[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

THE AMBAT, KABAT, AND HAMBAT _625
A tale very similar to this is' given in Appendix B, where
however. there are only two children, a boy and'a girl, and their
father, the Ambat of Iumoran, is called Ito-sornbon (" Heexists
alone "), which name seems to imply the non~cxistence of the
tour brothers and suggests that the myth does not belong to
the other Ambat myths.
Several problems arise out of the story as it is recounted
above. In the ï¬Årst place, whence comes the Naairi tree? 1 Again,
who is Atan? He is a ï¬Ågure who does not appear in any other
myths. And who is the woman to Whom the mberea was given ?
But the most fundamental problem is whether this is to be
regarded as a native myth or whether it is only the Old Testament
story of Adam and Eve modiï¬Åed to suit its new cultural setting.
If this were so, it would be natural for the part of Jehovah to be
played by Ambat‘ This seems especially possible when we
consider the other vcrsion of the story in which there are only
two children. These are a boy and a girl ; the girl ï¬Årst succumbs
to temptation and then persuades the boy to eat. The mention
of clothes, too, in the tale as given above suggests something
not wholly indigenous. It is generally recognized that the Ambat
were white people, and at their advent the Europeans were
called Ambal. It is therefore not surprising that European clothes
should he attributed to the original Ambat, but elsewhere the
statementis made that the Anibal were notlike’ ordinary white
men, but like albinos, and that they (lid not wear clothes like
the white man's, while yet another note states that Lindanda
wore a white mat skirt such as is worn to-day by the women of
Seniang. Nevertheless, it is possible that the forfeiting of the
clothes by the disobedient children and substituting the penis
sheath and mat for thorn may have no relation to the garment
of ï¬Åg leaves, and be only a way of emphasizing their difference
from their Ambat father just as their change of colour
emphasizes it.“
1 Lnyard (216) in the version of uni story which he collected calls the
tree via-awi, ind describes it as having n Téd, edible fruit. rt is doubtless tiio
same as the Mn»; oi Dencmfs notes. It will be noted ciint it is this species 0!
geejgvhéah is one oi the totems oi the clan whose gong-rhythm is flllui inmop.-
' -IA story closely resembling the second version, in whichithe iniit is eaten
only byahny and n gi'l,WaS collected by Layard (pp. 215-16]. It contains slight
variations and additions, $8, for instance, the stlbement that the old i-nnn who
tempted the children was 1 snake (no-ma!) in disguise, and n description is given
of mo ornaments or high rank wnioii he wore. Lnyard Wu not told the names
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