CHAPTER XXI.
Among the Lali the religion of Shoozoo was preserved in greater purity. There had not been such a great departure from Shoozoo himself, as among the Ammi, where he was entirely lost in his symbols. Neither had there been so many splits and reformations. The Apes preserved the unity of the church better than the Men.
Instead, however, of losing Shoozoo in the Alligator, like the Ammi, and then losing the Alligator in the dragon-fly, and the dragon-fly in the cross, and the cross in the short beam of the cross, the Lali went to the opposite extreme of deifying and worshiping not only Shoozoo, but everything connected with him. Before one generation had passed Shoozoo’s wife, Simlee, was admitted to equal divinity with him, and it was known as the Shoozoo-Simlee religion. There was thus a male and female deity, or king and queen of heaven. Soon after this Shoozoo’s parents and children were likewise added to the divine family, and worshiped by the Apes.Next came the dart with which Shoozoo struck the moon, and finally the moon itself.
Everything was deemed sacred with which Shoozoo had to do, except the Alligator, which the Apes persistently refused to worship, because the Ammi had taken it up. They claimed, instead, that Shoozoo had killed the alligator in order to take the swallowed moon out of it. Many relics of the dead alligator, indeed, were furnished, and kept as a perpetual testimony to the achievements of Shoozoo, and as a rebuke to the unbelieving Ammi, who dared to worship it. These relics were worn as charms, and many cures were alleged to have been effected by them. Among others the gallant Oboo had been cured of a violent disease. The Swamp in which the Alligator was killed was deemed sacred, and in their devotions the Lali turned their faces to it. Water from this Swamp was likewise deemed sacred, and was always kept on the altars of the Apes, and great devotion was paid to it when exposed to the sight of the worshippers. Forty apes were once killed for sacrilege committed by spilling water, most of them for being mere witnesses of the outrage. A drop of Swamp water was put on every Ape’s head when he was born, and the ceremony was often repeated through life. This water was used in the consecration of their priests, and its application once turned the scales of war. Its appearance was consulted for omens, and it was invoked by monkeys when about to go after fruits. Bad luck was attributed to certain disturbances of it. Water-songs were the first specimens of music known to the Apes,and were always sung at exhibitions of water taken from the Swamp. The finest gourds and cocoanut vessels were made to hold this water, and the decoration of these was the first step taken in Sacred Art. Among the first pictures sketched were crude representations of a stream. They called their children after this water, such being the meaning of the common names among them. “Ilo” signifies “touched with water,” and “Oboo” means “Soaked.” Rainy days were deemed more sacred than clear ones, on account of their water, whose descent from the skies was taken as influences from Shoozoo. A flood was regarded as this god coming in disguise; and to be drowned was to be lost in Shoozoo. The Lali washed oftener than the Ammi, not for cleanliness, but on account of their devotion to water; and they would not kill a snake that was still wet. As long as anything, indeed, had upon it water from the great Swamp, it was supposed to be under the protection of Shoozoo. The Apes drank water before eating, and the last thing they did when dying was to drink. To be deprived of water for certain rites was the most serious affliction that could happen to an Ape, and a rebellion once broke out among the Lali because, when on a long march, their leader would not go out of the way to find a stream for ceremonial purposes.
But the refinements of ritual among the Lali were not confined to water, although at the time of which we speak the water rites had attained their greatest ascendancy. The Apes were accustomed to make pilgrimages to Cocoanut Hill where Shoozoo performed his greatexploits, which was regarded as Holy Ground, and there they often worshipped. It was the interference of the Ammi with these privileges that led to the quarrels between the Apes and the Men, of which we have spoken. The Ammi, however, claimed that the Apes came not for religious purposes, but to steal cocoanuts, and hence the reprisals already mentioned.
One of the rules of the Lali religion was to kill screech owls when the moon was quarter full, because it was at this period that Shoozoo had killed the owls of Cocoanut Hill, and all owl hunts were in commemoration of his great exploit. Another was to hide their darts for six days after this festival, because during this time Shoozoo rested from his hunt and needed no more owls. Another observance was to present snakes to one another at a certain period in honor of the great serpent which Shoozoo killed and presented to Simlee. For days before this festival the young monkeys were kept busy hunting snakes in the great Swamp. Another requirement was that on the day before Owl-hunt the Lali should walk upright as a preparation for the great festival, since on this day Shoozoo walked upright to aim at the moon. They were forbidden to take fish from the great Swamp on Snake Day, though they might then take them from other waters. No monkey must kill another during these festivals, as this right was reserved to the priests alone, who must, however, use their victims only in sacrifice.
Departure from these rules was punished by being plunged in the Great Swamp to wash away the guilt.The sinner was kept under as long as the celebrant deemed fit; and if he survived he was said to be reconciled to Shoozoo, and if not he was deemed incapable of purification and deservedly dead. There were other penalties for small offenders. Most of the offences among the Lali were religious violations, and the punishment was in the hands of the priests, which had much to do with the preservation of the unity of religion. Sin was recognized before wrong, nonconformity before crime, and ecclesiastical penalties before civil. Frequent attempts were made to throw off the tyranny of the priesthood, but the leaders of the revolt were quickly apprehended, and usually put to death with great tortures. Heresies were not infrequent among the Apes, who soon learned, however, that it was not policy to make them known. In general there was a remarkable unanimity among them—a greater degree than has since been known in religious affairs.
Among the maxims of the Lali, which were also current among the Ammi, (for, notwithstanding their religious differences, their morality was substantially the same), were the following:
Keep your snout in your own cocoanut.
Never bite off an ear in sport.
Stick to the tree you are climbing.
Don’t fight over what you don’t want.
Save what you can’t eat, remembering that you must eat again.
Don’t crack your cocoanuts on each other’s heads.
Half the time spent in washing that you spend in scratching would keep you more comfortable.
Don’t man the Ammi, (which among the Ammi reads, “Don’t ape the Lali.”)
Get up a tree rather than dispute the ground with a tiger.
If you don’t pick your neighbor’s fleas you will be bit by your own fleas.
After this digression on the religion and morality of the Lali, we will return to the affairs of the Ammi.