page 61

Abdul Wahab Salampesi, 23, of Pelau (TRANSCRIPTION DATE IS CIRCA 1965).

There were two ancestors at PAUKALA.  Brothers.  The younger, UPU TOHUAYURAT
(Salampesi), wearied of life at Paukala and made a raft of gaba2 on which he
set out to seek his destiny.  He departed from Suri Paukala and arrived at
Tial.  From Tial he cast himself adrift on the deep and was brought by the
current to the mouth of Wai Ira near Rohomoni.  He made landing near the
estuary at the place known as PUAN-A-MAHUAT (Raft-lifted-and-deposited).
There he left his raft and struck out to follow the river on foot.  After some
time he heard the yelping of a puppy, which he found and carried on in his
arms.  As he went on he saw grated coconut waste moving with the waters, and a
strand of hair seven fathoms long.  From all this he deduced that someone must
be upstream and that someone female.  With this thought he pushed on, watching
for the coconut waste until suddenly he saw a maiden bathing.  She was
completely naked, and he immediately turned in shame.  But from behind came
the words, "Lepe um kapenet erle masu waka teha mena"(1), which meant "Toss me
a loin-cloth to cover my nakedness."  Tohuayurat unfastened the cloth he was
wearing, and tossed it to her.  When she was clothed he asked her how she came
to be there, and she told him that she lived with her father and brothers at
Ama-Hatu-hahai(2), nearby.  Her name was Upu Ipur.  He urged her to bring him
to Hatuhahai, which she did.  When they arrived, the men were still working in
the rice fields(?), so Ipur hid him in the loft in a tetur (timbel or tobacco
box woven from gaba-gaba peel).  At evening, she cooked a meal(3), and set 5
places.  When her father and 3 brothers returned he was surprised to see five
places instead of the usual 4.  He said, "Why the five plates instead of
four?"

Ipur answered, "In case a stranger happens by."

Then, when all were seated she said, "Kaxa katin malamait(4) totomai loxo ka
emaxan."  ("Fetch your brother-in-law to eat with you!")

At this her father was indeed shocked, but they fetched Tohuayurat from his
box and all ate together.

Five plates are placed at all our feasts where prayers (pasaparu) are read on
religious holidays to this day.  Other families only place 4.

4. brother-in-law

3. my informant says that in those days they ate taro root cooked in bamboo.

2.1. Lepe=give; kapenet=that which is tied about the loins; waka teha=to
cover; mena=nakedness.