The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-03-31
SOME MUSICAL MYTHS.
THE VARIOUS BEAUTIFUL LE-
GENDS OF ORPHEUs.
How 1t Is Told Among the Indians of
Guiana-Amo ng the North Ameri-
can Indians the Drum is the
instrument of Angels.

The legend of Orpheus has been
variously interpreted by the expo
nents of mythology, but however va
rious their exposition, all seem to
concur in the existence of a minstrel
so accomplished as to make trees to
follow him. and stones to move at the
sound of his voice.
OF all the Orpheuses of primitive
and savage leaend-for the uncivillzed
races indulge in these fancies no less
than their more educated brethren
Amalivaca, the divine minstrel of the
Indians of Guiana, is one of the most
curious. The whole earth was COW
cred with water and the rocks were
Frustrated by the food; the beauty of
the earth had completely disappeared
under the chaotic onslaught of the
devouring elements; and mankind, or
what there was left of them, were in
despair at the ruins of their once
beautiful habitation, the globe 1t
was at this time that Amalicava,
the best drummer the world had
ever seen, took his drum, made of
the finest snakeskin, and beat up
on it in time and measure
so symmetrical, that the waters
gradually sank delighted to the sea,
and the rocks arose to listen. In this
way, while he continued playing, the
materials OF the universe gradually
sorted themselves until they attain
ed the form they wear at present.
Amphion building the walls Of Thebes
would perhaps be the classical ana
logy to this exploit of Amalivaca.
Amalivaca also invented the first
musical instrument which human ear
ever heard-the rattle. Divine help
was necessary to him towards per-
forming this triumph of discovery,
bordering over which the musician
wandered restlessly and uneasily
about the banks of the Orinoco, not
knowing what to do or how to satisfy
mis- desire for music. In those DAYS
says the legend. there was no musical
sound in the world beyond what came
from the untaught and sweet cadences
of the voice of woman. Music, with
its regular beats and it's regular re-
Trains. had no existence; but ANAL
vaca had conceived the art in lis
mind. AS he was walking down the
reedy side of the Orinoco. a female
form suddenly appeared from the
water. and plucking off gourd from
tree, gave it him, bidding him form
an instrument therefrom.
Still more perplexed the sage pom
dered on his hard task, but without
effect, until a second time the water
goddess appeared. this time bringing
with her a handful of white stones from
the bottom of the river which she babe
him enclose in the gourd. Thus was
made the first rattle-and perhaps the
first instrument which human ear
ever heard. So sacred and so miracu-
lous did the South American Indians
deem this discovery, that the rattle
thus invented became an idol.
The North American Indians whose
legends are most interesting mine of
strange traditions, make the drum the
instrument of the angels A tired
hunter, once lost on the prairie, and
overcome with fatigue and despair,
lay down on the sward and fell asleep;
when, behold, in his dream he saw
the heavens OPEN and car made of
osiers descending from the heavens
with uncomfortable rapidity.
In the car were twelve beautiful
girls with golden wings who played
celestial music upon drums of gold.
Among them was his dead wife thus
sent to him by the Great Spirit to
show him the right way out of the
labyrinthine prairie. She directed
him. pointing with her drumstick in
the way in which he should go. The
car flew up; the hunter awoke; and
the heavens were resounding with the
drums CT the celestial maidens and of
the angels in the vaults above.
The Chinese have extraordinary
superstitions relating to music. accord
ing to the Saturday, Evening Post.
According to them. the creator of the
universe hid eight sounds in the earth,
for the express purpose of impelling
mortal man to find them out; on the
same principle, we presume, that
Jupiter in Virgil hides fire in flint and
honey in trees, in order to whet the
ardor of mans industry in re-discover-
ing the treasures.
In stone, in metal, in silk in wood
in bamboo, in pumpkins in the skins
of animals. and in certain earths
these sounds. according to the Chinese
are hidden. The musical instruments
of their orchestra are all made of one
or other of these substances, and the
naive credulity of the people hears in
the thuds of the gongs and the
whistling of the pipes the tones of the
eternal sounds of nature and the
universe. as deposited in the strata of
the earth by the Almighty Father.
The Wends. who, we believe are
the ancestors of the modern Prus-
slams are the centre of many legends.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was 3.
Wend; so also was the piper of the
Harz mountains, who appeared so
many days a year, and played unearth-
ly tunes, and whatsoever heard at once
fell into a frenzy from which there
was no escaping. All these pied and
weird pipers assembled once a year at
the BrOcken. where there was a pen-