Why
the Moon Has Shadows on Her Face
(A Tale from Fiji)
There was once a god named Takei, and it was the
custom for people to bring him offerings of fish. One day, being angry at having
so small a quantity of fish presented to him, he made up his mind to ensnare
the moon and extinguish her light by splashing her with salt water. This would
be a great hindrance to the fishermen, who often went fishing by moonlight.
When his mother heard of his intention she was very
upset, and she determined to do all she could to prevent such a calamity. She
knew it would be useless to oppose her son openly, so she moaned and cried as
if the thought of this plan filled her with great grief.
“Oh, what will the king of Rewa do when he orders his
fishermen to go fishing?" she wailed. "There will be no midnight lamp
for them. And what will the king of Bau do? There will be no light for either
his fishermen or for the king of Nayau's men.”
In the midst of all this lamentation she managed
artfully to get hold of the long bamboos that the god had filled with sea water
in order to destroy the moon. Pouring off the salt, she refilled the bamboos
with fresh water and replaced them without being seen, and she chuckled to
herself at the thought of outwitting her son.
Takei then ordered a trap to be prepared. It was made
from the branches of a gigantic tree, and very large, and baited with most
tempting food.
By and by crowds of spectators arrived, all eager to
see what would happen. As the moon, full of curiosity, left her usual position
in the sky and came lower and lower toward the trap, the people held their
breath with excitement. When at last the moon was caught, Takei ran up with his
bamboos, thinking that he would put out her light forever with the salt water.
He was indeed surprised and very angry to find that
the water did not harm her at all, and that she managed to escape from his snare.
 |
| The Moon |
It seems that the moon, accustomed all her life to
rain, was unharmed by the fresh water, as Takei's old mother knew quite well.
The dark places on her surface, the people say, are the smears of mud that were
left on her while she was in the trap and have remained there ever since.
Source:
Tales
from the South Pacific Islands
Anne
Gittins
1977
Pages:
28 - 29
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