Note 7 — Chapter VI · THE INTERPRETATION OF ANDAMANESE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS: MYTHS AND LEGENDS

There is one point that is not very plain in the Akar-Bale version, but I think we must take it that Da Teŋat was disgusted at his lack of success in fishing. His irritation was not diminished but rather increased by the fact that he did succeed in procuring one small and worthless fish. His shooting of the arrows must be regarded, I think, as the result of his anger. He might be supposed to address his arrows as follows: “You have not succeeded in hitting any fish at which I aimed you; let me see if you can hit anything on your own account, when I take no aim.” In this way he was led to the discovery of the yam, the resin and the cicada, for though it is not explicit, it is evident that it was the third arrow that led him to the cicada. His irritation was not yet appeased however, and he crushed the cicada, thus bringing darkness over the world. We must infer that he was aware of what he was doing, for as soon as he had discovered the yam and the resin he learnt their names and thereby learnt all there was to know about them and their properties, and we must suppose that he similarly learnt the name of the cicada, and that to injure it would cause darkness. In the Aka-Bea legend recorded by Mr Man it is expressly stated that the ancestors who performed the actions that led to the first darkness did so because they were annoyed by the continuous heat of the sun7.