Page:Transactions of the Second International Folk-Congress.djvu/61

 Rh a bit of modern native rationalism, patched into the story when it began to be felt as verging on the incredible that a man should be born as a serpent, though other supernatural occurrences were still readily accepted. But, in any case, the Zulus are firmly attached to the doctrine of transformation. They consider that baboons, wasps, lizards, and other animals, besides snakes, are really men living in another shape.

A narrative to a similar effect is told by the Yurucares, a tribe inhabiting the tropical forests on the eastern slopes of the Andes. AVith them it is part of a saga which accounts for the origin of their race and the present condition of their country. It is thus a link in their philosophy of the universe. We learn that a solitary maiden fell in love with a beautiful tree called Ule, laden with purple flowers. "She steadily looked at it with a feeling of tenderness, thinking to herself how she would love it if it were only a man. She painted herself with the juice of the arnotto fruit to heighten her charms and render herself attractive; she wept and sighed, waited and hoped. Her hope did not disappoint her; her love was powerful, and it produced a miraculous transformation; the tree was changed into a man, and the young maiden was happy. During the night Ulé was at her side .....; but at morning dawn she perceived that she had been caressed by a shadow, for Ulé had disappeared, and the young girl was again disconsolate, fearing that her happiness was only a passing dream. Making her mother her confidant, she communicated the thought that oppressed her heart, and, taking counsel together, they devised means to retain the young lover and prevent his escape. When the following night Ulé came to make his betrothed bride happy, he found himself loaded with fetters that confined him to the spot. After four days had thus passed Ulé promised to remain, and pledged himself by a formal marriage never to abandon his wife; and upon this promise his liberty was restored to him.'

In all these examples we have the same series of incidents. A maiden is wedded to a mysterious youth who visits her by night, but suffers a strange metamorphosis and disappears by day. With her mother's help, or by the simple stress of her own affection for him, she compels him to retain human form and abide with her.