174 Religion &c. among the Karens. [No. 3, 



The dragon looked on them, — the dragon beguiled the woman and 

 Tha-nai. 



How is this said to have happened ? 



The great dragon succeeded in deceiving — deceiving unto death. 



How do they say it was done ? 



A yellow fruit took the great dragon, and gave to the children of God ; 



A white fruit took the great dragon, and gave to the daughter and 

 son of God. 



They transgressed the commands of God, and God turned his face 

 from them. 



They transgressed the commands of God, and God turned away 

 from them. 



The}* kept not all the words of God — were deceived, deceived unto 

 sickness ; 



They kept not all the law of God — were deceived, deceived unto 

 death." 



Other traditions may be found in the appendix to a little hook pub- 

 lished by the London Religious Tract Society called " The Karen 

 Apostle." 



The names Tha-nai, and E-u in the above verses are sufficiently 

 near the Biblical names of Adam and Eve to show a common origin ; 

 while they are so diverse from any mode of rendering those names 

 adopted by either Roman Catholic or Protestant Missionaries as to 

 prove they have not been derived from modern names. 



Tbe scriptural traditions have been found principally among the 

 Sgaus, and as we leave the Sgau tribes, we meet with others that 

 seem to me to have had a Hindu origin. Such are some of the tradi - 

 tions among the Red Karens. They say : " Anciently God created 

 the heavens and the earth, and he formed two persons. One was 

 called ' the female Tha-lu,' and the other ' the male Tha-lu.' God 

 placed these two persons to superintend the whole world. And God 

 created trees, and animals of every kind, and he wrote their names in 

 a golden book, and gave it to the two persons whom he created, and 

 according to the names found in the book, they called every thing. 

 God created all things by his word and his power. He created every 

 thing with a body, with seed, and with fruit." Thus far the tradition 

 preserves a Biblical character, but they go on to say : " God did not 



