The Folk-Taks of tlic Kiivai Papuans. 515 



was a friend of Agivvais, and on seeing the latter he woke him up and asked him for a certain 

 stone axe which on a previous visit he had left with Agivväi in order to get it sharpened. „Oh, 

 what for you no been come before?" said Àgiwai. „That eiiiöa (stone axe) I been sharp him 

 proper, I been give him along other man." The owner of the stone axe was verv angry and 

 straightway killed Àgiwai with his club. After cutting off Agiwai's head he went on his way 

 home, and the Agida p.eople knocked the sides of Iheir canoës with pièces of w'ood and sounded 

 their trumpet-shells in célébration of the deed. The Gürahi people heard the noise, guessed what 

 it meant and went to see. They saw the Agida man standing in his canoe with the head in 

 his hand, and he told them why he had killed Agiwai. On their return home the Gürahi children 

 were scolded by the people for leaving Àgiwai alone. 



As Àgiwai had been killed while he was staying with the Gürahi people, the latter went 

 one night to Mawäta to give payment for his death. They hung up all kinds of things on a 

 stick outside Agiwai's house, and intended to return without saying anything to the people, but 

 they were stopped by one of the Maw;ita leaders named Bidja who happened to see them. Then 

 they told him why they had come. In the morning the Mawäta people were told b\' Bidja the 

 meaning of the presents. 



It is a bad fashion, said the narrator, to promise to gi\e somebody sago a long time be- 

 forehand; much better it is to give it to him at once. „Me follow this story all time." (Nämai, 

 Mawäta). 



A. Agiwai's sister laii was angry with her brother who had once forgolten to give her a 

 share of a pig killed by him. When Agiwai heard of this he went and killed two pigs one of which 

 he gave the people and the other his sister. 



Shortly afterwards the Gémedai people came to visit Mawäta bringing with them great bundles 

 of sago which they wanted to e.xchange for stone axes and necklaces of dog's teeth. One of the men 

 left a damaged stone axe with Agiwai asking him to sharpen it. Some time afterwards the Agidai 

 people came to Mawdta, and without thinking that the stone axe belonged to another man Agiwai gave 

 it to one of his Agidai visitors and received two large bundles of sago for it. 



One day lau asked Agiwai to bring her some pig's méat and promised him some sago in 

 exchange. But when Agiwai sent her the meat she only gave him a very small pièce of sago in return. 

 Agiwai who felt much hurt gave his wife the sago, and in the night he went away to Gädjiro Walking 

 in the water so as to leave no tracks behind. While he slayed with the Gädjiro people he was killed 

 exactly as in the first version. The murderer tied a pièce of a broken stone axe to Agiwai's hand, in 

 order to show why he had been killed, and his people celebrated the deed by making a great noise 

 in their canoës. One night the Gädjiro people brought payment for his death to Mawäta without any- 

 body knowing it. The next day Agiwai's father, Sivägu, went to Gädjiro and found out why the pre- 

 sents had been given. On his return home he gave two arrows to two Mawäta men and asked them 

 to shoot laü, for she was the cause of all the trouble. They killed her, and her husband did not take 

 revenge, for she and her murderers belonged to the same family. (Säibu, Mawäta). 



THE BOY WHO CRIED AFTER SEEING A GIRL NUDE AND WAS SENT AWAY WITH HER. 



468. In préparation for the tåera ceremony (ef. no. 287) the Old Mawäta people were 

 once playing kokådi (in Kiwai paru, a kind of hockey) on the beach. The grown-up people used 

 N:o 1. 



