Page:Amazonian Tortoise Myths.djvu/26

 — 18 — tree obeyed. Then the jabutí, entering into the trunk, said: "Shut tree!" and the trunk closed up, imprisoning the jabutí, but when the latter commanded it to open, it obeyed, and he walked out. The jaguar, who had been watching, then said:

"Jabutí, I want also to play as you have done." So he said: "Open tree!" The trunk opened and the jaguar entered in. He then commanded it to close upon him and it obeyed, and when he said: "Open tree!" he walked out much pleased. But this did not satisfy him, and he said to the tortoise: "I want to play again." So the jaguar repeated the experiment; but, when he had entered into the tree, the jabutí said: "Shut tree for ever!" and the jaguar being imprisoned, died.

Both parts of this story appear to have the same meaning, and represent the victory of the sun over the moon during the lunations. In the first part of the story, the sun rolls down the western sky to appear again unhurt, but the moon in attempting to follow the example is extinguished. The myth, if this be the true explanation, seems incomplete, and I would suggest that perhaps, on search, the perfect form might be found, which would probably be as follows:—

The jaguar, or new moon, meets the sun, or jabutí, as he has just rolled down the western sky and desires to