Kayikuna Tabuyo
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Malinowski, Bronislaw
“Moruborogu, Mosilava’u!”
“Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.
My prow-board, O fish-hawk, fall on thy prey, catch it.
This key expression, the invocation of the fish-hawk, is repeated with a string of words, denoting, first, the ornamental parts of the canoe; afterwards, certain of its constructive parts; and finally, the lime-pot, the lime stick, the comb, the paddles, the mats, the lilava (magical bundle), and the usagelu (members of the crew). The spell ends with the words:—
“I shall kula, I shall rob my Kula, etc.,” as in the previously given formula of the conch shell.
The first two words of this spell are personal names of men, as the initial syllable Mo- indicates, but no information about them was available. The allusion to the fish-hawk in the main part suggests a connection between the action of the rite, that is, the moving of the tabuyo, with this part of the spell, for the ornamental prow-boards are called synonymously buribwari (fish-hawk). On the other hand, the expression: “Fish-hawk, fall on thy prey,” is no doubt also a magical simile, expressing the idea: “As a fish-hawk falls on his prey and carries it off, so let this canoe fall on the Kula valuables and carry them off.” The association of this simile with the act of shaking the prow-boards is very suggestive. It may be an attempt to assimilate the whole canoe and all its parts to a fish-hawk falling on its prey, through the special mediation of the ornamental prow-board.
The spell recited by the toliwaga in the middle of the canoe runs thus:—