A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Men returning from a shell-money trade abandon a companion whose necklace surpasses theirs. Drifting in a lime gourd, he reaches a mountain beneath the rising stars. The morning star Maratomtom carries him into heaven, where he marries and has a son. He later descends by a long pandanus cord and reunites with his earthly family, who had mourned him. This journey precedes the transformation rather than making the traveller himself a bat.

He invites the former companions to a feast, bars their clubhouse exits and burns it. Their charred bodies, clinging to its roof, become flying foxes. The narrator connects their habit of high places and their cries with this killing and continuing pain. The tale supplies a violent origin for the animals’ appearance in the narrative; no additional predatory or magical powers are attributed to the resulting flying foxes.

Collective human-to-bat transformationRoof-clinging bodiesPain-linked cry
01

Origins & earliest records

Annie Ker, Papuan Fairy Tales (London: Macmillan, 1910), The Man who left Heaven, pp. 7–12.

02

Records & interpretation

Historical English collected narrative of bodily transformation and the origin of animal behaviour.

In the literature

“were changed into flying foxes”
Annie Ker, collector and English reteller; selected narrator unnamed · Papuan Fairy Tales
The Man who left Heaven, printed p.13

The abandoned traveller burns his former companions; their charred bodies become flying foxes.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Papuan Fairy Tales: The Man who left Heaven, pp. 7–12

    Annie Ker, collector and reteller · 1910

    Full selected tale ending; specific transformation distinct from living zoological species record.

  2. 02

    Papuan Fairy Tales — The Man who left Heaven

    Annie Ker, collector and English reteller; selected narrator unnamed · 1910

    London:Macmillan1910, title page and table of contents inspected in Wikisource scan-backed transcription. Introduction describes northeast-coast collection, mission residence, oral settings, tobacco exchanges and consultation of elders; individual narrators unnamed in these selected chapters.

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.

Papuan Fairy Tales: The Man who left Heaven, pp. 7–12

London:Macmillan1910, title page and table of contents inspected in Wikisource scan-backed transcription. Introduction describes northeast-coast collection, mission residence, oral settings, tobacco exchanges and consultation of elders; individual narrators unnamed in these selected chapters.

  1. Jealous trading companions abandon a man whose necklace surpasses theirs. He floats in a lime gourd to the mountain where stars rise; Magamaia and Deboroia refuse assistance, but the morning star Maratomtom helps him ascend. A celestial woman marries him and they have a son. Homesick, he lowers himself by a pandanus cord adorned with inferior shells, retaining the beautiful heavenly shells.

    The Man who left Heaven, printed pp.7–11

  2. He reaches his village coconut palm, where his earthly daughter recognises him. His mourning earthly wife welcomes and feeds him. He invites his betraying companions to a feast, locks the clubhouse and burns it. Their charred bodies cling to the roof and become flying foxes, whose cries are explained through their suffering.

    The Man who left Heaven, printed pp.11–13, earthly reunion and vengeance

Two refusing stars and one helper remain distinct; celestial marriage and shell-origin explanation belong to the collected tale, not astronomical or ethnographic proof. Earthly wife and daughter are distinct from celestial wife and son. The transformed companions are victims of his deliberate revenge; no claim that the tale establishes biological bat ancestry.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary collected narrativeKer 1910: The Man who left HeavenResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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