A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Dilingavuv steals ripe bananas while perched in their trees. He stretches his arms like a bat to frighten the armed men sent against him, until Marawhihi shoots away an ear. Returning to his mother’s house, he obtains an axe and carves a replacement from the root of a tree called Raw. The narrative gives the batlike gesture rather than expressly making him a bat.
His attempted revenge takes place at a dance. He conceals a deep pit beneath a leaf cloak and lures the dancers towards it with roasted chestnuts. Marawhihi and the others survive the heat of thrown stones, then escape by joining arrow shafts into a climbing line beneath an overhanging banyan. The story ends with their escape; it does not supply another transformation or a final death for Dilingavuv.
Origins & earliest records
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter XIX, III.1, pp. 373–375. His introduction credits islanders’ written manuscripts for these translated tales; specific individual writers are not supplied here.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected tale read in the public primary transcription, with printed-page markers retained. Descriptive profile titles are identified where the being is unnamed. The original page images have not been visually collated in this pass.
In the literature
“stretched out his arms like a bat”
ChapterXIX III.1 The Story of Dilingavuv, Torres Islands, pp373–375; p374; frightened attackers · R. H. Codrington
Banana thief Dilingavuv frightens attackers by stretching his arms like a bat. Marawhihi shoots off his ear; he survives and carves a replacement from a Raw tree root. The bat comparison does not by itself establish wing anatomy or species.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.1, pp. 373–375
Chapter introduction, p. 356, identifies the manuscript basis. Local story headings retained; collector judgments are not present community consensus.
- 02
The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford Clarendon Press1891, University of Toronto scan and OCR. Complete ChapterXIX III.1–4 selected bodies plus introductory provenance paragraph and Ghost-Wife editorial footnote independently read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford Clarendon Press1891, University of Toronto scan and OCR. Complete ChapterXIX III.1–4 selected bodies plus introductory provenance paragraph and Ghost-Wife editorial footnote independently read.
- Banana thief Dilingavuv frightens attackers by stretching his arms like a bat. Marawhihi shoots off his ear; he survives and carves a replacement from a Raw tree root. The bat comparison does not by itself establish wing anatomy or species.
- Dilingavuv lures the dance party into a concealed pit and throws heated stones down, believing he has killed them. Marawhihi keeps everyone clear of the stones, makes an arrow-chain ladder to a banyan branch and leads their escape. Dilingavuv’s own death is not narrated.
- Codrington says all these stories except the first were translated from islanders’ manuscripts written for him; the first Florida tale was recorded by A. Penny. No specific individual writer is supplied for this selected tale, and the introduction’s wider judgments are the collector’s views.
Island-specific tale retained. Unstated mechanisms, biological kinship and modern community consensus not invented. No song, prayer or ceremonial formula excerpts. Confirms declared transmission method, not an independently inspected original manuscript or specific oral narrator identity.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter XIX: Stories, III.1, pp. 373–375Research access: 2026-10-05
- Primary provenance statementCodrington’s Chapter XIX collection and translation statementResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.