I shall become invisible, I shall become as a wind eddy, etc,’ are all rather picturesque, concrete descriptions of surpassing speed. They present also a linguistic symmetry and singularity. The prefix ba- is the form of the future or potential tense, which I have literally translated ‘might,’ but which stands here for ‘shall.’ The formative prefix yo- is a causative, and stands for ‘become as’ or ‘become like.’ Then follows the root: kokoba- ‘smoke which trails in clouds above a burning garden.’ Hence the expression bayokokoba, in its full concrete meaning, could be translated: ‘I shall become like clouds of trailing smoke.’ Again, boyowaysula in its full meaning could be translated: ‘I shall become invisible as distant spray.’ The only abstract word in this list is tamwa’u, which literally means, ‘to disappear.’ So, in this tapwana, the list consists of a number of formally similar words, each expressing the same general meaning in a concrete metaphorical manner. The length of the whole tapwana (main body) of the spell can be imagined, since in the middle between its two sections the u’ula is recited once more.
The last part of this spell, the dogina, contains an explicit allusion to the Kudayuri myth and to several geographic localities, which are mentioned in that myth. It also shows the usual crescendo, characteristic of the conclusions of a spell. The final results are anticipated in exaggerated, forceful language.
V
So much about the wayugo spell. I shall adduce now another spell of a somewhat