Summary
The brothers went on. When they arrived at the shore of the main island, Atu'a'ine said: “Aturamo'a, how shall we go? Shall we look towards the sea?” Said Aturamo'a; “O, no, let us look towards the jungle.” Aturamo'a went ahead, deceiving his brother, for he was a cannibal. He wanted to look towards the jungle, so that he might eat men. Aturamo'a went ahead, and his eyes turned towards the jungle. Atu'a'ine turned his eyes, looked over the sea, he spoke: “Why did you deceive me, Aturamo'a? Whilst I am looking towards the sea, you look towards the jungle.” Aturamo'a later on returned and came towards the sea. He spoke, “Good, you Atu'a'ine, look towards the sea, I shall look to the jungle!” This man, who sits near the jungle, is a cannibal, the one who sits near the sea is good.
Trobriand Island mythThe Trobriand Island myth of the two brothers was told to Malinowski as an explanation for why some of the peoples of the kula ring are cannibals and others are not. The association between the jungle and cannibalism, on the one hand, and between the sea and abstention from human flesh, on the other, is similar to another myth in which two sisters settle down on an island. One of them faces toward the noncannibal people of the north and she is said to be averse to cannibalism.
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- Information
- Divine HungerCannibalism as a Cultural System, pp. ix - xivPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1986