Excerpt from The Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1928, Vol. 27
Conspicuous among the very striking features of primitive mythologies is the ingenious way in which tales are employed to explain the various facts and fancies familiar to primitive folk. In our own European folk-tales this Function has been to some degree lost; and in the cases where "explanations of phenomena" are a part of our folk-tales, the explanations themselves sometimes concern rather trifling things. For an example I might mention "The Story of the Straw, the Coal, and the Bean," - a favorite in Grimm's familiar "Household Talcs," - which tells why the bean to-day has a curious scam around it.1 With primitive folk the case is otherwise. In connection, perhaps, with a more solemn attitude toward folk-lore of all sorts, we find a large number of stories devoted to the explanation of serious matters, and we find such explanations treated with respect. I should like to give as an example one that is often quoted, from the folk-lore of British Columbia.
The Black Bear and the Chipmunk once contended against each other, the former for darkness, the latter for light. The Bear cried, "Lipa, Lipa, L.ipa!" and the Chipmunk, "Ma'a, ina'a, ma'a!" The Bear, finding that the Chipmunk was his equal in the possession of magic powers, finally became enraged, and would have killed his adversary: but the Chipmunk was too quick for him, and ran into his hole just as the Bear made a dash for him. The Bear scratched the Chipmunk when going into his hole. This is the origin of the present stripes on the chipmunk's back. If the Bear had managed to kill the Chipmunk, we should have had eternal darkness instead of day and night, as we have at present.
This myth has the outward appearance of having been devised to account for certain definite facts.
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