| www.CuriousTaxonomy.net |
|
The Flood in World Myth and Folklore
New Guinea |
| © 2021 Mark Isaak |
The wife of a very good man saw a very big fish. She called her husband, but he could not see it until he hid behind a banana tree and peeked through its leaves. When he finally saw it, he was horribly afraid and forbade his wife, son, and two daughters to catch and eat the fish. But other people caught the fish and, heedless of the man's warning, ate it. When the good man saw that, he hastily drove a pair of all kinds of animals into trees and climbed into a coconut tree with his family. As soon as the wicked men ate the fish, water violently burst from the ground and drowned everyone on it. As soon as the water reached the treetops, it sank rapidly, and the good man and his family came down and laid out new plantations.
Frazer, 1919, 237.