Page:Psychology of the Unconscious (1916).djvu/296

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producing the scheme which Frobenius has constructed from numberless myths of this sort:

To devour

West East

W-E movement—(sea journey)

{Heat-hair {To slip out {To open {To land

Sea journey

To set on fire or To cut off the heart

Frobenius gives the following legend to illustrate this:


"A hero is devoured by a water monster in the West (to devour). The animal carries him within him to the East (sea journey). Meanwhile, he kindles a fire in the belly of the monster (to set on fire) and since he feels hungry he cuts off a piece of the hanging heart (to cut off the heart). Soon after he notices that the fish glides upon the dry land (to land); he immediately begins to cut open the animal from within outwards (to open) then he slides out (to slip out). In the fish's belly, it had been so hot, that all his hair had fallen out (heat-hair). The hero frequently frees all who were previously devoured (to devour all) and all now slide out (slip out)."


A very close parallel is Noah's journey during the flood, in which all living creatures die; only he and the life guarded by him are brought to a new birth. In a Melapolynesian legend (Frobenius) it is told that the hero in the belly of the King Fish took his weapon and cut open the fish's belly. "He slid out and saw a splendor, and he sat down and reflected. 'I wonder where I am,' he said. Then the sun rose with a bound and turned from

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