New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-09


saw one OF them dead on earth and was astonished
70 End her living anew In her Old home above the
I clouds. This detail Is suggestive IL seems IKE
fanc.ful version Of the Oriental, and not less Pia-
tonic doctrine OF the souls pre-exisence one heed
not despair of finding out soon or late, that the
kind fairy In the tale Of Jack and the Beanstaik
was really only his fathers spirit In more popu-
lar gIlse
As an eagle carried Saktideva part OF the way on
his Journey 10 the Land Of the Best 50 In the Gee
hes tale Of Kasimbaha the hero was guided 10 MS
lost wife by a bird To those who are fahhiiiar VIII.
the use of birds In narratives concerning the woriI
of the dead these particulars will confirm the sup
positIon that all these stories have meaning III
connection with the belief in Immortality. Dindseh
as they are from England to farthcst India ana
even to the islands of the sea, they 'tii stare u
each other In close relationship. That .hey a" re-
fer to an ascent into Heaven out OF the throf NIX
press Of this world is made clear by The remark OF
Somadeva Bhatta that the lofty tree on wnich ''K-
tdeva's cage rested with its w!1e-spreodms
branches rose to the sky before the eye OF the sea-
farcr like a winged mountain. WINE Dsio" u,e
abyss opened to the fiery interior OF the eari -"
ia nothing less than a description OF the word-ash'
Ycgdrasl in Morse mythology, the ROOFS OF "hieh
penetrated to the flaming under worh' "'nie i'H
branches shot up to heaven. Whether the sakd pe
reduced 70 n humorous trile Xix, Grimms rag
ncnt about the fail that was brought Town lro'i
heaven or still retain It's mythic dlgni'y' 'he '"''
~ al the foot OF the tree. VINE or gigan,'c tuiP
ton remains an almost Indispensable feature Vi "e
narrative The German countrymar dropped nt'
the hole and cut with his hoe way OUT. 'ach
friend the giant fell into the op ming when proved
n his case TO be a well, and drowned But IN
the Dyak story the abyss was the Vor''A III ,"'
Whirlpool and TO the Morse ana lndiah my '"-f"A'''
II was the very mouth OF the Internal suii' ->a'"f
ally the ash tree Of the Norscrnan was repiacru
In the Orient By the banyan with its nnumerap'e
s,ers ;ct down from end.essy spreading branches.
In New-Zealand the vine described In the so'y
also has stems that originate as creepers CROWNS
downward from the stem. 1t was dangerous n''
take 10 take hold OF one of tae creeperS is'e" u
n branch which had taken ROOT man WIN '',r'
caught loose tendrl swung away 10 ne very e"ec
of the horizon AMI was then blown bacK 20 '"'
other verge OF the sky. but succeeded at last N
alightlng a; the roots OF the vine. To the cyn'cai
hulnor of American Indians the top OF the tree
touched anything but heaven, and was far from
easy to climb. Certain northwestern tribes had
story about tree that was smoo'h ana pare az
lodge pole Ordinarily II was only the heigh' OF a
man. but It the climber labored upward:
until II pressed against the Armament. Two wicked
enchantresses dwet In lodge at the top OF the Tree.
The brave who succeeded in entering the lodge found
tina, when ne spoke 10 one u THESE wl'cheS ''e
tree shot upward. and when ne addressed the other
II settled down to Its usual DIMENSIONS Like the
word OF the dead in all literature the place whtre
these malevolent beings dwet was one from when
no traveller returned. The Arawaks OF Guiana nave
a tradition In which both tree ana bird ngure' o''
ln a way unknown the Old World. young Ara
wax married a vulture and went 10 live with MS
wifc's relatives. like Arstopaanes's dsconterted
Athcnians In cloudland. Unfortunately ne Tel
homesick and the vultures irratet al the Thought
that he should weary OF their company. set him OIL
the top Of an awarra palm. AM told MIN 10 get
down as best he could. Now an a"arra PAIN DTS
ties with frlghtful thorns AMI the poor fellow mad
TO walt for years until the spiders spun cora py
which ne could reach the earth
Sometimes the ascent Of the word-tree Is assoc
clated with the acquisition OF the plant most useful
to the people among whom a given tale is told. In
Borneo this is the rice plant In the samoan ISL
ands IL is the Taro plant An Indian tale IN which
Pururavas figures as the hero. connects the whoie
cycle with the Promethean myth respecting the
bril- ging down OF IRE from heaven. Jack found the
fowl that laid eggs OF gold; and thinking Of the
way tho Pe.ades figure in other tales II must &C.
cur 10 one az a curious coincidence that popular |
German name for the constellation OF the seven |
stars Is the Gidckhenne. Turning. then to the story
OF Hcraces and the golden apples which he carried
OF from the Garden Of the Hesperides 1t Ia possible
to contrlve plausible theory as TO the Identity OF
the climber Of the world-tree For in the Edda the
apple Of immortality. which Freyr gave to Gerda az
Zeus gave the fruit OF Hesperdes 10 Hera, grew on
the wori-ree Itself In Greek legend the Garden OF
the Hesper.des was watched by the daughters Oh
Atlas who IL merely personhcation or the worh-
tree unfolding the heavens and these become In the
myth OF orion the Pleades. Whatever way one
turns one is treated TO phenomena OF the sky in
these tales Il is the sun. as Dr. Ernst krause
says who climbs daily the word-tree and SENDS
down treasured gifts to mortals; and he adds a
comparison OF the tale Of Jack and the Beahs'a'A
with that OF Polyphemus In rs more pTimitNe
form.-for example. the one preserved IN Dolo- |
pa thos" The Mannikln-for Jack OF the beansta.k |
and Jack OF giant-killng fame might well be Inn
personated by the redoubtable Tom Thumbs re-
ceiyed above by the mother OF the maneater' just
as happens TO the hero In the story OF the Devil and
the Three Golden Hairs and this act Of concealment
is INDISPENSABLE 10 a complete sun myth whether |
the device be transformation into the shape OF |
brute the donning OF womans cloak, refuge In a |
German oven. forced imprisonment In giants
cave The story Of Jack and the Beanstalk has a |
variation on the crying ring OF the
PoIyphemus saga. namely the golden harp; for |
when the Ntte man caught II up 1t began calling |
Master! MASTER and awoke the giant who would |
infalllby have overaken Jack II he had not been |
too tpsy 10 run.
But for IN" harp. one must really turn TO Japan
favorte deity in the Shinto Pantheon Is Susanowo.
whom his father. Izanagi the creator OF Japan In
tended to make ruler OF the sea But the young |
god wept over his lonesome domain I'LL his beard |
reached the pit OF his stomach. and his cutlery |
wthered the green mountains and dried up the !
rivers in their beds lie driven into exile. and
forthwith went 10 heaven TO visit his sister ANA
terasu, the goddess OF the sun. How he assembled |
the Shnto sacred hook "Kojiki'' falls to explain. |
II may be that aliusion TO the world-tree has |
been lost tale IL broken also in other places
In the fair fields OF heaven Susanowo played such |
tricks that Amaterasu went into an |
eclipse which threatened to be permanent and the |
gods TO the number OF eight hundred myriads held |
a council at which Amaterasu was persuaded 10 |
shine according to her former custom and Susanowo
,h. thar T.apda rnxrnn uof
far one would suppose. from the japanese Hades. |
on his way he obtained wife, like Perseus. by |
killing a dragon. and subsequently became re-
nowned for his wisdom. But neither In his case
nor In that OF his father. the Orpheus OF japanese
tradition Is the divine lutte mentioned. II is only