similar tale, with a
similar incident, is told in Annam. They say that Ngoc hoang sent a
messenger from heaven to men to say that when they had reached old age
they should change their skins and live for ever, but that when serpents
grew old they must die. The messenger came down to earth and said,
rightly enough, "When man is old, he shall cast his skin; but when
serpents are old, they shall die and be laid in coffins." So far, so
good. But unfortunately there happened to be a brood of serpents within
hearing, and when they heard the doom pronounced on their kind they fell
into a fury and said to the messenger, "You must say it over again and
just the contrary, or we will bite you." That frightened the messenger
and he repeated his message, changing the words thus: "When he is old,
the serpent shall cast his skin; but when he is old, man shall die and
be laid in the coffin." That is why all creatures are now subject to
death, except the serpent, who, when he is old, casts his skin and lives
for ever.[81] The natives of Vuatom, an island in the Bismarck
Archipelago, say that a certain To Konokonomiange bade two lads fetch
fire, promising that if they did so they should never die, but that if
they refused their bodies would perish, though their shades or souls
would survive. They would not hearken to him, so he cursed them, saying,
"What! You would all have lived! Now you shall die, though your soul
shall live. But the iguana (_Goniocephalus_) and the lizard (_Varanus
indicus_) and the snake (_Enygrus_), they shall live, they shall cast
their skin and they shall live for evermore." When the lads heard that,
they wept, for bitterly they rued their folly in not going to fetch the
fire for To Konokonomiange.[82]

[Sidenote: Nias story of immortality, the crab, and death. Arawak and
Tamanachier stories of immortality, the serpent, the lizard, the beetle,
and death.]

Other peoples tell somewhat different stories to explain how men missed
the boon of immortality and serpents acquired it. Thus the natives of
Nias, an island off the coast of Sumatra, say that, when the earth was
created, a certain being was sent down by God from heaven to put the
last touches to the work of creation. He should have fasted for a month,
but unable to withstand the pangs of hunger he ate some bananas. The
choice of food was most unlucky, for had he only eaten river-crabs
instead of bananas men would have cast their skins like crabs and would
ne