Long ago, when the moon was a man, he went fishing. He cut some stems of the dynamite plant which was used as a fish poison, tied them into bundles, hammered them, and threw them into the water. When the stupefied fish rose to the surface of the water moon speared them; then he slept. At daybreak, as he was eating his fish he sank down under the water.

An old woman went up, looked down into the water, and cried, "There are some fish down there dead; I shall swim for them." She went down but she turned back without getting any fish. Another old woman swam, but she too turned back. Then an old man swam, but he saw nothing. Another old man swam, and then another, and another, but they all saw nothing. One of the old men only bumped into one of his fellows. Then another tried. Then an old woman went into the water. Still another old woman went down, and then little boys and girls, but they did not see anything there. At length two young women went into the water. They found it [fish]. They peeped out of the water, but the moon seized them and began to rape them. He copulated and copulated with them; then he came up and said, "Look at me; I am pouring out my semen for you all." But an old man came and said, "This is bad"! And another old man came and he also said, "This is bad"! Still another came, and then old women, and after these other women, and young boys and children. Each in turn looked at the semen, but they all cried, "This is bad"!

At length moon spoke, "I shall eat it myself"! He picked up his own semen and swallowed it, and then cried, "You shall all die altogether. I shall lie down; I shall die, but I shall come up again. After that I shall rest, but each time I die I shall come back again." So, after the old moon dies he rests awhile, but the new moon always appears again later.²

²Thomson, D.F., n/an/an/an/a"Fatherhood in the Wik Monkan Tribe," Amer. Anth., N.S., 388–389.