MEDIEVAL CREATION MYTHS 6n 



And God said, " Spit it out, Satanael." And he began to sputter and spat 

 it all out, and wherever it fell cliffs and mountains grew up. Therefore is our 

 earth greatly uneven. 



" Wherefore hast thou made such mountains ? " asked the Lord, " That 

 man should weary himself in climbing them ? " 



" Lord it is good that it is so hard," answered the Devil, " For now will 

 man think of you and also not forget me. When he climbs up breathless he 

 will say, ' Help, Lord ! ' When he descends the mountains he will think of me 

 also, and say, ' The Devil has tempted me up on to this mountain, here one 

 can break his neck only too easily.' " 



Among the Philippone of the flat plains of Ost Preusen the story- 

 has this curious turn : 



Then the earth grew in the mouth of the angel, he screamed and called on 

 God for help, and spat out the earth at God's command, and there grew there- 

 from tobacco and hops. 



We may continue the story as it is told among the Moguls (p. 67) : 



The earth grew continuously. As it had reached a large compass God and 

 Satanael descended from the clouds and began to dwell upon the earth. From 

 this time on, they used the clouds only for long journeys and when they wished 

 to rise to the heavens. 



To increase the number of the living upon the earth, God took two stones 

 and struck them together. On the first stroke the Archangel Michael came forth 

 and on the second the Archangel Gavril. Satanael envied God and wanted also 

 to create servants. So he took two stones and began to strike them together. 

 With every blow there came forth a devil. As he kept on striking a great 

 throng of devils appeared. And God was angry that his companion knew no 

 bounds in creating his kind, and forbade him the further creation of devils. 

 Satanael stopped only when, after long labor, he found his stones no longer 

 produced devils. 



In Transcaucasia they say: 



The archangel followed him and they came on a blue stone (or gold stone) 

 which they raised up. But Satanael was under it and he sprang up, grabbed 

 God by the throat, and nearly throttled him. God called on the archangels 

 for help, but they could not free him. There was nothing left but to beg 

 Satanael. " Ask what you will of me, only let me free." And Satanael said, 

 " I ask nothing except that we be brothers. And God promised this, whereupon 

 Satanael let him go and went his way. 



In a Greisinian variant (p. 32) : 



Michael and Gabriel wander through the earth, and the crust of the earth 

 was so thin that they sank to the knees, although they wore snowshoes. Always 

 a round stone rolled on before these angels, and God said, " We are tired of 

 this stone." And in spite of the angels' warning, God shattered the stone with 

 his foot, and lo, Satanael was in the stone. 



In the Swanetic narrative : 



God and his angels wandered through the world on their wonderful horses, 

 and came on a great white stone. But the angels led God another way. Again 

 they came on the stone and again the angels led God another way. " Some 

 cheating is the cause," said God to the angels, " that we do not come upon this 

 stone; otherwise we should have reached it already." The angels answered, 

 " All right, we will bring you to the white stone, but we believe it will do you 



