Ina and the Shark (Cook Islands)
Retold by Patricia Mallam
Scattered like pearls from a fine necklace, the Cook Islands stretch across miles of azure blue seas, home to Ina the Fairy Voyager.
Ina was betrothed to Tinirau, the God of the Ocean who lived on a floating island, miles away from her own home. She longed to be with her true love and the only way to reach him was to cross over the sometimes ferocious sea.
On a day when storm clouds gathered, Ina paced the sandy foreshore feeling very distressed. She jumped into the ocean many a time to attempt to swim in search of Tinirau, but the ocean was too fierce and the gigantic waves kept throwing her back onto the beach.
Ina sought help from all the fish, turtles and birds with no luck because most of these creatures were too small to carry her. Eventually a shark agreed to carry her across the ocean on its’ back. They agreed to meet on the beach early the next morning. Excited, Ina prepared for her journey by gathering young coconuts.
Before dawn, Ina was on the beach with her bag of coconuts, adorned with fresh gardenias in her hair and a garland around her neck. Ina set off on her journey astride the shark. As the sun crept steadily into the sky, Ina and the Shark skimmed over the glistening ocean.
After sometime, Ina became thirsty and dug into her bag for one of the young coconuts she had brought along. She then realized that in her excitement to be re-united with Tinirau, she had forgotten to bring a knife with which to break open the coconut. The shark pitied the beautiful damsel and offered his dorsal fin to be used for breaking the nut.
Ina broke the nut on the shark’s fin and quenched her thirst with the sweet coconut juice. It wasn’t long before she felt the need to relieve herself, and being too modest to say anything to the shark, Ina relieved herself on the shark – thinking he wouldn’t notice.
Alas that wasn’t the case! The shark was furious and threatened to throw Ina into the depths of the ocean if she did that again. Legend has it that islanders complain that shark meat smells like urine because of what Ina did.
Using her charm, Ina cajoled the shark into continuing their journey.
The midday sun beating down on Ina’s back made her thirsty again. Ina asked the shark if she could break another coconut on his fin. The shark, still upset with her for relieving herself on him, refused her request. But Ina couldn’t bear the heat and felt she would die if she didn’t have another coconut.
Without another thought, Ina grabbed another coconut from her bag and broke the coconut on the shark’s head. This is how the hammerhead shark got its’ shape and has a bump on its’ head.
Thrown out of whack from the pain, the shark was sent into a state of shock and threw Ina off his back. The shark dived deep into the abyss, leaving Ina struggling amidst the large waves which threatened to drown her.
Tekea the Great, the king of all sharks, pitied Ina and rose from the depths of the ocean to rescue her. He carried her safely to Tinirau’s floating island where Ina was re-united with her beloved.
Scattered like pearls from a fine necklace, the Cook Islands stretch across miles of azure blue seas, home to Ina the Fairy Voyager.
Ina was betrothed to Tinirau, the God of the Ocean who lived on a floating island, miles away from her own home. She longed to be with her true love and the only way to reach him was to cross over the sometimes ferocious sea.
On a day when storm clouds gathered, Ina paced the sandy foreshore feeling very distressed. She jumped into the ocean many a time to attempt to swim in search of Tinirau, but the ocean was too fierce and the gigantic waves kept throwing her back onto the beach.
Ina sought help from all the fish, turtles and birds with no luck because most of these creatures were too small to carry her. Eventually a shark agreed to carry her across the ocean on its’ back. They agreed to meet on the beach early the next morning. Excited, Ina prepared for her journey by gathering young coconuts.
Before dawn, Ina was on the beach with her bag of coconuts, adorned with fresh gardenias in her hair and a garland around her neck. Ina set off on her journey astride the shark. As the sun crept steadily into the sky, Ina and the Shark skimmed over the glistening ocean.
After sometime, Ina became thirsty and dug into her bag for one of the young coconuts she had brought along. She then realized that in her excitement to be re-united with Tinirau, she had forgotten to bring a knife with which to break open the coconut. The shark pitied the beautiful damsel and offered his dorsal fin to be used for breaking the nut.
Ina broke the nut on the shark’s fin and quenched her thirst with the sweet coconut juice. It wasn’t long before she felt the need to relieve herself, and being too modest to say anything to the shark, Ina relieved herself on the shark – thinking he wouldn’t notice.
Alas that wasn’t the case! The shark was furious and threatened to throw Ina into the depths of the ocean if she did that again. Legend has it that islanders complain that shark meat smells like urine because of what Ina did.
Using her charm, Ina cajoled the shark into continuing their journey.
The midday sun beating down on Ina’s back made her thirsty again. Ina asked the shark if she could break another coconut on his fin. The shark, still upset with her for relieving herself on him, refused her request. But Ina couldn’t bear the heat and felt she would die if she didn’t have another coconut.
Without another thought, Ina grabbed another coconut from her bag and broke the coconut on the shark’s head. This is how the hammerhead shark got its’ shape and has a bump on its’ head.
Thrown out of whack from the pain, the shark was sent into a state of shock and threw Ina off his back. The shark dived deep into the abyss, leaving Ina struggling amidst the large waves which threatened to drown her.
Tekea the Great, the king of all sharks, pitied Ina and rose from the depths of the ocean to rescue her. He carried her safely to Tinirau’s floating island where Ina was re-united with her beloved.