Parallel Myths
Page 13
Shanewis was too weak to drink, so Nekumonta forced the healing waters between her lips. She then rose up, healthy and more beautiful than ever. The few remaining people also drank and were instantly healed. The plague was now gone and the people forever remembered Nekumonta as the one who saved the human race.
* Cherubim: a particular order of angels, often represented as winged children.
* The Mojave Apache myth is virtually identical to the Mandan myth—with only one difference. In the Mojave version, a hummingbird is first sent to the world above as a guide.
* The Titans were the giants of Greek mythology, comparable to the Nefiliim in the book of Genesis in the Bible, the “sons of God” who married human women. They are analogous to the Jotunheim giants of Norse myth and the giants prominent in Peruvian and American Indian myths.
† Prometheus means “forethought;” Epimetheus means “afterthought.”
5. The Flood Myths
The animals marched in two by two
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The animals marched in two by two
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The animals marched in two by two,
the cat, the dog, and the kangaroo
and they all marched into the ark
just to get out of the rain!
—Old Sunday school song, sung
to the tune of “When Johnny
Comes Marching Home Again”
THE STORY OF NOAH
(Genesis 6:5—9:17)
Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that the thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing but wickedness all day long. Yahweh regretted having made man on the earth, and his heart grieved. “I will rid the earth’s face of Man, my own creation,” Yahweh said, “and of animals also, reptiles too, and the birds of heaven; for I regret having made them.” But Noah had found favor with Yahweh. This is the story of Noah:
Noah was a good man, a man of integrity among his contemporaries, and he walked with God. Noah became the father of three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth grew corrupt in God’s sight, and filled with violence. God contemplated the earth; it was corrupt, for corrupt were the ways of all flesh upon the earth.
God said to Noah, “The end has come for all things of flesh; I have decided this, because the earth is full of violence of man’s making, and I will efface them from the earth. Make yourself an ark out of resinous wood. Make it with reeds and line it with pitch inside and out. This is how to make it: the length of the ark is to be three hundred cubits; its breadth, fifty cubits; and its height, thirty cubits. Make a roof for the ark … put the door of the ark high in the side, and make a first, second, and third deck.
“For my part I mean to bring a flood, and send the waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh on it, every living creature under heaven; everything on the earth shall perish. But I will establish my Covenant with you, and you must go on board the ark, yourself, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives along with you. From all living creatures, from all flesh, you must take two of each kind aboard the ark, to save their lives with yours; they must be a male and a female. Of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of reptile on the ground, two must go with you so that their lives may be saved. For your part provide yourself with eatables of all kinds, and lay in a store of them, to serve as food for yourselves and them.” Noah did this; he did all that God had ordered him.
Yahweh said to Noah, “Go aboard the ark, you and all your household, for you alone among this generation do I see as a good man in my judgment. Of all the clean animals you must take seven of each kind, both male and female; of the unclean animals you must take two, a male and a female (and of the birds of heaven also, seven of each kind, both male and female), to propagate their kind over the whole earth. For in seven days’ time I will mean to make it rain on the earth for forty days and nights, and I will rid the earth of every living thing that I made.” Noah did all that Yahweh ordered.
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters appeared on the earth.
Noah and his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives boarded the ark to escape the waters of the flood. (Of the clean animals and the animals that are not clean, of the birds and all that crawls on the ground, two of each kind boarded the ark with Noah, a male and a female, according to the order God gave Noah.) Seven days later the waters of the flood appeared on earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month and on the seventeenth day of that month, that very day all the springs of the great deep broke through, and the sluices of heaven opened. It rained on the earth for forty days and forty nights.
That very day Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth boarded the ark, with Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons, and with them wild beasts of every kind, cattle of every kind, reptiles of every kind that crawls on the earth, birds of every kind, all that flies, everything with wings. One pair of all that is flesh and has the breath of life boarded the ark with Noah; and so there went in a male and a female of every creature that is flesh, just as God had ordered him.
And Yahweh closed the door behind Noah.
The flood lasted forty days on the earth. The waters swelled greatly on the earth, and the ark sailed on the waters. The waters rose more and more on the earth so that all the highest mountains under the whole of heaven were submerged. The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, submerging the mountains. And so all things of flesh perished that moved on the earth, birds, cattle, wild beasts, everything that swarms on the earth, and every man. Everything with the breath of life in its nostrils died, everything on dry land. Yahweh destroyed every living thing on the face of the earth, man and animals, reptiles, and the birds of heaven. He rid the earth of them, so that only Noah was left and those with him in the ark. The waters rose on the earth for a hundred and fifty days.
But God had Noah in mind, and all the wild beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. God sent a wind across the earth and the waters subsided. The springs of the deep and the sluices of heaven were stopped. Rain ceased to fall from heaven; the waters gradually ebbed from the earth. After a hundred and fifty days, the waters fell, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of that month, the ark came to rest on the mountain of Ararat. The waters gradually fell until the tenth month, when on the first day of the tenth month, the mountain peaks appeared.
At the end of forty days Noah opened the porthole he had made in the ark and he sent out the raven. This went off, and flew back and forth until the waters dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove, to see whether the waters were receding from the surface of the earth. The dove, finding nowhere to perch, returned to him in the ark, for there was water over the whole surface of the earth; putting out his hand he took hold of it and brought it back into the ark with him. After waiting seven more days, again he sent out the dove from the ark. In the evening, the dove came back to him and there it was with a new olive branch in its beak. So Noah realized that the waters were receding from the earth. After waiting seven more days he sent out the dove, and now it returned to him no more.
It was in the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, in the first month and on the first of the month, that the water dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the hatch of the ark and looked out. The surface of the ground was dry!
In the second month and on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you, yourself, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. As for all the animals with you, all things of flesh, whether birds or animals or reptiles that crawl on the earth; let them be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. And all the wild beasts, all the cattle, all the birds and all the reptiles that crawl on the earth went out from the ark, one kind after another.
Noah built an altar for Yahweh, and choosing from all the clean animals and all th
e clean birds he offered burnt offerings on the altar. Yahweh smelled the pleasing fragrance and said to himself, “Never again will I strike down every living thing as I have done.”*
As long as earth lasts
sowing and reaping
cold and heat
summer and winter
day and night
shall cease no more.
MANU AND THE FISH
(India)
Once very long ago a man named Manu was washing himself. When he reached into the water jar to wash his hands, he pulled up a small fish.
The fish spoke to him, saying, “If you take care of me and protect me until I am full grown, I will save you from the terrible things to come.” Manu asked the fish, “What do you mean? What terrible things?” The fish told Manu that there would soon be a great flood that would destroy every human being on earth. The fish then instructed Manu to place him in a clay jar for safety, and Manu complied. As the fish grew, Manu kept placing it in a series of larger clay jars until the fish was full grown and could be placed safely in the sea. Soon the fish became a ghasha, one of the largest fishes in the world.
The fish instructed Manu to build a large ship, as the flood was now only months away. As the rains began, Manu tied a rope from his ship to the ghasha, which safely guided him as the waters rose. The waters grew so high that the entire earth was covered. As the waters subsided, the ghasha guided Manu to a mountaintop.
UTNAPISHTIM
(Babylonia)
Gilgamesh, the hero of the great epic, met the old man Utnapishtim, who had become a god by virtue of his goodness and obedience to the gods in saving all humankind and animals from the great flood. Utnapishtim related his story to Gilgamesh.
The gods came to Utnapishtim to warn him of the coming of a horrible flood. They told him to stop his work, tear down his house, and begin work immediately on building a great ship that was ten dozen cubits high in length and ten dozen cubits wide. He was to hammer water plugs into the ship and cover it with pitch. He was to take animals of every kind, both male and female, as well as his family, provisions, gold, silver, and other fineries.
After he completed the ship, it began to rain in torrents. The flood was so terrible that even the gods were frightened. Ea, the god of the waters who had perpetrated the flood, saw that it was much worse than he had planned. Ishtar, the goddess of beauty, who had spoken evil in the assembly of the gods, causing the flood, wailed to see her children “turned to clay” as a result of her misdeeds.
For six days and nights a wind blew over the flood and the weather finally calmed. As the waters subsided, it was clear that the earth had been flattened and all living creatures annihilated. Utnapishtim bowed his head low and wept. The ship finally rested on the summit of Mount Nisir in the north. After the ship had rested there for seven days, Utnapishtim sent a dove free. As there was no land for the dove to rest on, she returned to the ship. He then sent a swallow, but she too returned. Finally, he sent out a raven and it never returned as it found land sufficient to rest on. Utnapishtim then knew he could leave the ship.
THE FLOOD MYTH OF HAWAII
NOTE: It would appear that Hawaii had its own indigenous flood myth before the arrival of the missionaries. But there are two versions, one clearly influenced by the Bible story and one that preceded it. The following comes from Martha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology.
Twelve generations from the beginning of the race, in the genealogy of Kumuhonua, during the so-called Era of Overturning, occurs the name of Nu’u, called also Nana Nu’u … He is called “a great Kahuna” and in his time came the flood known as Kai-a-ka-hina-li’i, which may be translated as “Sea caused by Hahinali’i” or as “Sea that made the chiefs fall down.” Nu’u himself is called Kahinali’i from this catastrophe, and after the flood he is known as Ku-kapuna, his wife as Ku-kekoa, and their three sons have names of winds that bring rain.
The story of Nu’u as told to the missionaries shows a decided tendency to strain after biblical analogy.
In the Fornander version, Nu’u builds “a large vessel and a house on top of it …” In this he is saved from the flood and after its subsidence Kane, Ku, and Lono enter the house and send him outside, where he finds himself on the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii at a place where there is a cave named after his wife Lili-noe. He worships the moon with offerings of awa (a leaf), pig, and coconuts, thinking that this is the god who has saved him. Kane descends (some say on a rainbow) and explains his mistake and accepts his offerings. In this version, as told on the island of Hawaii, he has three sons and his wife is named Lili-noe….
Although Hawaiian tradition knows of the flood of Kahinali’i and the term Wa’a-halau-ali’i-o-ka-moku is familiar to old Hawaiians and may be translated “Canoe like a chiefs house,” the idea of a houseboat such as the legend describes is not a native tradition. Old people on Hawaii [have said] that “they were informed by their fathers that all the land had been overflowed by the sea except a small peak on Mauna Kea where two human beings were preserved from the destruction that overtook the rest, but that they had never heard of a ship of Noah, having always been accustomed to call it the Kai-akinali’i.
TATA AND NENA
(Aztec)
NOTE: In contrast to the Hawaiians, the Aztecs did have a flood myth that was clearly indigenous and preceded the arrival of Europeans. Note the similarities with the American Indian myths given later.
During the era of the fourth sun, the Sun of Water, the people grew very wicked and ignored the worship of the gods. The gods became angry and Tlaloc, the god of rains, announced that he was going to destroy the world with a flood. However, Tlaloc was fond of a devout couple, Tata and Nena, and he warned them of the flood. He instructed them to hollow out a great log and take two ears of corn—one for each of them—and eat nothing more.
So Tata and Nena entered the tree trunk with the two ears of corn, and it began to rain. When the rains subsided and Tata and Nena’s log landed on dry land, they were so happy that they caught a fish and ate it, contrary to the orders of Tlaloc. It was only after their stomachs were full that they remembered Tlaloc’s command.
Tlaloc then appeared to them and said, “This is how I am repaid for saving your lives?” They were then changed into dogs. It was at this point, where even the most righteous people were disobedient, that the gods destroyed the world, ushering in the present era of the Fifth Sun.
DEUCALION
(Greece)
At a very early point in history, perhaps even before the end of the golden age, humankind grew very wicked and arrogant. They grew more tiresome by the day until Zeus finally decided to destroy them all. Prometheus, Titan creator of mankind, was warned of this coming flood and he in turn warned his human son, Deucalion, and Deucalion’s wife, Pyrrha. Prometheus placed the two of them in a large wooden chest. And it rained for nine days and nine nights until the entire world was flooded except for two mountain peaks in Greece, Mount Parnassus and Mount Olympus, the latter being the home of the gods.
Finally the wooden chest landed on Mount Parnassus, and Deucalion and Pyrrha got out of it only to see that the entire world around them had been destroyed. From the trunk, they took out enough provisions to feed themselves until the waters subsided. Then when they came down from the mountain, they were horrified. Everywhere around them were dead bodies of humans and animals; everything was covered with silt, slime, and algae. The couple was grateful to be saved and they gave thanks to the gods for their deliverance.
Zeus spoke to them out of the sky, saying, “Veil your heads and cast behind you the bones of your mother.” Pyrrha responded, “We have no mother with us, only my husband and I were in the chest.” But Deucalion knew what Zeus meant and threw some rocks behind him. For rocks are the bones of Mother Earth, the mother of all. These rocks were transformed into people who repopulated the earth.*
NORTH AMERICAN FLOOD MYTHS
Mandan
NOTE: This account comes from George Catlin�
�s nineteenth-century book, Manners, Customs and Conditions of North American Indians.
In the middle of the ground, which is trodden like a hard pavement, is a curb (somewhat like a large hogshead [barrel] standing on its end) made of planks (and bound up with hoops) some eight or nine feet high, which they religiously preserve and protect from year to year, free from mark or scratch, and which they call “the big canoe;” it is undoubtedly a symbolic representation of their traditional history of the flood.
Knisteneaux
NOTE: This story was also reported by Catlin.
Many centuries ago a great flood covered the earth, destroying all the nations. At that time, all of the tribes of the Coteau des Prairies climbed up the Coteau, a ridge emerging out of the prairie, in order to escape the rising waters. After the tribes had gathered, the water rose to cover them all, turning their bodies into a mass of red pipestone rock. From that day on, the Coteau has been considered neutral ground to all the tribes, and there they could meet in safety to smoke the peace pipe.
While the people were all drowning, a young virgin named K-wap-tah-w grabbed the foot of a very large bird who was flying over the Coteau. The bird carried her up to a high cliff, safely above the flood waters. Here the girl had twins fathered by the war-eagle. From those twins the world was repopulated.