DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42067#0375
Literature, music, and dance
335
the gum because he needs it to caulk the whale. In another tale
the killing of the gum is the introduction to a visit to the sky.
The sons of the murdered gum ascend the sky to take revenge.
Other tales are so developed that they form a complex, novelistic
plot. The creation legends of the Polynesians are of this character.
Even among those tribes that enjoy the brief, etiological anecdote,
tales occur that contain the elements of an epic poem. The bare
outlines of a family story of the Kwakiutl may serve as an example:
The Thunderbird and his wife live in heaven, they descend to our
earth and become the ancestors of a family. The Transformer
meets them and in a series of contests the two prove to be of
equal power. Finally the transformer puts frogs into the stomach
of the Thunderbird-ancestor who takes them out again and deposits
them on a rock. The sons of one of his friends go and then the
frogs enter their stomachs, but they are cured by the Thunderbird-
ancestor. In return he receives a magic canoe. The tale goes on
to relate the birth, magic growth, and exploits of his four children.
His wife is ravished by a spirit and gives birth to a boy who is
washed in the slime of a double-headed serpent. Thus his skin
becomes stone. The tale continues with a long series of warlike
exploits of this son. Finally he woes a princess for one of his
brothers. On a visit to her home the son of this princess is made
fun of by the children in the village of her father. This results in
a war in which the village of her father is destroyed. One of the
wives of her father escapes and gives birth to a boy. The second
wife of her father is enslaved by Stone-Body, the young man whose
skin had been transformed into stone. She gives birth to a boy
and by a ruse succeeds in making her escape with her son. The
two brothers grow up and, in a series of adventures and exploits,
both obtain supernatural power. They meet and travel towards the
village of their father, killing and transforming on the way danger-
ous monsters. Meanwhile Stone-Body has obtained a ceremonial
from a southern tribe and goes to Feather-Mountain in the north
to obtain bird’s down, needed for this dance. On his way back he
335
the gum because he needs it to caulk the whale. In another tale
the killing of the gum is the introduction to a visit to the sky.
The sons of the murdered gum ascend the sky to take revenge.
Other tales are so developed that they form a complex, novelistic
plot. The creation legends of the Polynesians are of this character.
Even among those tribes that enjoy the brief, etiological anecdote,
tales occur that contain the elements of an epic poem. The bare
outlines of a family story of the Kwakiutl may serve as an example:
The Thunderbird and his wife live in heaven, they descend to our
earth and become the ancestors of a family. The Transformer
meets them and in a series of contests the two prove to be of
equal power. Finally the transformer puts frogs into the stomach
of the Thunderbird-ancestor who takes them out again and deposits
them on a rock. The sons of one of his friends go and then the
frogs enter their stomachs, but they are cured by the Thunderbird-
ancestor. In return he receives a magic canoe. The tale goes on
to relate the birth, magic growth, and exploits of his four children.
His wife is ravished by a spirit and gives birth to a boy who is
washed in the slime of a double-headed serpent. Thus his skin
becomes stone. The tale continues with a long series of warlike
exploits of this son. Finally he woes a princess for one of his
brothers. On a visit to her home the son of this princess is made
fun of by the children in the village of her father. This results in
a war in which the village of her father is destroyed. One of the
wives of her father escapes and gives birth to a boy. The second
wife of her father is enslaved by Stone-Body, the young man whose
skin had been transformed into stone. She gives birth to a boy
and by a ruse succeeds in making her escape with her son. The
two brothers grow up and, in a series of adventures and exploits,
both obtain supernatural power. They meet and travel towards the
village of their father, killing and transforming on the way danger-
ous monsters. Meanwhile Stone-Body has obtained a ceremonial
from a southern tribe and goes to Feather-Mountain in the north
to obtain bird’s down, needed for this dance. On his way back he