The original article had a lot of small drawings of animals, perhaps drawn by Beche, the Carib boy, a PDF copy of the article is here.
How the
Animals Were Made
By
A. Hyatt Verrill
From Everyland
magazine, Sept. 1918; researched by Alan Schenker; digitized by Doug Frizzle
Mar. 2012.
The
following story is one that Carib mothers
tell to their boys and girls. The
Caribs are Indians who formerly lived in Central America and the West Indies.
When the white men came to their country, they
killed or captured most of the
Caribs, and now a handful of people is all that remains of the ancient race.
WHEN
Tuminkar, the creator, had made the earth and waters, the
rivers and the land, all the forests and the
mountains, the plants, the fruits, and the
flowers, he tossed the remaining
bits of leaves and blossoms and
twigs into the air. As he did so, he
gave life to them, and they became insects. The flowers became butterflies;
the leaves became grasshoppers and
similar things; the twigs and bits of
earth became beetles, bugs, scorpions, and other
crawling things; while the grains of
sand became the ants.
Then,
taking a bit of clay, Tuminkar modeled it with a head and body and eyes, but he
could not make good legs; so, tossing it into the
river, he said, "You are too ugly to be seen; go live out of sight in the mud." Thus the
manatee was made.
Again
Tuminkar tried to make a creature, but still he was not successful. Each piece
of clay that he formed was cast into the
river and became a fish.
At
last, Tuminkar made the snakes and
serpents, and by adding legs, he made the
frogs and toads. But they were still
ugly things, until Tuminkar tried adding a tail and thus made the lizard. He was pleased at the
result and made them larger and
larger, first the solenodon, then the iguana,
and finally the alligator. Then
he said to himself, "There must be some
one to rule all these creatures. Why
should I not make something in my
own form which they will know as the ruler of them
all?" And so it came about that Tuminkar made men and women and gave them
greater knowledge than all other
creatures; but at first they were
friendly with all things and ate only the
fruits and seeds and roots which Tuminkar had provided.
Having
made man and woman, Tuminkar decided
to make other creatures to live upon
the earth with them, for the
man and woman found the toads, the
frogs, the lizards, and the serpents, dull and ugly creatures, while the insects flew away or stung them and the
fishes could not leave the waters to
be with them.
As
Tuminkar fashioned the new
creatures, he gave them voices and
calls and asked each where he preferred to dwell and what he would choose to
eat. Then, according to their
choice, he gave them teeth, claws,
and colors.
The
first creature he made was the
monkey, for Tuminkar had just finished the
man and his fingers unconsciously moulded the
clay into a shape like the man.
Then, in order that the monkey might
be easily distinguished from man, he
gave him a tail and a coat of hair.
The
monkey was so proud of being like man that he strutted about on the ground and could not make up his mind where to
live or what to eat; therefore,
while he waited for the answer,
Tuminkar went ahead with the next
beast, the jaguar.
When
the jaguar was asked where he would
dwell and what he would eat, he glanced about, and seeing the monkey, exclaimed, "I will live on the ground and eat other
creatures." With that, he sprang at the
monkey. But the jaguar had not yet
been given claws and teeth; so the
monkey slipped from him and leaped
into the nearest tree, screaming,
"I will live in the trees and
eat fruit.” Here, feeling safe, he chattered at the
jaguar and threw fruit at him, and
these, striking the jaguar's yellow coat, left black marks, which
you may still see. To this day the
monkeys chatter when they see the jaguar, and the
jaguars love monkey meat better than any other
food.
Next Tuminkar made the deer, while the
jaguar and the monkey watched. When the deer was finished, he looked at the trees and seeing the
monkey so like a man he feared to live there.
Then, glancing upon the ground, he
saw the jaguar with his cruel teeth
and claws. But the deer was fleet of
foot and felt sure that he could outrun the
jaguar and would be safer on the
ground than in the trees; so he said
in a very low voice, "I will live on the
ground and eat grass." Then Tuminkar gave him his teeth and his hoofs and
turned him loose. Instantly the
jaguar sprang at him; but the deer
was almost out of reach and the
jaguar's teeth closed upon the
deer's tail, biting a bit of it off and leaving two white edges where the sharp fangs scraped along.
Next Tuminkar made the wild hogs, or peccaries. The hog, when
asked where he would like to live, replied, "Make more of us, that we may
consult together where best to live
and feed." So Tuminkar made more hogs, and consulting together, they
decided they would live in the forest and eat roots. As there
were many of them, the jaguar feared to attack them,
and grunting they ran unmolested
into the forest. Ever since that
time wild hogs always have lived together
in herds.
Then Tuminkar made the labba, or paca. The labba chose to live
on the ground, for his short legs
and heavy body would not do for climbing trees. As he waddled off, the jaguar sprang upon him, but the labba rolled into the
river and the jaguar let go of his
hold, and you may still see the
white marks of his claws upon the
labba's sides and back.
Tuminkar next made the kinkajou. As he formed him, the monkey cried out that all the
beasts were choosing the ground and
he would be left alone in the trees;
so because Tuminkar's ears were filled with the
monkey's words, he absent-mindedly formed the
kinkajou partly like a monkey. As soon as the
kinkajou was finished, and before Tuminkar could ask him where he would live, the monkey screamed, "Say you will live in the trees and eat fruit." Then, being a very
greedy creature and fearing there
might not be enough for two, he added "and insects and honey." The
kinkajou still lives with the
monkeys in the trees and eats fruits
and insects and honey.
When Tuminkar began to make the agouti, he was interrupted by the monkey, who wanted another
companion. Tuminkar became angry
this time, and raising his hand, he threw a bit of clay at the monkey. Now this happened to be the clay for the
agouti's tail and so the agouti has
always had to do without a tail.
After the
agouti, Tuminkar made the tapir, and
as the monkey looked on from the
trees and saw the great beast taking
form, he said to himself, 'Suppose that fellow should decide to live in the trees. He is so big and heavy, he will break the branches, and to fill his big stomach would take all the
fruit. Of course, he should live on the
ground; but if he sees that hungry jaguar, he never will."
But the
monkey was afraid to call down to the
tapir, as he had done to the
kinkajou, for fear Tuminkar would throw clay at him, and, thought he,
"Suppose it should strike me; it would be a great nuisance to have a tail
or a leg sticking out of my head or my back."
So seeing Tuminkar was busy, the monkey climbed down from
the tree, and getting out of sight
behind the tapir's back, he
whispered in his ear, "Don't say anything." When Tuminkar asked the tapir his choice, the
creature was silent for, thought he, "This fellow whispering in my ear is
so like a man he must know more than I." Again Tuminkar asked the question, but once more the
monkey whispered, "Don't answer," and again the
tapir was silent.
Then Tuminkar became vexed
and cried out, "You are a stupid beast. Go live where you please and eat
what you can get. Be off with you!" So saying, he grasped a stick and
struck the tapir across the rump. The stick, hitting the
tapir's new-made tail, broke it off; so today the
tapir lives on the ground and is
silent, while he eats leaves from the trees as well as grass and weeds, and has but a stump
of a tail.
Tuminkar saw the monkey scrambling away and guessed he had been
up to mischief. Becoming disgusted
with the choices of the creatures, he exclaimed, "None of you know
what is best for yourselves; so hereafter I'll leave you no choice, but settle the matter myself." "And as for you,"
he continued, addressing the monkey,
"you're a meddler and a
mischievous fellow; but I'll soon settle that."
So
he made the ocelot, and
giving him sharp teeth and claws, he said to him, "Go after that rascally
monkey. If you cannot catch him for your food hunt on the
ground." The ocelot sprang after the
monkey, but the latter had been
listening and leaped off and the
ocelot's fresh coat was rubbed and blurred and streaked in spots, as he knocked
against the branches while chasing the monkey. So, even to-day the
ocelot is the monkey's enemy, but
when he cannot catch him, he feeds on other
creatures on the ground.
So
Tuminkar continued to make the
animals. He made the coati and the raccoon, the
opossum, and the hacka, the fox and the
rat, the otter and the squirrel, and many other
creatures. At last nearly all the
claws were used, and when he came to the
sloths, he could spare but three claws for one and two for the other
for fear none would be left for the
other animals. Then he found he had
used the last of the teeth; so, when he made the
anteater, he was obliged to let them
go without teeth. But he placed so much hair on the
ant-bear that none was left, and as he had no teeth and only a few claws, he
made the birds, giving them feathers
instead of fur and hair, and beaks in place of teeth, and two legs in order to
save claws.
Finally
only a lump of dirty clay and a few claws were left. Tuminkar formed these into the
armadillo; but it was such a naked, helpless thing that he took pity
upon it. Rising, he took the basket
which had contained the clay, and
clapping it over the armadillo, he
exclaimed, "You have no teeth with which to bite and no hair to protect
you; so live in holes in the earth
and hide yourself beneath the basket
when you come forth."
To
this day, the armadillo lives in a
burrow and never is seen without the
basket-like covering on his back.
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