, 1878-07-11
The Foundation of Two Old Myths
BY ALINE wINsLow.

Stop, Bright,eyeo! Don't skip my
story, because foundation is u Outlook
ing word, and you do not know what
myth means | want TO tell you some
thing wonderful and true. Well look in
"WeIster" acd find out about "myth."
A myth is n fabulous or imaginary
statement "a tale OF some extraordinary
parsonage or country.
For example, Bron Munchausen's
stories ana Guliver's adventures among
the giants of Brobdiugnag and the little
people of Lilipu', are all myths.
The old story OF race of pigmies III
Central Africa, who every year waged
fierce wars with the cranes, has been
suppo ed to be equally fabulous; but re.
cent travellers in Africa tell us that there
actually is in Central Africa tribe OF
little people abost four feet high. They
have large heads, slender neckS and
bodies. The lower jaw and chin protrude,
giving the face an ape-like expression
not at all handsome.
They are very agile; even the old men
will dance in wonderful way for long
time, ana they are noted for their fights
with wild elephants. All the tribes of the
interior hunt the elephant, but these
dwarfs are the most successful. The skin
of the elephant is so thick ON his back
and sides that it takes a long time to
destroy him with their weapons, but these
little men dart underneath the elephant
and wound him iu the belly, and then
got out Of the way of the maddened
creature in safety.
SchwepfuIth tells about being sur.
rounded one morning by a troop of i'm
pudent boys as he supposed, who danced
about him with strange grimaces and
took aim at him with their darts and ar
rows; then retreated as suddenly as they
had appeared. lie found out afterward
that he had really been in danger, for
these pigmies were not boys, but full
grown men, warriors well trained to
fight
He did not succeed in penetrating into
their country, but the king gave him one
little man VINO was his companion for
months, aud of whom he took great care,
hoping to bring him home with him. He
killed himself, however, by over-sating,
fault of which it was impossible to cure
him.
Du Chailu has written a book about
this dwarf nation, and others have seen
and written about them; 50 we must ac-
knowledge that HerOdotus and other an
cient Travellers had some f0uHdation for
their stories.
You've Eeard some of the old Greek
and R'nlaa myths; perhaps you've read
in "Hawlhorn's Tanglegood Tales" how
Cadmus sowed the dragons teeth and
yeaped harvest Of armed men; and Of
the cruise Of the Argonauts in quest of
the golivn apples OF the Hesperldes
You've heard of Scylla and Charybdis.
Do YOU remember about the Sirens, the
singing nermaids, who sang 30 sweetly
that all who heard them forget their
homes and were allured to destruction2
Wise ULYSSES made all his men stop their
ears with cotton, and caused himself to
be bound firmly to the mast when they
sailed by; so le heard the song and es-
capped destruction.
Modern science has found fOunda-
tion for lncse old stories of the Sirens in
the musical sound produced by certain
fshcs.
YOU thought fishes were mutel Few
people know that some sorts can sing,
though Aristotle wrote about it centuries
ag'.
I.a'ely, scientific men have been max
ing extensive observations, and have
found that out of the more than three
thousand .pecies that exist, ffty.twO are
now know to produce sounds. S,me of
these mske grunting, or grating, or hum
ming noises, but some utter very sweet
sounds
The fishermen told Sir ]. E. Tendent,
late Governor Of CeyIon, that certain
sounds resembling the faint sweet notes
Of al EJ.ian harp proceeded from the