The Folk-Tnk» of the Kiwai Papitans. 461 



THE SNAKE WHICH TRANSFORMED ITSELF INTO A CANOE. 



419. One night uhen some läsa men vvenl out for a natural vvant they saw a snake 

 which was an orordrora (mythical being). They called to the people, „Oh, you come here! Big 

 snake here, you me (\ve) kill him!" and they attacked the snake vvith whatever weapons they 

 would get hold ot" and killed it. But they did not eut the snake in pièces, only threw it into the 

 water. Some mer. said, „That's ororacùibu," and others, „Oii, no, that's big snake." 



The next night the snake turned into a canoe which was found stranded in the morning 

 by a woman who went out to catch crabs. It was a \-ery large canoe, for the snake had made 

 itself „more big". „Oh, good canoe, he been come fronn other place, he lose," the woman thought, 

 and the people came and hauled it ashore. 



After two nights and days the people said, „You me go Mibu, catch crab and fish. You 

 me try that canoe he been lose." Thus they sailed to Mibu in the new canoe. On their arrivai 

 the}' went into the mangrove swamp to catch fish and crabs and nobody was ieft to look after 

 the canoe. One man, hovvever, returned before the others, thinking about the canoe, ..Oh, no 

 man he stop look out canoe, I go." The canoe was there all right, and the man bathed in the 

 water and washed his catch of crabs, and then he went into the hut and cooked some food. 

 Presently the canoe went under water of its ovvn accord, and the man looking for it thought, 

 „Oh, where canoe.' He go down self. Oh, he come up again! That's no proper canoe, 1 think 

 that's canoe belong that snake me been kill him." 



The people returned to the beach, and one of them asked the man, „Canoe he all right.'" 

 „Canoe he all right," he replied, for he did not want to teil the othei's wiiat he had seen. He 

 only took his brother aside and picking up a large root of the sàe tree (which floats very well) 

 he said, „Two leg he no go inside canoe, you me sit down on top that sde (they should place 

 the root across the canoe and sit upon it crosslcgged). Brother, that canoe he no proper cani)e 

 that's snake; by-and-by he down along water." 



The next morning the people Ieft Mfbu, and the two biothers sat on the sde root. Half- 

 way between Mfbu and läsa the canoe sank down, and the people were all drowned except the 

 two men who floated on the sde and after a long struggle managed to reach Lisa. They went 

 into a house and said to the people, „That canoe he no come, he down altogether. He no proper 

 canoe, he snake. You fellow kill him snake, chuck him along water, that snake he make him 

 canoe." The people all started to wail, but nobody reprimanded the two men, for it was not 

 their fault. (F\âku, Ipisia). 



A. A large snake killed by the Diidi people Iransformed Itself into a canoe which was found 

 by the Uüo people. They used the canoe for going över to Kiirusgimini lo catch crabs. A cripple, 

 in the absence of the rest, saw how the canoe several finies went under water and after a while came 

 up again, bailing out the water of its own accord, but he did not teil the others what he had seen. 

 When the people were on their way back to Uüo ihe canoe sank with them into the w-ater, and 

 immediately came up again as if trying its power, but after a while it went down for good, and the 

 people were drowned. (Tâmetâme, Ipisia). 



N:o 1. 



