SOME FOLK-SONGS AND MYTHS FKOM SAMOA. 283- 



The ruler of the ' Celestial Empire ' even cannot claim a more ancient 

 lineage than that ! 



28. Sa-tia-le-moa. On this fabulous account of thp origin of the names. 

 Samoa and Manu'a, Mr. Powell's MSS. have this note ■ — " This affair of 

 •the names is in a very confused state. A man, Taua-nn'u, who is ' keeper 

 of the traditions' for Tau, told me lately that Tangaloa fell from a 

 precipice on to Malae-a-Vavau, and was badly wounded, and from that 

 circumstance Tau was called Manu'a tele, ' greatly wounded.' Several 

 persons told Mr. Pratt and myself, in 1862, that the whole group is 

 named Samoa, from Moa, the family name of the present King of 

 Manu'a — Sa-moa or Sa-moa-atoa. Fofo and Taua-nu'u still maintain 

 that the account given to Mr. Pratt and myself is perfectly correct, and. 

 that le atu o Moa (' the M:>a group.) includes Samoa, Tahiti, &c, &c." 



29. You two also ; i.e., the father and the mother with their four boys. 

 Malae-a-toto'a. It is a peaceful region, a land of rest and tranquillity j. 



it is the glassy empyrean, beyond the reach of storms. 



30. Builders ; ' tufuga.' See the ' Solo o le Va.' 



Bright house. This paragraph seems to m}au that the palace in the 

 Ninth Heave as was not their work, although they built in all the heavens 

 below. Fale-'ula is the 'bright house'; fale, 'a house,' 'ula, 'red/ ' joyful/" 

 ' bright '; hence the name means ' house of joy/ or ' the house beautiful/ 



Offspring of Fatu and 'Ele'ele. All the children of Earth are placed 

 under the command of these two chiefs, Manu'a and Samoa. 



Tail of the names. Chiefs often have the name Tangaloa as the last, 

 part of their own names. 



Tui, Sec, ' king of Great Manu'a and all Samoa.' Tui also means 'king/ 

 ' high chief.' 



32. Follow. The sun and the moon are not here the cause of day and 

 night ; they only follow them. The day breaks, then comes the sun ;. 

 darkness falls, and ere long the moon rises. 



Shades ; ata, ' shade/ ' emblem.' The ' ata * or ' spirit ' of Tangaloa 

 resides in them, as in the Tuli ; see note on par. 22. 



Portion of the heavens ; itu, ' side/ see notes on par. 20. The moon and. 

 the stars always pass along the sky in the same direction. 



33. Went to and fro ; ' fe-alu-alu-mai '; cf. notes on par. 13. To visit the 

 lands; 'asi-asi i nu'u.' Here Savali performs the functions of Tangaloa 

 asi-asi nu'u, another manifestation of the supreme god ; in visiting these 

 lands he assumed the form of the Tuli ; cf. the ' Solo o le Va.' 



The Eastern groups; that is, Tahiti and the adjacent islands. 



The space between ; ' vasa,' that is, the ocean-space between two islands- 



Walk it ; ' savali/ in allusion to his name. 



Turned his face; fa'asaga, * to direct to/ 'to face to.' 



