The Man Who Married a Dolphin

The Man Who Married a Dolphin

(A Tale from Tuvalu)

The most common dolphin in Tuvalu is the Bottlenose Dolphin, which normally swims ashore and in the lagoons. It relates to a story from the island of Niutao long before the discovery of Tuvalu.

Niutao Island

The story of a young man who married a dolphin. This young man had a plantation of young coconut trees, and one morning he found out that some coconut trees (white young leaves) have been all cut. Few weeks later the same thing happened.

This man then began to investigate but unfortunately he did not manage to find the intruder(s). Few weeks later the same thing happened again, but this time he realized that it happens during the full moon.

On the next full moon, before sunset, he hides in his plantation. He waited and saw the moon was rising from the horizon, then he heard voices of young women and men. They came straight to his plantation and started cutting the leaves.

The man stood up and shouted at them, and they ran towards the sandy beach. He followed them and managed to grab one of the young women. The rest went straight into the sea, and amazingly they turned into dolphins when they dived into the waves.

Bottlenose Dolphin

The man took this young woman to the village and married her. The couple had two sons One day the wife got so sick and asked her husband that she wanted to visit her family in the sea. She said farewell to her children and went towards the coming waves. Suddenly she turned into a dolphin and swam towards the school of dolphins waiting some distance away.

The two sons grew up strong and intelligent and became the best fishermen on the island because their mother taught them how to catch fish.

Source:

http://www.tuvaluislands.com/legend-dolphin.htm

Hina and the Wooden Bird

Hina and the Wooden Bird

(A Tale from Kapingamarangi)

The rain began to sprinkle, tap-tapping on the leaves and the sand. The youngest child of the rain god was learning how to water the land. “Good!" said the rain god. “Now you next", it urged the next oldest child. And the rain falling from the sky onto Kapingamarangi Atoll in the eastern Caroline Islands became a little heavier.

Kapingamarangi Atoll

Down below the clouds, a young girl named Hina lived with her brother Ruapongongo. Hina was in charge of airing out her family‘s sleeping mats. She had been born with only one leg, but she managed to do her work just fine. One by one she dragged the mats outside. Ruapongongo helped her lay them flat in the sun. Their parents were gone for the day. Hina and her brother went back inside their warm thatch house and fell asleep. Hina slept and slept. Even when the rain began to tap-tap upon the roof, she kept sleeping. In her dream, she was swimming among shiny blue fish with golden fins.

Up in the sky, the rain god called to his children. “None of you has awakened the young girl. She is supposed to care for her family's mats. You, my oldest, make rain that beats so hard her ears shout, ‘Wake up!” And so the oldest rain child poured rain.

Down below, rivulets of water ran between the trees. Rain thumped on the roof and splashed on the mats. Still, Hina did not wake up.

Finally, the rain god himself rained the rain of all rains. Birds took cover to protect the glistening oils on their feathers. Crabs skittered far into the jungle. At last, Hina and Ruapongongo woke up. Hina heard the rain and ran outside on her one leg as fast as she could. She grabbed the mats, but many had already been swept away.

At last the rain of all rains stopped. The sky grew soft and grey again. Then it split open to reveal the gleaming face of the sun. Hina was afraid. Her parents came home and their faces were full of anger. Her mother was holding one of the mats, the one that held the family’s special sharks' teeth. But now it was empty.

Her father said, “You are a worthless girl. Go search until you find everything you have lost. Go now!"

Hina wept, but she knew she had no choice but to make this journey. She waded out into the lagoon. Soon she was floating in the gentle surf. A shark swam past her, singing a shark song. “Have you come to take me with you?" she called out.

The shark said. “Oh no, I am just trying to remember the chant my father taught me. Goodbye.”

A small fish brushed against Hina's foot. “Are you the one who has come for me?" Hina asked.

Can‘t you see I'm much too small?” said the Fish. “Besides, I‘m just swimming along.”

A parrot fish passed by next, but it had the same answer for Hina. They were all busy singing their own songs.

Hina was so discouraged she began to cry. A large sea turtle swam past. “Are you the one who has come for me?" she said.

“Yes. I'm the one. You must climb on my back and hold on no matter what." Hina climbed onto the turtle’s hardback. She wrapped her two small hands around the top edge of his giant shell. They swam and swam into the open sea.

“Nuuuuu!” Hina cried when her home island was far out of sight. "I am so thirsty."

The turtle replied, “Don't cry. Take the coconut nearest to your hand. Husk it with your teeth. Then I will crack it open for you so you can drink the sweet milk."

Hina did as she was told-almost. Instead of letting the turtle crack the coconut, she smashed it against his head. The turtle was so angry he flipped Hina off into the water. He dove down, down into the dark blue. Hina swam, calling and calling for the turtle to come back to her. Her leg and arms grew so heavy they felt like stones. “1 am lost." she thought. “And all because I slept through the rain'"

Just as she let her head slip under water, the turtle's strong back rose from the dark world beneath. He caught her perfectly. “You know it is taboo to touch my head!" the turtle hissed. “Do not ever do that again." The turtle was angry, but he was an old soul, and through his long life he had developed a special fondness for the young. Even for human young.

They swam in silence for a long time. Hina’s voice was small and weak, but the turtle heard her quietly whisper. “Nuuuuu! I see land!"

“No. no, that is not land. That’s a paruatanamoana, an angry sea demon. You must hide!" The turtle shook violently, causing Hina to slip off into the water. She held on by one hand. When the sea demon came still closer, she let go, took a huge gulp of air, and let herself slide down under the turtle’s body.

I smell human!" shouted the demon.

“But I am a turtle, nothing more. And I am just swimming along." said the turtle.

“Turn your belly up to me!" commanded the demon.

Hina rose for air on the far side of the turtle. The demon could not see her.

“Now turn so I can see your back!" Again, Hina hid. When she came up again, the demon was gone.

She and the turtle swam on. A long time passed. Then she groaned her small, sad groan. “Nuuuuu!”

“Those are the islands known as Tinirau." The turtle answered. “We will go there. 1 am tired. You must fetch fresh green banana leaves for me to rest on." Hina did as she was told. While the turtle was resting in the shade, she explored the island. Unlucky girl! The first house she came to belonged to a magician. It was taboo to enter it. She went inside anyway, without even asking permission.

“Look," the people said. “a strange girl with one leg!"

“You belong to us now." said the magician. He made her a tiny house out of leaves. “You can eat only grass and ashes from the fire. Do not complain or you'll be very, very sorry!"

Hina was a captive for a very long time. The turtle eventually swam away. Finally, her brother Ruapongongo set out to find her. With his stone axe and his best shell knife, he carved a flying bird out of a tree. He painted it with soot and oil to look like a huge petrel. He flew over many islands looking for his sister. At long last, he saw a strange island sticking up out of the sea like the fist of a drowning man. There he saw Hina.

He landed the bird beside the magician's house. The magician was hiding inside, watching. “Aha!" he cried, running outside. “Now I have a huge bird to take me places." Immediately he began worrying about how he would feed such a large bird. He didn't want it to go away-he would tame it and use it to make bad magic. "Oh handsome bird, do you like tuna?" he asked.

Ruapongongo was hiding inside, trying not to laugh out loud. “Yes," he answered.

The magician ordered everyone into their canoes to catch tunas for the bird. As soon as they had all gone, Ruapongongo called out, “Pssst. Hina! It's your brother. I have come to take you home!" Hina climbed into the bird. She wept to be going home at last.

“Fly!” she said. “Fly far away from here!"

“But first I want to play a trick on that bad magician," said Ruapongongo. He made the bird fly low over the fishing canoes. The magician believed the bird must be very hungry. “Hurry up! You are so slow!” he said to his people. “Throw him a tuna!" he ordered. The people threw their newly caught tunes into the air. The bird caught them all!

“Hina,” whispered Ruapongongo. “Now let’s show the magician that he has been outsmarted. Let your leg hang over the side. He will know it is you."

Hina did not like this game, but she let her leg hang over the side. “The bird has stolen your servant girl!" the people cried. Secretly, they were pleased. They did not like the evil magician either.

The magician was so upset he lost some of his magic powers that day. His curses and chants made no sense. The people were free again to do as they liked. The wooden bird flew Hina and Ruapongongo back home to Touhou Island in Kapingamarangi Atoll. But Ruapongongo wasn't satisfied yet. He flew back again to the strange island. In the jungle, he built the magician a tiny leaf house to live in. Then he tricked him into coming inside and he locked him up! Now the evil magician would know how Hina had felt. Ruapongongo forced the magician to eat leaves and ash. Then he flew home again.

That’s all there is to tell, just a tale told by the people.

Source:

Pacific Island Legends: Tales from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia.

Nancy Bo Flood, Beret E. Strong, William Flood

1991

Pages: 69 - 74

Māui and the Giant Fish

Māui and the Giant Fish
(A Legend from New Zealand)

Māui dreamed of the day that he could go fishing with his older brothers. Each time his brothers returned from a fishing trip Māui would ask, "Next time, can I come fishing with you?"

But Māui's brothers would always make an excuse. "No, you're much too young to come fishing with us. We need all the room in our waka for the many fish that we catch."

"I'll only take up a little bit of room, and I'll stay out of trouble, I promise," Māui would argue.

The eldest brother would reply, "You're so skinny we might mistake you for some bait and throw you overboard for the fish to eat."

Waka (Otago Museum Dunedin)

Māui would get angry. "I'll teach them, he'd say to himself, "I'll prove how good I am!"

Secretly Māui hatched a plan to prove he was a great fisherman. One night when Māui was alone he began weaving a strong fishing line from flax. As he wove he recited an old karakia to give his fishing line strength.

When he was finished, Māui took a jawbone which his ancestor Murirangawhenua had given him, and bound it securely to the line. Early the next morning, Māui took his fishing line and secreted himself in the hull of his brothers' canoe.

When Māui's brothers pulled the canoe into the sea they noticed something a little different.

"The canoe is much heavier this morning, are you sure you're helping?" said one.

"I think you've been eating too much kumara!" said another.

"Stop your bickering and get on with it!" said the eldest brother.

None of the brothers noticed Māui hiding in the hull. When Māui heard his brothers drop the anchor, he knew they were too far from land to return. Māui revealed himself to his brothers' surprise.

"What!"

"What are you doing here?"

"You tricked us!"

"No wonder we have not caught one single fish!"

The brothers were angry with Māui, but Māui spoke up.

"I have come to fish because Murirangawhenua said I would be a great fisherman. Let your lines down as I say my karakia and you'll catch more fish than you ever have." Māui began his karakia.

The brothers threw their lines into the water and instantly began catching fish. One after another they pulled their fish into the waka. In no time the waka was full and the brothers were delighted with their catch.

"We're the best fishermen ever!" the brothers congratulated each other.

"Now it is my turn to fish," said Māui.

The brothers laughed when Māui pulled his fishing line from his bag.

"Huh, you'll be lucky to catch a piece of seaweed with that!"

"Or maybe a piece of driftwood to float home on!"

The brothers couldn't contain their laughter. Māui didn't listen, instead he recited his karakia and readied his line. "Can you give me some bait for my hook?" Māui asked his brothers.

But the brothers only laughed harder so Māui clenched his fist and hit himself hard on the nose. His nose bled and Māui covered his hook with his own blood. Māui then stood at the front of the canoe and whirled his line above his head as he recited his karakia. He spun his line out to sea, the line sunk deep to the ocean floor, down into the depths of the domain of Tangaroa, and instantly the hook was taken.

Māui's line went suddenly taut. The brothers stopped their laughing and held tightly to the side of the waka as they began to speed across the ocean.

"Cut the line!" a brother called, clearly quaking in his seat.

"We'll all be drowned," said another. "Please Māui cut the line!"

But Māui held tight to his line, and slowly a giant fish was pulled to the surface. The brothers huddled in the waka shivering with fright. The giant fish towered over their small canoe.

Māui and the Giant Fish

"This is the fish that our grandmother, Murirangawhenua, said would be gifted to us," Māui said. "Guard our fish, and I'll soon return with our people."

The brothers agreed to stay, and Māui headed back to Hawaiki. However as soon as Māui had gone, the brothers began chopping greedily at the huge fish, claiming huge pieces of it as their own.

When Māui returned, his people were amazed to see the giant fish.

"Māui is the best fisherman ever," they marvelled.

As they neared the brothers were seen still chopping and arguing over which part of the fish was theirs. The people saw them for the greedy brothers that they were. They were so greedy that they had chopped huge gullies and mountains from the fish's flesh.

Over many hundreds and thousands of years, these gullies and mountains became part of the landscape of Aotearoa as we know it today. Birds, plants, animals and the people of Hawaiki populated the giant fish of Māui. And in time Māui's giant fish became known as the North Island of Aotearoa, and Māui's canoe the South Island.

This is the story of Māui and the giant fish.

Source:

http://eng.mataurangamaori.tki.org.nz/Support-materials/Te-Reo-Maori/Maori-Myths-Legends-and-Contemporary-Stories/Maui-and-the-giant-fish

The Origin of Kava

The Origin of Kava

(A Legend from Tonga)

The chief called Loau, down in Tongatapu, had an attendant whose name was Fevanga and whose home was on the island of Eueiki. After being the chief’s attendant for a time Fevanga returned to live at Eueiki with his wife Fefafa and their daughter who was leprous. Fevanga often visited Loau, and one day he begged that chief to sail across to Eueiki and visit him.

Now the time when Loau chose to visit Fevanga was a time of great scarcity on Eueiki. The gods in their anger had blown a thousand coconut trees upon their sides and spoiled the taro plots, there was no good food left. All that remained on Fevanga's land was one big kape plant, growing near his house. That bitter kape root was all that Fevanga had to offer to his guest.

When Loau arrived, Fevanga came down to greet his visitors and they answered saying, 'Happy to see you in good health in this land.’ Then Loau's party pulled up his canoe into the shade. They laid it near Fevanga's house with its outrigger against the kape. And Fevanga and Fefafa began to prepare their oven, whispering how they might dig up the kape without being impolite to Loau. For Loau also was seated near that plant, and they wished very much to get it without disturbing him. Therefore they asked Loau to go inside their small house, and he did so since they said it would be cooler there. To please them that chief went inside.

Then Fevanga and Fefafa dug up the kape and made it ready for the oven. But there was no fowl or pig to be a relish with it, therefore Fevanga with a club killed his leprous daughter Kavaonau and they made good food for Loau.

 And the food was cooked and they brought it front the oven and put it before the chief, and he thanked them for their kindness, but he asked them, ‘Why have you destroyed your child?‘

Then Loau told them to take that food away. He told them that they must bury her head in one place and her body in another, and he said, ‘You must watch them carefully.’ After this they made their farewells and Loau returned in his canoe to Tongatapu.

For five nights Fevanga and Fefafa kept visiting the grave of their daughter, and after five nights there was growing from her head a kava plant, and from her guts there grew a sugar cane. That kava grew large, and the cane grew also.

One day when they were almost fully grown Fevanga saw a rat gnawing at the kava plant. That rat became silly, and could not move. Then it gnawed the sugar cane, and it recovered and ran about. This thing it did repeatedly; this is how the people of Tongatapu here learned that sugar cane is to be eaten when kava is drunk.

Then the plants grew large, they were fully ripe, and Fevanga and Fefafa dug them up and brought them here to Loau. And Loau laughed, and he cried out:

‘Chewing kava, a leprous child of Fevanga and Fefafa in Eueiki! Bring some coconut-husk to strain it, bring a bowl to hold it, bring a person to make the kava, bring someone for the bowl to be turned toward!’

Therefore this was done, the kava was split up and chewed by persons sitting on that side of the bowl where common persons sit; and the kava was strained and served to those of rank and all was done correctly.

Kava

This is the origin of kava. The shoots of the plant when they grow become grey and scaly because of that daughter who was leprous.

Source:

Legends of the South Seas

Antony Alpers

1970

Pages: 271-272

The Red Prawns of Vatulele

The Red Prawns of Vatulele

(A Tale from Fiji)

Long ago there lived on the little island of Vatu-Lélé a very beautiful princess who was called the Maiden-of-the-Fair-Wind. She was so beautiful that her fame spread far and wide and every prince wished that she would become his queen.

Vatu-Lélé

Many princes sailed over to her island home to ask for her hand in marriage, but she refused them all. Then one day a young prince, renowned for his great strength, decided to try and win her love. He picked up some great rocks and threw them into the sea, making steppingstones from the main island to Vatu-Lélé; and taking giant strides he crossed over the sea to her home. In his haste he forgot to take any fine gifts for the princess, and he carried with him only a bundle of cooked prawns wrapped in leaves.

When he arrived at the little island he was taken to the palace, and when he saw the Maiden-of-the-Fair-Wind he fell in love with her immediately. He praised her beauty and asked her to marry him, but she refused him, as she had refused many suitors before, and chased him out of the palace. Angry at the mean present of prawns he had brought, she threw the bundle after him. As it landed on the ground the bundle burst, spilling the cooked prawns into a pool with the leaves strewn around it.

As soon as the prawns touched the water they came to life again, but they remained as red as they had been before and never again returned to their transparent grey colour. The leaves took root and grew among the crevices in the rocks, where they are still found by those who search for them.

In the course of time these prawns became sacred, and no one was allowed to touch them. It is said that anyone unwise enough to try and take some away will be shipwrecked.

Source:

Tales from the South Pacific Islands

Anne Gittins

1977

Pages: 30 -31

The Lobster and the Flounder

The Lobster and the Flounder

(A Tale from Kapingamarangi)

Lobster said to Flounder: “Let us-two hide from each other, see who is best at that.” Flounder agreed to play this game. Lobster went to a hole in the coral, hid his body; but his feelers stuck out, he could not hide them. Flounder knew where he was, found him.  
     
Said Flounder: “Now it is my turn.” He stirred up a cloud of mud and scooted into it. Then he returned to Lobster's side, so quietly that Lobster did not know he was there. “Here I am sir, Lobster”

Lobster was so angry at being beaten that he stamped on the fish and smashed him flat. Cried Flounder: “Now I've got one eye in the mud!” Therefore Lobster gouged it out for him and roughly stuck it back on top.

This is the reason why men tread on the Flounder, but can always see the Lobster’s feelers outside his hole.

Source:
Legends of the South Seas
Antony Alpers

1970
Page: 314

The Rat and the Squid

The Rat and the Squid
(A Tale from Tuvalu)

There was once a man called Manu-Manu who built himself a fine big canoe. When it was finished he thought he would like to go on a journey, and he looked around for a few creatures to accompany him.

First, he asked the frigate bird to come. It replied that it would, and asked if it might bring along its friends.
“What will you do if my canoe sinks ?” asked Manu-Manu.
“We will fly,” said all the birds in chorus.

  
Then he went to the land creatures, and he spoke to the crab, asking him to come on the journey. The crab said he would come and would bring his relatives with him.
“What will you do if my canoe sinks?" asked Manu-Manu again.
“We will crawl along the bottom of the ocean,” said the crab and all his relatives.

Now the rat crept up, and he begged to be taken on the voyage with them. “I will swim if your canoe sinks," he said. So Manu-Manu agreed to take him, and they all embarked in the canoe and set sail.

All went well at first, but after a time the canoe sank in a rough sea. The birds of the air flew homeward, and the land creatures crawled along the bottom of the ocean. But the rat swam. He swam until he was so tired that he could scarcely swim any more. Then a squid came by and peered at him with an inquisitive glance. The rat jumped quickly onto its head and begged the frightened squid to carry him to land, where the rat's grandparents and family lived.

 By this time he was very hungry, so he nibbled the hair off the squid's head.
“What are you doing, rat?" said the squid.
“Oh, nothing," said the rat “Go on swimming a little farther, since I can see the  shore and we are almost there.”

So the squid swam on until they were close to the land and the rat was able to jump ashore.

“Good-bye, squid" called the rat as he watched his benefactor making for the ocean once more. And then he shouted, “Oh, squid! Feel your head; it's bald!"

  
The squid felt his head and found that it was quite bald; and being very angry at the rat’s trick, he turned and swam back to punish him. The rat, however, had run away inland. So the squid went back to the sea, and he waited and watched each day for the rat to return.

  
By and by the rat came down to the shore again, and looking about for food he went into a crab hole. The squid thrust one of his tentacles into the hole to catch him, but the rat, too quick for him, turned and bit off the end. Then the squid put out another tentacle, and this time it went right into the rat's ear and killed him.

  
From then on, because of the trick that the rat had played on the squid, the squid taught his children and his grandchildren to chase all rats. That is why, to this day, the people on many islands use bait that is shaped like a rat when they want to catch squids. It is made from the backs of two brown cowrie shells, bored and tied together with thongs, and it even has a small shell for the head and a wooden tail.

Source:

Tales from the South Pacific Islands

Anne Gittins

1977

Pages: 82-84