among the Greeks.




THE MYTH OF CRONUS.


In a Maori pah, when a little boy behaves rudely to his parents, he is
sometimes warned that he is 'as bad as cruel Tutenganahau.' If he asks
who Tutenganahau was, he is told the following story:--

'In the beginning, the Heaven, Rangi, and the Earth, Papa, were the
father and mother of all things. "In these days the Heaven lay upon the
Earth, and all was darkness. They had never been separated." Heaven and
Earth had children, who grew up and lived in this thick night, and they
were unhappy because they could not see. Between the bodies of their
parents they were imprisoned, and there was no light. The names of the
children were Tumatuenga, Tane Mahuta, Tutenganahau, and some others. So
they all consulted as to what should be done with their parents, Rangi
and Papa. "Shall we slay them, or shall we separate them?" "Go to,"
said Tumatuenga, "let us slay them." "No," cried Tane Mahuta, "let us
rather separate them. Let one go upwards, and become a stranger to us;
let the other remain below, and be a parent to us." Only Tawhiri Matea
(the wind) had pity on his own father and mother. Then the fruit-gods,
and the war-god, and the sea-god (for all the children of Papa and Rangi
were gods) tried to rend their parents asunder. Last rose the forest-
god, cruel Tutenganahau. He severed the sinews which united Heaven and
Earth, Rangi and Papa. Then he pushed hard with his head and feet. Then
wailed Heaven and exclaimed Earth, "Wherefore this murder? Why this