And Child
p. 76 · Read in the full issue
Legend
The Mother
By Lalita Devi
IN Dreketi, 53 miles from Labasa on the island of Vanua Levu, there is a small ageless hill. On the very top of the hill there’s a stone in the shape of a mother and child.
Villagers who visit this stone image often talk of the legend of the stone mother. It is said that once a Fijian woman was left alone at home with her child. The husband had gone hunting, the relatives were visiting other relatives.
As the mother was feeding her baby, a stranger arrived. And the wind whispered to her his evil designs.
The woman, at once, gathered her child in her lap and fled. The stranger followed, each step increasing his appetite.
The woman scrambled up the hill, panting and praying. As she reached the summit, totally exhausted, she sat down, closed her eyes, pressed her child to her naked bosom and prayed: Dear God, Save me. Turn me into stone.
God listened.
The stone mother today is the living symbol of chastity and love.