Take another illustration. With the exception of the mountain plantain (Musa uranospatha) all the bananas have their bunches of fruit hanging downwards towards the earth, like a bunch of grapes.
The plantain shoots up its bunch of fruit erect towards the heavens. As the reason of this, we are told that of old all the bananas held their heads erect, but they quarrelled with the plantain, fought, were beaten, and, ever since, have hung their heads in token of their defeat, whereas the plantain is erect still, and the symbol of its own victory.
6. They have a number of other fabulous stories referred to in proverbial language in daily use. Take the story of the fowl and the turtle. A fowl made her headquarters over a rock from which a cool spring of fresh water ran out into the adjacent stream. One day a turtle made its appearance. It was enjoying the cool fresh bath, and rising now and then to look about, when it was addressed roughly by the fowl: "Who are you?" "I am a turtle." "Where have you come from?" "From the hot salt sea." "What are you doing here?" "Bathing, and enjoying the fine cool fresh water." "Be off, this is my water." "No, it is mine as much as it is yours." "No, it is mine, and you must be off." "No I won't. I have as much right to be here as you." "Well, then," said the fowl, "let us decide in this way which of us will have it. Let each of us go away, and whoever is first here in the morning shall have the right to the spring." "Let it be so," said the turtle, "I'm off to the briny sea; you go away to the village."
The turtle was back from the sea, up the river, and at the spring, very early in the morning. The fowl thought there was no need to hurry, as she could with one bound on her wings be at the rock; and so she roosted till the sun was rising, and then flew over to the rock, but there was the turtle before her! "You are there, I see," said the fowl. "Yes, I am," replied the turtle, "and the spring is mine." And hence the proverb applied to the lazy and the late: "Here comes the fowl, the turtle is before you!"
7. Here is another of these fabulous stories:—There were three friends, a rat, a snipe, and a crab. They thought they would like to look about them on the sea, and so decided to build a canoe and go out on a short cruise. They did so, and when the canoe was ready off they went. The snipe pulled the first paddle, the crab the second, and the rat steered. A squall came on, and the canoe upset. The snipe flew to the shore, the crab sank and escaped to the bottom, and the rat swam. The rat was soon fatigued, but an octopus came along, and from it the rat implored help. "Come on my back," said the octopus. The rat was only too happy to do so. By-and-by the octopus said: "How heavy you are! my back is getting painful." "Yes," said the rat, "I drank too much salt water when I was swimming there; but bear it a little longer, we shall soon be at the shore."
When the octopus reached the shore off ran the rat into the bush. The octopus felt the pain still, however, and now discovered that the rat had been gnawing at the back of its neck. The octopus was enraged, called all his friends among the owls to assemble, and begged them to pursue and destroy the rat. They did so, caught it, killed it, and ate it, but there was hardly a morsel for each, they were so many. And hence the proverb in exhorting not to return evil for good:—"Do not be like the rat with the octopus, evil will overtake you if you do."
8. Here is a story of Toa and Pale, or Hero and Helper.
The King of Fiji was a savage cannibal, and the people were melting away under him. Toa and Pale were brothers, they wished to escape being killed for the oven, and so fled to the bush and became trees. It was only the day before a party were to go to the woods to search for a straight tree from which to make the keel of a new canoe for the king. They knew this, and so Pale changed himself into a crooked stick overrun with creepers, that he might not be cut by the king's carpenters, and advised Toa to do the same. He declined, however, and preferred standing erect as a handsome straight tree.
The party in search of a keel went to the very place, liked the look of Toa, and decided to cut it down. They cut, and Toa was felled to the ground, but Pale, who was close by, immediately raised him up again. The carpenters were confounded—cut again—but it was just the same. They persevered, and the cutting, falling, and rising again, went on till night fell, when they gave it up. After they left Toa said to Pale, "What a Toa (trouble) I have been to you!" and hence the proverb to this day, when a person or thing has been a trouble to another, he says to the sufferer in a sympathising or apologetic tone: "What a Toa it has been to you!"
9. The following are a few more of these proverbs, but stated more briefly.