How Ina Tattooed the Fish

How Ina Tattooed the Fish

(A Tale from the Cook Islands)

Long ago there lived a fair maiden called Ina. Her parents were wealthy, for they possessed many beautiful shells which they wore as jewellery and a fine headdress made from scarlet and black feathers. These ornaments were put out to air in the sunshine regularly, and they were guarded with care.

One day the parents left their home, bidding Ina mind the treasures. But an evil spirit named Ngana, who was lurking behind the bushes, overheard their conversation. Waiting until the father and mother were out of sight, he came to Ina and begged to see the ornaments, and then he asked to try them on. With soft words and crafty ways, he adorned himself in all the finery, last of all adding the feathered headdress. Then he began to dance all around the house, for Ina had taken him indoors to prevent him from escaping. However, he spied a hole in the roof, and flying up through it he disappeared forever.

Not long afterward the parents returned, and when they discovered the loss of their treasures they were very angry with Ina. They beat her with sticks and branches of trees until the weeping girl ran down to the beach to escape from their rage. Her two brothers followed her, but she bade them farewell and declared that she would try to find Tinirau, the lord of all the fishes.

Now Tinirau lived on the Sacred Isle, which lay toward the setting sun. Ina gazed wistfully over the ocean, wondering how she could reach his island. Looking about, she noticed a small fish. the Avini, swimming by her feet.

“Ah, little Avini.” she cried to him, “are you an ocean-loving fish? Bear me on your back to Tinirau, and he shall be my royal husband.”

The little fish consented to take her, and Ina sat herself on its narrow back. But it had not gone far before it found her too heavy, so it turned over and tipped Ina into shallow water. Angry at this wetting, she struck the Avini again and again, and the stripes on the side of the little fish are still there to this day.

Returning to the shore, she looked about for a larger fish, and very soon a Paoro came near her, and he said he would be pleased to take her on this romantic voyage. Again Ina proved too heavy. The Paoro dropped her off his back and swam away, but not before Ina had struck him angrily and left blue marks upon him. He and his descendants still keep the marks, and like the Avini’s stripes, they have been called “Ina's tattooing.”

Then a white fish appeared, but even this one was unable to carry Ina, and she turned him completely black to mark her disgust at the third failure.

She now tried another fish, a sole, and together they reached the edge of the breakers before she was tipped off the fish’s back. This time, in her rage, Ina stamped on the head of the unfortunate sole with such energy that the eye on the underside came through to the upper side. Ever since that day, the sole has had to swim flatwise because one side of its face has no eye!

Then, far out in the deep water, a shark came in sight, and Ina called to it and begged it to take her to the Sacred Isle. When the great fish swam close to her, she mounted its broad back, taking with her two coconuts to eat on the journey.

When they were halfway across the sea she felt thirsty, so the shark raised up its dorsal fin, and on this Ina pierced the eye of one of her nuts and drank the milk. After a while, she again felt thirsty and asked the shark for help. This time the shark lifted its head, and Ina cracked the hard shell on its forehead. Smarting from the blow, the shark dived into the depths of the ocean and left her floating in the sea, and ever since then, he has carried a bump on his forehead.

The king of all sharks then came to rescue Ina, and after many more adventures she reached the Sacred Isle and went ashore. Here she was surprised to find salt-water ponds full of every sort of fish, and slowly she made her way to Tinirau's dwelling. Finding no one in the house, she beat gently on a drum that stood nearby. The noise of its booming reached Tinirau, who was over on another island, and he returned with haste to his home.

Ina saw him nearing, but suddenly being overcome with shyness, she hid behind a curtain. Tinirau could find no one and was about to set off once more when Ina beat again on the drum. This time Tinirau found the maiden. Enchanted by her beauty, and hearing of her courageous voyage to find him, he fell in love with Ina and made her his wife.

Ina then lived happily on the Sacred Isle with her husband, the lord of all the fishes: and in the course of time, she bore him two children, a boy and a girl.

Source:

Tales from the South Pacific Islands

Anne Gittins

1977

Pages: 76-78

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