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darwin and modern science-第63章

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But crowded as the prospect from Panopeus is with memories of the past; the place itself; now so still and deserted; was once the scene of an event even more ancient and memorable; if Greek story…tellers can be trusted。  For here; they say; the sage Prometheus created our first parents by fashioning them; like a potter; out of clay。  (Pausanias X。 4。4。  Compare Apollodorus; 〃Bibliotheca〃; I。 7。 1; Ovid; 〃Metamorph。〃 I。 82 sq。; Juvenal; 〃Sat〃。 XIV。 35。  According to another version of the tale; this creation of mankind took place not at Panopeus; but at Iconium in Lycaonia。  After the original race of mankind had been destroyed in the great flood of Deucalion; the Greek Noah; Zeus commanded Prometheus and Athena to create men afresh by moulding images out of clay; breathing the winds into them; and making them live。  See 〃Etymologicum Magnum〃; s。v。 〃'Ikonion〃; pages 470 sq。  It is said that Prometheus fashioned the animals as well as men; giving to each kind of beast its proper nature。  See Philemon; quoted by Stobaeus; 〃Florilegium〃 II。 27。  The creation of man by Prometheus is figured on ancient works of art。  See J。 Toutain; 〃Etudes de Mythologie et d'Histoire des Religions Antiques〃 (Paris; 1909); page 190。  According to Hesiod (〃Works and Days〃; 60 sqq。) it was Hephaestus who at the bidding of Zeus moulded the first woman out of moist earth。)  The very spot where he did so can still be seen。  It is a forlorn little glen or rather hollow behind the hill of Panopeus; below the ruined but still stately walls and towers which crown the grey rocks of the summit。  The glen; when I visited it that hot day after the long drought of summer; was quite dry; no water trickled down its bushy sides; but in the bottom I found a reddish crumbling earth; a relic perhaps of the clay out of which the potter Prometheus moulded the Greek Adam and Eve。  In a volume dedicated to the honour of one who has done more than any other in modern times to shape the ideas of mankind as to their origin it may not be out of place to recall this crude Greek notion of the creation of the human race; and to compare or contrast it with other rudimentary speculations of primitive peoples on the same subject; if only for the sake of marking the interval which divides the childhood from the maturity of science。

The simple notion that the first man and woman were modelled out of clay by a god or other superhuman being is found in the traditions of many peoples。  This is the Hebrew belief recorded in Genesis:  〃The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul。〃  (Genesis ii。7。)  To the Hebrews this derivation of our species suggested itself all the more naturally because in their language the word for 〃ground〃 (adamah) is in form the feminine of the word for man (adam)。  (S。R。 Driver and W。H。Bennett; in their commentaries on Genesis ii。 7。)  From various allusions in Babylonian literature it would seem that the Babylonians also conceived man to have been moulded out of clay。  (H。 Zimmern; in E。 Schrader's 〃Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament〃3 (Berlin; 1902); page 506。)  According to Berosus; the Babylonian priest whose account of creation has been preserved in a Greek version; the god Bel cut off his own head; and the other gods caught the flowing blood; mixed it with earth; and fashioned men out of the bloody paste; and that; they said; is why men are so wise; because their mortal clay is tempered with divine blood。  (Eusebius; 〃Chronicon〃; ed。 A。 Schoene; Vol。 I。 (Berlin; 1875); col。 16。)  In Egyptian mythology Khnoumou; the Father of the gods; is said to have moulded men out of clay。  (G。 Maspero; 〃Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l'Orient Classique〃; I。 (Paris; 1895); page 128。)  We cannot doubt that such crude conceptions of the origin of our race were handed down to the civilised peoples of antiquity by their savage or barbarous forefathers。  Certainly stories of the same sort are known to be current among savages and barbarians。

Thus the Australian blacks in the neighbourhood of Melbourne said that Pund…jel; the creator; cut three large sheets of bark with his big knife。  On one of these he placed some clay and worked it up with his knife into a proper consistence。  He then laid a portion of the clay on one of the other pieces of bark and shaped it into a human form; first he made the feet; then the legs; then the trunk; the arms; and the head。  Thus he made a clay man on each of the two pieces of bark; and being well pleased with them he danced round them for joy。  Next he took stringy bark from the Eucalyptus tree; made hair of it; and stuck it on the heads of his clay men。  Then he looked at them again; was pleased with his work; and again danced round them for joy。  He then lay down on them; blew his breath hard into their mouths; their noses; and their navels; and presently they stirred; spoke; and rose up as full…grown men。  (R。 Brough Smyth; 〃The Aborigines of Victoria〃 (Melbourne; 1878); I。 424。  This and many of the following legends of creation have been already cited by me in a note on Pausanias X。 4。 4 (〃Pausanias's Description of Greece; translated with a Commentary〃 (London; 1898); Vol V。 pages 220 sq。)。)  The Maoris of New Zealand say that Tiki made man after his own image。  He took red clay; kneaded it; like the Babylonian Bel; with his own blood; fashioned it in human form; and gave the image breath。  As he had made man in his own likeness he called him Tiki…ahua or Tiki's likeness。  (R。 Taylor 〃Te Ika A Maui; or New Zealand and its Inhabitants〃; Second Edition (London; 1870); page 117。  Compare E。 Shortland; 〃Maori Religion and Mythology〃 (London; 1882); pages 21 sq。)  A very generally received tradition in Tahiti was that the first human pair was made by Taaroa; the chief god。  They say that after he had formed the world he created man out of red earth; which was also the food of mankind until bread…fruit was produced。  Further; some say that one day Taaroa called for the man by name; and when he came he made him fall asleep。  As he slept; the creator took out one of his bones (ivi) and made a woman of it; whom he gave to the man to be his wife; and the pair became the progenitors of mankind。  This narrative was taken down from the lips of the natives in the early years of the mission to Tahiti。  The missionary who records it observes:  〃This always appeared to me a mere recital of the Mosaic account of creation; which they had heard from some European; and I never placed any reliance on it; although they have repeatedly told me it was a tradition among them before any foreigner arrived。  Some have also stated that the woman's name was Ivi; which would be by them pronounced as if written 〃Eve〃。  〃Ivi〃 is an aboriginal word; and not only signifies a bone; but also a widow; and a victim slain in war。  Notwithstanding the assertion of the natives; I am disposed to think that 〃Ivi〃; or Eve; is the only aboriginal part of the story; as far as it respects the mother of the human race。  (W。 Ellis; 〃Polynesian Researches〃; Second Edition (London; 1832); I。 110 sq。  〃Ivi〃 or 〃iwi〃 is the regular word for 〃bone〃 in the various Polynesian languages。  See E。 
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