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The Flood in World Myth and Folklore
New Guinea |
| © 2021 Mark Isaak |
Once a man named Lyailelya told his sister, named Tapieda Ipali, that he was going hunting. While he was away, a ghost turned into a form that looked like the brother and came into the house. When the sister commented that he was home early, he said, "I got something in my eye. Sister, come and get it out so I can go and get more game."
When the sister went to check his eye, the ghost kissed her. The woman cried and said, "Why did you do that? I'm your sister!"
The ghost hit his head and said, "I think something bad from the forest made me do that. I feel ashamed now, and I'll return to the forest."
The woman still thought it had been her brother, and she kept crying. When her real brother came with lots of game, she yelled, "Who wants your meat anyway. You can have it!"
The brother tried to pacify her, but he did not know what was wrong, and she would not talk to him. He cooked a pig for her, but she refused it. Finally, he said, "If you don't want to look at me, I will leave you, and he walked out, taking a piece of the pig's leg with him. The grease from the meat fell on the ground and formed a pond.
The woman ran after him and called him back, but the pond had surrounded him, and he was sinking into it. She tried to save him, but a tree, capsized by the water, fell on her and killed her. They both died there.
Slone, 2001, 1: 29. Variant: Slone, 2001, 2: 777-778. Mendi variant: Slone, 2001, 2: 940-941.