Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 9 (Oceanic).djvu/72

28 The heart, the foundation of night, Had stood forth self-existing Even in the gloom. It grows in gloom— The sap and succulent parts, The life pulsating, And the cup of life. The shadows screen The faintest gleam of light. The procreating power, The ecstasy of life first known, And joy of issuing forth, From silence into sound. Thus the progeny Of the Great extending Filled the heaven's expanse; The chorus of life Rose and swelled Into ecstasy. Then rested in Bliss of calm and quiet."

Inasmuch as the "man" thus discovered was the grandfather of him who separated heaven and earth, it is obvious that here again we have a confusion of terms, and that this man was not regarded as an ordinary human being in any sense, for his exploits are those of gods—exploits, indeed, expressly attributed to Tane and other deities in variant myths.

In the comparison of the legends of the origin of the world it has been seen that Samoa presented special features, and in its most generally received version of the provenance of man it shows a similar individuality and offers the best form of the last of the types of myths relating to human origins. According to the Samoan tale, after Tangaroa had created the world by casting down a rock from heaven and had sent earth and creeping plants to cover it and give it shade, these vines died or were killed, and from the worms which killed them or Into which their rotting stalks were changed man either developed or was made.

"The earliest traditions of the Samoans describe a time when