Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by George Turner
page 171 of 222 (77%)
page 171 of 222 (77%)
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the King of Manu'a, and that he gave up his daughter as an offering to
the sun, and so end the sacrifices by making her the saviour of the people. 4. Some of _the planets_ are known and named. Fetū is the word used to designate all heavenly bodies except the sun and moon. Venus is called the morning and evening star. Mars is the Matamemea, or the star with the sear-leafed face. The Pleiades are called Lii or Mataalii, eyes of chiefs. The belt of Orion is the amonga, or burden carried on a pole across the shoulders. The milky way is ao lele, ao to'a, and the aniva. Ao lele, means flying cloud, and ao to'a, solid cloud. Meteors are called, fetū ati afi, or stars going to fetch a light; and comets are called pusa loa, or an elongated smoke. 5. Tradition in Samoa, as in other parts of the world, has a good deal to say about _the moon_. We are told of the visit to it by two young men, the one named Punifanga and the other Tafaliu. The one went up by a tree, and the other on a column of dense smoke from a fire kindled by himself for the purpose. We are also told of the woman Sina, or _white_, who with her child has long been up there. She was busy one evening with mallet in hand beating out on a board some of the bark of the paper mulberry with which to make native cloth. It was during a time of famine. The moon was just rising, and reminded her of a great bread-fruit, looking up to it she said, "Why cannot you come down and let my child have a bit of you?" The moon was indignant at the thought of being eaten, came down forthwith, and took her up, child, board, mallet, and all. At the full of the moon young Samoa still looks up, and traces the features of Sina, the face of the child, and the board and mallet, in verification of the old story. |
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