The Waterhole

By Terepai Moetaua

17" AATI had smelled that scene be fore. Perhaps a dozen times and he had tried to ignore it and he swore at the futility of the human senses.

But his sixth sense convinced him of his suspicion.

Dawn was breaking and he had just returned from one of his weekly fishing expeditions. For the last few weeks he had had very little luck.

Several times his fishing lines broke, and tonight his canoe had capsized in calm water.

The people of Mitiaro believed that bad luck could be brought upon a fisherman out at sea if his wife was unfaithful to him. The notion that his wife was sleeping with another man haunted Kaati and it was this feeling that had brought him back home earlier than usual.

He gave his immediate surround ing a quick scrutiny and carefully surveyed the entrance to his cave.

The feeling that someone else had been in his cave made him shudder and his whole body trembled with fury. He tried to believe that it was not so and he hated and cursed the gods. He loved his woman and she knew it. Why did she have to do this? No! She loved him too she had told him. He believed her and he himself had a great love for her.

But that now familiar smell could not leave his nostrils and he was determined to get rid of its owner.

He quietly entered his cave. There on his grass bed lay his wife, fast

asleep. She looked so lovely in that early misty dawn and she was as nakedly beautiful just as he had left her. Then he observed that once again that hair on her mount of vtnus was a heap of entangled mass, a condition not of his doing.

Kaati lay down his fishing gear, grabbed his spear and disappeared with lightmng speed into the morn ing twilight.

The whole surrounding suddenly came to life with an outburst of frightening wonder and the air seemed to be filled with the smell of death. As Kaati traversed the rocky paths, the very trees that had known him since his childhood shud dered with fright at his approach. jl/fOKOTUA had lain awake all night, well satisfied with his success. He was a warrior of super natural strength and the greatest lover of his time. He was at ease and had no reason to worry about the world and today he would celebrate another successful sexual foray into one of the domains of his enemies.

It was Mokotua’s morning habit to wash himself at a nearby pond. He was enjoying his bath when Kaati appeared on the scene. Mokotua sud denly became aware of the dangerous plight he was in. He had of all days left his spear in his cave. He knew who Kaati was and the reason for his unexpected presence.

Kaati straightaway took advantage

of the situation and as a true warrior himself delivered his challenge: Te Matangi e!

Tera mai te Manganui! (Oh Mighty Wind!

Here comes thy reward!) Mokotua duly replied: Tiria! (Let it come!) Then Mokotua fell: A!! Te pakau a te vare. (Ah! I've been cheated) —The gods have forsaken me.

Kaati wrenched Mokotua’s penis from his dead body and returned with speed to his cave. The penis would be his wife’s death warrant.

Meanwhile, Kaati’s wife had awoken. She was taken aback when she saw her husband’s fishing gear as it was unusual that he should be back early. But on perceiving the absence of her husband’s spear she knew where he had gone and she also knew what would happen to her if he came back alive. She decided to leave the cave immediately.

Where would she go? She thought of the waterhole where she was born.

If she was to die it would be there.

This waterhole was in a cave some 30 feet deep and the waterhole itself was about 15 feet in diameter. The depth of the water varied from 15 to 20 feet depending on the rise and fall of the tides. The water had a saline taste.

AT the bottom of the waterhole was a small opening that led into a secret compartment, known only to Kaati’s wife’s tribe and was used as a hiding place in times of war. It was here that Kaati’s wife went into hiding.

On arrival at his cave, Kaati found his wife missing. No doubt she had gone back to her own people. Kaati went straight there and produced Mokotua’s penis before his wife’s father, thus rendering him immune to any vengeance from his wife’s people if he had to kill her.

For days and nights Kaati searched for his wife but in vain. Then one day he came to the waterhole. His wife had told him about it but had refrained from telling him of the

secret compartment, a taboo of her tribe.

Kaati climbed down to the water.

He sat there for a long time while he admired the beauty of the crystal clear water. He tasted it and he thought of her. He could see her now clearly mirrored in the water.

Those once bright lovely eyes had become weak and they seemed to beg for forgiveness. His heart sank and he was filled with sorrow. He knew that he wanted her now more than when he first met her. There was nothing to stop him loving her again.

He had killed him and he would be an acclaimed hero. His tears fell into the water causing her image to ripple convulsively. But he knew she was there and she was begging him to come.

He slipped into the water and fol lowed her. Then he suddenly became conscious of the fact that he was somewhere else. It was all dark around him but one tiny spot was darker than the rest. Was he dream ing? He groped his way towards it.

He had found her. He pulled her towards him but she was too weak to move. She was thin and shivering with cold. He held her to him and embraced her.