511 
P '8 e on and Friarbird Revisited 
^ a stern Sumbanese 
|^indi district; an abbreviated version of a text narrated 
y Kalambaru Mahangu and recorded by the author in 
. ln di, eastern Sumba, 1976. The longer version appeared 
ln Forth 1992.) 
Th 
, e earth was dry and the waters of the primeval flood 
a<a subsided, but daylight did not yet exist and it was 
?° nt inually dark. The Creator therefore created the sun, 
p t it was not very hot and not bright for very long. 
v erything was dark. He then created all the birds. He 
aae the friarbird (koka), and when it was nighttime he 
r a<ae the Imperial pigeon (rawa, or more specifically 
iVy <3 muku mu). “You Pigeon, you shall be the sign of 
e daylight,” said the Creator, “and you Friarbird, you 
a F be the sign of the dawn.” 
th ^ en it was night, and there was absolutely no light, 
^ Pigeon called “muku muku mu, in one year daylight 
appear.” he said. “Oh no” replied the Sumbanese 
, estors, “what are you doing, Pigeon? You have said 
^ YHght in one year’; we will not be able to see our way.” 
. 1 *be pigeon did not answer them. He just called out 
¡5 ln - “Muku muku muu,” he said, “daylight will appear 
tWo years!” 
k ^e ancestors then turned to the friarbird, asking 
fp to announce the appearance of daylight. But the 
ar bird said he was scared of the pigeon. The friarbird 
th e n . ascen ded to the place of the Creator, who told 
hj , lr( i what to do. Later, the ancestors called the two 
“Hp S to § et ber and instructed them to go and sit at the 
p^ad of the Earth” [the interior of eastern Sumba, where 
l he ° r r * Vers have their source]. Arriving at this place, 
again called out “muku muku muu, in one 
tijj '^ a ylight appear!” It was then the friarbird’s turn, 
a t rg Ura ged by the ancestors, he took flight, alighted in 
Aj^ 6 ' an d cried out “ku kau ku kau, daylight appear!” 
be daylight appeared, and it was dawn. 
deci a 6 ^ ar bird then seized the pigeon and he killed him, 
that the pigeon had not spoken correctly. The 
h^p lr<a ascended to the Creator to announce what had 
Ver ne< ^’ an d how he had made the daylight appear. 
Hq rf We11 ’" s& id the Creator, “now you shall be known as 
l he S| j r * ar bird], the sign of the dawn, the means by which 
e d i ma y rise, the means by which the earth is light 
en ' ^bus it is that, to the present, when the friarbird 
ta]];. ^ight will follow, but when the Imperial pigeon 
the S j' be the middle of the night. The friarbird is 
Pig e J: n the daylight, the herald of the dawn, and the 
Af athe sign of night. 
aa ce st er tPle friarbird killed the Imperial pigeon, the 
r ° as tcd and ate the bird at the Head of the 
Sk tplen became thirsty. As they had nothing to 
j n( j 16 ancestor named Umbu Walu Mandoku pricked 
Her e u! iln ® er an ^ caused a spring to appear. The place 
wlata \y 6 s P lan g arose has since that time been called 
p i§e 0n ] ^ la Rawa [Spring at the place of the Imperial 
Belu 
(Central Timor; from a German translation of a myth re 
corded in Waiwiku, Belu, by B. A. G. Vroklage, 1953/11: 
141.) 
The animals and humans together considered whether 
it would be better always to have light or one day of 
light and one day of darkness. The crow said “ka, ka, 
ka, night seven seven, light seven seven.” But the little 
berliku bird made the following proposal: “kiu kau, kiu 
kau, night one light one.” “After the day one night, after 
the day one night” cried the little bird continually. In the 
end, all agreed with this proposal. Humanity multiplied 
vigorously and spread all over the earth. 
Mambai 
(Eastern Timor; translated by David Hicks, 1997: 199, 
from a Portuguese text published in Pascoal, 1967: 212.) 
Friarbird and grey Pigeon, each in his own distinctive 
manner, expressed his preference as to how time should 
be divided. Repeating, successively, ko’a, ko’a, ko’a in 
the jerky fashion of someone who is always in a hurry 
and who never has enough time, Friarbird said “I desire 
one day and one night.” He wanted the day to quickly 
follow the night, and vice versa, as it is today. In his 
drawn-out, lethargic utterance, u’uuu, u’uuu, repeated 
only now and then, but with the sluggishness of someone 
who has plenty of time, grey Pigeon, well-fed and sleepy 
replied, “I want a night of one year’s duration followed 
by a normal day.” 
Ko’a, ko’a, ko’a Friarbird kept insisting, explaining 
his position to Pigeon, “Since you live at the top of the 
candrias tree, never failing to eat long-lasting almonds 
[or almond-like nuts], you never fail to eat. I feed on 
the nectar of flowers and from the juice of fruits which 
are of little duration. In order to procure them I must 
continually keep moving about in a perpetual circuit, 
without stopping.” 
This said, he went up to Pigeon and kicked him. 
Pigeon fell onto some moss. He remained the colour of 
the moss, he who before had been of another colour. If 
we continue to have day and night of equal intervals, it is 
because Friarbird won. 
Viqueque 
(Eastern Timor; free translation made by David Hicks 
2006: 573; see also Hicks 2004: 64f.) 
A long time ago there were two wild birds. One was 
called Crow. The other was called Friarbird. They were 
clearing rotten weeds from their garden when midday 
came and they returned home to eat. They roasted ba 
nanas and ate them, after which they poured out some