THE SHILLUK'S CONCEPTION OF GOD 221 



gazelle asked the lion to carry her child to the river, 

 and the lion consented. They came to a pool of water, 

 but it was small ; then to a second, but it again proved 

 small, insufficient to cover the hippo. The third, how- 

 ever, proved to be the White Nile. The lion put the 

 hippo into the river and it dived and remained down 

 below and came up again and blew out the water and 

 dived again ; when it came up, it said to the lion, ' Go 

 now ; you shall have the power to hide yourself in quite 

 a small clump of grass, so that nothing shall see you. 

 Your prey shall come right up to you, unawares, so 

 you will be able to kill them on the spot ; whereas the 

 hyena shall have to chase his prey and will not be able 

 to capture it ; so he shall take to stealing sheep.' 



"According to Shilluk legend, God also created the 

 lion, hyena, leopard, and hare, the other animals being 

 derived from these. 



"Another story of the Creation is also told, and the 

 two can apparently be reconciled since some of the people 

 believe both. A woman of God's House that is His 

 wife brought forth twins. One was black, the other 

 white. She loved the black and hated the white child. 

 The child cried and God heard it and asked the mother 

 what it was. She said it was a child. God asked to 

 see the child and she showed Him the white one and 

 hid the black child. God gave her orders to rear the 

 child. One day both children were crying at once and 

 God asked to see the child. Again she showed him 

 the white one, hiding the black child under a rag. God, 

 being suspicious, raised the cloth and saw the black child. 

 He said, 'Is this a child too?' The mother answered, 

 ' Yes ' ; and God gave her orders to rear them both. 

 When the children had grown up, God called them to 

 him one day and said, ' Lick my feet with your tongues.' 

 The white one, beirfg servile, obeyed ; the black child 

 refused. God thereafter loved the white man and showed 

 great partiality towards him. God allowed them to 



