520 Gunnar Landtman. 



A. Gunöbi, a Kiwai man, lived alone wilh his dögs. He thought that the birds were people 

 who wanted to fight him, and standing on the branch of a hôhôme tree he sang, 



„Gunobi nabdia bddu nese po birigo birigo. — I Gunöbi, Jiabäia (certain birds) he come close 

 to, I been put nese (crescent-shaped breast shell)." 



He shot away all his arrows and on arriving home told his dögs that he had fought many 

 people. One day he was pursued by an oriogoriiho (wild mythical beast or man, ef. no. 135) and, the 

 latter feil on his penis and was run through. On his arrivai home the man and his dögs shaved 

 themselves and eut their hair, and then they set fire to their house and burnt themselves lo death. The 

 man did not want to live alone, and he wanted to come to the land of the dead clean and shaven. 

 (Säle, Mawàta). 



HOW TWO MEN WERE TURNED INTO ANIMALS. 



472. The people of Gfribûra, near the Oriömu river, were hunting pig and kangaroo in 

 the bush, and all of them killed some game except two brothers, named Såi and Ùtshâe, who 

 did not get anything (abbrev.). In the evening the men all returned to the village and distributed 

 the meat, but nobody gave anything to the two brothers. The elder brother, Sdi, said to his 

 younger brother, „I go night, look some fish (game), people he no give you me nothing." In the 

 night Såi left his brother asleep and went to the bush. But he did not shoot anything and 

 returned empty-handed, telling his brother, „I no find him nothing, I walk about all night." 

 Another night Ûtshàe, the younger brother, went out to look for game and found an cterari 

 (ferocious mythical lizard, ef. no. 2) in a ddni-tree. Not knowing what it was he thought to 

 himself, „What name (what is) that thing sleep on top all same alligator?" He stuck an arrow 

 into the ground for a mark and went back and told his brother, „I find him one thing he stop 

 on top along one wood." „You no teil him all people," tlie big brother said, „you me two man 

 he go." But the little brother said, „No good you me go two man, by-and-by that thing he 

 kill you me (us). More better sing out all people he go." So they summoned the people, and 

 all went to the bush. The little brother found the arrow which he had fixed in the ground and 

 Said to the people, „You look on top, what name (what is) that thing there?" All the people 

 looked up there, exclaiming, „What name that thing, I think that go kill j'ou me (us)." They 

 began to shoot at the élerari with their bows and arrows, and at last the beast feil down dead. 

 The two brothers eut up the body and distributed the meat, the big brolher kept the head, the 

 little brother the tail, and the rest was given to the people. They all returned to the village, 

 where they cooked and ate the meat. ' 



While the big brother was eating the last portion of the head of the cterari, his ovvn 

 head was suddenly changed into that of an éterari. The same happened to the little brother, for 

 just as he was swallotving the last portion of the eterarPs tail, a similar long tail grew out of 

 his back. Notwithstanding their transformation the two brothers went to sit down among the other 

 men, but the people said, „No good you fellovv come sit down close to me fellow." „What's 

 the matter?" the two brothers asked. The people said to the big brother, „You got head belong 

 (Herari, me fellow no want you sit down close to," and to the younger brother, „You got tail 

 belong ctcrari, no good you come close to alongside people." The two brothers were ashamed 



Tom XL VII. 



