The Two-Headed Giant of Rotuma

The Two-Headed Giant of Rotuma

(A Legend from Rotuma)

Once upon a time there lived in Rotuma a couple with two children, a boy and a girl. Each day the parents went out to work, leaving the children by themselves, telling them to be good and not to open the back door while they were home alone.

Rotuma

One day after the parents had gone, the boy, who was a curious lad, said to his sister, "Let us open the back door and find out what it is that our mother and father wish to hide from us."

So they opened the door, and they found a beautiful garden full of ripe bananas and sugar cane.

“Oh, look at all those good things," said the boy, and he ran and picked a bunch of bananas and cut some sugar cane, and then they both sat down and started to eat.

Meanwhile the mother said to her husband. “Something is happening to the children, for my thumb keeps on itching. I must go and see what it is."

So she returned home and saw at once that the back door had been opened. Picking up her broom, she ran into the garden and found the children eating the fruit. She was very angry, and she started to beat them with the broom. But they ran away.

On and on they ran down a long path, through trees and bushes, till they came to a place where two paths met. They turned along one of them, and presently to their horror they came upon a giant who was sweeping up rubbish, making a clear space in the forest. Quickly they hid behind a tree, but since the giant seemed quite harmless the boy came forward after a time and offered him some of their fruit.

The giant took it and said, “I will give this to my friends. Come along with me."

Now there were ten giants living in that place. When the giants saw the children, nine of them were friendly and would have let them go, but the tenth, who was a two-headed monster, wished to keep them to eat. He took them both to his house and bade them sit down. Then he laid his two heads upon their laps, one head resting on the boy's knees and one head on the girl's, and he told them to comb his hair.

So the children combed the heads gently, and by and by the giant fell asleep. Then, getting up ever so quietly, the children found a rope, bound the giant's arms and legs, and fled down to the shore, where they found a canoe.

“Pick up four large pieces of pumice,” the boy said to his sister, while he brought two very heavy stones from the shore and put them in the boat. Then they pushed the canoe into the sea, climbed in. and paddled away with all possible speed.

After a time the little girl grew weary and she looked up at the sky. “I can see a tiny black speck no bigger than a fruit fly up there. Look toward the sun," she said. The boy looked, but neither of them guessed that this speck was the two-headed giant, who had freed himself from the rope that bound him and was flying after them.

It was not long before the giant reached the canoe and stepped into it. The little girl was filled with terror, but the boy said boldly, “Sit down and rest awhile, sir, and watch me."

He then picked up the pieces of pumice and, binding one of the light, spongy pieces to each arm and each leg, he stepped into the sea and began to dance on the surface of the water. This amused the giant so much that he roared with laughter and wished to do likewise.

“Give me your playthings and let me try," he ordered. So the boy got into the canoe and quickly hid the pumice. Then, telling the giant to stretch out his legs, he bound the heavy stones to them. When this was done the boy gave the giant a push. Over he went with a splash into the sea, and the heavy stones made him sink right down to the bottom.

The two children then paddled back to the shore, and they were given the giant's property and his land, where they lived in peace forever after.

Source:

Tales from the South Pacific Islands

Anne Gittins

1977

Pages: 47 - 49

The Eitu Who Went As a Man’s Wife

The Eitu Who Went As a Man’s Wife

(A Legend from Kapingamarangi)

Eitu is a supernatural being who can take on a human form and meddle in the affairs of men...

Riuta and her husband Tuikoro were living quietly together. One day they took their fish-traps and paddled out to a coral patch in the lagoon to catch some fish. They put their traps in the water, waited, lifted one, and emptied the fish into their canoe. Said the husband, 'You can scale them. But when you wash your hands, do it on the outrigger-side, do not wash them on the open side.’ Then he dived down to the other traps to see if there were any fish in them. While he was below Riuta disobeyed him. She washed her hands on the open side.

A calm patch came on the water. Out of this calm patch an eitu-woman floated up, climbed on board, came to Riuta, threw her to the stern and took her place.

Then Tuikoro came up again, shook the water from his eyes, came with his trap to the canoe. He saw two women! Both the same. Their faces both the same.

Said the eitu. ‘I here am Riuta. That one there is an eitu who came up from below.'

Riuta said. ‘Do not believe her. I, here, am Riuta. I am sitting here because she threw me here, then took my place.’

Then Tuikoro went to Riuta his wife in anger, pushed her over- board. Thought she was an eitu.

Riuta was pregnant, and she floated. She floated away and landed on the islet Pumatahati in the south.

Map of Kapingamarangi

Then her husband and the eitu paddled off, they went to live on his land at Torongahai in the north. They dwelt there quietly together.

Riuta at Pumatahati gave birth, she had twin boys, she called them Manu tuia and Manu toa. Those boys grew up.

One day they asked their mother to hew them a canoe. Riuta felled a tree, she hewed a canoe for them. When it was finished she plaited a sail, she made a mast, a bailing scoop, paddles, booms, and rigging. When all was done that mother said to her sons: ‘You-two do your fishing here in the lagoon at Pumatahati. Do not go up north. Up there, an eitu lives.’

Those boys ignored their mother’s word. They sailed up north, went fishing there. When they reached Torongahai the eitu was on the lagoon-shore, beating coconut husks for fibre to make string. The boys sailed up, they let their sail down, chanted this:

We two, we two, Manu tuia and Manu toa,

We are just fishing on our reef,

We have left our mother Riuta behind;

Our father is Tuikoro.

That eitu who was beating fibre heard the chanting, heard the boys. She ran to her man: ‘E, Tuikoro, Tuikoro! Two boys on the lagoon are saying a chant that has your name in it.’

‘Go back and hear the words, return and tell me.’

The eitu went back, she got the chant, told Tuikoro what it said.

‘Then go and call them, call them here.’

The eitu did as she was told, the two boys came. They said their words again, and Tuikoro thought within himself: ‘These two are sons of mine. That woman whom I pushed overboard was truly Riuta.’

Then he said to the eitu, ‘You go inside the house while I speak to these two.’ The eitu went.

Then Tuikoro closed the door. The eitu complained, ‘The door of the house is shut. How can I get out?’ But Tuikoro answered, ‘It is shut indeed, it will be opened though.’ Then quickly Tuikoro fetched a burning stick, he ran around the house and set it all on fire, the flames leapt up, the whole house burned. The eitu cried inside. She died, that eitu, died in Tuikoro’s flames. Those boys were glad.

Then all three went off in their canoe, the canoe Riuta made. They sailed to the south, toward Pumatahati. Said Tuikoro to his sons, 'When we are close to your mother's land, let down the sail and put me in it. Put the fish-trap also in the sail. You-two can then go ashore to your mother and ask her to come and carry your sail because it is wet. We will make this surprise to your mother. Do not be long.’

The two boys landed, hurried to their house, to Riuta’s house. ‘E Riuta! Come and carry our sail which is wet! It is too heavy for us! Come quickly!’

Then Riuta scolded them. ‘You two are bad, you are disobedient boys. I told you that you must not sail up north‘

She went to the lagoon, took up the sail which she had made. The sail was heavy, was not wet. Then Riuta knew that Tuikoro was in the sail-Tuikoro who had pushed her overboard, had not believed her.

She carried that bundle inland, threw it hard upon the stones. Tuikoro groaned, died.

That is all. Just a tale that people tell. It is concluded.

Source:

Legends of the South Seas

Antony Alpers

1970

Pages 311-313

Hina and the Eel

Hina and the Eel

(A Legend from Mangaia, Cook Islands)

Hina-Moe-Aitu who was daughter to Kui-the-blind lived in the shadow of the inland cliff of the makatea, her house was near where the cave Tautua has its opening. Now the water from Kui's taro swamps disappeared beneath that cave into the makatea, it ran out to the sea beneath the land; and Hina’s pool where she washed herself was there below that cliff.

Mangaia Island, Cook Islands

In Hina's pool lived many eels, those tuna liked the darkness of that pool. One day when she was bathing an eel of great size came from its place beneath the rocks, and startled Hina by its pleasing touch: that eel went sliding under Hina in the place where pleasure is. And the tuna was wicked, and the same thing happened many times, and Hina permitted it. That eel gave Hina pleasure with its tail.

One day while Hina-sleeping-with-a-god was gazing at the eel it changed its shape, it became a handsome young Mangaian. The young man said. “I am Tuna, god of all the eels. It is because of your beauty that l have left my home and come to you, O Hina-moe-aitu, and I desire you to have me.’

So they did, they two; they went into Hina's house together, and afterwards he always turned into an eel once more, so that no person should know about them. Their love grew strong.

One day Tuna said to Hina. ‘I must go. I must leave you now forever. Tomorrow there will be long-pouring rain, there will be flooding rain, there will be rain from the rivers of the sky. The rain will fill this place, the water will rise until it covers all the taro beds; it will reach up to the door of this house; but do not be afraid, for then I will be able to swim here to your very threshold. I will lay my head on that paepae (threshold) and you will know that it is I. Then quickly take the adze of your ancestor and cut off my head on the threshold, bury it here upon the high ground. After that, be sure to visit the place each day, to see what will appear.’

Ceremonial adze (toki) wood and basalt, Mangaia

Therefore Hina did as Tuna said. In the night she heard the heavy rain, the thick rain, the long-pouring rain; and she waited until morning for the light to come. Then Hina saw that all the waters streaming down from Rangimotia (the highest mountain on the island) had filled the taro swamps and covered all the taro-tops. And water lay beside her door.

On that moment, a great eel came to the house and laid its head across the paepae. Therefore Hina took her adze, she took the sacred adze of her ancestor and she sliced off the head of that eel. She took it behind her house, and buried it.

Then the rains ceased and the floodwaters moved away, they passed out through the makatea to the sea; and each day Hina-moe-aitu visited the place where she had buried Tuna’s head. For many days she saw nothing that grew, but then at last she saw a firm green shoot, it sprang up through the soil and it was not like anything that grew upon this land. Therefore Hina guarded that shoot, and on the next day she saw that it was two.

Those two green shoots sprang forth and Hina guarded them, and soon she had two fine strong trees that grew. Those trees grew tall, they climbed toward the sky until the wind was rustling in their tops, her children climbed them for the nuts they bore.

There one tree was which had a red stem and a reddish fruit; it was sacred to Tangaroa (the god of the sea). The other of her trees possessed a green stem and a green-hued fruit; it was sacred to Rongo (god of cultivated plants).

After that time there were coconuts in this land. There was niu to drink, from the green nuts; there was niu mata, the soft white flesh that comes later; and motomoto from the ripened nut; and creamy roro that is squeezed from it; and there was uto, that forms inside the nut that sprouts; and from motomoto that is dried out in the sun the people of this land got oil to put on their hair and skin; and from the leaves they made kikau for baskets and for walls; and from the husks old men make twisted cord; and from the shells, round bowls; and from the dead tree past the time of bearing they had strong hard wood for house posts, and for paddles.

All of these things were given to the land by Tuna the lover of Hina-moe-aitu. Therefore we call the white flesh of the coconut te roro o te Tuna, ”Tuna's brains’.

When all the husk is taken from a ripened nut the face of Hina’s lover may be seen, the face of Tuna-god-of-eels, with his two small eyes and mouth.

The face of Tuna-god-of-eels, with his two small eyes and mouth.

Source:

Legends of the South Seas

Antony Alpers

1970

Pages: 73-75

How the Yam Came to Vanuatu

How the Yam Came to Vanuatu

(A Legend from Vanuatu)

Once there was a young man named Kaloris who lived on Vila Island. One evening he went out with his bow and arrows to shoot a flying fox, which is really a kind of bat and good to eat. He was proud of his bow, for it was the finest in the village, and none of the men could shoot an arrow so far or so straight as he. With the fox bat he had shot, he returned to his village at midnight. Strolling along the beach in the moonlight, he wondered suddenly what the land on the moon might be like. An idea came to him: it would be an adventure to go and see the moon for himself!

Vanuatu

He stopped in his tracks as he thought of a plan. Then, laying his bundle of arrows on the sand, he took one up and fitted it to his bow. Pointing it at the moon, he took careful aim, drew the string right back to his shoulder, and let it go. The arrow sped as swift as the wind, up and up, until it reached the moon and stuck there firmly.

Kaloris took a second arrow, and again he fitted it to his bow and took aim very carefully. This time the arrow pierced the shaft of the first, just as he had planned, and he was proud of his marksmanship. He shot a third and then another and another, until he had a long line of arrows, each one sticking into the one before it. They stretched from the moon right to the beach where he stood.

Then he put down his bow, and seizing the lowest arrow he climbed upward until at last he reached the moon itself. There was a large trap door on the underside of the moon, so he knocked on it.

“Come in,” said a voice. So he pushed open the door and went inside.

There he saw the Man of the Moon, eating his food.

“Good health to you," said Kaloris.

“Good health." said the Man of the Moon. “Where have you come from?"

“I have come from Vila, and I have climbed up here by a ladder of arrows," said Kaloris, and he explained how he had shot them into each other.

“Come and share my food-you must be hungry.” said the Man of the Moon.

Kaloris thanked him, and he sat down and joined the Man of the Moon at the meal. He enjoyed what he was eating, for it was new to him.

“What is this that we are eating, sir?" he asked.

“That is a yam.” said the Man of the Moon. “Surely you have some on your island“

Yam

Kaloris said that he had never heard of a yam. So the Man of the Moon pointed to a big pile of them lying in a corner and told him to take as many as he wanted.

Then, opening the trap door, they pushed out the yams one by one, and they fell down to earth and landed on the beach where Kaloris had stood with his bow and arrows.

When he had thanked the Man of the Moon he bade him farewell and climbed down his ladder of arrows and returned home. His friends, curious about the strange food, crowded around him, and taking the yams home they planted them in their gardens. Soon they had a fine harvest, and all of the people said it was the best food they had tasted; and that is how yams came to Vanuatu.

Source:

Tales from the South Pacific Islands

Anne Gittins

1977

Pages: 85-87

Two Sharks of Fakpui

Two Sharks of Fakpui

(A Legend from Rotuma)

A man and his wife lived at Fakpui. They kept two sharks in a pool leading to the sea. There was also a stranger living with the couple. One day this stranger asked to be sent to his home in a distant land, and it was agreed that the two sharks should take him over the sea. His hosts impressed on the stranger that when he reached his home he was to pour fresh water over the heads of the sharks to get the salt out of their eyes, and before they set out on their return to point their heads in the direction of Rotuma. The stranger promised to do all this.

Rotuma 

Next day they went to the pool and the man told the sharks to take the stranger to his home. They set out together after the stranger had bid his hosts a tearful goodbye.

On arrival at the stranger's home he called out to his people to catch and cook the sharks for eating. They rushed to the beach, but the sharks escaped, reaching Fakpui after a long and trying voyage, severely wounded. They told the couple everything that had happened and the hardships they had undergone.

The woman said, “Very well, tomorrow night I will set out with you and we will get that stranger for your food.”

Accordingly they set out on the following night and in time arrived at the stranger's land. The woman went ashore at night to peep into the houses. At the third house she found the stranger, and heard him tell the people there that if they had only hurried themselves at least one of the sharks would have been caught and eaten.

The woman then planned to wait until the inmates of the house were asleep when she would go in, lie beside the stranger and gradually work the man nearest him off the mat, repeating this with the man on the other side of him. He would then be alone on the mat and easily wrapped up to be taken away. In this she succeeded and carried him down to the sharks.

They set out on their homeward journey. On their arrival at the Fakpui pool they found the man awaiting them. They carried the stranger, still wrapped in the mat and laid him on the bed he had formerly occupied. At cockcrow the stranger starter, saying, “Boys, that is like the crowing of the cock at Fakpui.” At second cockcrow he again started, with the same remark.

By this time the stones in the oven were red hot. The stranger was awakened and told of his approaching doom. He cried for mercy, but was asked what mercy he had had for the sharks, and was told that instead of him and his people eating them the sharks would eat him. The husband then clubbed the stranger and put him in the oven. When he was cooked he was taken to the sharks to be eaten not at the pool, but away near Hoflua and Hatana islands.

Hence people are never taken or eaten by sharks on the south (or Fakpui) side of the island.

Source:

The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 51, No. 4, 1942 "Rotuma, its history, traditions and customs"