SOME FOLK-SONGS AND MYTHS FROM SAMOA. 281 



is the seed-giving principle, and Le ' Ele'ele is the receptacle of the seed. 

 With this compare the tales in classic authors about De-meter ('Mother- 

 Earth) and Zeus. 



Avoid; ' va-nimo-nimo '; see note above. To rest upon; lit. ' to reach 

 to/ All this corresponds with the Heb. ' tohu ' (chaos) of creation, — a 

 waste in which nothing was denned. 



Region; itu, 'a side/ 'a district'; itu i matu, 'the north'; cf. Heb. 'the 

 sides of the north/ yCirekoihaim tzdphon (Isaiah xiv., 13) where tzdphon is 

 the region of ' darkness ' (cf. Homer, pros zophon, Odys. ix., 25) ' the north 

 quarter/ and ydrekdthaim is a dual form to mean ' both sides/ hence 'the 

 buttocks/ ' the back/ ' the remotest parts of a country/ This agrees with 

 the idea conveyed by tua-lagi ' the back of the sky/ to which Lua'o and 

 Luavai were appointed, to be regents there. 



Fresh-water is ' vai/ In the ' Solo o le Va/ line 21, the creation of vai 

 and tai is mentioned. The Polynesians believed that there were reservoirs 

 of fresh- water up in the sky. In the Biblical account of the great Flood, 

 it is said that ' the windows of heaven were opened.' 



LeFatu; see note above. Ordains; ' tofia'; cf. ordinance, ' tofiga/ 



Points ; tusi, ' to point out ' with the index finger. 



Masoa and Teve are both referred to in the ' Solo o le Va/ lines 73, 75. 

 The Masoa (Tacca pinnatifida) is the arrow-root tree ; growing on a 

 succulent stem, with leaves only at the top, where they spread out like 

 the surface of a round table. The Teve (Tacca amorphophallus) is another 

 kind of arrow-root tree, very like the Masoa. From their shape, they are 

 well fitted for the purpose to which they are applied in these myths. See 

 also Sir Geo. Grey's " Polynesian Mythology." 



There was nothing, Sfc.; * a na leai se mea e taunu'u i ai le va'ai/ 



Far-receding sky ; ' va-nimo-nimo/ See notes above. 



21. They brought forth; the text has ( ua fanau Ao, toe fanau Po'; 

 another reading is, ' ua fanau Po ma Ao, ua fa'a-tagata-ina ai le lagi/ 

 ' they brought forth Night and Day, who caused-to-be-peopled the sky/ 

 The order Po ma Ao, ' Night and Day/ is more consonant with the ideas 

 of the Polynesians who counted by nights. The word fa'atagataina 

 consists oifa'a the causative prefix already noticed, and tagata, 'man/ 

 * mankind,' which in another dialect is kanaka, now commonly applied to 

 the ' labour-men ' who are brought from the islands of the South Seas to 

 the northern parts of Australia. 



The eye of the sky ; ' le mata o le lagi/ The Malays call the sun mata- 

 ari, * the eye of day/ The Egyptian City, On, (Heb. 'Ir-ha-Heres, Gr. 

 Heliopolis) ' the city of the Sun/ got its name from Ain, Oin, ' the eye* 

 — the emblem of the Sun. 



The Second Heavens. Here the Polynesians believe, like other nations 

 of old, that the sky originally lay flat on the earth, and covered it ; by 

 the aid of the Masoa a ad the Teve, Tui-te'e-lagi props it up, and this gives 



