パラオの歴史と伝説

石になったウンゲルミッドの女 コロールのウンゲルミッドにひとりの若い娘が住んでいた。その子は、バイ(男だけの集会所)の中で男達は一晩中、一体なにをしているんだろうといつも不思議に思っていた。当時、女はアバイの中で行われていることを知ることはおろか、バイのある敷地の入り口に近寄ることも禁じられていた。

ジュゴンの誕生 In the old days of Palau, long ago, there was a superstitious belief that a child born during a certain phase of the moon would bring bad luck and so must be put to death before the trouble struck. Well this happened. Only, in this case the mother refused to have her baby killed. She announced they would both go before that could happen. When the men from the village chased her out, she ran to the dock and jumped in. Folks say she was changed to the dugong. There are many in Palau waters and they nurse their babies because they are mammals also. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

BIRD WITH A LIGHT Near the village of Ngesar lives a kind of bird which carries a tiny light at night. Many people still see these birds when its dark. The story goes that people lost in the jungle may follow one of these birds to safety, or if a canoe overturns at night a fisherman will be led safely back to the shore. In the village, when the children go out to play in the dark after dinner, the birds will light their way and even play with them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

OWLS OF OLLEI In the municipality of Ollei, the legend is told of the first sighting of owls. One day, one appeared in a palm tree and made a funny noise. Then another came and still another. The villagers fearing the birds were a bad omen, fled in their canoes. Out on the lagoon they met other folks from nearby villages who told the same story. While they were all discussing their situation of what to do and where to go, an old man came out in his canoe to ask what the problem was. They told him and he answered that they had owls in their villages and this meant only good things would happen. So everyone went home to their village and lived with the owl everafter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOW PALAU WAS FORMED In the beginning a son was born to a man and his wife on an islet in the sea. The son grew so rapidly and ate so much the parents could not feed him so everyone in the community helped feed him. He grew larger and larger and they built a bai over him to keep off sun and rain. Soon he was so large the bai no longer covered him and he devoured all of the food on the island because he was higher than the coconut and breadfruit trees. In despair the people and their chief decided they must destroy this ravenous giant, so the chief informed the mother, who, though she wept, agreed that it should be done. They killed him with their spears. Parts of huge body became islands of Palau as we see them today. The feet became Anguar, the legs Peleliu, the body Babelthaup, the head Kyangel and the arms, hands and fingers became all of the smaller islets. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

TIME OF THE TURTLE In Palau the women folk use a special money made from turtle shell. Long ago no one knew the habits of turtles, so this source of shell was by chance. On a night of the new moon a youth from Peleliu and maiden from Arakabesang held a tryst on Ngemlis Island. They walked away into the night. Next morning when she awoke, the girl found the back part of her skirt missing and turtle tracks beside her sleeping place. She fashioned a new skirt of palm fronds and agreed with her lover to meet there again at full moon. During the second meeting they observed a turtle coming up the beach. Entangled on one of its fins was the missing part of the lost skirt. This was how the men of Palau knew that if a turtle has left a deposit of eggs on the beach, it will be back in fourteen or fifteen days. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE STONE MONEY OF YAP In ancient times the men of Yap, in the Caroline Islands traveled great distances exploring. During these explorations they discovered deposits of a fine grade of crystalline limestone in caves of the rock islands two hundred and fifty miles south in Belau. This material was ideally suited for carving their disk shaped money, for which they became famous. For centuries the Yapese sent their canoes and men to carve and transport these huge heavy coins. Value was assessed to each coin by the quality of its limestone, and its weight which determined the amount of effort and risk in acquiring and transporting it. Often enough the lives of men were lost at sea in storms; many canoes overturned and dumped their valuable cargo into deep water. This may be evidenced outside a cave where giant pieces lie in the crystal clear water. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN OLDER MOTHER'S WISH On the island of Babelthaup an older woman had a little girl. The woman saw that she was older than most mothers so she went to the mountain pool of youth and jumped in. When she came out she was young and beautiful, but the little girl wanted nothing to do with someone who was not her mother. In despair the mother jumped in again and came out her real self. The little girl was delighted, and the mother accepted reality. -------------------------------------------------------------------------