capt log #4 2010

Diving for Pune

According to the guide books and National Geographic the young men of Pentecost risk their lives by diving off a tower to insure a good Sweet Potato crop. That doesn’t make much sense in our world and after several conversations with the young men of Pentecost it doesn’t make much sense to them either.

The real reason they risk life and limb is the same driving force that causes men to do dumb-ass things all over the world, its all about the Pune.

It seems that this all got started with a lovers spat that had the girl and boy in a tree, she dived out of the tree and he followed, she didn’t tell him she had a vine tied to her foot, so he died. Somehow this evolved into a tradition. Early on they decided the maidens didn’t look their best hanging upside down in their grass skirts, so the men dressed up in penis wraps and took over the job.

The breakaway sections that allow men to survive this test is made of two limbs forming a Y that represent the female legs and a 3rd limb in between that represents the male penis. As the man jumps and the vines become taunt, it pushes the penis stick into the Y until the penis stick breaks (That is the way it is told,). The young men survive most of the time, and the young ladies are VERY impressed.

Sometime Black Magic is involved with tragic results and that’s a story that I don’t understand enough to tell about.

jim