Part 4 (1/2)

xxix.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, the Fishes, and the Insects._

There were Panaumbe and Penaumbe. Panaumbe went down to the sea-sh.o.r.e, squatted on the sand, pulled up his clothes, and, turning his back to the sea, opened his a.n.u.s as widely as possible. Then all the whales and the salmon and the other good fishes, both great and small, thought it was a beautiful cavern in the rocks. They all swam towards it, and crowded into it. Panaumbe was much pleased. When his inside was quite full, he closed his a.n.u.s and ran home. When he got to the house, he closed the door and the window. Then he opened his a.n.u.s again, and let out all the whales and the salmon and the other good fishes, both great and small, so that the whole house was full of them. They could not swim away, because the door and window were shut. So Panaumbe caught them all. Some he ate, and some he sold. So he became a very rich man.

Then Penaumbe came down, and spoke thus: ”You were poor before. Now you are very rich. How have you managed to get so rich?” Panaumbe said: ”Come and dine with me. I can instruct you while we are eating.” So, when Panaumbe had told Penaumbe how he had become rich, Penaumbe said: ”I knew that before.” With these words, he p.i.s.sed against the threshold, and went out,--down to the sea-sh.o.r.e. Then he did as Panaumbe had told him, and opened his a.n.u.s as wide as possible towards the sea. Then he felt all the whales and salmon and the other fishes, both great and small, crowding in. When his inside was quite full, he closed his a.n.u.s, and ran home very quickly. When he got to the house he closed the door and the window, and stopped up even the smallest c.h.i.n.ks. Then he opened his a.n.u.s again, and let out all the whales and salmon, and the other good fishes, both great and small, so that the whole house was full of them. But when they came out, what had felt like whales and salmon, and all sorts of fishes, were really wasps and horse-flies and spiders and centipedes, and other poisonous insects, which stung him terribly. They could not get out, because Penaumbe had closed the window and the door, and had stopped up even the smallest c.h.i.n.ks. So Penaumbe was stung to death by the wasps and centipedes and other poisonous insects which had come home in his inside.--(Written down from memory. Told by Kannariki, June, 1886.)

x.x.x.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, and the Sea-Lion._

There were Panaumbe and Penaumbe. Panaumbe went down to the sea-sh.o.r.e, and walked up and down upon the sand. Then he saw a sea-lion in the water. He wanted to catch that sea-lion, and eat its flesh. So he called out to it: ”Oh! Mr. Sea-Lion, if you will come here, I will pick the lice out of your head.” The sea-lion was very glad to have the lice picked out of its head. So it swam to him. Then he pretended to pick the lice out of its head. But in reality he picked the flesh off its head, and the fat, and ate it. Then he said: ”All the lice are picked off. You may go.” After the sea-lion had swum a short way, it put its paw up to its head, in order to see whether the lice had really all been taken off. Then it felt that its flesh and fat were all gone, and that only the bones remained. So it was very angry, and swam back quickly towards the sh.o.r.e, to catch Panaumbe and kill him.

Panaumbe, when he saw the sea-lion pursuing him, ran inland towards the mountains. After running some time, he reached a place where the path divided. An old crow was perching on a tree there, and said: ”Right or left! right or left! I see a clever man.” The road to the right was broad, and the road to the left was narrow, because it was in a valley which ended in a point. Panaumbe thought thus: ”If I take the broad path to the right, the sea-lion will overtake me, and kill me. But if I take the narrow path to the left, he will run so fast that he will get stuck at the end of the narrow valley, and I, being small, can slip out between his legs, and beat in his head from behind, and kill him.” So Panaumbe ran along the narrow path to the left, and the sea-lion pursued him. But the sea-lion ran so heedlessly and quickly that it got stuck at the end of the narrow valley. Then Panaumbe slipped out between the sea-lion's legs, and beat in his head from behind, and killed him, and took home his flesh and his skin. Then Panaumbe became very rich.

Afterwards Penaumbe came down to him, and said: ”You and I were both poor. How is it that you are now so rich?” Panaumbe said: ”If you will come and dine with me, I will instruct you.” So they went together to Panaumbe's house, where Panaumbe's mother, and his wife and children, were eating the flesh of the sea-lion. But Penaumbe, when he had heard what Panaumbe had done, said: ”I knew that before.” Then he stepped in the dishes set before Panaumbe's mother and wife and children, and spilt their food. Then he p.i.s.sed on the threshold, and went away.

Penaumbe went down to the sea-sh.o.r.e, and saw a sea-lion, as Panaumbe had done. He called out to the sea-lion: ”Oh! Mr. Sea-Lion, if you will come here, I will pick the lice out of your head.” So the sea-lion swam to him. Then Penaumbe pretended to pick the lice out of its head. But in reality he picked the flesh and the fat off its head, and left nothing but the bones. The sea-lion felt a little pain, but thought that it was owing to the lice being picked out. So, when Penaumbe had finished picking and eating the flesh off its head, it swam away. But afterwards, feeling the pain more sharply, the sea-lion put its paw up to its head, and found that nothing but bone was left. So it was very angry, and swam back quickly towards the sh.o.r.e, to catch Penaumbe and kill him.

Penaumbe, when he saw the sea-lion pursuing him, ran inland towards the mountains. After running some time, he reached the place where the path divided. The old crow, which was perching on the tree, said: ”Left or right! left or right! I see a fool.” Penaumbe took the broad road to the right, in order to be able to run more easily. But the sea-lion ran more quickly than he could, and caught him and ate him up. Then Penaumbe died. But if he had listened to advice he might have become a rich man like Panaumbe.--(Written down from memory. Told by Kannariki, June, 1886.)

x.x.xi.--_Panaumbe, Penaumbe, and the Lord of Matomai_.[E]

Panaumbe wanted very much to become rich. For this reason, he stretched his p.e.n.i.s across to the town of Matomai. Then the lord of Matomai spoke thus: ”This is a pole sent by the G.o.ds; so it will be well to dry all the clothes upon it.” So all the clothes and beautiful garments were dried. After a time Panaumbe drew back his p.e.n.i.s, and all those clothes and beautiful garments came sticking to it. His house was greatly benefited. He became a very rich man.

Afterwards Penaumbe came down and said: ”My dear Panaumbe, what have you done to become so rich?” Panaumbe said: ”Come and eat, and I will tell you.” Afterwards Penaumbe said: ”This is the thing I intended to do.

Abominable Panaumbe! bad Panaumbe! you have forestalled me.” With these words, he p.i.s.sed on the threshold, and went out. Then he went down to the sea-sh.o.r.e, and stretched his p.e.n.i.s across the sea to Matomai. The lord of Matomai said: ”This is a pole sent by the G.o.ds. It will be well to dry all the clothes and beautiful garments upon it.” For this reason, all the clothes and beautiful garments were brought down, and put upon the divine pole. Penaumbe wanted to become rich quickly by drawing back his p.e.n.i.s. So he drew it back quickly. The divine pole moved, and the lord of Matomai spoke thus: ”It happened thus before. There was a pole sent by the G.o.ds. For this reason the clothes and beautiful garments were dried upon it. Then a thief stole the divine pole away. We all became poor. Now again our clothes and beautiful garments have been placed upon a pole. Now there seems to be a thief again. Quickly cut the divine pole.” For that reason the servants of the lord all drew their swords. They cut the divine pole, and all the clothes and beautiful garments were taken. Penaumbe was left with only half a p.e.n.i.s. He drew it in. Then he had nothing. Then he became very poor. If Penaumbe had listened to Panaumbe's advice, he might have had food to eat, he might have become rich. But he did not like to listen to advice. For this reason he became poor.--(Translated literally. Original communicated by Mr. John Batchelor, June, 1886; also printed in ”Aino Memoir,” p. 133, but with the indecent expressions softened down.)

[E] The Aino p.r.o.nunciation of _Matsumae_. Matsumae is a town in the south of Yezo. The lord or _Daimyo_ resident there was formerly the chief j.a.panese authority in the country.

x.x.xii.--_Drinking the Sea dry._

There was the Chief of the Mouth of the River and the Chief of the Upper Current of the River. The former was very vainglorious, and therefore wished to put the latter to shame, or to kill him by engaging him in the attempt to perform something impossible. So he sent for him, and said: ”The sea may be a useful thing, in so far as it is the original home of the fish which come up the river. But it is very destructive in stormy weather, when it beats wildly upon the beach. Do you now drink it dry, so that there may be rivers and dry land only. If you cannot do so, then forfeit all your possessions.” The other (greatly to the vainglorious man's surprise) said: ”I accept the challenge.”

So, on their going down together to the beach, the Chief of the Upper Current of the River took a cup, and scooped up a little of the sea-water with it, drank a few drops, and said: ”In the sea-water itself there is no harm. It is some of the rivers flowing into it that are poisonous. Do you therefore first close the mouths of all the rivers both in Aino-land and in j.a.pan, and prevent them from flowing into the sea, and then I will undertake to drink the sea dry.” Hereupon the Chief of the Mouth of the River felt ashamed, acknowledged his error, and gave all his treasures to his rival.--(Written down from memory. Told by Ishanashte, 18th November, 1886.)

IV.--MISCELLANEOUS TALES.

x.x.xiii.--_The Island of Women._

In ancient days, an Aino chieftain of Iwanai went to sea in order to catch sea-lions, taking with him his two sons. They speared a sea-lion, which, however, swam off with the spear sticking in its body. Meanwhile a gale began to blow down from the mountains. The men cut the rope which was fast to the spear. Then their boat floated on. After some time, they reached a beautiful land. When they had reached it, a number of women in fine garments came down from the mountains to the sh.o.r.e. They came bearing a beautiful woman in a litter. Then all the women who had come to the sh.o.r.e returned to the mountains. Only the one in the litter came close to the boat, and spoke thus: ”This land is woman-land. It is a land where no men live. It being now spring, and there being something peculiar to this country of mine you shall be taken care of in my house until the autumn; and in the winter you shall become our husbands. The following spring I will send you home. So now do you bear me to my house.”

Thereupon the Aino chief and his sons bore the woman in the litter to the mountains. They saw that the country was all like moorland. Then the chieftainess entered the house. There was a room there with a golden netting, like a mosquito-net. The three men were placed inside it. The chieftainess fed them herself. In the day-time numbers of women came in.

They sat beside the golden mosquito-net, looking at the men. At nightfall they went home. So gradually it got to be autumn. Then the chieftainess spoke as follows, ”As the fall of the leaf has now come, and as there are two vice-chieftainesses besides me, I will send your two sons to them. You yourself shall be husband to me.” Then two beautiful women came in, and led off the two sons by the hand, while the chieftainess kept the chief for herself.

So the men dwelt there. When spring came, the chieftain's wife spoke thus to him: ”We women of this country differ from yours. At the same time as the gra.s.s begins to sprout, teeth sprout in our v.a.g.i.n.as. So our husbands cannot stay with us. The east wind is our husband. When the east wind blows, we all turn our b.u.t.tocks towards it, and thus conceive children. Sometimes we bear male children. But these male children are killed and done away with when they become fit to lie with women. For that reason, this is a land which has women only. It is called woman-land. So when, brought by some bad G.o.d, you came to this land of mine, there were teeth in my v.a.g.i.n.a because it was summer, for which reason I did not marry you. But I married you when the teeth fell out.

Now, as the teeth are again sprouting in my v.a.g.i.n.a because spring has come, it is now impossible for us to sleep together. I will send you home to-morrow. So do you tell your sons to come here to-day in order to be ready.”

The sons came. The chieftainess stayed in the house. Then, with tears streaming down her face, she spoke thus; ”Though it is dangerous, to-night is our last night. Let us sleep together!” Then the man, being much frightened, took a beautiful scabbard in a bag in his bosom, and lay with the woman with this scabbard. The mark of the teeth remained on the scabbard. The next day dawned. Then the man went to his boat, taking his sons with him. The chieftainess wept and spoke thus: ”As a fair wind is blowing away from my country, you, if you set sail and sail straight ahead, will be able to reach your home at Iwanai.” So then the men entered their boat, and went out to sea. A fair wind was blowing down from the mountains, and they went along under sail. After a time they saw land; they saw the mountains about Iwanai. Going on for a time, they came to the sh.o.r.e of Iwanai. Their wives were wearing widows' caps. So their husbands embraced them. So the story of woman-land was listened to carefully. All the Ainos saw the beautiful scabbard which the chief had used with that woman.--(Translated literally. Told by Penri, 17th July, 1886.)