64 GEORGE D-S-DUNBAR ON 



them up on either side of the river, to shut it in for all time, and the fish fell back into 

 the water and regained life.' 



There were two stars Dupuir and Dudengu, brother and sister, who married 

 and had a son Puirshem. He died and fell from the sky — a shooting star — into the 

 water and was carried down with the stream. Now Tapu Talar, one of the water 

 spirits, had set a trap for fish and in it the star was caught. And Tapu Talar took 

 it out and ate it. Then the bat, who seems to have been the tale-bearer, both in 

 Minyong and Galong stories, told the stars what had befallen Puirshem. So there 

 was war between the stars and the dwellers in the water. And the fishes and 

 the frogs came out of the water and began to climb up the rocks towards the stars, 

 very slowly for they kept sliding and falling back into the water. Presently the stars 

 began to shoot their arrows at them, and the frogs and fishes tried to shelter behind 

 the rocks and stones as the arrows went by. But they could not cover themselves 

 altogether, and the arrows speeding past them gashed and grazed them on either side, 

 and gave to the fish the gills they have to this day.' 2 



Long ago men and monkeys were almost alike, neither wore clothes and both had 

 bows and arrows. x\t first they lived peaceably together, but afterwards they fought. 

 One day, when the monkeys were catching fish by throwing stones and chestnuts at 

 them from the branches above a pool, the men came up unnoticed. First they took 

 the monkeys' bows and knotted and tied the strings, so that they were useless ; then they 

 took the fish the monkeys had already caught and put them in their satchels. After 

 that, they rushed at the monkeys with their daos. The startled monkeys ran to their 

 weapons but found that they were useless, for the strings were too short for the bows. 

 Many of them were killed and the rest fled away. But the men followed them, and 

 called out after them saying that they wanted to make peace. And at last the 

 monkeys were reassured and came back again. The terms of peace were that the 

 monkeys should no longer live in houses, as they had before, but in trees ; and the men 

 burnt all their houses. After this they all gathered together for a feast, the men and 

 the monkeys that had not been killed. The feast was held in the trunk of a huge 

 decayed hollow tree, for the entrance of which the men had made a big door of leaves 

 and branches. First of all they started singing, and while this was going on the men 

 excused themselves for a little, while they went off to get their food. But when all 

 the men were outside they shut the door and set fire to the tree. And the monkeys, 

 unable to get out, were burnt to death. All except one, that escaped half burnt, with 

 its face all black and charred. That is why monkeys nowadays have no weapons, nor 

 any houses, and why their faces are black/ 



In these days there is only a plant called kojam koja, but once it was the name of 

 a flourishing village. In Kojam Koja there lived a Gam, Kosam Luntong, and one day 

 he proposed that the village should hold a festival to the spirits. So the people of the 

 village went out, and turned a stream to get the fish in it. Now Nipong's son was 

 in this stream and he, like everything else that the people of Kojam Koja found, was 



I Minyong legend. I Minyong. 3 Minyong. 



