The Mysterious Maidens From The East

By Jerry Iakavi

ONCE upon a time there were six beautiful girls.

Their hair was as white as the waves and each had a pair of wings with which she could fly through the air. Although the people of Tanna tried to find out where these girls came from, they could not do so.

They only appeared during the daylight when the tide was low. They came from the east. When the tide rose, they flew off again, back towards the east.

The girls took no notice of men, but the men were strongly attracted by their beauty. One day a man decided to catch one of these girls to be his wife.

Just before the tide was low, the man went down to the beach and crouched down behind the big rock where the girls usually hid their wings when they came to look for shells on the reef. Eventually they arrived and left their wings on the big rock and went off to the reef. Then the man crept out, determined to take the wings of the youngest girl, who was perhaps the prettiest of all. He took the youngest’s wings and hid them in a cave.

When the tide was coming up, the pretty girls came ashore. When they reached the rock, the youngest found that her wings were missing. She told her sisters and they searched everywhere without success. By this time it was getting dark. Then the other five sisters said to the youngest, “We cannot wait any longer. We are going back to our island.” Then they put on their wings and began to sing their magic song. Just before they flew away, the eldest sister said to the youngest,

“You cannot come with us.” Then they flew away leaving her standing motionless on the rock with the tears running down her cheeks. As they disappeared into the distance, they turned and waved to their exiled sister.

When the man saw that the others had gone, he appeared to the girl and said she must go with him to his village.

Days and months passed and eventually they had a child. One day when the child was about six years old, the man told his wife to stay behind and look after the child as he was going to war. While he was away his wife decided to sweep the house. As she was sweep ing she found her wings under her husband’s pillow.

She took them and put them on and found that she could fly. Hastily she explained to her son that when his father returned he must tell him that she had gone back to her sisters. Then she kissed him and began to sing her magic song. Soon she flew away but when she was half-way between Tanna and her unknown island she felt sorry for her little son so she flew back once again to say goodbye to him for the last time.

This time when she flew away she did not return.

The child felt lonely and began to cry and when his father returned he found his son in tears. ‘‘Why are you crying, son?” he asked. When the son told him what his mother had said, the father too began to cry.

The two of them sat there motionless in their grief until they turned to stone.