SOME FOLK-SONGS AND MYTHS FEOM SAMOA. 243 



Tola. — 1. 'Alo-'alo, the son of the Sun, dwelt with his mother 

 named Manga-nianga-i-fatua, 'branching-stone,' at a place in Fiji, 

 but there were no other inhabitants at that spot. When grown up 

 to manhood, he took to wife Sina, the daughter of Tui-Fiti. When 

 she was near her confinement, Tui-Fiti, her father, said to her, 

 ' Who are the parents of your husband 1 Go and get some present 

 from them.' 



2. Sina told her husband what her father had said. He im- 

 mediately went to his mother Manga-manga-i-fatua, and asked 

 her who his father was. 'I am ridiculed,' said he ; 'it is asked 

 of me, Who is your mother, who is your father '? His mother 

 answered ' Come now ; the Sun is your father ; he is the son of 

 Po and Ao ; we have here nothing to give ; but go thou to Po 

 and Ao ; they possess two articles of value, l o le 'au o Manic ma 

 le 'au o Mala, 'the hook of Prosperity and the hook of Calamity'; 

 the ''au o Mala hangs at the end of their house ; don't you take 

 that ; but go to the corner ; there hangs le ''au o Manu; take 

 that ; Po and Ao do not allow any strangers in their house ; but, 

 when they see a stranger approaching, they suddenly let down 

 the roof of their house so that the eaves rest on the ground.' 



3. Thus instructed, 'Alo-'alo directed his course to the heavens. 

 When he drew near the house of Po and Ao, the roof was sud- 

 denly lowered, but he stood till it was raised again. On seeing 

 him standing there, they asked who he was. He answered, ' I 

 am 'Alo-'alo, the son of the Sun.' On hearing this, they welcomed 

 him, and bade him come in, and embraced him, and wept over 

 him, and said that they did not know that he was the child of 

 their son. He then told them the particulars of his family rela- 

 tionship and the errand on which he had come, stating that Tui- 

 Fiti had scornfully asked who his parents were. They answered 

 that they had only two articles of property of any value, 'o le l au 

 o Manu ma le l au o Mala, and that he might take whichever of 

 these he pleased. Following his mother's instructions, he passed 

 by the more attractive object, which was hanging in the end of 

 the house, and he took the l au o Manu and hung it round his 



