# Papuan Fairy Tales/The Boar Slayer

In a certain land was a fierce boar, and the people of that land feared him greatly, for each day one or other of their number came not back to the village at even, and all knew that he had been seized and eaten by the boar, and each trembled lest on the morrow his turn should come to enter the evil den of the dread beast. Many plans they laid whereby to ensnare the boar, but they came to nought, and the old men, who were wise, counselled that all should flee to another land, where they might dwell in safety. And the people hearing this word knew that it was good, and gathered their goods upon canoes and set out secretly for a country whither the boar might not follow them.
Now it came to pass that in their haste one woman was left behind. When she found that she was indeed alone, she wept for her companions, but, being not faint-hearted, she soon arose and dug a hole in the earth, where she might hide from the boar. All day she lay in her burrow fearing the fierce beast, but at night, when he slept, she crept to the deserted gardens and gathered food wherewith to stay her hunger. After not many days a son was born to her, and the woman nursed him in the burrow until he was grown. Sometimes the child would cry in ​anger or in pain, but ever his mother would silence him, saying, "Hush, my son, or the boar will devour us." And the child would forbear to cry, but wondered much what this boar might be whose wrath his mother feared.
It fell upon a day that the lad said to his mother, "Tell me, mother, why do we live in this hole in the earth, and why dost thou fear the light of the sun?" Then said his mother, ' ' It hath not always been so, my son. Thy grandparents and thine uncles and I lived many years in the light of the sun. But a cruel enemy arose and killed and ate many of our people, and I only was left. Therefore I hollowed out this place where we dwell, and it was here thou wast born."
The lad hearkened to his mother's words, and made answer, "It is true, mother," quoth he, "that I could not protect thee while I was a child. But I am now a man, and I will deliver thee from thine enemy."
Whereupon he built a house, and began to make ready to fight with the boar. He cut many saplings, and built little platforms with a small space between each one and its neighbour. And when he gave over building, these platforms reached for half a league, and the last one was built close to the mouth of the boar's den. Then the lad cut and fashioned a great number of spears, which he tied in bundles and laid upon the platforms. Moreover, he made two great spears, and called them Karaganigani and Karakatekate, and these he gave to his mother, and charged ​her to care for them until such time as he should need them.
His mother was sore afraid, and said, "Son, the boar is very fierce. He will surely fall upon us and slay us."
'We shall see," said the lad. "Cook me some food, that I may eat."
His mother did as he had bidden her, and set food before him and he ate, and set forth to fight with the boar. When he reached the platform nearest to the den he stood upon it and brake the fastening of the bundle of spears which lay there. Then he launched a dart into the den where the beast lurked. The monster rushed out on feeling the prick of the spear as it fell upon him, and the lad at the same moment cast the spears which were in his hand at the boar, who shook them off as though they had been but dead leaves. The lad turned to fly, and the boar followed, tracking him by the shadow which fell upon the ground beside the platform.
But before harm was done the boy had leapt to the next platform, where lay a fresh bundle of spears, and he hasted to loosen the cord which bound them, and hurled them upon the foe. The spears were many and sharp; nevertheless the boar shook them off and continued to chase the boy, tearing up the ground on which lay his shadow. Again the boy fled to another platform, and to yet another, until at last he leapt upon the one which he had built outside the house where his mother lived. ​His mother was watching anxiously in the doorway, and seeing her son thus hardly pressed, she ran quickly out and gave him the two big spears she had been guarding. The boar was very near when the lad, seizing Karaganigani, plunged it into the monster's side. Blood gushed out, but still the fierce beast came on. And now was the last chance. The boy, holding Karakatekate firmly, thrust with all his strength, and the boar fell under the stroke, and lay dead upon the ground.
Joy filled the hearts of the woman and her son at the fall of their enemy, and they beat upon the drum and danced for gladness. Then the lad cut up the flesh of the boar, and smoked great portions of it. Moreover, he made a raft, and placed thereon bristles which he had plucked from the dead boar's back. And he said to the bristles, "The waves and the wind will carry you to distant countries. Wheresoever ye see men who bear no marks of mourning ye must not land. But if mourners appear on that shore ye are to land. Go." And he sent the raft forth, and fell to beating the drum once more.
The little raft floated hither and thither as the wind blew upon it and as the waves drew it, and was carried nigh to a shore where children played. One among them spied the raft, and cried to his comrades that they should help him draw it to land. The children ran to do his bidding, but as their hands were stretched out to lay hold of the raft, it floated backwards until it was out of their reach. They ​tried again and again, but each time they made to draw it to them it floated further away. Then one ran to his father and said, "Come and see what we have found. It floats upon the sea, and runs away when we go near."
The man went with his son to see what the strange thing might be, and waded far after the raft, which drew back as it had done before, for the man had no marks of mourning upon him. Then the man swam after it until he was tired, but even so he laid not hands on the raft. And he came back once more to the shore, and the raft followed in his wake and floated near the shore.
Now it chanced that a man came down to the beach who was a mourner. His beard had grown thick and long, and he wore wicker armlets upon his arms. To him the children cried, "See the strange thing upon the water!" And the man who had tried to lay hold on the raft told the mourner his tale, and prayed him to try in his turn. This did the mourner, and as he went towards the raft it came nearer the shore, nodding upon the waves as it drew nigh. Then the mourner stretched forth his hand and held it, and the others gathered round to see what freight it bore. And they took the bristles up to the village to ask if any knew what they were.
Now this was the land where those who had fled from the boar aforetime had chosen to dwell, and it came to pass that many looking upon the bristles ​knew them to be taken from the back of their old enemy, and they wondered much who had sent them. One said, "Surely it must be the child of the woman we left behind, but how can such a thing be?"
'Let us go and see for ourselves," said another. And though many would have forbidden any returning to the land they had left, this is what they did. They built a canoe, and five of their number started, that they might know what meant the bristles sent to them upon the raft. Nevertheless when they drew near to land they feared greatly lest the boar should still live, and tarried long at the landing place, being not willing to leave the canoe.
But the lad had watched for their coming, and painted his face and tied on his war headdress of feathers, and, carrying spears over his shoulder, he went down to the beach where the men waited.
'Truly ye were many, O men," quoth he, "and yet the boar ate you. Fear not now, but land, for I have slain him."
Then the men drew their canoe to the beach, and went with the boy to his home. When they saw the boar's flesh which he had smoked they were much afraid, and cried, 'Who hath helped thee?"
"Nay, but by myself I slew him," answered the youth.
Then did the men marvel that one should be so strong, and they made haste and returned to their own people, and bade them return with them to the land where they had lived aforetime. And this was ​done, and the land was filled with men once more. And they all ate of the boar's flesh and were filled. And as for the lad who with his own hand had slain the evil beast, he became their chief, and ruled over them wisely and was served by them.