SOME FOLK-SONGS AND MYTHS FROM SAMOA. 253 



42. Sina-te'e-alofa then said, 



43. 'O Mo'e-ulu-galu-iti-iti, be thou skilful [to fasten it J ; 



44. By-and-by we perish by the wrath of Tui-Fiti, 



45. [For,] by-and-by, we shall not get [any fish]; 



46. [So] Mo'e-ulu-galu tied it [rightly]. 



47. The 'popolu' goes first into the sea ; 



48. The ' avi'i ' uttered a curse on the report, 



49. For the fastening of the hook is right, 



50. And prosperity will now come in heaps. 



51. The fleet prepared to go a-fishing, 



52. [For] the hook of prosperity was [properly] fastened. 



53. The mother-of-pearl hooks, — the hook of Calamity 



54. And the hook of Prosperity — 



55. Were carried into the middle of the round end of the house, 



56. And were hung up there. 



0! 



Notes to No. XXV. 

 Line 1. ' Alo-'alo ; the story is the same as in the previous prose version. 

 5. First heavens ; see the ' Story of Creation/ par. 21. 



7. Spears; these are the sunbeams ; cf. ' the far-darting Apollo/ 



8. Errand; lit., ' your parting/ i.e., ' when you have done your good-bye/ 



12. His companions ; this line seems co me to say that ' Alo-'alo ascends 

 to the palace of Po and Ao in the region of the lightnings. 



13. Beckons ; ' tapatai/ to make signs with the hand. 



15. Don't look back ; that brings ill luck also when men are going a- 

 fishing. 



16. Tabu ; anything is ' tabu ' when it is set apart to some particular 

 use. A fruit-tree or anything else can be e tabu '-ed by a native by fix- 

 ing on it some sign of ' tabu '; then no one else will touch it. The mean- 

 ing in this line seems to be, that, as the sea is a natural fishing-ground 

 and devoted to that, v Alo- c alo, by looking back, would destroy that use 

 of it, so far as this hook was concerned. 



17. Sharp; fe'ai, ' fierce/ 



19. He was wounded; disobedience is at once avenged. 

 27. Plaited string; ' fau fatua/ 



35. His girdle; this was the common every day ' lava-lava/ 



36. The tapa-au is a common mat of cocoa-nut leaf ; the Jala is a fine 

 mat of pandanus leaf, for sleeping on. 



