Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 7 1889.djvu/78

70 formed hills, peaks, and mountains. When relieved of his pain Chan Pas said to him: "Thou canst not be my comrade, for thou art evil, while I am good. Be accursed and repair to the bottom of the sea, to the place of the dead, to the fire that burnt thee, because thou in thy pride wouldst not make mention of thy Creator's name. Abide there and suffer punishment for ever and ever."

The Mordvins of the Simbirsk and Pensa governments relate the following variant:— Shaitan stept up to his Creator and said: "Cham Pas, thou art now old, it is time for thee to rest, but I am young. So do thou sit in thy place and sleep, and I alone shall rule the world we have created." Cham Pas cursed Shaitan, who was so irritated that he turned himself for ever into an evil being and a hater of all good.

The next creation of Cham Pas, after that of Shaitan, was Ange Patyai (mother goddess). She is the source of life, of begetting children, and of the fruitfulness of the earth. These two minor deities are equally powerful and are incessantly at war. Ange Patyai gave birth to four gods and four goddesses. Her eldest son, Nishki Pas, is god of the sky, the sun, of fire and light. He is the chief protector of bees. At his place in the sky there are many habitations, where the souls of good men live. As bees cluster round their queen, so the souls surround Nishhi Pas, and hence he obtained his name of Beehive God. In the government of