The Origin of the Moon and Fire — Folklore

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_{In trying to explain the origin of the Moon and Fire, our forefathers believed that, at the beginning of the world, the night was completely dark. There was no Moon and no Fire and men feared the dark even more than they do today. They also believed in a Land of the Dead, or Hell, which was for them an actual place on earth. This is the story of how the Moon and Fire were brought to Earth from Hell.}

Long ago, there was a tree in Hell which bore “moon fruit” that lit the whole place at night. In those days, a man called Okamong was the strongest man on earth. Since he had already proved he was stronger than any living man, Okamong decided he would go to hell next and set about conquering the Dead. He planned to bring some moon fruit and fire back with him, so that people might have light when the sun had gone.

As always, before he went into battle, Okamong prepared some yams and took some pieces of meat for his huge hound. He sharpened his knife and packed his provisions in a small leather bag. As soon as he was ready, he started on the road to Hell, wearing only a small piece of cloth around his waist.

That same evening, at the boundary between Earth and Hell, Okamong met a very old woman. She looked not only old but sickly and was obviously hungry too.
“Where are you going, Okamong?“ she asked.
“I am going for the Moon and Fire in the palace of the King of the Dead,” he replied.
“Do you know you will die if you go there!” exclaimed the old woman. “Only I can help you. But I am not strong enough to talk much unless you can give me food.”
Okamong gave her some yams and some water to drink. When she was satisfied, she showed him the way to the palace. Then she told him of the dangers he would meet.

“First of all,” she said, “you will meet Hell’s watch dogs. When they bark, you must throw them pieces of meat so that you may pass while they are eating. After the dogs, you will be surrounded by many beautiful young girls asking you to marry them. These you must ignore. When you reach the main square of the Dead, you will see many cripples: some will be walking on the palm of their hands with their legs in the air; others will be crawling on their bellies. You must not laugh at them; if you do, you will be deformed immediately. When you pass these people, you will reach the gate leading into the King’s Palace. When you knock, a voice will order your hand to stick to the gate. At once you must order the buttocks of the speaker to stick to the stool upon which she is sitting. Then she will beg to be released from the stool. When you free her, she will open the gate.

“In the palace, you will be taken to a room with two spare stools, one of which will be beautifully decorated with a leopard’s skin; the other will be covered with a tattered mat. During supper, the food will be served by some very charming and some very ugly girls. You must always choose the less attractive thing, for under the beautiful stool is a deep pit of boiling water and the food carried by the beautiful girls is poisoned. When a stranger dies by these means, the Dead feast upon his body.

“After they have all gone to bed, you may do what you wish. But remember one last thing: you must not look backwards. If you do, you will see such frightful things that you will faint. “

Having listened carefully to the old woman’s warnings, Okamong thanked her and proceeded on his quest. Everything happened just as she had told him. He gave pieces of meat to the baking dogs; he passed by the beautiful girls and the cripples without paying them any attention; he outwitted the gatekeeper and ignored every attractive thing that was brought to him in the palace.

Then Okamong told the King of the Dead that he had come to seek a bride and so he was given the bedroom for bridegrooms. Then came the most important part of the expedition.
At midnight, when everything was still he crawled out of his bed. Taking his hound with him, he went to the Moon Tree and picked one of the glowing fruit. This he hid inside his bag so that it would not shine as he moved toward home. He then went to the fireplace and took up an ember. This he gave to his hound, which grasped it between his teeth.

Stealthily, Okamong and his hound crept away from the palace. They were not noticed, for the watcher at the gate had gone to bed. So had the girls and the cripples. Only the watchdogs were still alert and this time, Okamong had no meat for them. Luckily his hound was bigger than they and they also feared the ember glowing in his mouth. Thus, though they howled in anger and started in pursuit, the hound was able to hold them off while his master ran towards Earth.

At last they came to the boundary between Earth and Hell. Discouraged, the watchdogs drew back, but just at this spot, Okamong was filled with horror and could go no further. The ancient belief that no one could go into the Land of the Dead and return safely had caught him. Worn out with running, he lay down to rest, certain he would not survive. As he lay there, Okamong commanded his hound to go home with the ember and tell the people what had happened. Just before he died, he threw the Moon into the air and it stuck onto the sky, where we see it now, lighting the earth at night.

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That night, as people looked out, they knew Okamong had succeeded in one part of his venture, but they did not know of his death until the hound arrived home with the ember in his mouth. When the hound had told them all that had happened and directed them to his masters body, they carried Okamong back to the village to be buried.

That was the first night that the Moon shone upon the earth, and from that time, man has had Fire. Also from that time, the dog opens his mouth, puts his tongue, and breathes fast, in and out. In this way, the hound had blown on the ember to keep it glowing.

Now the Moon shines on the world, Fire lights our homes, and there is less fear of the night than there was before Okamong’s great adventure.

The End

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