record and something of his best interpretation of mysterious natural
phenomena into his legendary lore, but there is something else, we are
led to believe, that takes precedence over all other considerations in
the mind of the primitive (as well as in the minds of all of the rest of
us) and that is getting on in the world, a pragmatic outlook.

It is evident that the primitive relies upon his ancient lore to help
him out in his struggle with his environment, in his needs spiritual and
his needs physical, and this immense service comes through religious
ritual, moral incentive, and sociological pattern, as laid down in the
cherished magical and legendary lore of his tribe.

The close connection between religion and mythology, under-estimated by
many, has been fully appreciated by the great British anthropologist,
Sir James Frazer, and by classical scholars like Miss Jane Harrison.
The myth is the Bible of the primitive, and just as our Sacred Story
lives in our ritual and in our morality, as it governs our faith and
controls our conduct, even so does the savage live by his mythology.

The myth, as it actually exists in a primitive community, even today, is
not of the nature of fiction such as our novel, but is a living reality,
believed to have once happened in primeval times when the world was
young and continuing ever since to influence the world and human
destiny.

The mere fireside tale of the primitive may be a narrative, true or
imaginary, or a sort of fairy story, a fable or a parable, intended
mainly for the edification of the young and obviously pointing a moral
or emphasizing some useful truth or precept. And here we do recognize
symbolism, much in the nature of historical record. But the special