ANCIENT EGYPT THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
NOTES TO BOOK 6
[1] [Rev. 1:20. 'The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.']
[2] [Planisphere of Denderah. See plate.]
[4] [Chabas, 'Magic Papyrus,' RP, 10, 135.]
[5] [Ibid.]
[6] [Maspero, Dawn of Civilisation, p. 128, note. 4. 'This was what the Egyptians called the upli/lings of Shu (Book of the Dead, Naville's edition, pl. xxiii., ch. xvii., parts 20, 27; cf. Maspero, Etudes de Mythologie et d'Archeologie Egyptiennes, vol. i. pp. 337-310). The event first took place at Hermopolis, and certain legends added that in order to get high enough the god had been obliged to make use of a staircase or mound situate in this city, and which was famous throughout Egypt (Book of the Dead, N'aville's edition, pl. xxiii. ch. xvii. 11. 4, 5.']
[7] [Vâyu-Purana.]
[10] [Maspero. Dawn of Civilisation, p. 631, note 1. 'In Rawlinson (K, 4870, recto, 1. 28, Cun. Ins. W. As. vol. iv. pl. 5) mention is made of a king (lugal) of the Lamassi and of other kinds of genii, and particularly of Anu, king of the Seven sons of the Earth.']
[11] [Birch, 'Inscription of Chnumhetep,' RP, 12, 65. See p. 71, line 96.]
[12] [Rig-Veda, 82, 2.]
[13] [Siouffi, La Religion des Soubbas.]
[14] [King, Gnostic Remains, pl. h, 5.]
[16] [King, Gnostic Remains, 2nd ed., pl. 9.]
[18] [Read and Bryant, 'A Mythological Text from Memphis,' PSBA, 23. See full text.]
[19] [As above note.]
[20] [As note 18 above.]
[24] [Drummond, Œdipus Judaicus, pl. 3.]
[25] [Satow,
Pure Shinto, p.
51. Chamberlain's Kojiki, pp. xxi, 4, 15. 'Eventually when Ninigi,
the first divine ruler of Japan, had been duly appointed, and had descended,
Heaven and Earth drew apart, and actual connection between them ceased. "The
separation of Heavens and Earth" is the Japanese phrase which answers to our
"beginning of the world." The Chinese preface to the Kozhiki makes an
exposition of this cosmical philosophy as follows: "I Yasumaro say: Now when
Chaos had begun to condense, but force and form were not yet manifest, and there
was naught named, naught done; who could know its shape? Nevertheless Heavens
and Earth first parted, and the Three Kami performed the commencement of
creation. The Passive and Active essences then developed, and the Two Spirits
became the ancestors of all things." The passive and active powers are here the
Chinese Yin and Yang ; and the two Spirits with whom Yasumaro identified them
were Izanami and Izanagi.
Note: This triad is the Lord of the awful Mid-heavens Ame no Minaka-Nushi,
the Lofty-Dread-Producer Taka Mi-Musubi, and the Divine-Producer
Kami-Musubi. "These three Kami were all alone-born Kami, and hid their
beings."' From O'Neill, Night of the Gods, vol. 1, p. 38.]
[28] [Lockyer, Dawn of Astronomy, p. 152.]
[29] [Hieroglyphica, bk. 1. 40. 'When they denote government, or a judge, they place close against the dog a ROYAL ROBE, the undress garment: because like the dog, who, as I said before, gazes intently on the images of the gods, so likewise the minister, being in the more ancient times a judge also, used to see the king naked, and on this account they add the royal garment.']
[31] [Edkins, Religion in China, p.
109-10. 'At the period when its intellectual light has been at the highest
point, the most extravagant additions have been made to its legendary mythology.
At times when the arts and literature were most prosperous, superstition
increased its proportions along with them, and spread amongst the population a
multitude of absurd fancies, wild in their origin, and mischievous in their
effects.
I met, on one occasion, a schoolmaster from the neighbourhood of Chapoo. He
asked if I had any books to give away on astronomy and geography. Such works are
eagerly desired by all members of the literary class. They feel a high respect
for the knowledge Western men have on these subjects, the result of the
information given them by the early Roman Catholic missionaries on these
sciences. The inquiry was put to him Who is the Lord of heaven and earth? He
replied that he knew none but the pole-star, called in the Chinese language
Teen-hwang-ta-te the great imperial ruler of heaven. It was stated to him that
it was a matter very much to be regretted that he should hold such views as this
of the Supreme Being. When he was reminded of passages in the Confucian classics
which speak of God as the ruler of heaven, independent of the visible creation,
he admitted that he might be wrong.']
[32] ['The Shuh King,' in Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 34.]
[33] [CR, 4, I94.]
[34] [Douglas,
Confucianism and Taouism, pp. 82-7. 'The worship of spirits, however,
takes the shape. rather of respectful recognition of their existence than of
devotional address to a godhead. They have no power of themselves to influence
the fates of men, and even in some cases men are placed as lords over them, but
reverence or want of reverence to them is rewarded or punished by Heaven.
Sometimes, however, as in the prayer quoted above, they act as intercessors
between man and Shang-te, and in this way occupy a parallel position to the
saints of the Roman calendar. But the highest object of worship among the
ancient Chinese was Shang-te, who approached nearer to the idea of the Hebrew
God than any of their divinities. Heaven was high and great, but Shang-te ruled
both heaven -and earth. It was by his favour that sovereigns ruled and nations
prospered, and it was at his decree that thrones were upset and kingdoms Avere
brought to nought. As an earthly sovereign rules over a kingdom, so Shang-te
lords it over the azure heaven!
The worship of Shang-te is the most ancient, as well as the most sacred form of
Chinese worship. During the reign of Hwang-te (2697 B.C.) a temple was erected
to his honour, and a century later music was added to the rites performed at his
altar. When the sovereign worshipped before him, he wore a fur dress and a
crown, and offered up on a round hillock a first-born male as a whole burnt
sacrifice. It was to him that prayer was made in all great emergencies, and in
the eyes of the Emperor and people he appeared as a personal God, directing
their ways, supporting them in their difficulties, and chastising them for their
faults. When T'ang the founder of the Shang dynasty (1766 B.C.), overthrew the
iniquitous Kee, the last ruler of the Hea dynasty, he defended himself from the
charge of rebellion by making a proclamation, in which he said, "The sovereign
of Hea was an offender, and as I fear Shang-te I dare not but punish him." Again
speaking to his people he said, "The good in you I will not dare to conceal, and
for the evil in me I will not dare to forgive myself; I will examine these
things in harmony with the mind of Shang-te." T'ang's belief in the personal
interference of Shang-te in the affairs of man is plainly stated when he says,
"The ways of Shang-te are not invariable; he showers down blessings on the good,
and pours down miseries on the evil."
But as time went on the distinctive belief in the personality of Shang-te became
obscured, and he was degraded from his supremacy to the level of the impersonal
heaven. In fact, later commentators affirm that Shang-te is Heaven, Azure
Heaven, the Greatest Deity in the Purple Obscure Palace, the most honoured one
of Heaven, all of which titles give but a very imperfect idea of the position he
held in the sight of Yaou and of Shun and of the ancient Sages.
Unfortunately on this point also Confucius departed from the higher faith of his
ancestors, and by sanctioning the worship of spirits, and omitting all mention
of Shang-te, he reduced that deity to his position of one among the host of
heaven. Once only does he speak of Shang-te, and then it was only to state the
fact that "by the ceremonies of the sacrifices to heaven and earth the kings Wan
and Woo served Shang-te, and by the ceremonies of the ancestral temple they
sacrificed to their ancestors." This remark shows that Confucius perceived that
the various religious rites practised by the ancients had for their object the
worship of the one God, but he allowed this knowledge to remain sterile. He
deduced nothing from it either to spiritualize his teachings or to elevate his
practice. The example of the earthly course run by the ancient Sages was
sufficient in his own case to lead him into the same paths of virtue, and he
committed the mistake of supposing that the same cause would produce a like
effect in all men.
Starting with the belief that all men are born equally good, there is more
excuse for the adopting of such a doctrine by Confucius than can be advanced for
many later philosophers who have practically held the same view. But even he
admitted that the temptations of the world and the flesh were apt to sully the
original purity of man, and his experiences at the different courts he visited
should have taught him that, headlong passions, vicious habits, and weak wills!
need some stronger corrective than the contemplation of the virtue of Yaou and
the purity of Shun.
In spite, however, of the silence of Confucius on the subject of Shang-te, his
worship has been maintained, not perhaps in its original purity, but with marks
of reverence which place its object on the highest pinnacle of the Chinese
Pantheon. At the present day the Imperial worship of Shang-te on the round
hillock to the south of the city of Peking is surrounded with all the solemnity
of which such an occasion is capable. "The altar is a beautiful
marble structure, ascended by 27 steps, and ornamented by circular balustrades
on each of its three terraces. On it is raised a magnificent triple-roofed
circular structure, 99 feet in height, which constitutes" the most conspicuous
object in the tout ensemble. . .
These structures are deeply enshrined in a thick cypress grove reminding the
visitor of the custom which formerly prevailed among the heathen nations of the
Old Testament, and of the solemn shade which surrounded some celebrated temples
of ancient Greece. On the day before the sacrifices the Emperor proceeds to the
Hall of Fasting, on the west side of the south altar. Here he spends the night
in watching and meditation, after first inspecting- the offerings. The tablets
to the Supreme Ruler of Heaven (i.e. Shang-te), and to the Emperor's ancestors,
are preserved in the chapel at the back of each altar. There are no images. Both
these chapels are circular, and tiled with blue glazed porcelain ... The south
altar the most important of all Chinese religious structures, , has the
following dimensions. It consists of a triple circular terrace, 210 ft. wide at
the base, 150 in the middle, and 90 at the top. In these notice the multiples of
three =3 x 3 = 9, 3 x 5 = 15, 3 X 7 = 21. The heights of the three terraces,
upper, middle, and lower," are 572 feet, 6 '23 feet, and 5 feet respectively. At
the time of sacrificing, the tablets to Heaven and to the Emperor's ancestors
are placed on the top; they are 2 feet 5 inches long and 5 inches wide. The
title is in gilt letters; that of Heaven faces the south, and those of the
ancestors east and west. The Emperor, with his immediate suite, kneels in front
of the tablet to Shang-te, and faces the north. The platform is laid with marble
stones, forming nine concentric circles; the inner circle consists of nine
stones, cut so as to fit with close edges round the central stone, which is a
perfect circle. Here the Emperor kneels, and is surrounded first by the circles
of the terraces and their enclosing walls, and then by the circle of the
horizon. He thus seems to himself and his court to be in the centre of the
universe, and, turning to the north, assuming the attitude of a subject, he
acknowledges in prayer and by his position that he is inferior to Heaven, and to
Heaven alone. Round him on the pavement are the nine circles of as many heavens,
consisting of nine stones, then eighteen, then twenty-seven, and so on in
successive multiples of nine till the square of nine, the favourite number of
Chinese philosophy, is reached in the outermost circle of eighty-one stones. ...
As might be expected, careful distinctions are made in the sacrifices. The
animals ordinarily used for food by the ancient.']
[35] [De Groot, Fêtes d' Emoui, vol. 1, pp. 77, 80.]
[36] [Birch, 'Dream of Thothmes IV,' 12, 43. Or Mallet, 'Stele of Thotmes IV,' RPNS, 2, 45.]
[37] [Stern, 'The Foundation of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis,' RP, 12, 51. See pp. 53, 54.]
[38] [See figure of Horus, p. 317.]
[39] [Wilkinson. Title unknown.]
[40] [Stern, 'The Foundation of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis,' RP, 12, 51. See p. 53.]
[41] [Chabas, 'Magic Papyrus,' RP, 10, 135. See p. 6, lines 3 and 4.]
[42] [Birch, 'Inscription of Darius,' RP, 8, 140. See lines 27, 28.]
[48] [Mallet, 'Stele of Thotmes IV,' RPNS, 2, 45. See p. 55.]
[50] [Maspero, Les Inscriptions des Pyramides de Saqqarah, Teta, 319.]
[51] ['The Gods Akar and Seb,' PSBA, 15, p. 385. See full text.]
[52] [As above note.]
[53] [Mallet, 'Stele of Thotmes IV,' RPNS, 2, 45.]
[55] [Pub. London, 1901. See bibliography.]
[56] [Drummond, pl. 13.]
[58] [Stern, 'The Foundation of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis,' RP, 12, 51. See p. 53.]
[59] [Evans, The Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult, fig. 65.]
[61] [Evans, ibid., figs. 44 and 45.]
[62] [Schiaparelli, Piramidi Egiziane, plates.]
[63] [First published in French as La migration des symboles, Paris, 1891. Translated into English and published in 1894.]
[64] [The illustrations given
here are based on the Eng. and French editions. The numbers of the figs. differ slightly:
Fig. 58.
Fig. H, p1. 4.
Fig. 35 = 32.
Fig. 65 = 57.
Fig. A, p1. 4.
Tree between two winged unicorns = unable to determine which one here Massey
is referring to, but see pl. 4.
Fig. B, p1. 4.
Fig. D, p1. 4.
Fig. 67 = 96 (The vase is
actually from Citium not Curium).
Fig. 71 = 113.
Fig.
110 = 92.]
[65] [Evans, The Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult, fig. 41.]
[67] [Ibid., figs. 13 and 14.]
[68] [Ibid., fig. 42,
A and B.
Rit. ch. 18, vignette.]
[72] [Ibid., figs. 12, 13, 54.]
[80] [Eph.
2:14-15. 'For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.']
[81] [Lundy, Monumental Christianity, fig. 76.]
[82] [Ibid.]
[83] [Goblet,
Migration of Symbols. I give the French of the orig. ed. p. 168: 'Il
existe a Rome un autel de la Palmyrene, qui offre sur une de ses faces I'image
d'un dieu solaire et sur Pautre un cypres pyramidal, dont le feuillage livre
passage a un enfant portant un belier sur les epaules.*
* Memoires de I'Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, t.
XX, pl. I, fig. 2.']
[85] [Source.]
[86] [See note below.]
[87] [Cited by Lockyer,
Dawn of Astronomy, p. 284. 'I quote from Krall another inscription
common to Edfu and Esne, which seems to have astronomical significance.
"1. Phamenoth. Festival of the suspension of the sky by Ptah, by the side of the
god Harschaf, the master of Heracleopolis Magna (Al). Festival of Ptah. Feast of
the suspension of the sky (Es).
"Under the 1st Phamenoth, Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride, c. 43,
notices the [Gr.]. These are festivals connected with the celebration of the
Winter Solstice, and the filling of the Uza-eye on the 30th Menchir. Perhaps the
old year, which the Egyptians introduced into the Nile valley at the time of
their immigration, and which had only 360 days, commenced with the Winter
Solstice. Thus we should have in the 'festival of the suspension of the sky,' by
the ancient god Ptah venerated as creator of the world a remnant of the time
when the Winter Solstice marked the beginning of the year, and also the
creation."
The reconstruction of the calendar naturally enhanced the importance of the
month Pachons; this comes out very clearly from the inscriptions translated by
Brugsch. On this point Krall remarks:
"It is, therefore, quite right that the month Pachons, which took the of the old
Thoth by the decree of Tanis, should play a prominent part in the
feast-calendars of the days of the Ptolemies, and the first period of the Empire
in general, but especially in the Edfu calendar, which refers to the Ta-tiiti-
year. The first five days of Pachons are dedicated in our calendar to the
celebration of the subjection of the enemies by Horus; we at once remember the
above-mentioned (p. 7) record of Edfu of the nature of a mythological calendar,
describing the advent of the Nile flood. On the 6th of Pachons remember the
great importance of the sixes in the Ptoleniaean records the solstice is then
celebrated. The Uza-eye is then filled, a mythical act which we have in another
place referred to the celebration of the solstice, and 'everything is performed
which is ordained' in the book 'on the Divine Birth.'"']
[88] [Blake,
Astronomical
Myths, pp. 266-7. 'According to Cosmas and his map of the world, the
habitable earth is a plane surface. But instead of being supposed, as in the
time of Thales, to be a disc, he represented it in the form of a parallelogram,
whose long sides are twice the shorter ones, so that man is on the earth like a
bird in a cage. This parallelogram is surrounded by the ocean, which breaks in
in four great gulfs, namely, the Mediterranean and Caspian seas, and the Persian
and Arabian gulfs.
Beyond the ocean in every direction there exists another
continent which cannot be reached by man, but of which one part was once
inhabited by him before the Deluge. To the east, just as in other maps of the
world, and in later systems, he placed the Terrestrial Paradise, and the four
rivers that watered Eden, which come by subterranean channels to water the post-diluvian
earth.
After the Fall, Adam was driven from Paradise; but he and his
descendants remained on its coasts until the Deluge carried the ark of Noah to
our present earth.
On the four outsides of the earth rise four perpendicular walls, which surround
it, and join together at the top in :i vault, the heavens forming the cupola of
this singular edifice.']
[93] [John 5:29. 'And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.']
[97] [Kingsborough, vol. 1, pt. 3, p. 10, fig. 218.]
[98] [TASJ, 7, 431.]
[99] [Sinensis, 'Chinese Mythology,' CRMJ, 4, 95. 'The Queen-Mother (Yin, or female principle) dwells there alone in its midst; in the place where the Genii sport. On the summit there is a resplendent temple of precious stones, and a glittering azure hall, with lakes enclosed by precious gems, and many temples. Above rules the clear ether of the ever fixed star (i.e., the Polar Star).']
[100] [Lenormant, Chaldean Magic and Sorcery, Eng. tr., pp. 151-52. 'Above the earth extended the sky (ana) spangled with its fixed stars (mul), and revolving round the mountain of the East (Charsak Kurra), the column which joined the heavens and the earth, and served as an axis to the celestial vault. The culminating point of the heavens, the zenith (nuzku), was not this axis or pole; on the contrary, it was situated immediately above the country of Accadia, and was regarded as the centre of the inhabited lands, whilst the mountain which acted as a pivot to the starry heavens was to the north-east of this country, extended the land of Aralli, which was very rich in gold, and was inhabited by the gods and blessed spirits.']
[101] [Epic of Gilgamesh.]
[102] [As above note.]
[103] [West,
Pahlavi Texts, vol. 1, pp. 22, 36. 'Of Mount Alburs is declared, that
around the world and Mount Terak which is the middle of the world, the
revolution of the sun is like a moat around the world; it turns back in a
circuit owing to the enclosure (var) of Mount Alburs around Terak.'
'A'aka'-i-Daitik ('the judicial peak') is that of the middle of the world, the
height of a hundred men, on which the Ainvar bridge stands; and they take
account of the soul at that place.']
[105] [Medum, p. 17. 'Ranefer's
body lay hitched up against the west wall, on its left side, head north, facing
east; the head had been broken off by the violators, but carefully replaced,
with a stone under it to support it in position.'
Ibid., p. 21.
'Of the 13, 12 lay on the left side, with the head N., and the face E., and the
knees were usually bent at right angles to the body; though bent up close, so
that the knee was only 6 inches from the vertebra.']
[107] [Renouf, 'Inscription Hatshu,' RP,
12, 132.
Budge, Papyrus of Ani.]
[108] [Chamberlain, Kojiki, p. 19. Again, Massey errs here. Wrong page no. Unable to trace.]
[109] [Ibid., p. 23. Massey errs here. The name of the island is Iki, not Ski. 'Next they gave birth to the Island of Iki, another name for which is Heaven's One-Pillar.']
[110] [Histories, bk. 2. 44. 'In the wish to get the best
information that I could on these matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia,
hearing there was a temple of Hercules at that place, very highly venerated. I
visited the temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings,
among which were two pillars, one of pure gold, the other of emerald, shining
with great brilliancy at night. In a conversation which I held with the priests,
I inquired how long their temple had been built, and found by their answer that
they, too, differed from the Greeks. They said that the temple was built at the
same time that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took
place two thousand three hundred years ago. In Tyre I remarked another temple
where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Hercules. So I went on to
Thasos, where I found a temple of Hercules which had been built by the
Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of Europa. Even
this was five generations earlier than the time when Hercules, son of Amphitryon,
was born in Greece. These researches show plainly that there is an ancient god
Hercules; and my own opinion is, that those Greeks act most wisely who build and
maintain two temples of Hercules, in the one of which the Hercules worshipped is
known by the name of Olympian, and has sacrifice offered to him as an immortal,
while in the other the honours paid are such as are due to a hero.' Tr.,
Rawlinson.
'I moreover, desiring to know something certain of these matters so far
as might be, made a voyage also to Tyre of Phoenicia, hearing that in that place
there was a holy temple of Heracles; and I saw that it was richly furnished with
many votive offerings besides, and especially there were in it two pillars, the
one of pure gold and the other of an emerald stone of such size as to shine by
night: and having come to speech with the priests of the god, I asked them how
long time it was since their temple had been set up: and these also I found to
be at variance with the Hellenes, for they said that at the same time when Tyre
was founded, the temple of the god also had been set up, and that it was a
period of two thousand three hundred years since their people began to dwell at
Tyre. I saw also at Tyre another temple of Heracles, with the surname Thasian;
and I came to Thasos also and there I found a temple of Heracles set up by the
Phoenicians, who had sailed out to seek for Europa and had colonised Thasos; and
these things happened full five generations of men before Heracles the son of
Amphitryon was born in Hellas. So then my inquiries show clearly that Heracles
is an ancient god, and those of the Hellenes seem to me to act most rightly who
have two temples of Heracles set up, and who sacrifice to the one as an immortal
god and with the title Olympian, and make offerings of the dead to the other as
a hero.' Tr., Macauley.]
[111] [Source.]
[112] [Chabas, 'Magic Papyrus,' RP, 10, 135. See p. 152.]
[115] [Wilson, Rig-veda Sanhitá a
collection of ancient Hindu hymns, vol. 3, pp. 143. 'This sun, not far
removed, and unobstructed, whether (looking) downwards or looking upwards, is
harmed by no one: what is the power by which he travels? who has (truly) beheld
him who, as the collective pillar of heaven, sustains the sky?'
Ibid., p. 144.
'This sun, not far removed and unobstructed, whether looking downwards or
looking upwards, is harmed by no one: what is the power by which he travels? who
has (truly) beheld him who, as the collective pillar of heaven, sustains the
sky.']
[116] [The Night of the Gods. Poss. in ch. 8 of vol. 2 where he discusses heaven's myth relating to mountains and the pole.]
[118] [Turner, Samoa, p. 294. ''The dying were urgent in begging those around them to see and make the Tapunea, or pessomancy to go all right, and so secure an entrance to the Mane paradise.']
[119] [Ibid., pp. 258-9.
'They were, however, little more than alive, and this semi-conscious
state continued until they reached the hades of Pulotu, where there was a
bathing-place called Vaiola, or "The water of life." Whenever they bathed here
all became lively and bright and vigorous. Infirmity of every kind fled away,
and even the aged became young again.
It was supposed that in these lower regions there were heavens, earth and sea,
fruits and flowers, planting, fishing and cooking, marrying and giving in
marriage—all very much as in the world from which they had gone. Their new
bodies, however, were singularly volatile, could ascend at night, become
luminous sparks or vapour, revisit their former homes and retire again at early
dawn to the bush or to the Pulotu hades. These visits were dreaded, as they were
supposed to be errands of destruction to the living, especially to any with whom
the departed had reason to be angry. By means of presents and penitential
confession all injurers were anxious to part on good terms with the dying whom
they had ill-used. In one place there was a hadean town called Nonoa, or
Bound, where all the spirits were dumb, and could only "beat their breasts,"
expressive of their love to one another.']
[120] [Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, Eng. tr., p. 197. 'This was somewhere in the immediate neighbourhood of Abydos, and was reached through a narrow gorge or "cleft" in the Libyan range, whose "mouth" opened in front of the temple of Osiris Khontamentit, a little to the north-west of the city.' See illustration. See also AE 2:656.]
[121] [Chabas, 'Magic Papyrus,' RP, 10, 135. See p. 5.]
[122] [Williams, Fiji and the Fijians, vol. 1, p. 239. 'Pilgrimages are sometimes made to Nai Thombothombo, the northern point of Mbua Bay, and the spot whence the spirits of the departed embark for the abode of Ndengei. I have known persons from a distance, who expected that they should see there both ghosts and gods.']
[123] [Howitt, 'On Australian Medicine-men,' JAI, 16. 41. 'Karalk is the bright colour of sunset, and is said to be caused by the spirits of the dead going into and out of Ngamat. Ngamat is the receptacle of the sun beyond the western edge of the earth. It seems that the dead do not remain permanently in Ngamat, for they are spoken of as returning, and are then spoken of as Ngamajet. The white men were also called Ngamajet.']
[124] [Gill, Myths and Songs,
p. 160. 'At Samoa, a spirit leaving the dead body at the most easterly island of
that group would be compelled to traverse the entire series of islands, passing
the channels between at given points, ere it could descend to the subterranean
spirit-world at the most westerly point of Savai'i.
However, the standard and esoteric z teaching of the priests was that the souls
of the dying leave the body ere breath is quite extinct, and travel to the edge
of the cliff at Araia (= hindered, or sent back) near the marae of Kongo, and
facing the west.']
[125] [Ibid., pp. 64-66. 'This
wonderful lad had noticed that his father, Manuahifare, mysteriously disappeared
at dawn of every day; and in an equally mysterious way came back again to their
dwelling at night He resolved to discover this secret, which seemed to him the
more strange as, being the favourite, he slept by the side of Manuahifare, and
yet never knew when or how he disappeared. One night he lay awake until his
father unfastened his girdle in order to sleep. Very cautiously did Maui, the
Younger, take up one end and place it under himself, without attracting his
father's notice. Early next morning, this precocious son was roused from his
slumbers by the girdle being pulled from under him. This was just as he desired; he lay perfectly still, to see what would become of Manuahifare. The
unsuspecting parent went, as he was wont, to the main pillar of his dwelling,
and said
O pillar I open, open up,
That Manuahifare may enter and descend to nether- world (Avaiki).
The pillar immediately opened, and Manuahifare descended.
That same day the four children of Manuahifare went back to their old game of
hide-and-seek. This time Maui the Younger told his brothers and sister to go
outside the house, whilst he should look out for some place to hide in. As soon
as they were out of sight, he went up to the post through which his father had
disappeared, and pronounced the magic words he had overheard. To his great joy
the obedient post opened up, and Maui boldly
descended to the nether regions. Manuahifare was greatly surprised to see his
son down there; but after saluting (literally, "smelling") him, quietly
proceeded with his work.
Maui the Third went on an exploring tour through these unknown subterranean
regions, the entrance to which he had luckily discovered. Amongst other
wonderful things, he fell in with a blind old woman bending over a fire where
her food was being cooked. In her hand she held a pair of tongs (i.e. a green
cocoa-nut midrib, split open). Every now and then she carefully took up a live
coal, and placed it on one side, supposing it to be food, whilst the real food
was left to burn to cinder in the fire 1 Maui inquired her name, and, to his
surprise, found it was Inaporari, or Ina-the-Blind, his own grandmother. The
clever grandson heartily pitied the condition of the poor old creature, but
would not reveal his own name. Close to where he stood watching the futile
cooking of Ina-the-Blind grew four nono trees (morindo citrifolia). Taking up a
stick, he gently struck the nearest of the four trees. Ina-the-Blind angrily
said, "Who is that meddling with the nono belonging to Maui the Elder?" The bold
visitor to nether-world then walked up to the next tree and tapped it gently.
Again the ire of Ina-the-Blind was excited, and she shouted, "Who is this
meddling with the nono of Maui the
Second ? " The audacious boy struck a third tree, and found it belonged to his
sister Inaika. He now exultingly tapped the fourth and last nono tree, and heard
his old grandmother ask, "Who is this meddling with the nono of Maui the Third?"
"I am Maui the Third? said the visitor. "Then," said she, " you are my grandson,
and this is your own tree."
Now when Maui first looked at his own nono tree, it was entirely destitute of
leaves and fruit ; but after Ina-the-Blind had spoken to him, he again looked
and was surprised to see it covered with glossy leaves and fine apples, though
not ripe. Maui climbed up into the tree, and plucked one of the apples. Biting
off a piece of it, he stepped up to his grandmother and threw it into one of her
blind eyes. The pain was excruciating, but sight was at once restored to the eye
which had so long been blind. Maui plucked another apple, and biting off a piece
of it, threw it into the other eye of his grandmother and lo! sight was restored
to it also. Ina-the-Blind was delighted to see again, and, in gratitude, said to
her grandson, "All above, and all below"(= all on earth and all in spirit-land)
"are subject to thee, and to thee only."
Ina, once called the-Blind, now instructed Maui in all things found within her
territory; that as there were four species of nono, so there are four varieties
of cocoa-nuts and four of taro in Avaiki, Le, one for each child of Manuahifare,
Maui asked Ina, "Who is lord of fire?" She replied, "Thy grandfather
Tangaroa-tui-mata," (or Tangaroa-of-the-tattooed-face) "Where is he?" inquired
Maui. "Yonder," rejoined his grand-mother; "but do not go to him. He is a
terribly irritable fellow: you will surely perish." But as Maui persisted, the
grateful goddess Ina said, "There are two roads to his dwelling. One of these is
the path of death; whoever unwittingly approaches the Great Tangaroa by this
path, dies. The other is the "common," or "safe (noa) road." Maui disdained to
choose the path of safety. Knowing his own prowess, he boldly trod the path of
death.
Tangaroa-of-the-tattooed-face, seeing Maui advancing, raised his right hand to
kill him that hand which as yet had never failed to destroy its victim. But
Maui, nothing daunted, lifted his right hand. At this Tangaroa, not liking the
aspect of Maui, raised his right foot, for the purpose of kicking to death the
luckless intruder. But Maui was prepared to do the same to the lord of fire with
his right foot Astounded at this piece of audacity, Tangaroa demanded his name.
The visitor replied, "I am Maui the Younger." The god now knew it to be his own
grandson. "What did you come for?" "To get fire, "was the response of Maui.'']
[126] [Dennys, Folk-lore of China,
p. 134. 'The idea of self-sacrifice to ensure some public good has ever been
popular in China, and ages before the heroic Roman Youth leaped his horse into
the earthquake chasm for the sake of his countrymen, Chinese patriots are
recorded as having exhibited a similarly noble spirit. An instance of this was
afforded by a tea-merchant at Hang-chow who some hundred and fifty years ago
cast himself into the river Tsien-tang as a sacrifice to the spirit of the dykes
which were constantly being washed away. Numerous instances of similar devotion
appear in Chinese annals, each being of course the basis of a legend more or
less accurate in its adherence to facts.
The cave of Kwang-siu-f 'oo in Kiang-si is the reputed scene of a legend or
household tale recalling a portion of the well-known "Ali Baba and the Forty
Thieves." There was in the neighbourhood a poor herdsman named Chang, his sole
surviving relative being a grandmother with whom he lived. One day, happening to
pass near the cave in question, he overheard some one using the following words:
Shih mun kai, Kwai ku hsien sheng lai. "Stone door open; Mr. Kwei Ku is coming."
Upon this the door of the cave opened, and the speaker entered. Having remained
there for some time he came out and saying "Stone door close; Mr. Kwei Ku is
going," the door again closed and the visitor departed. Chang's curiosity was
naturally excited, and having several times heard the formula repeated he waited
one day until the genie (for such he was) had taken his departure and essayed to
obtain an entrance. To his great delight the door yielded, and having gone
inside he found himself in a romantic grotto of immense extent. Nothing however
in the shape of treasure met his eye, so having fully explored the place he
returned to the door, which shut at his bidding, and went home. Upon telling his
grandmother of his adventure she expressed a strong wish to see the wonderful
cavern; and thither they accordingly went together next day. Wandering about in
admiration of the scenery they became separated, and Chang at length, supposing
that his grandmother had left, passed out of the door and ordered it to shut.
Reaching home he found, to his dismay, that she had not yet arrived. She must of
course have been locked up in the cave, so back he sped and before long was
using the magic sentence to obtain access. But alas ! the talisman had failed,
and poor Chang fell into an agony of apprehension as he reflected that his
grandmother would either be starved to death or killed by the enraged genie.']
[127] [Callaway,
Nursery Tales, pp. 140-42. 'The Rock of Two-holes, a house where
cannibals lived; but it was opened by the cunning of the owner; it was not
opened by hands, it was opened by the mouth; that is, when a man came, he
shouted near the doorway; but that doorway had nothing which a man could take
hold of with his hand, and open it. Therefore it was opened by shouting the name
of the house, and saying, "$ock of Untunjambili," open for me, that I may
enter." But it could answer if it did not wish to open to that man, who asked it
to open for him; it said in answer, "The Rock is not opened by children; it is
opened by the swallows which fly in the air." And he perceived that it would not
open to him, but remained closed. That, then, is what I have heard of the Rock
of Untunjambili. Now we say, "So then that Rock means these houses of the
whitemen."
But there is still left one word, to wit, "That house is
opened by the swallows:" it does not say it is opened by men; but these are
opened by men. We do not understand what kind of a house that is which is opened
by birds which fly in the air. It is evident; yet it is not very evident,
whether it is these houses which we really see, or whether it is not they. It is
not clear to us.
The Rock of Two-holes has a considerable resemblance to the
cave mentioned in the Forty Thieves and which was opened and shut by a word. It
is curious that the Sesamum should figure in both stories; there as the
word—"Open Sesame"—by which the rock was opened; here as the means employed by
the girl in making her escape from the Amazimu. That was the abode of robbers;
this of cannibal thieves. The power of opening solid bodies by a word or charm
is mentioned in many tales of different countries. The Kama woman and her
brothers, when pursued by the elephant, address a rock with these words, "Stone
of my ancestors I divide for us." The rock divides, and they pass through. The
elephant addresses it in like manner; the rode divides, and closes upon him
again and kills him, (Bleek's Hottentot Fables, p, 64.—The "Manito of the
Mountain."']
[128] [Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia, p. 252. ' The Samoans say, that there was a time when their forefathers ate everything raw; and that they owe the luxury of cooked food to one Ti'iti'i, the son of a person called Talanga. This Talanga was high in favour with the earthquake god Mafuie, who, like the Vulcan of the Greeks, lived in a subterranean region, where there was fire continually burning. On going to a certain perpendicular rock, and saying, "Rock, divide! I am Talanga; I have come to work;" the rock opened, and let Talanga in; and he went below to his plantation in the land of this god Mafuie. One day, Ti'iti'i, the son of Talanga, followed his father, and watched where he entered. The youth, after a time, went up to the rock, and, feigning his father's voice, said, "Rock, divide! I am Talanga; I have come to work;" and was admitted too.']
[129] [Ralston, Russian Folk-tales,
p. 102. 'Long time did he ride; at last he came to a mountain a tremendously
high mountain, and so steep that it was utterly impossible to get up it.
Presently his brothers came that way. They all greeted each other, and rode on
together, till they came to an iron rock l a hundred and fifty poods in weight,
and on it was this inscription, ' Whosoever will fling this rock against the
mountain, to him will a way be opened.' The two elder brothers were unable to
lift the rock, but Prince Ivan at the first try flung it against the mountain
and immediately there appeared a ladder leading up the mountain side.
Prince Ivan dismounted, let some drops of blood run from his little finger into
a glass, gave it to his brothers, and said:
'If the blood in this glass turns black, tarry here no longer: that will mean
that I am about to die.' Then he took leave of them and went his way.
He mounted the hill. What did not he see there ? All sorts of trees were there,
all sorts of fruits, all sorts of birds! Long did Prince Ivan walk on; at last
he came to a house, a huge house! In it lived a king's daughter who had been
carried off by Koshchei the Deathless. Prince Ivan walked round the enclosure,
but could not see any doors. The king's daughter saw there was some one there,
came on to the balcony, and called out to him, 'See, there is a chink in the
enclosure; touch it with your little finger, and it will become a door.'']
[130] [Rit., ch.
64.
See
also Lefebure, 'Book of Hades,' RP, 10
& 12.]
[131] [Mason, 'Karens,' JAS, pt. 2, pp. 233-4. 'The Karens of Burma, a race among whom ideas are in great measure borrowed from the more cultured Buddhists they have been in contact with, have precedence here for the distinctness of their statement. They say that in the west there are two massive strata of rocks which are continually opening and shutting, and between these strata the sun descends at sunset, but how the upper stratum is supported, no one can describe. The idea comes well into view in the description of a Bghai festival, where sacrificed fowls are thus addressed, 'The seven heavens, thou ascendest to the top; the seven earths, thou descendest to the bottom. Thou arrivest at Khu-the; thou goest unto Tha-ma [i.e., Yama, the Judge of the Dead in Hades.] Thou goest through the crevices of rocks, though goest through the crevices of precipices. At the opening and shutting of the western gates of rock, thou goest in between; thou goest below the earth where the Sun travels, I employ thee, I exhort thee. I make thee a messenger, I make thee an angel, &c.' From Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 1, p. 347.]
[132] [Lefebure, 'The Book of Hades,' RP, 10, 79. See p. 81.]
[133] [Legend of the Ten Virgins. Unable to trace this title.]
[137] [From Baring-Gould,
Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 260-4. 'But perhaps the most
remarkable account of the terrestrial Paradise ever furnished, is that of the "Eireks
Saga Vidforla," an Icelandic narrative of the fourteenth century, giving the
adventures of a certain Norwegian, named Eirek, who had vowed, whilst a heathen,
that he would explore the fabulous Deathless Land of pagan Scandinavian
mythology. The romance is possibly a Christian recension of an ancient heathen
myth; and Paradise has taken the place in it of Glaesisvellir.
According to the majority of the MSS. the story purports to be nothing more than
a religious novel; but one audacious copyist has ventured to assert that it is
all fact, and that the details are taken down from the lips of those who heard
them from Eirek himself. The account is briefly this:
Eirek was a son of Thrand, king of Drontheim, and having taken upon him a vow to
explore the Deathless Land, he went to Denmark, where he picked up a friend of
the same name as himself. They then went to Constantinople, and called upon the
Emperor, who held a long conversation with them, which is duly reported,
relative to the truths of Christianity and the site of the Deathless Land,
which, he assures them, is nothing more nor less
than Paradise.
"The world," said the monarch, who had not forgotten his geography since he left
school, "is precisely 180,000 stages round (about 1,000,000 English miles), and
it is not propped up on posts not a bit! it is supported by the power of God;
and the distance between earth and heaven is 100,045 miles (another MS. reads
9382 miles the difference is immaterial); and round about the earth is a big sea
called Ocean." "And what's to the south of the earth?" asked Eirek. "Oh! there
is the end of the world, and that is India." "And pray where am I to find the
Deathless Land?" "Paradise, I suppose you mean, lies slightly east of India."
Having obtained this information, the two Eireks started, furnished with letters
from the Greek Emperor.
They traversed Syria, and took ship probably at Balsora; then, reaching India,
they proceeded on their journey on horseback, till they came to a dense forest,
the gloom of which was so great, through the interlacing of the boughs, that
even by day the stars could be observed twinkling, as though they were seen from
the bottom of a well.
On emerging from the forest, the two Eireks came upon a strait, separating them
from a beautiful land, which was unmistakably Paradise; and the Danish Eirek,
intent on displaying his Scriptural knowledge, pronounced the strait to be the
river Pison. This was crossed by a stone bridge guarded by a dragon.
The Danish Eirek, deterred by the prospect of an encounter with this monster,
refused to advance, and even endeavoured to persuade his friend to give up the
attempt to enter Paradise as hopeless, after that they had come within sight of
the favoured land. But the Norseman deliberately walked, sword in hand, into the
maw of the dragon, and next moment, to his infinite surprise and delight, found
himself liberated from the gloom of the monster's interior, and safely placed in
Paradise.
"The land was most beautiful, and the grass as gorgeous as purple; it was
studded with flowers, and was traversed by honey rills. The land war extensive
and level, so that there was not to be seen mountain or hill, and the sun shone
cloudless without night and darkness; the calm of the ait was great, and there
was but a feeble murmur of wind, and that which there was, breathed redolent
with the odour of blossoms." After a short walk, Eirek observed what certainly
must have been a remarkable object, namely, a tower or steeple self-suspended in
the air, without any support whatever, though access might be had to it by means
of a slender ladder. By this Eirek ascended into a loft of the tower, and found
there an excellent cold collation prepared for him. After having partaken of
this he went to sleep, and in vision beheld and conversed with his guardian
angel, who promised to conduct him back to his fatherland, but to come for him
again, and fetch him away from it for ever at the expiration of the tenth year
after his return to Drontheim.
Eirek then retraced his steps to India, unmolested by the dragon, which did not
affect any surprise at having to disgorge him, and, indeed, which seems to have
been, notwithstanding his looks, but a harmless and passive dragon.
After a tedious journey of seven years, Eirek reached his native land, where he
related his adventures, to the confusion of the heathen, and to the delight and
edification of the faithful. "And in the tenth year, and at break of day, as
Eirek went to prayer, God's Spirit caught him away, and he was never seen again
in this world: so here ends all we have to say of him."' See note 139
below.]
[139] [See note 137 above.
See also
Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 1, p. 340. 'With even more distinctness of
mythical meaning, the man-devouring monster is introduced in the Scandinavian
Eireks-Saga. Eirek, journeying toward Paradise, comes to a stone bridge guarded
by a dragon, and entering into its maw, finds that he has arrived in the world
of bliss.' Quoting Eireks Saga, 3, 4, in 'Flateyjarbok,' vol. i., Christiania, 1859, in
Baring-Gould, Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 238.]
[140] [Les Inscriptions des Pyramides de Saqqarah.]
[146] [Vignettes to Ritual.]
[148] [Turner, Samoa, p. 257. 'There is a stone at the west end of Upolu called "the leaping-stone," from which spirits in their course leaped into the sea, swam to Manono, leaped from a stone on that island again, crossed to Savaii, and went overland to the Fafā at Falealupo, as the entrance to their hades was called.']
[149] [Bosman, A
Description of the Coast of Guinea, in Pinkerton's
Voyages, vol. 16, p. 401. 'Their notions of a future state are different;
most of them believe that immediately after the death of any person he goes to
another world, where he lives in the same character as here, and makes use of
all the offerings of his friends and relations made here after his death: but
they have no idea of future rewards or punishments, for the good or ill actions
of their pad life; except some of them, who take it for granted, that the
deceased are immediately conveyed to a famous river, situate in the in-land
country, called Bosmanque: (suppofing this to be taken in a spiritual sense,
because it visibly appears that the body is left with them). It is here their
god inquires what fort of life they have lived: have they religiously observed
the holy-days, dedicated to their god, abstained from all forbidden meats, and
inviolably kept their oaths; they are gently wafted over the river, to a land
abounding in all kinds of happiness, not unlike Mahomet's Paradise: but if, on
the contrary, the departed hath sinned against: any of the mentioned rules, his
god plunges him into the river, where he is drowned and buried in eternal
oblivion.'
Rit. ch. 44.]
[151] [Hieroglyphic Dictionary, p. 547.]
[152] [Odyssey, bk. 10, 114-144. 'Both were begotten of Helios, who gives light to all men, and their mother was Perse, daughter of Oceanus.']
[153] [Mayers, The Chinese
Reader's Manual, p. 98. 'The [Chinese characters] has a
legend to the effect that when Chang K'ien was sent to discover the sources of
the Yellow River, which was believed to be the continuation on earth of the
[Chinese characters] (Milky Way), he sailed op the stream for many days until he
reached a city where he saw a woman spinning and a young man leading an ox to
the water to drink. Chang K'ien asked what place this was, and in reply the
woman gave him her shuttle, telling him to shew it when he returned to his own
country to the star-gazer [Chinese characters], who would know from it where he
bad been.'
This is borrowed from O'Neill's Night of the Gods, vol. 2, p. 875. 'Kun-P'ing
accordingly found that, at the moment Chang-K'ien received the shuttle, he had
observed a wandering star intrude between Chih Nu and K'ien Niu, whence he
inferred that the traveller had actually sailed up the bosom of the Milky Way,
of which the Yellow River was firmly believed to be the continuation.']
[158] [Chabas, 'The Stele of Beka,' RP, 10, 5. See p. 7.]
[160] [Birch, 'Egyptian Magical Text,' RP, 6, 113. See p. 118.]
[161] [Brugsch, Egypt under the Pharaohs, (one vol. ed.), p. 130. 'In the year 22 of the reign of King Aahmes, his Majesty gave the order to open the rock-chambers anew, and to cut out thence the best white stone (limestone) of the hill country, (called) An, for the houses of the gods, whose existence is for endless years, for the house of the divine Ptah in Memphis, for Amen, the gracious god in Thebes, ... and for all other monuments, that his Majesty caused to be executed. The stone was drawn by bullocks, which were brought thither and given over to the foreign people of the Fenekh.']
[162] [Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, p. 383. 'A spur of the latter, projecting in a straight line towards the Nile, as far as the village of Troiu, is nothing but a mass of the finest and whitest limestone.']
[165] [Edkins, Religion in China, p. 151, 2nd. ed. 'The paradise inhabited by the first person in the Taouist trinity is called the metropolis of the pearl mountain, and its entrance, in imitation of the usual Oriental style in speaking of the abode of royalty, is "the golden door."']
[166] [Source.]
[167] [Rev. 14:8. 'And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.']
[170] [Dumichen, Temple Inschriften, vol. 1, pl. 97.]
[171] [1 Kings 6:7. 'And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.']
[172] [Taplin, 'The Narrinyeri: An Account of the Tribes of South Australian Aborigines Inhabiting the Country Around the Lakes Alexandrina, Albert, and Coorong. Also an account of the mission at Point Macleay,' in J. D. Woods' The Native Tribes of Australia, p. 36. 'I was told by a very trustworthy native a remarkable circumstance connected with the tendi, and the ideas of these people on the subject: "An old man, the uncle of my informant, who was then a boy about ten years old, was very ill. This was some thirty-five years ago, and before the clan to which he belonged had any intercourse at all with Europeans. During the old man 8 illness he was assiduously attended by his friends, for he was much beloved. His nephew was continually at his bedside. At last death was manifestly approaching, and the sufferer was being supported in the arms of his friends, who expected every minute to be his last. As he lay there he pointed upwards to heaven and said in the Potauwallin dialect, 'Tand an amb Kiathangk waiithamb," which is to say, 'My tendi—or judgment—is up there.' It was a remarkable recognition of a judgment to come, by one in heathen darkness. My informant, who is a believer in Jesus, said the words of the old man ever after stuck in his memory. He also said it was not uncommon to hear the aged men say that there was a tendi in the heavens for the spirits of those who died."']
[173] [Histories, bk. 2.127. 'Cheops reigned, the Egyptians
said, fifty years, and was succeeded at his demise by Chephren, his brother.
Chephren imitated the conduct of his predecessor and, like him, built a pyramid,
which did not, however, equal the dimensions of his brother's. Of this I am
certain, for I measured them both myself. It has no subterraneous apartments,
nor any canal from the Nile to supply it with water, as the other pyramid has.
In that, the Nile water, introduced through an artificial duct, surrounds an
island, where the body of Cheops is said to lie. Chephren built his pyramid
close to the great pyramid of Cheops, and of the same dimensions, except that he
lowered the height forty feet. For the basement he employed the many-coloured
stone of Ethiopia. These two pyramids stand both on the same hill, an elevation
not far short of a hundred feet in height. The reign of Chephren lasted
fifty-six years.' Tr., Rawlinson.
'This Cheops, the Egyptians said, reigned fifty years; and after he was
dead his brother Chephren succeeded to the kingdom. This king followed the same
manner as the other, both in all the rest and also in that he made a pyramid,
not indeed attaining to the measurements of that which was built by the former
(this I know, having myself also measured it), and moreover there are no
underground chambers beneath nor does a channel come from the Nile flowing to
this one as to the other, in which the water coming through a conduit built for
it flows round an island within, where they say that Cheops himself is laid: but
for a basement he built the first course of Ethiopian stone of divers colours;
and this pyramid he made forty feet lower than the other as regards size,
building it close to the great pyramid. These stand both upon the same hill,
which is about a hundred feet high. And Chephren they said reigned fifty and six
years.' Tr., Macauley.]
[174] [A Relation of a Journey Begun in An. Dom. 1610. See NG 2:226.]
[175] [Histories, bk. 2.153. 'When Psammetichus had thus become
sole monarch of Egypt, he built the southern gateway of the temple of Vulcan in
Memphis, and also a court for Apis, in which Apis is kept whenever he makes his
appearance in Egypt. This court is opposite the gateway of Psammetichus, and is
surrounded with a colonnade and adorned with a multitude of figures. Instead of
pillars, the colonnade rests upon colossal statues, twelve cubits in height. The
Greek name for Apis is Epaphus.' Tr., Rawlinson.
'Having thus got power over all Egypt, Psammetichos made for Hephaistos that
gateway of the temple at Memphis which is turned towards the South Wind; and he
built a court for Apis, in which Apis is kept when he appears, opposite to the
gateway of the temple, surrounded all with pillars and covered with figures; and
instead of columns there stand to support the roof of the court colossal statues
twelve cubits high. Now Apis is in the tongue of the Hellenes Epaphos.' Tr.,
Macauley.]
[176] [Ibid., bk. 2. 147. 'In what follows I have the
authority, not of the Egyptians only, but of others also who agree with them. I
shall speak likewise in part from my own observation. When the Egyptians
regained their liberty after the reign of the priest of Vulcan, unable to
continue any while without a king, they divided Egypt into twelve districts, and
set twelve kings over them. These twelve kings, united together by
intermarriages, ruled Egypt in peace, having entered into engagements with one
another not to depose any of their number, nor to aim at any aggrandisement of
one above the rest, but to dwell together in perfect amity. Now the reason why
they made these stipulations, and guarded with care against their infraction,
was, because at the very first establishment of the twelve kingdoms, an oracle
had declared. "That he among them who should pour in Vulcan's temple a libation
from cup of bronze, would become monarch of the whole land of Egypt." Now the
twelve held their meetings at all the temples.' Tr., Rawlinson.
'But I will now recount that which other nations also tell, and the
Egyptians in agreement with the others, of that which happened in this land: and
there will be added to this also something of that which I have myself seen.
Being set free after the reign of the priest of Hephaistos, the Egyptians, since
they could not live any time without a king, set up over them twelve kings,
having divided all Egypt into twelve parts. These made intermarriages with one
another and reigned, making agreement that they would not put down one another
by force, nor seek to get an advantage over one another, but would live in
perfect friendship: and the reason why they made these agreements, guarding them
very strongly from violation, was this, namely that an oracle had been given to
them at first when they began to exercise their rule, that he of them who should
pour a libation with a bronze cup in the temple of Hephaistos, should be king of
all Egypt (for they used to assemble together in all the temples).' Tr.,
Macauley.]
[177] [Ibid., bk. 2. 148. 'To bind themselves yet more
closely together, it seemed good to them to leave a common monument. In
pursuance of this resolution they made the Labyrinth which lies a little above
Lake Mæris, in the neighbourhood of the place called the city of Crocodiles. I
visited this place, and found it to surpass description; for if all the walls
and other great works of the Greeks could be put together in one, they would not
equal, either for labour or expense, this Labyrinth; and yet the temple of
Ephesus is a building worthy of note, I and so is the temple of Samos. The
pyramids likewise surpass description, and are severally equal to a number of
the greatest works of the Greeks, but the Labyrinth surpasses the pyramids. It
has twelve courts, all of them roofed, with gates exactly opposite one another,
six looking to the north, and six to the south. A single wall surrounds the
entire building. There are two different sorts of chambers throughout-half under
ground, half above ground, the latter built upon the former; the whole number of
these chambers is three thousand, fifteen hundred of each kind. The upper
chambers I myself passed through and saw, and what I say concerning them is from
my own observation; of the underground chambers I can only speak from report:
for the keepers. of the building could not be got to show them, since they
contained (as they said) the sepulchres of the kings who built the Labyrinth,
and also those of the sacred crocodiles. Thus it is from hearsay only that I can
speak of the lower chambers. The upper chambers, however, I saw with my own
eyes, and found them to excel all other human productions; for the passages
through the houses, and the varied windings of the paths across the courts,
excited in me infinite admiration, as I passed from the courts into chambers,
and from the chambers into colonnades, and from the colonnades into fresh
houses, and again from these in to courts unseen before. The roof was throughout
of stone, like the walls; and the walls were carved all over with figures; every
court was surrounded with a colonnade, which was built of white stones,
exquisitely fitted together. At the corner of the Labyrinth stands a pyramid,
forty fathoms high, with large figures engraved on it; which is entered by a
subterranean passage.' Tr., Rawlinson.
'Moreover they resolved to join all together and leave a memorial of
themselves; and having so resolved they caused to be made a labyrinth, situated
a little above the lake of Moiris and nearly opposite to that which is called
the City of Crocodiles. This I saw myself, and I found it greater than words can
say. For if one should put together and reckon up all the buildings and all the
great works produced by the Hellenes, they would prove to be inferior in labour
and expense to this labyrinth, though it is true that both the temple at Ephesos
and that at Samos are works worthy of note. The pyramids also were greater than
words can say, and each one of them is equal to many works of the Hellenes,
great as they may be; but the labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids. It has
twelve courts covered in, with gates facing one another, six upon the North side
and six upon the South, joining on one to another, and the same wall surrounds
them all outside; and there are in it two kinds of chambers, the one kind below
the ground and the other above upon these, three thousand in number, of each
kind fifteen hundred. The upper set of chambers we ourselves saw, going through
them, and we tell of them having looked upon them with our own eyes; but the
chambers under ground we heard about only; for the Egyptians who had charge of
them were not willing on any account to show them, saying that here were the
sepulchres of the kings who had first built this labyrinth and of the sacred
crocodiles. Accordingly we speak of the chambers below by what we received from
hearsay, while those above we saw ourselves and found them to be works of more
than human greatness. For the passages through the chambers, and the goings this
way and that way through the courts, which were admirably adorned, afforded
endless matter for marvel, as we went through from a court to the chambers
beyond it, and from the chambers to colonnades, and from the colonnades to other
rooms, and then from the chambers again to other courts. Over the whole of these
is a roof made of stone like the walls; and the walls are covered with figures
carved upon them, each court being surrounded with pillars of white stone fitted
together most perfectly; and at the end of the labyrinth, by the corner of it,
there is a pyramid of forty fathoms, upon which large figures are carved, and to
this there is a way made under ground.' Tr., Macauley.]
[178] [BB, Planisphere.]
[179] [Source.]
[180] [Joyce,
Old Celtic
Romances, ch. 4. 'CHAPTER IV.
DERMAT O'DYNA,
IN QUEST OF THE GILLA DACKER, ENCOUNTERS THE WIZARD-CHAMPION AT THE WELL.
When now they had been silent for a time, Fergus Finnvel, the poet, arose and
said―
"My friends, we have here amongst us one who has been fostered and taught from
the child to the man, by Mannanan MacLir in Fairyland, and by Angus, 1 the
wisest of the Dedannans, at Bruga of the Boyne. He has been carefully trained by
both in everything a warrior should learn, and in much
druidical lore besides ; so that he is skilled beyond us all in manly arts and
champion-feats. But now it seems that all his arts and accomplishments go for
nought, seeing that he is unable to make use of them just at the time that we
stand most in need of them. On the top of that rock, doubtless, the Gilla Dacker
lives, and there he holds Conan and the others in bondage ; and surely this
hero, who now sits idly with us here in our ship, should be able to climb up the
face of that cliff, and bring us back tidings of our dear friends and
companions."
When Dermat O'Dyna heard this speech, his cheek grew red with shame, and he made
this reply―
"It is of me you have spoken these words, Fergus. Your reproaches are just; and
though the task is hard, I will attempt to follow the track of the Gilla
Dacker, and find out some tidings of our friends."
So saying, Dermat arose, and girded on his armour, and put on his glittering
helmet. He hung his sword at his left hip; and he took his two long, deadly
spears, one in each hand, namely, the Crannboi and the Ga-derg; and the
battle-fury of a warrior descended on him, so that he looked a dreadful foe to
meet in single combat.
Then, leaning on the handles of his spears, after the manner of skilful
champions, he leaped with a light, airy bound on the nearest shelf of rock. And
using his spears and his hands, he climbed from ledge to ledge, while his
companions watched him anxiously from below; till, after much toil, he measured
the soles of his two feet on the green sod at the top of the rock. And when,
recovering breath, he turned round and looked at his companions in the ship far
below, he started back with amazement and dread at the dizzy height.
He now looked inland, and saw a beautiful country spread out before him: a
lovely, flowery plain straight in front, bordered with pleasant hills, and
shaded with groves of many kinds of trees. It was enough to banish all care and
sadness from one's heart to view this country, and to listen to the warbling of
the birds, the humming of the bees among the flowers, the rustling of the wind
through the trees, and the pleasant voices of the streams and waterfalls.
Making no delay, Dermat set out to walk across the plain. He had not been long
walking when he saw, right before him, a great tree laden with fruit,
overtopping all the other trees of the plain. It was surrounded at a little
distance by a circle of pillar-stones; and one stone, taller than the others,
stood in the centre near the tree. Beside this pillar-stone was a spring well,
with a large, round pool as clear as crystal; and the water bubbled up in the
centre, and flowed away towards the middle of the plain in a slender stream.
Dermat was glad when he saw the well; for he was hot and thirsty after climbing
up the cliff. He stooped down to take a drink; but before his lips touched the
water, he heard the heavy tread of a body of warriors, and the loud clank of
arms, as if a whole host were coming straight down on him. He sprang to his feet
and looked round; but the noise ceased in an instant, and he could see nothing.
After a little while he stooped again to drink; and again, before he had wet
his lips, he heard the very same sounds, nearer and louder than before. A
second time he leaped to his feet; and still he saw no one. He knew not what to
think of this; and as he stood wondering and perplexed, he happened to cast his
eyes on the tall pillar-stone that stood on the brink of the well; and he saw on
its top a large, beautiful drinking-horn, chased with gold and
enamelled with precious stones.
"Now surely," said Dermat, "I have been doing wrong; it is, no doubt, one of the
virtues of this well, that it will not let any one drink of its waters except
from the drinking-horn."
So he took down the horn, dipped it into the well, and drank without hindrance,
till he had slaked his thirst.
Scarcely had he taken the horn from his lips, when he saw a tall wizard-champion
coming towards him from the east, clad in a complete suit of mail, and fully
armed with shield and helmet, sword and spear. A beautiful scarlet mantle hung
over his armour, fastened at his throat by a golden brooch; and a broad circlet
of sparkling gold was bended in front across his forehead, to confine his yellow
hair, and keep it from being blown about by the wind.
As he came nearer, he increased his pace, moving with great strides; and Dermat
now observed that he looked very wrathful. He offered no greeting, and showed
not the least courtesy; but addressed Dermat in a rough, angry voice―
"Surely, Dermat O'Dyna, Erin of the green plains should be wide enough for you;
and it contains abundance of clear, sweet water in its crystal springs and green
bordered streams, from which you might have drunk your fill. But you have come
into my island without my leave, and you have taken my drinking-horn, and have
drunk from my well; and this spot you shall never leave till you have given me
satisfaction for the insult."
So spoke the wizard-champion, and instantly advanced on Dermat with fury in his
eyes. But Dermat was not the man to be terrified by any hero or wizard-champion
alive. He met the foe half-way; and now, foot to foot, and knee to knee, and
face to face, they began a fight, watchful and wary at first, but soon hot and
vengeful, till their shields and helmets could scarce withstand their strong
thrusts and blows. Like two enraged lions fighting to the death, or two strong
serpents intertwined in deadly strife, or two great opposing billows thundering
against each other on the ocean border; such was the strength and fury and
determination of the combat of these two heroes.
And so they fought through the long day, till evening came, and it began to be
dusk; when suddenly the wizard-champion sprang outside the range of Dermat's
sword, and leaping up with a great bound, he alighted in the very centre of the
well. Down he went through it, and disappeared in a moment before Dermat's eyes,
as if the well had swallowed him up. Dermat stood on the brink, leaning on his
spear, amazed and perplexed, looking after him in the water; but whether the
hero had meant to drown himself, or that he had played some wizard trick, Dermat
knew not.
He sat down to rest, full of vexation that the wizard-champion should have got
off so easily. And what chafed him still more was that the Feni knew nought of
what had happened, and that when he returned, he could tell them nothing of the
strange hero; neither had he the least token or trophy to show them after his
long fight.
Then he began to think what was best to be done; and he made up his mind to stay
near the well all night, with the hope of finding out something further about
the wizard-champion on the morrow.
He walked towards the nearest point of a great forest that stretched from the
mountain down to the plain on his left; and as he came near, a herd of speckled
deer ran by among the trees. He put his finger into the silken loop of his
spear, and, throwing it with an unerring cast, brought down the nearest of the
herd.
Then, having lighted a fire under a tree, he skinned the deer and fixed it on
long hazel spits to roast, having first, however, gone to the well, and brought
away the drinking-horn full of water. And he sat beside the roasting deer to
turn it and tend the fire, waiting impatiently for his meal; for he was hungry
and tired after the toil of the day.
When the deer was cooked, he ate till he was satisfied, and drank the clear
water of the well from the drinking-horn; after which he lay down under the
shade of the tree, beside the fire, and slept a sound sleep till morning.
Night passed away and the sun rose, bringing morning with its abundant light.
Dermat started up, refreshed after his long sleep, and, repairing to the forest,
he slew another deer, and fixed it on hazel spits to roast at the fire as
before. For Dermat had this custom, that he would never eat of any food left
from a former meal.
And after he had eaten of the deer's flesh and drunk from the horn, he went
towards the well. But though his visit was early, he found the wizard-champion
there before him, standing beside the pillar-stone, fully armed as before, and
looking now more wrathful than ever. Dermat was much surprised; but before he
had time to speak the wizard-champion addressed him―
"Dermat O'Dyna, you have now put the cap on all your evil deeds. It was not
enough that you took my drinking-horn and drank from my well: you have done much
worse than this, for you have hunted on my grounds, and have killed some of my
speckled deer. Surely there are many hunting-grounds in Erin of the green
plains, with plenty of deer in them; and you need not have come^hither to commit
these robberies on me. But now for a certainty you shall not go from this spot
till I have taken revenge for all these misdeeds."
And again the two champions attacked each other, and fought during the long day,
from morning till evening. And when the dusk began to fall, the wizard-champion
leaped into the well, and disappeared down through it, even as he had done the
day before.
The selfsame thing happened on the third day. And each day, morning and evening,
Dermat killed a deer, and ate of its flesh, and drank of the water of the well
from the drinking-horn.
On the fourth morning, Dermat found the wizard-champion standing as usual by the
pillar-stone near the well. And as each morning he looked more angry than on the
morning before, so now he scowled in a way that would have terrified any one but
Dermat O'Dyna.
And they fought during the day till the dusk of evening. But now Dermat watched
his foe narrowly; and when he saw him about to spring into the well, he closed
on him and threw his arms round him. The wizard-champion struggled to free
himself, moving all the time nearer and nearer to the brink; but Dermat held on,
till at last both fell into the well. Down they went, clinging to each other,
Dermat and the wizard-champion; down, down, deeper and deeper they went; and
Dermat tried to look round, but nothing could he see save darkness and dim
shadows. At length there was a glimmer of light; then the bright day burst
suddenly upon them; and presently they came to the solid ground, gently and
without the least shock.']
[181] [The Dragon of Wantley.]
[183] [Naville, Todtenbuchs, vol. 1, kap. 7, vignette.]
[184] [The Lady of The Fountain.]
[185] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances and Nutt, The Voyage of Bran.]
[186] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, p. 244.
'At length the storm abated, and the sea grew calm. And when the darkness had
cleared away, they saw to the west, a little way off, a vast rocky cliff
towering over their heads to such a height, that its head seemed hidden among
the clouds. It rose up sheer from the very water, and looked at that distance as
smooth as glass, so that at first sight there seemed no way to reach the top.
Foltlebar, after examining to the four points of the sky, found the track of the
Gilla Dacker as far as the cliff, but no farther. And he accordingly told
the heroes that he thought it was on the top of that rock the giant lived; and
that, anyhow, the horse must have made his way up the face of the cliff with
their companions.'
Ibid., p. 247. 'He now looked inland, and saw a beautiful country spread out before
him: a lovely, flowery plain straight in front, bordered with pleasant hills,
and shaded with groves of many kinds of trees. It was enough to banish all care
and sadness from one's heart to view this country, and to listen to the warbling
of the birds, the humming of the bees among the flowers, the rustling of the
wind through the trees, and the pleasant voices of the streams and waterfalls.
Making no delay, Dermat set out to walk across the plain. He had not been long
walking when he saw, right before him, a great tree laden with fruit,
overtopping all the other trees of the plain. It was surrounded at a little
distance by a circle of pillar-stones; and one stone, taller than the others,
stood in the centre near the tree. Beside this pillar-stone was a spring well,
with a large, round pool as clear as crystal; and the water bubbled up in the
centre, and flowed away towards the middle of the plain in a slender stream.']
[191] [Source.]
[192] ['How Cormac Mac Art Went to
Faery,' in Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy Tales, pp. 204-9. See full
text.
This is also discussed and summarised in Nutt, Voyage of Bran, vol. 1, ch.
6.]
[193] [Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, 6.17. 'They worship as their divinity, Mercury in particular, and have many images of him, and regard him as the inventor of all arts, they consider him the guide of their journeys and marches, and believe him to have great influence over the acquisition of gain and mercantile transactions. Next to him they worship Apollo, and Mars, and Jupiter, and Minerva; respecting these deities they have for the most part the same belief as other nations: that Apollo averts diseases, that Minerva imparts the invention of manufactures, that Jupiter possesses the sovereignty of the heavenly powers; that Mars presides over wars. To him, when they have determined to engage in battle, they commonly vow those things which they shall take in war. When they have conquered, they sacrifice whatever captured animals may have survived the conflict, and collect the other things into one place. In many states you may see piles of these things heaped up in their consecrated spots; nor does it often happen that any one, disregarding the sanctity of the case, dares.']
[194] [Nutt, The Voyage of Bran, vol. 1, p. 232. 'In the story of Loegaire, son of Crimthann, which probably assumed its final shape considerably later than did Cuchulinn's Sick Bed, the warlike note in the presentment of the Otherworld is intensified, but so is also the connection with water, an under- instead of across- wave locale appearing for the first time, whilst the supernatural lapse of time and the impossibility of scathless return to earth are both prominent, the latter incident in the form it was destined to retain in later literature.']
[195] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, 'Voyage of Maildun,' ch. 23.]
[196] [Ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' ch. 23, p. 147.]
[199] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, 'Voyage of Maildun,' p. 154.]
[200] [Ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' p. 132.]
[202] [Poss. in Renouf's version of the Book of the Dead. Unable to trace so far.]
[204] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, 'Voyage of Maildun,' p. 133.]
[205] [Ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' ch. 8.]
[206] [The Voyage of Bran, 'The Bebind Story,' p. 200. 'A curious feature is the giant stature attributed to the dwellers in the Western Marvel Land. This is equally contrary to the spirit of the older romance, which never pictures the Tuatha De Danann as differing outwardly from mortals, or to the modern folk-belief, which, so far from exaggerating the size of the fairy inhabitants of the hollow hills, dwarfs them almost to invisibility. I do not think the trait has any traditional significance.']
[207] [Last of the Feni.]
[208] [Rit. ch.
75.
Naville, 'Litany
of Ra,'
RP, 8, 103. See p. 107, line 21.]
[210] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, 'Voyage of Maildun,' ch. 31.]
[212] [Nutt, The Voyage of Bran. 'The Happy Otherworld,' p. 230. 'In the Hollow Hill type (the Wooing of Etain), the wonderland is not figured as lying across the sea, but rather, though this is implied in the general account of the beings who inhabit it and is not definitely stated in the description of the country itself, within the std or fairy hills. No special insistence is laid upon the immortality of its inhabitants, though this too is practically implied by what the story-teller relates concerning them, nor is the absence of strife singled out as a characteristic feature. In other respects both the positive and negative qualifications of this Elysium correspond fairly to those of the other type.']
[213] [Joyce, Old Celtic Romances, 'Voyage of Maildun,' p. 147.]
[214] [Rit. ch. 110; Joyce, ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' ch. 22.]
[216] [Joyce, ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' p. 149.]
[217] [Joyce, ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' ch. 25.]
[218] [Joyce, ibid., 'Voyage of Maildun,' pp. 131-33.]
[221] [Nutt, Voyage of Bran, 'Clidna Dinnshenchas,' p. 197. 'Mr. Standish Hayes O'Grady has edited and translated many separate dinnshenchas in his Appendix to Silva Gadelica. Clidna, which is one of those found in the Book of Leinster version: 'Clidna, daughter of Genann, son of Tren, went from the Hill of Two Wheels in the Pleasant Plain of the Land of Promise, with luchna Ciabfhaindech (I. Curly-locks) to reach Mac ind Oc. luchna practised guile upon her.']
[222] [See Renouf, Book of the Dead, for refs. to the Mount of Glory, etc.]
[223] [Rig-Veda, ch. 3, p. 6.]
[224] [Nutt, Voyage of Bran, p. 190. 'After seeing many marvels, the king came to a stately palace, and entering, found a couple, husband and wife; noble was the stature of the knight, debonnair his appearance, his bearing that of no common man; golden-haired was his wife, gold encrowned, beauteous beyond the women of earth. Cormac is bathed, though there were none to bathe him.']
[226] [Nutt, Voyage of Bran, p. 205. 'A jocund house it is and one to be desired; silver the floor with four closed doors of bright gold; gems of crystal and carbuncle are set in the wall in such wise that with flashing of these precious stones day and night shine alike. Beyond lies a thickly spreading apple-tree bearing fruit and ripe blossom alike; it shall serve the congregation that is to be in the mansion, and it was an apple of that tree that lured away Connla.']
[228] [Nutt, Voyage of Bran,
p. 182. 'They go then, and come upon Connaught assembled and mourning for them.
'Approach us not,' cries Laegaire, 'we are here but to bid you farewell.' In
vain Crimthann pleads ' leave me not. the royal power of the three Connaughts
shall be thine, their silver and their gold, their horses and their bridles,
their fair women shall be at thy will, only leave me not.' Laegaire makes
answer:
'A marvel this, O Crimthann Cass, When it rains 'tis beer that falls! An hundred
thousand the number of each host. They go from kingdom to kingdom.']
[229] [Ibid., p. 191. 'A true tale, for the second quarter was done. It was now the wife's turn, and she told of her seven cows and seven sheep; the milk of the cows and the wool of the sheep sufficed the inhabitants of the Land of Promise for food and clothing.']
[230] [Budge, Papyrus of Ani, pl.
35.
Rit. ch. 148.]
[231] [Brough Smyth, Aborigines of Australia, vol. 2, p. 285. '"Baiame" (pronounced like the three words "By-a-me," and in the Wellington district south of the Namoi "By-a-my") is the name by which tribes scattered over a great portion of the north-west and west of New South Wales designate the Supreme Being. The blacks there who are acquainted with English, if asked what "Baiame" is, reply, "Carbon-massa" i.e., the Great Master; and to further enquiry as to what they and their fathers know of Baiame, they reply that He made earth, and water, and sky, animals and men; that He makes the rain come down, and the grass grow; that He has delivered their fathers from evil demons; that He welcomes good people to the great "Warramboo" (watercourse and grove) in the sky—the Milky Way—a paradise of peace and plenty; and that He destroys the bad.']
[232] [Notes on the Aborigines of New Holland, made by James Manning in 1844-45. Copy presented by the author.]
[233] [Africana, vol. 1, p. 71.]
[235] [Rit. ch.
17.
Ellis, The Tshi-speaking People,
p. 22. 'Bobowissi's place of abode was, and is, the conical hill near Winnebah,
known as Winnebah Hill, or the Devil's Hill. The latter title is derived from
the Portuguese, who termed the hill Monte de Diablo; "devil" being in those days
a common designation for the gods worshipped by peoples other than Christians.
Bobowissi is the chief god of all the southern tribes, and was until very
recently worshipped universally by the tribes on the littoral of the Gold Coast,
between the village of Appollonia, on the west, and that of Barracu, near Accra,
on the east, as well as by the inland tribes of Wassaw, Arbra, and Assin. He it
was, it was commonly believed, who had appointed the local deities, the spirits
of the woods, rivers, hills, valleys, and sea. He was the lord of the thunder
and lightning, and persona killed by the latter were believed to have provoked
his anger. At other times he manifested his displeasure by storms and tornadoes,
and especially by sending such torrents of rain that the mud dwellings of the
natives fell in and crushed the occupants; and after any great loss of life from
this cause the people would offer sacrifice to Bobowissi, asking how they bad
offended him. The name Bobowissi seems to mean "blower of clouds," whence
"rain-maker." It is compounded of bobo to blow, as of the wind, and
ivissu, a cloud.']
[236] [Réclus, Primitive Folk, p. 106. 'As to the Spirit, it is the cause of respiration, the irreducible element, the centre of personality. By means of the Shade, man becomes an integral part of humanity, by the Spirit he is distinguished from it. No doubt this vivifying breath of the shamans is the "fresh wind" of the Egyptians, the rovach of the Old Testament, the pneuma of the New, the aura of the Stoics. Drawn from the great atmospheric reservoir, it will return thither. Tornasouk, the Supreme Being, is called "Lord of the Breezes."']
[237] [Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, p. 37. 'The earth, with the sea supported by it, rests upon pillars, and covers an under world, accessible by various entrances from the sea, as well as from mountain clefts. Above the earth an upper world is found, beyond which the blue sky, being of a solid consistence, vaults itself like an outer shell, and, as some say, revolves around some high mountain-top in the far north. The upper world exhibits a real land with mountains, valleys, and lakes. After death, human souls either go to the upper or to the under world.']
[238] [Brugsch, Astronomical and Astrological Inscriptions, p. 179.]
[239] [Vendidad, fargard 1, in Bleeck, Avesta, p. 6. 'This country most be placed in the farthest east of the Iranian highlands, at the sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes (cf. Lassen Ind. Alterthk. L, p. 527). In later times Airyana-varja becomes a purely fabulous region. Thus the Minokhired says (p. 322 ff.): ''The Dev of winter is most vehement in Eran-vej. It is stated in the law that in Erin-vej the winter lasts ten months and summer two months, and these two summer-months are cold as to water, cold as to the earth, cold as to the trees; and they have, as opposition, the winter and many snakes. They have few other oppositions. And it is manifest that Ahura-Mazda created Erin-vej good beyond other places and localities; and the good is this, that men live 300 years and cows and cattle 150 years, and that they have little pain or sickness, and that they do not lie, and have no falling off of nails or hair, and the Dev of lust has less power over them, and ten men eat of one loaf and become full therewith, and every forty years a child is born of one man and one woman, and their law is the law of the Paoiryo akaesha, and when they die they are sanctified. Their chief (rat) is Gopatishah (cf. my Parsi Grammar, pp. 142, 172), their king and ruler is "Arosch."']
[240] [Minokhird, p. 322, ff. See above note.]
[241] [Vendidad, fargard 1, in
Bleeck, Avesta, p. 9. 'Ten months of winter are there—two
months of summer.
[''Seven months of summer are there; five months winter there were; the latter
are cold as to water, cold as to earth, cold as to trees; there (is) mid-winter
the heart of winter; there all around falls deep snow; there is the direst of
plagues."]']
[243] [Griffis, The Mikado's Empire, pp. 27-9. 'They in turn married, and married each other, others the bear of the mountain. The fruit of this latter union were men of extraordinary valour, and nimble hunters.']
[244] [Lowell, Choison, p. 209. 'The earliest of the myths about Korea represent the land as a fairy land,—the home of the spirit of longevity and his companions. They lived there because of the beauty of the mountains and the lakes, so the present inhabitants say. They dwelt principally upon three lofty peaks,—"Ha La, in the island of Quelpart; Kun Gan, or "The Precious Stone;" and Te Pek San, or "The Great White Mountain." An ancient emperor of China, it is said, once tried to catch one of these fairies of longevity at the time when they still dwelt in the Middle Kingdom, if perchance from them he might obtain the elixir of life, and continue, though a mortal, to exist forever. He failed to take captive the spirit; but he so frightened them all that they fled to the East and settled upon the three mountains. Though these were their earthly homes, their home also was in the sky. They descended to earth to revel in the forests; and when for the time satiated with pleasure, they returned again to heaven.']
[246] [Unable to trace.]
[247] [Talbot, 'Assyrian Sacred Poetry,' RP, 3, 131. See pp. 133-34.]
[248] [Guest, Mabinogion, vol. 2, p. 354. 'The ring is enumerated among the "Thirteen Rarities of Kingly Regalia of the Island of Britain," which were formerly kept at Caerlleon, on the River Usk, in Monmouthshire. These curiosities went with Myrddin the son of Morvran, into the house of Glass, in Enlli, or Bardsey Island.' Page 159 of single ed.]
[249] [Humboldt, Cosmos, vol. 2, p. 659, Bohn's Ed. 'I have purposely dwelt at length on these individual points, in order to show in our consideration of an important cosmical event, that with the exception of measuring the intensity of magnetic force, and the horary variations of the declination, all those questions were broached in the sixteenth century, with which the physicists of the present day are still occupied. On the remarkable chart of. America, appended to the edition of the geography of Ptolemy, published at Rome in 1508, we find the magnetic pole marked as an insular mountain, north of Gruentlant (Greenland), which is represented as a part of Asia. Martin Cortez in the Breve Compendia de la Sphera (1545), and Livio Sanuto in the Geographia di Tolomeo (1588), place it further to the south. The latter writer entertained a prejudice, which has unfortunately survived to the present time, that "if we were so fortunate as to reach the magnetic pole (il calamitico), we should there experience some miraculous effects."']
[250] [James, The Revelation of Peter, p. 69. 'One additional proof of the influence of the description of Paradise may here be given. It comes from a book variously called the Narrative or Apocalypse of Zosimas, a hermit who went to visit the Blessed Ones, the descendants of the Rechabites, in their earthly Paradise. He was carried over the river which separates the heavenly land from ours by two trees which bent down and wafted him over: these trees were fair and most comely, full of sweet-smelling fruit.']
[252] [Histories, bk. 3.18. 'Now the table of the Sun is said to be as follows:—there is a meadow in the suburb of their city full of flesh-meat boiled of all four-footed creatures; and in this, it is said, those of the citizens who are in authority at the time place the flesh by night, managing the matter carefully, and by day any man who wishes comes there and feasts himself; and the natives (it is reported) say that the earth of herself produces these things continually.' Tr., Macauley.]
[256] [Maspero, Les Inscriptions des Pyramides de Saqqarah, Pepi I, line 432, and Merira, line 618.]
[258] [Le Pays de Cocagne is a general term for the French Land of Plenty.]
[259] [Rig Veda, ch. 10, p. 154. Unable to trace. Not in H. H. Wilson's tr.]
[261] [See any copy of the Koran.]
[262] [Is. 25, 6. 'And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.']
[263] [Irenaeus, Against Heresies,
bk. 5, ch.
33. '1. For this reason, when about to undergo his sufferings, that
He might declare to Abraham and those with him the glad tidings of the
inheritance being thrown open, [Christ], after He had given thanks while holding
the cup, and had drunk of it, and given it to the disciples, said to them:
''Drink ye all of it: this is my blood of the new covenant, which shall be shed
for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink
henceforth of the fruit of this vine, until that day when I will drink it new
with you in my Father's kingdom." Thus, then. He will Himself renew the
inheritance of the earth, and will re-organize the mystery of the glory of [His]
sons; as David says, "He who hath renewed the face of the earth." He promised to
drink of the fruit of the vine with His disciples, thus indicating both these
points: the inheritance of the earth in which the new fruit of the vine is
drunk, and the resurrection of His disciples in the flesh. For the new flesh
which rises again is the same which also received the new cup. And He cannot by
any means be understood as drinking of the fruit of the vine when settled down
with His [disciples] above in a super-celestial place; nor, again, are they who
drink it devoid of flesh, for to drink of that which flows from the vine
pertains to flesh, and not spirit.
2. And for this reason the Lord declared, "When thou makest a dinner or a
supper, do not call thy friends, nor thy neighbours, nor thy kinsfolk, lest they
ask thee in return, and so repay thee. But call the lame, the blind, and the
poor, and thou shalt be blessed, since they cannot recompense thee, but a
recompense shall be made thee at the resurrection of the just." And again He
says, "Whosoever shall have left lands, or houses, or parents, or brethren, or
children because of me, he shall receive in this world an hundred-fold, and in
that to come he shall inherit eternal life." For what are the hundred-fold
[rewards] in this world, the entertainments given to the poor, and the suppers
for which a return is made? These are [to take place] in the times of the
kingdom, that is, upon the seventh day, which has been sanctified, in which God
rested from all the works which He created, which is the true Sabbath of the
righteous, in which they shall not be engaged in any earthly occupation; but
shall have a table at hand prepared for them by God, supplying them with all
sorts of dishes.
3. The blessing of Isaac with which he blessed his younger son Jacob has the
same meaning, when he says, "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a
full field which the Lord has blessed." But "the field is the world." And
therefore he added, "God give to thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness
of the earth, plenty of corn and wine. And let the nations serve thee, and kings
bow down to thee; and be thou lord over thy brother, and thy father's sons shall
bow down to thee: cursed shall be he who shall curse thee, and blessed shall be
he who shall bless thee." 'If any one, then, does not accept these things as
referring to the appointed kingdom, he must fall into much contradiction and
contrariety, as is the case with the Jews, who are involved in absolute
perplexity. For not only did not the nations in this life serve this Jacob; but
even after he had received the blessing, he himself going forth [from his home],
served his uncle Laban the Syrian for twenty years; and not only was he not made
lord of his brother, but he did himself bow down before his brother Esau, upon
his return from Mesopotamia to his father, and offered many gifts to him.
Moreover, in what way did he inherit much corn and wine here, he who emigrated
to Egypt because of the famine which possessed the land in which he was
dwelling, and became subject to Pharaoh, who was then ruling over Egypt? The
predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the times of the
kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead;
when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall fructify with
an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, and from the
fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord,
related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to
these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having
ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true
twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters,
and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when
pressed will give five and twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the
saints shall lay hold of a cluster,"' another shall cry out, "I am a better
cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me." In like manner [the Lord declared]
that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should
have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds (quinque
bilibres) of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing
trees," and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions (secundum
congruentiam us consequentem); and that all animals feeding [only] on the
productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful and harmonious
among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man.
4. And these things are borne witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of
John, and a companion of Polycarp, in his fourth book; for there were five books
compiled by him. And he says in addition, "Now these things are credible to
believers." And he says that, "when the traitor Judas did not give credit to
them, and put the question, 'How then can things about to bring forth so
abundantly be wrought by the Lord?' the Lord declared, 'They who shall come to
these [times] shall see.' "When prophesying of these times, therefore, Esaias
says: "The wolf also shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall take his
rest with the kid; the calf also, and the bull, and the lion shall eat together;
and a little boy shall lead them. The ox and the bear shall feed together, and
their young ones shall agree together ; and the lion shall eat straw as well as
the ox. And the infant boy shall thrust his hand into the asp's den, into the
nest also of the adder's brood; and they shall do no harm, nor have power to
hurt anything in my holy mountain." And again he says, in recapitulation,
"Wolves and lambs shall then browse together, and the lion shall eat straw like
the ox, and the serpent earth as if it were bread ; and they shall neither hurt
nor annoy anything in my holy mountain, saith the Lord." I am quite aware that
some persons endeavour to refer these words to the case of savage men, both of
different nations and various habits, who come to believe, and when they have
believed, act in harmony with the righteous. But although this is [true] now
with regard to some men coming from various nations to the harmony of the faith,
nevertheless in the resurrection of the just [the words shall also apply] to
those animals mentioned. For God is rich in all things. And it is right that
when the creation is restored, all the animals should obey and be in subjection
to man, and revert to the food originally given by God (for they had been
originally subjected in obedience to Adam), that is, the productions of the
earth. But some other occasion, and not the present, is [to be sought] for
showing that the lion shall [then] feed on straw. And this indicates the large
size and rich quality of the fruits. For if that animal, the lion, feeds upon
straw [at that period], of what a quality must the wheat itself be whose straw
shall serve as suitable food for lions?' ANCL.]
[265] [Brugsch, Egypt under the Pharaohs, (one vol. ed.), p. 30. 'Under the rule of Nefer-Ka-Ra tradition relates that the waters of the Nile suddenly assumed for eleven days the taste of honey.']
[266] ['The Story of Zozimus,' in James, 'Apocrypha Anecdota,' TS, 2:3, 92. 'And about mid-day Gabriel, the Angel of God, came to us, and with him came also to us a hundred and forty-four thousand children who had been slain, and who had not defiled their garments in the world; and as they said Hallelujah! we said it with them. And we want neither gold nor silver in our land, neither do we eat flesh or drink wine; but we feed on honey and drink of the dew. And we do not look on our wives with the lust of sin, and all our first-born sons we present unto the Lord as an offering, to serve in His holy temple all the days of their life from three years; and the water we drink is not from springs, but from the leaves of trees growing in gardens. Neither do we wear garments made by the hand of man; nor is a word of lying heard in our land. No man marries two wives neither does the son die before his father. The young do not speak before the old; our women dwell with us; they neither corrupt us nor we them; and when the wind blows we smell through it the smell of gardens (Eden ?). In our land there is neither summer nor winter, neither cold nor hoar frost ; but on the contrary, a breath of life.']
[267] [2 Esdras 13:40-43. 'Then you saw him collecting a different company, a peaceful one. They are the ten tribes which were taken off into exile in the time of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser king of Assyria took prisoner. He deported them beyond the River, and they were taken away into a strange country. But then they resolved to leave the country populated by the Gentiles and go to a distant land never yet inhabited by man, and there at last to be obedient to their laws, which in their own country they had failed to keep.']
[271] [Dümichen, Resultate, 27, 6.]
[272] [Renouf, 'Inscription of Queen Hatasu,' RP, 12, 133.]
[274] [Boscawen, 'Notes on Assyrian Religion and Mythology,' TSBA, 6, 535. See full text.]
[275] [De Verborum significatione, in Valpy's Delphin Classics.]
[277] [Lesbii fragmenta, fragment 96.]
[278] [Theogony, 139-46. 'And again, she bare the Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit, Brontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges, who gave Zeus the thunder and made the thunderbolt: in all else they were like the gods, but one eye only was set in the midst of their fore-heads. And they were surnamed Cyclopes (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in their foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works.']
[279] [Odyssey. Unable to trace.]
[280] [I can find no ref. to a 'golden race of men' in Hesiod's Theogony, or any of his other works.]
[281] [Vendidad, fargard 2, line 63, in Bleeck, Avesta, p. 16. 'In the everlasting golden-hued (region), whose food never fails.']
[288] [Humboldt & Bonpland, vol. ii. p. 276. 'The sky is to most savages what it is called in a South American language, mitmeseke, that is, the "earth on high;" and we can quite understand the thought of the Mbocobis of Paraguay, that at death their souls would go up to heaven by the tree Llagdigua, which joins earth and sky.' From Tylor, Early Researches, p. 338, who gives no title.]
[289] [Wilson, Rig-Veda, vol. 2, p. 183. 'Four ships launched into the midst of the arnasi receptacle (of the waters), sent by the Aswins, brought safe to shore the son of Tugra, who had been cast headlong into the waters (by his foes), and plunged in inextricable darkness.']
[290] [Howitt, on 'Some Australian Ceremonies of Initiation,' JAI, 13.]
[291] [Colquhoun, Across Chrysê,
vol. 2, p. 372-3. 'At the graves they stick in a bamboo pole, with silk
threads of five colours. The Tong Miao live in the districts
of Kwei-chu, Kwang-shwen, Shiu-wen, Lung-li, Ts'ing-p'ing and T'sing- chen.
There are clans but they have no surname. The women wear flowered clothes, and
their upper garments are sleeveless. Their skirts are short and are finely
plaited. The men of a village, on the 15th of the 8th moon, invite an exorcist
to sacrifice to the spirits of their ancestors. They prepare a fat ox which is
slaughtered, basins of beef are set on the ground and then the spirits are
called by name to come and eat. At the completion of the sacrifice they all
assemble, and have a feast for a whole day and night. In the spring they hunt in
the mountains, and, when they have caught an animal, alive or killed, they
return home, and with it they worship before the tablet of their ancestors. They
act with propriety and observe the laws; they dread to come before a mandarin.
If called upon to perform any public work they quickly obey. They are a good
people.
The Si Miao live in the districts of Kwei yang and
P'ing-yueh. Their general surnames are Shie, Ma, Ho, Lo an Liu. At marriage both
the husbands and wives have their own beds and rooms to sleep separate; after
the birth of the first child they use one bed. In the 10th moon, after all the
grain is harvested, they have gatherings, to sacrifice to the White Tiger, held
in a barren place. Each clan invites a chanter to sing. He is clothed in a
large, rough, wool dress and a very large wool hat, high leather boots and a
fine plaited skirt. He leads the way, and his followers do not fear. The men and
women wear black clothes with a blue girdle; they each have a wind instrument
which they play, and they dance Whilst in procession. They hold a fast for three
days and nights, then offer an ox and pray for a good year, and then return
home.
The Yao Miao live in the districts of P'ing-yueh, Tu- yün,
and Yao-pa-si. They are called Yao-kia; many have the name of Chi. They are
tractable, frugal and industrious. When in poverty they will not rob. The women
weave calico and dye black colours well. At the first day of winter they have a
great feast. They meet at Chen-mong and at Lan-tu-lao. The women wear short
skirts, made of leaves. Girls are marriageable at the age of 15 or 16 years,
when they are Saluted thus, "ascend up-stairs." At this feast girls are
betrothed thus, the men play their instruments to win a wife; the girl goes to
the one she likes and then they retire and Spend the night together. Neither of
the parents forbid it. The dead are bound with withes to a large tree.']
[292] [Ellis,
Polynesian Researches, vol. 2, p. 58 (vol. 1, pp. 393-5 of the 4 vol.
ed.). 'In the legend of Ruahatu, the Toamarama of Tahiti, and the Kai of
Kahinarii in Hawaii, the inundation is ascribed to the rising of the waters of
the sea. In each account, the anger of the god is considered as the cause of the
inundation of the world, and the destruction of its inhabitants. The element
employed in effecting it is the same as that mentioned in the Bible; and in the
Tahitian tradition, the boat or canoe being used, as the means of safety to the
favoured family, and the preservation of the only domestic animals found on the
islands, appear corrupted fragments of the memorial of Noah, the ark, and its
inmates. These, with other minor points of coincidence between the native
traditions and the Mosaic account of the deluge, are striking, and warrant the
inference, that although the former are deficient in many particulars, and have
much that is fabulous in their composition, they yet refer to the same event.
The memorial of an universal deluge, found among all nations existing in those
communities, by which civilization, literature, science, and the arts, have been
carried to the highest perfection, as well as among the most untutored and
barbarous, preserved through all the migrations and vicissitudes of the human
family, from the remote antiquity of its occurrence to the present time, is a
most decisive evidence of the authenticity of revelation. The brief yet
satisfactory testimony to this event, preserved in the oral traditions of a
people secluded for ages from intercourse with other parts of the world,
furnishes strong additional evidence that the scripture record is irrefragable.
In several respects, the Polynesian account resembles not only the Mosaic, but
those preserved by the earliest families of the postdiluvian world, and supports
the presumption that their religious system has descended from the Arkite
idolatry, the basis of the mythology of the gentile nations. The mundane egg is
conspicuous in the cosmogony of some of the most ancient nations. One of the
traditions of the Hawaiians states, that a bird deposited an egg (containing the
world in embryo) upon the surface of the primeval waters. If the symbol of the
egg be supposed to refer to the creation, and the bird be considered a corrupted
memorial of the event recorded in the sacred writings, in which it is said, "The
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," the coincidence is striking.
It is no less so, if it be referred to the ark, floating on the waters of the
deluge. The sleep of Ruahatu accords with the slumber of Bramah, which was the
occasion of the crime that brought on the Hindoo deluge. The warning to flee,
and the means of safety, resemble a tradition recorded by Kœmpfer, as existing
among the Chinese. The canoe of the Polynesian Noah has its counterpart in the
traditions of their antipodes, the Druids, whose memorial states the bursting of
the waters of the lake Lleon, and the overwhelming of the face of all lands, and
drowning all mankind excepting two individuals, who escaped in a naked vessel,
(a vessel without sails,) by whom the island of Britain was re-peopled. The
safety which the progenitors of the Peruvian race are said to have found in
caves, or the summits of the mountains, when the waters overflowed the land,
bears a resemblance to the Hawaiian; and that of the Mexican, in which Coxcox,
or Tezpi, and his wife, were preserved in a bark, corresponds with the Tahitian
tradition. Other points of resemblance between the Polynesian account, and the
memorial of the deluge, preserved among the ancient nations, might be cited; but
these are sufficient to shew the agreement in the testimony to the same event,
preserved by the most distant tribes of the human family.']
[293] [Turner, Samoa, pp. 199-200. 'But imagination required something more circumstantial, and hence the variety of traditionary schemes by which the people were supposed to go up and down on these visits to the heavens. One story speaks of a mountain, the top of which reached to the skies. Another says that a very dense column of smoke took people up. Another tells of a tree which, when it fell, was sixty miles in length. Another tree is mentioned which formed a sort of ladder, but on different sections of it there were repulsive or stinging insects, through which few but the very courageous persevered in forcing their way.']
[294] [Religion des Jesuits, 1635, p. 35; 1636, p. 105. 'Brebeuf, the same early Jesuit missionary who says explicitly of the Hurons that there is no difference in their future life between the fate of the virtuous and the vicious, mentions also among them the tree-trunk that bridges the river of death; here the dead must cross, the dog that guards it attacks some souls, and they fall. Yet in other versions this myth has a moral sense attached to it, and the passage of the heaven-gulf becomes an ordeal to separate good and wicked.' From Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 2, p. 94.]
[295] [NR, April, 1896, 417.]
[297] [Rit., ch.
7.
Renouf, 'Inscription
of Queen Hatasti on base of Great Obelisk of Karnak,' RP, 12,
127. See p. 133.]
[298] [Gen. 11:4. 'And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.']
[299] [Stehelin, Rabbinical Literature, vol. 2, p. 25, 'Yalkut Kadash,' f. 57. C. 2.]
[300] [CR, 7, 519.]
[301] [Homer, Odyssey, bk. 12, 56-88. '"On the other part are two rocks, whereof the one reaches with sharp peak to the wide heaven, and a dark cloud encompasses it; this never streams away, and there is no clear air about the peak neither in summer nor in harvest tide. No mortal man may scale it or set foot thereon, not though he had twenty hands and feet. For the rock is smooth, and sheer, as it were polished. And in the midst of the cliff is a dim cave turned to Erebus, towards the place of darkness, whereby ye shall even steer your hollow ship, noble Odysseus."' Butcher's and Lang's tr.]
[302] [Historia Britannium, ch. 13. 'Long after this, the Scots arrived in Ireland from Spain. The first that came was Partholomus, with a thousand men and women; these increased to four thousand; but a mortality coming suddenly upon them, they all perished in one week. The second was Nimech, the son of..., who, according to report, after having been at sea a year and a half, and having his ships shattered, arrived at a port in Ireland, and continuing there several years, returned at length with his followers to Spain. After these came three sons of a Spanish soldier with thirty ships, each of which contained thirty wives; and having remained there during the space of a year, there appeared to them, in the middle of the sea, a tower of glass, the summit of which seemed covered with men, to whom they often spoke, but received no answer.' J. A. Giles' tr. See also note below.]
[303] [Rhys,
HL, pp.
264. 'The second to come to Erinn was
Niimeth, son of a certain Agnomen, who is said to have been on sea for a year
and a half, and to have at last made land in Erinn, when his ships had been
wrecked: he remained there for many years, but taking again to the sea with his
men, he returned to Spain. Afterwards came the three sons of a certain soldier
from Spain, having with them thirty keels and their thirty consorts in each
keel, and they abode there for the space of one year. Afterwards they beheld a
glass tower in the middle of the sea, and they used to see men on the tower, to
whom they sought to speak, but they never used to be answered; so with one
accord they hastened to attack the tower, with all their keels and all their
women, except one keel which suffered from shipwreck, and in which there were
thirty men and as many women. Now the other vessels sailed to the attack on the
tower, and whilst all were stepping on the shore around the tower, the sea
overwhelmed them so that they were drowned. "Not one of them escaped; and it is
from the family in the keel left behind on account of its having been wrecked,
the whole of Erinn has been filled with people to this day."
The more a tale of this kind is touched up by historians, the less it appears
what is called 'a cock-and-bull story,' and there can be no doubt that, on the
whole, the Cuchulainn verses come much nearer the original than the prose
versions mentioned. Still that associated with the name of Nennius supplies two
most important omissions in the former: it calls the stronghold a glass tower,
which was doubtless the glass fort to which Taliessin extends Arthur's fame; and
in the next place it states that the guardians of the glass tower would not
answer the Milesians, which has also its counterpart in Taliessin's words, when
he says:
"Beyond the Glass Fort, Arthur's valour they had not seen;
Three score hundreds stood on the wall:
It was hard to converse with their watchman."']
[304] [Turner, Samoa, pp. 199 and 335. 'On the evening after the burial of any important chief his friends kindled a number of fires at distances of some twenty feet from each other, near the grave; and there they sat and kept them burning till morning light. This was continued sometimes for ten days after the funeral; it was also done before burial. In the house where the body lay, or out in front of it, fires were kept burning all night by the immediate relatives of the departed. The common people had a similar custom. After burial they kept a fire blazing in the house all night, and had the space between the house and the grave so cleared as that a stream of light went forth all night from the fire to the grave. The account the Samoans give of it is, that it was merely a light burning in honour of the departed, and a mark of tender regard.']
[305] [The Night of the Gods, vol. 2, p. 1015. '[Powerless to scale the Rocks, because of the steepness of the vertical-laddered Dark-Ladder mountain, She deigns to take my hand. Steep though Kurahashi be, steep it is not when I climb it with my Sister.] The sister here is the goddess Medori, which simply means Hen-bird. She is therefore the consort of the heavens-bird and this confirms the above interpretation of Kurahashi-yama. Her consort is the Ouick-Falcon-lord, Hayabusa-wake, and his elder brother is the Great-Wren (a curious connection with the Mexican Huitzilopochtz) Oho-Sazaki. We move in the very highest celestial circles.']
[306] [Jewish War, Bk. 2.10.2. 'This Ptolemais is a maritime city of Galilee, built in the great plain. It is encompassed with mountains: that on the east side, sixty furlongs off, belongs to Galilee; but that on the south belongs to Carmel, which is distant from it a hundred and twenty furlongs; and that on the north is the highest of them all, and is called by the people of the country, The Ladder of the Tyrians, which is at the distance of a hundred furlongs.' Whiston's tr.]
[307] [Prose Edda, 5. 13. 'Then asked Ganglere: What is the path from earth to heaven? Har answered, laughing: Foolishly do you now ask. Have you not been told that the gods made a bridge from earth to heaven, which is called Bifrost?' Anderson's tr.]
[308] [Turner, Samoa, p. 35. 'Laa Maomao—The great step. This is one of the names of the rainbow, which was a representative of a war god of several villages. If, when going to battle, a rainbow sprang up right before them and across the path, or across the course of the canoes at sea, the troops and the fleet would return. The same if the rainbow arch, or long step, of the god was seen behind them. If, however, it was sideways they went on with spirit, thinking the god was marching along with them and encouraging them to advance.']
[310] [Scott, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,
vol. 3, p. 166 of 4 vol. ed. '"Lo! Sir Knight, sestow this?
This is the brigge of paradis,
Here ouer thou must go.
'"And we the schal with stones prowe,
And the winde the schal ouer blow,
And wirche the full wo;
Thou no schalt for all this unduerd,
Bot gif thou falle a midwerd,
To our fewes mo.
'"And when thou art adown yfalle,
Than schal com our felawes alle,
And with her hokes the hede;
We schal the teche a newe play:
Thou hast served ous mani a day,
And into helle the lede."'
'Owain biheld the brigge smert,
The water ther under blac and swert,
And sore him gan to drede:
For of othing he tok yeme,
Never mot, in sonne beme,
Thicker than the fendes yede.
'The brigge was as heigh as a tour,
And as scharpe as a rasour,
And naru it was also;
And the water that ther ran under,
Brend o' lightning and of thonder,
That thocht him michel wo.
'Ther nis no clerk may write with ynke,
No no man no may bithink,
No no maister deuine;
That is ymade forsoth ywis,
Under the brigge of paradis,
Halvendel the pine.']
[311] [Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, pp. 158-60. 'Where the walls of the pyramid of Ûnas give the prayers recited over the mummy to open his mouth, to restore the use of his limbs, to clothe, to perfume, to feed him, the walls of Seti's catacomb contain representations of the actual mummy, of the Ka statues which are the supports of his Double, and of the priests who open their mouths, who clothe them, perfume them, and offer them the various meats and drinks of the funeral feast. The ceilings of the pyramid chambers were sprinkled over with stars to resemble the face of the heavens; but there was nothing to instruct the Soul as to the names of those heavenly bodies. On the ceilings of some of the Theban catacombs, we not only find the constellations depicted, each with its personified image, but astronomical tables giving the aspect of the heavens fortnight by fortnight throughout the months of the Egyptian year, so that the Soul had but to lift its eyes and see in what part of the firmament its course lay night after night.']
[313] [See note to the above ch.]
[314] [Horrack, 'Book of Sen-Sen.' RP,
4, 121.
See also NG 2:50,
436.]
[315] [Lefebure, 'Book of Hades.' RP, 12, pp. 8-32.]
[320] [Nutt, The Happy Otherworld, p. 203, 'Adventures of Teigue, Son of Cian.' 'She is Cesair, daughter of Noah's son Bethra, the first woman that reached Ireland before the flood, and here she and her companions abide in everlasting life. Red loch island, she calls the land, because of a red loch that is in it containing an island surrounded with a palisade of gold, its name being Inis Patmos in which are all saints and righteous that have served God. In the dufi with the golden rampart dwell kings and rulers and noblemen of ordained rank, both Firbolgs and Tuatha De Danann. Teigue commends her knowledge and right instruction. 'Truly,' she says, 'I am well versed in the world's history, for this is precisely the earth's fourth paradise, the others being mis Daleb in the world's southern, and inis Escandra in its boreal part, and Adam's paradise. In this island, the fourth land, Adam's seed dwell, such of them as are righteous.'']