
high communion, sharing their great wealth, and 
from the portion which Jove gave to Phoebus I will 
snatch my share away, and if he should find me out 
I'll countermine him by a deeper plan. I'll pierce 
the Pythian temple walls, though stout, and sack the 
fane of everything I can — cauldrons and tripods, 
each golden cup and every brazen pan, all the 
wrought tapestries and the gay garments." So they 
talked together. 

Meanwhile the Day, ethereal-born, arose out of 
the flood of flowing Ocean, bearing light to men. 
Apollo passed toward the sacred wood, which from 
the inmost depths of its green glen echoes the 
voice of Neptune, and there stood on the same 
spot in green Onchestus that same old man, the 
vine-dresser, who was employed hedging his vine- 
yard there. Latona's glorious son began : " Pray tell 
me, ancient hedger of Onchestus green, whether a 
drove of kine has passed this way, all heifers with 

390 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

crooked horns ? For they have been stolen from the 
herd in high Pieria, where a black bnll was fed apart, 
between two woody mountains in a neighboring glen, 
though four fierce dogs guarded them. And what 
is strange, the author of this theft has stolen all the 
fatted heifers, but the four dogs and the black bull 
are left. They were stolen last night at set of sun, 
of their soft beds and their sweet food bereft. Now 
tell me, old man, born before the world began, have 
you seen any one pass with the cows ? " The old 
man replied : " My friend, it would require no com- 
mon skill justly to speak of everything I see. On 
various purposes of good or ill many pass by my 
vineyard, and for me it is difficult to know the in- 
visible thoughts which may be in all those many 
minds. Thus much alone I can certainly say. I 
tilled these vines until the decline of day, and then 
I thought I saw, but dare not speak with certainty 
of such a wondrous thing, a child who could scarcely 
have been born a week, closely following those fair- 
horned cattle. And in his hand he held a polished 
stick, and, as on purpose, he walked wavering from 
one side to the other of the road, and with his face 
turned in the opposite direction from his steps." 
Apollo, hearing this, passed quickly on. ]STo winged 
omen could have shown more clearly who it was. So 
Apollo wrapped a purple atmosphere around his 
shoulders, and like fire went to famous Pylos, seek- 
ing his kine there. He found their tracks, yet hardly 
cold, and cried : " What wonder do mine eyes behold. 
Here are the footsteps of the horned herd turned back 

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A Guide to Mythology 

toward their fields of asphodel ; but these ! are not the 
tracks of beast or bird, gray wolf or bear, or lion of 
the dell, or maned Centaur. Sand was never stirred 
by man or woman thus ! Inexplicable ! Who with 
unwearied feet ever could impress the sand with such 
enormous vestiges?" 

Having spoken thus, Phoebus impetuously sought 
high Cyllene's forest-cinctured hill, and the deep 
cavern where dark shadows lie, the home of Hermes. 
A delightful odor from the dew was all about. 
And Phoebus stooped under the craggy roof arched 
over the dark cavern. Maia's child perceived from 
afar that he came angry about the cows that had 
been stolen. Then Hermes piled over him his fine 
and fragrant swaddling clothes. There he lay like 
a burning spark covered, beneath the ashes cold 
and dark, an infant who had sucked his fill and 
now was newly washed and put to bed, awake but 
courting sleep with weary will. And gathered in a 
lump, hands, feet and head, he lay, and his beloved 
tortoise still he grasped and held under his shoulder 
blade. Phoebus knew the lovely mountain goddess, 
not less her subtle, swindling baby, who lay swathed 
in his sly wiles. He looked sharp round every 
crook of the ample cavern for his kine, and when he 
saw them not he took the glittering key and opened 
three great hollow recesses in the rock, where many 
a nook was filled with sweet food immortals swallow, 
and mighty heaps of silver and of gold were piled 
within — a wonder to behold, and white and silver 
robes, all overwrought with cunning workmanship. 

392 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Except among the gods there can be naught in the 
wide world to be compared with it. Latona's off- 
spring, after having sought his herds in every corner, 
thus greeted great Hermes : " Little cradled rogue, 
tell me about my illustrious heifers, where are they ? 
Speak quickly, or a quarrel between us must rise, 
and the event will be that I shall haul you into dis- 
mal Tartarus, in fiery gloom to dwell eternally. Nor 
shall your father nor your mother loose the bars of 
that black dungeon. Utterly you shall be cast out 
from the light of day, unblest as they to rule the 
ghosts of men." Hermes slyly answered : " Son of 
great Latona, what a speech is this ! Why come you 
here to ask me what has been done with the wild 
oxen which it seems you miss % I have not seen them, 
nor from any one have I heard a word of the whole 
business. If you should promise an immense reward 
I could not tell you more. A stealer of oxen should 
be both tall and strong, and I am but a little new- 
born thing who, yet at least, can think of nothing 
wrong. My business is to suck and sleep and fling 
the cradle clothes about me all day long; or half 
asleep, hear my sweet mother sing, and to be washed 
in water clean and warm, and hushed and kissed and 
kept secure from harm. Oh, let not this quarrel ever 
be heard of, for the astounded gods would laugh at 
you for telling a story so absurd as that a new-born 
infant could fare forth out of his home after a sav- 
age herd. I was born yesterday. My small feet are 
too tender for the roads so hard and rough, and if you 
think that this is not enough, I swear a great oath that 

393 



A Guide to Mythology 

I stole not your cows, and that I know of no one else 
who might or could or did. Whatever things cows 
are I do not know, for I have only heard the name." 
This said, he winked as fast as could be, and his 
brow was all wrinkled, and he gave a loud whistle 
like one who hears some strange absurdity. Apollo 
gently smiled and said : " Ay, ay, you cunning little 
rascal, you will bore many a rich man's house, and 
your array of thieves will lay their siege before his 
door, silent as night, in night, and many a day in 
the wild glens rough shepherds will deplore that you 
or yours, having an appetite, met with their cattle. 
And this among the gods shall be your gift, to be 
the lord of those who steal and swindle." 

Apollo seized him then. " What do you mean to 
do with me, you unkind God? " said Hermes. " Is it 
about these cows you tease me so? I wish the race 
of cows were perished. I did not steal your cows, I 
do not even know what things cows are. Alas ! I well 
may sigh that since I came into this world of woe I 
should ever have heard of one." Thus Phoebus and 
the vagrant Hermes talked without coming to an ex- 
planation. Hermes continued to try and cheat Apollo 
with lies and roguery, but when no evasion served, 
he proposed to appeal to J ove to judge between them. 
Hermes paced first over the sandy ground and he 
of the silver bow followed, and from Jove's equal 
balance they did require a judgment in the cause 
wherein they strove. As they came over odorous 
Olympus and its snows a murmuring tumult arose. 
And from the folded depths of the great hill, while 

394 



Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Hermes and Apollo reverent stood before Jove's 
throne, the indestructible immortals rushed in mighty 
multitude, and while their seats in order due they 
filled the lofty Thunderer in a careless mood to 
Phoebus said : " Whence drive you this sweet prey, 
this herald-baby, born but yesterday? A most im- 
portant subject, trifler, this to lay before the Gods ! 99 
" Nay, father, nay. When you have understood the 
business, say not that I alone am fond of prey. I 
found this little boy in a recess in Cyllene's moun- 
tains far away — a manifest and most apparent thief, 
a scandal-monger beyond all belief. I never saw his 
like either in heaven or earth for knavery or craft. 
Out of the field yester-even, by the low shore on which 
the loud sea laughed, he had driven my cattle right 
down to the river ford. The cattle's track on the 
black dust is fully evident, as if they went toward 
the place from which they came — that asphodel 
meadow in which I feed my many herds. The child's 
steps were most incomprehensible. I know not how 
I can describe in words those tracks. He could not 
have gone either upon his feet or his hands. He 
must have had some strange mode of moving on. 
Those immense vestiges, as I traced them on the 
sandy road, seemed like the trail of oak toppings, 
but thence the hard ground gave no mark or track 
denoting where they trod; but, working at his fence 
an old man saw him as he passed to Pylos with the 
cows in fiery haste. I found that in the dark he had 
quietly sacrificed some cows, and before light had 
thrown the ashes all dispersedly about the road ; then, 

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A Guide to Mythology 

still as gloomy night, he crept into his cradle, rub- 
bing either eye and cogitating some new trick. No 
eagle could have seen him as he lay hid in his cavern. 
I taxed him with the fact, when he declared most 
solemnly that he had neither seen nor in any manner 
heard of my lost cows, whatever things cows be ; nor 
could he tell, though offered a reward of any one 
who could tell me about them." 

Then Phoebus sat down and Hermes addressed the 
Supreme Lord of Gods and Men. " Great Father, 
you know well beforehand that all I shall say is truth, 
for I am totally unacquainted with untruth. At sun- 
rise Phoebus came, but with no band of gods to bear 
him witness, in great wrath to my abode, seeking his 
heifers there and declaring that I must show him 
where they are or he would hurl me down the dark 
abyss. I know that every limb of Apollo is clothed 
with speed and might and manliness, as a green bank 
with flowers, but unlike him I was born yesterday, 
and you may guess he knew this well when he in- 
dulged the whim of bullying a poor little new-born 
thing that slept and never thought of cow-driving. 
Am I like a strong fellow who steals kine? This driv- 
ing of herds is none of mine. I have never wandered 
across my threshold ! I reverence the divine Sun and 
the gods and you, and care even for this hard accuser, 
who must know I am as innocent as they or you. 
I swear by these most gloriously wrought portals 
through which the multitude of the Immortals pass 
and repass forever, day and night, devising schemes 
for the affairs of mortals, that I am guiltless," and 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 

Hermes winked as if now his adversary was silenced, 
and Jove, according to his wont, laughed heartily to 
hear the subtle-witted infant give such a plausible 
account. But he remitted judgment for the time 
and sent them forth to seek the stolen cows. Hermes 
was truthfully to lead the way and show where he 
had hidden the mighty heifers. 

Then they hastened to Pylos and the wide pastures 
and lofty stalls by the Alphean ford, where wealth 
in the mute night is multiplied with silent growth. 
While Hermes drove the herd out of the stony cav- 
ern, Phoebus spied the hides of those the little babe 
had slain, stretched high upon the precipice. " How 
was it possible," then Phoebus asked, " that you, a 
little child born yesterday, a thing on mother's milk 
and kisses fed, could have slain these two prodigious 
heifers? Ever I may well dread hereafter your 
prowess, when you grow strong and tall." He 
spoke, and bound stiff withy bands around the in- 
fant's wrists. He might as well have bound the wild 
oxen. The withy bands, though starkly interknit, 
fell at the feet of the immortal child, loosened by 
some device of his quick wit. Phoebus was again 
deceived, and stared while Hermes sought some hole, 
looking askance and winking fast, as though where 
he might hide himself. But suddenly he changed his 
plans, and with strange skill subdued Apollo by the 
might of winning music. His left hand held the 
lyre, and in his right the plectrum struck the chords ; 
unconquerable, up from beneath his hands in circling 
flight the gathering music rose, and sweet as Love 

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A Guide to Mythology 

the penetrating notes did live and move within the 
heart of great Apollo. He listened with all his soul 
and laughed for pleasure. The unabashed boy stood 
close to his side harping fearlessly, and to the measure 
of the sweet lyre there followed loud and free his 
joyous voice, for he unlocked the treasure of his deep 
song illustrating the birth of the bright gods and the 
dark desert Earth, and how to the Immortals every 
one, a portion was assigned of all that is; but chief 
did clothe Maia's son Mnemosyne in the light of his 
loud melodies, and as each god was born or had be- 
gun he in their order due and fit degrees sang of 
his birth and being, and did move Apollo to unutter- 
able love. These words he spoke : " You heifer- 
stealing schemer, well do you deserve that fifty oxen 
should requite such minstrelsies as I have heard even 
now. Comrade of feasts, little contriving wight, one 
of your secrets I would gladly know — whether the 
glorious power you now show forth was folded up 
within you at your birth, or whether mortal taught 
or God inspired your skill in song ? " And Hermes 
replied : " Wisely hast thou enquired of my skill. 
Jove has given to thee also divinest gifts. By thee 
the depths of his far voice are understood, by thee 
the mystery of all oracular fates. Even I, a child, 
perceive thy might and majesty. Thou canst seek 
out and compass all that wit can find or teach, yet 
if thou wilt, come take the lyre — be mine the glory 
giving it. Strike the sweet chords and sing aloud, 
and wake thy joyous pleasure out of many a fit of 
tranced sound." The shell he proffered Apollo took, 

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Mother-Myths and Child-Myths 



and gave him in return the glittering lash, installing 
him as herdsman. Hermes flashed a joyous look at 
him, and then Apollo with the plectrum struck the 
chords, and from beneath his hands a crash of mighty 
sounds rushed up whose music shook the soul with 
sweetness, and with the lyre his sweeter voice a just 
accordance kept. 



THE END 



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