Maori Tales/Tini-rau and His Pet Whale

Tini-rau and his Pet Whale

Tini-rau was a great chief, noted for his handsome appearance. It was not only others who admired him; like Narcissus of old, he admired his own beauty, and had several pools of clear water set apart as mirrors for his own use. He was not, however, altogether a vain man: he was a brave warrior, and a favourite with his people, and his pastime was the keeping of pet whales, his favourite pet being called Tutu-nui.

Hine, a young woman of rank belonging to a distant tribe, heard of the fame of Tini-rau. Others too heard, and were content to hear; but Hine desired to see for herself, and determined to go and discover if the reports concerning him were really true or no.

She lived at the side of the sea; Tini-rau lived on the other side, far away on the island called Motu-tapu. One day Hine was with her women at the sea-side, when she sprang into the water, dived, and swam under water to a rock some distance out. There she sat for a time, her companions wondering what had become of her, and lamenting her loss when she did not return. But they need have had no fear for her; the sea-deities had given her the power of changing her form, and as she sat on the rocks she appeared to be neither woman, nor fish, but half fish and half woman;—a mermaid, indeed, able to live either in the water or on the land.

She plunged into the water and swam towards Motu-tapu; she met with many adventures, speaking with the shark, the beautiful kahawai, and other fish she met on the way. On reaching the island she entered one of the pools that none but Tini-rau might use, swimming in its water, ruffling its smooth surface, and sitting afterwards on the sunny sands of its margin.

Tini-rau had his watchman;—this was Ruru, a tame morepork; and when Ruru saw Hine swimming and diving in the pool, off he flew to Tini-rau and told him that his pool was being disturbed by a stranger. Tini-rau hastened to the pool, and there he saw the beautiful Hine. She had taken on the form of a woman again, and Tini-rau

“Tini-rau hastened to the pool”

thought he had never seen one more beautiful; and as for Hine, she thought, “Ah; if this is Tini-rau, then report did not speak the truth;—he is far more handsome than ever was told.”

They made themselves known to each other; each confessed admiration for the other;—they left the pool, and Hine became the wife of Tini-rau.

The women of the place were, however, jealous of Hine, and when after a time she became a mother they were determined that she should die. With spells they attempted to destroy her, but she had more powerful spells, and defeated their designs. Hine lived there for some time, but becoming weary of the secret persecution of the women, one day she left Motu-tapu and returned with her son to her own home.

Tini-rau missed her, and at once went in search of her. Coming near her home, he saw some children playing among the tall clumps of toe-toe. He hid among the drooping blades, made a noise to attract the attention of the children, and on their approaching him he recognised his son among them. He called him, had a talk with him, and sent him with a present to his mother,—a little bag, filled with a sweet-scented moss called karamea, which he tied about his neck.

The child went to his mother, and told her of the good-looking man who had spoken to him, and sent her a present. Hine at once recognised the bag; it was a present she herself had given to Tini-rau in the days of their first love, and her heart longed again for her lover. She hastened to see him, for she was certain it could be no one but her husband. They greeted, and she took him to the village, where he was welcomed by her people as an honoured guest.

He remained with them for some time, and a season of scarcity came;—the people were almost without food. Tini-rau bade them remain within their houses, and he would obtain for them a supply of food. He uttered a powerful incantation, and the people in the houses heard a loud sound like the rushing of a wind. The sound continued through the night, and in the morning, when Tini-rau bade them come out, they found the whole village full of all kinds of fish, piled as high as the raised store-houses.

After a time Tini-rau returned to Motu-tapu, Hine and her son accompanying him. Tini-rau wished his son to be named, and requested Kae, a tohunga of power, to perform the ceremonies. They were completed, and Kae prepared to return to his home. The way was by sea, and instead of going by canoe he requested Tini-rau, as a favour, to lend him Tutu-nui, so that he might ride home on the back of the whale.

Tini-rau was unwilling to lend his pet; but as Kae had done him a good service he could not very well refuse. He warned him, however, saying,—“When Tutu-nui approaches the shore, he will shake himself when he is in shallow water; then you must leave him, and wade ashore.” Kae promised to do so, and away he went on the back of the whale.

On Tutu-nui shaking himself, however, Kae, forgetting all about his promise, urged the whale nearer and nearer to the shore, until at last it was stranded, and quite unable to return to the deep water. It perished; and Kae, far from feeling remorse, thought it a shame that so much good food should be wasted. He caused a huge earth-oven to be prepared, and roasted the whale with great piles of koromiko. The fat soaked the leaves, so that even to this day, when koromiko is burnt, the fat may be seen oozing from the leaves.

Tini-rau waited at Motu-tapu for the return of his pet,—but Tutu-nui did not return. Then Tini-rau caught a fragrance in the breeze; he stood still, and snuffed the air—and a sad thought entered his mind and darkened his heart:—“It is the smell of roasted whale that is carried to me on the breeze:—Kae has been treacherous, and has killed Tutu-nui.”

He called two of his sisters, and told them he wished them to go and find Kae, and bring him back with them to be punished. “You will know him,” he said to them, “by this mark; he has lost two of his front teeth, and is ashamed to open his mouth for fear of ridicule;—but make him laugh, and his lost teeth will betray him.”

The sisters took with them several young women, all expert in the arts of singing, and dancing, and playing games, and they went from village to village, amusing the people, till not a village but wished for the appearance of the sisters and their friends. In this way they came nearer and nearer to the village where the unsuspecting Kae had his home.

The sisters took pet birds with them, which flew above them as they travelled. Over each village the birds uttered a short cry and went on, but the young women stayed a short time in each village, dancing and singing, and then following the birds. At the village where Kae lived the birds cried and stayed, so the sisters knew that Kae was there. He had built a new house; and whilst the young women were making merry in the village the sisters sent a design of the house to Tini-rau, so that he might build one exactly like it before their return.

They sang songs; they danced haka; they made the string-figures called whai. The people were delighted; but the man they thought was Kae refused to laugh though all of the others were filled with merriment. At last beating time with a musically-sounding rod called pakuru, they sang a haka so humorous that even Kae must laugh;—and sure enough, there was the gap left by the lost teeth, so they were sure they had found the man they sought.

The sisters then sang a song inducing sleep, and one by one the people nodded, and sank into deep slumber; even Kae, though loth to close his eyes, was soon sleeping as soundly as the others. Wrapped in his mats, the young women laid Kae in a litter and carried him to their canoe, paddling off with him to their home.

Tini-rau had built a house according to the design sent him by his sisters, and in this house Kae was laid down, still sleeping soundly. When he awoke, Tini-rau came in at the door; and Kae, supposing himself to be in his own village, expressed surprise to see Tini-rau.

"Well, Kae," said Tini-rau, "where are you?"

"In my own house, to be sure," said Kae, looking about him and seeing everything familiar.

Tini-rau laughed; and again he said, "Well, Kae, where are you?"

Kae looked out at the door; he saw the landscape;—it was not that of his own village; it was that of the village of Tini-rau. He then knew he had been trapped, and bending his head he commenced a sorrowful tangi.

“Ha!” said Tini-rau, hearing his lamenting; “did Tutu-nui cry like that when his flesh was cut by you?”

Then Kae knew his fate;—the thing he had done to Tutu-nui, that would now be done to him.

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