When I think of Lake Rotorua in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand I see it at night. As a child I used to go there quite often and watch the silver moon shining over the water. It never seemed to be a rough or difficult lake - always rippling. Seeing the island of Mokoia in the middle of it I always picture. Hinemoa swimming to her hero, her warrior, Tutanekai, and I always imagined her as a kind of fairy princess. This is her story.
There was once a very handsome warrior called Tutanekai
who used to hunt and fish with his step-brothers on their island home of
Mokoia. From time to time he would daydream about the woman he would marry.
But winning a bride would not be easy: his step-brothers were serious '
rivals and they were always boasting that they would marry the most beautiful
of women and have the most children. On the mainland there was a legendary
beauty called Hinemoa. Her father was a very great but gruff warrior, and
he adored Hinemoa. He would not let anybody, not anybody at all, marry
his Hinemoa. Many handsome chiefs had come to him to ask for her hand in
marriage, but not one of them was good enough for his daughter.
Now the tribes sometimes gathered on the mainland
for meetings and on these occasions there was much competition as to who
had the most land or the biggest house for Hinemoa.
One day Hinemoa and Tutanekai caught sight of each
other at one of these tribal gatherings. They could not speak to each other,
as Hinemoa's father made sure that she was protected from the advances
of any of the young men. But they had seen each other and that was enough:
it was love at first sight. Once the tribes had all returned to their homes
Hinemoa began to
think about Tutanekai, night after night.
Tutanekai was something of a loner. He was most
at peace when he could go off on his own and play his flute. As soon as
he returned home he felt sure that Hinemoa was the love of his dreams.
She really was the most beautiful girl with her long wavy hair, round olive
face and dark brown eyes.Night after night Tutanekai would think of Hinemoa
and give voice to his emotions on the flute. Everyone in her tribe would
listen to this music, but most of all Hinemoa would listen to its soulful,
haunting sounds. It made her feel sad and once again she would think of
Tutanekai, far away on the island of Mokoia. Little did she know that this
was his music.
Time passed and there were several tribal gatherings.
The more Tutanekai came to these meetings and Hinemoa saw him, the more
they fell in love with each other.
One day Hinemoa and Tutanekai finally had a few
moments together alone, and although they were very shy they knew that
their love for each other was growing all the time. Hinemoa felt Tutanekai's
great strength and she felt the protection of his powerful body and kind,
handsome face.
Tutanekai wondered how they might persuade her father
to agree to their marriage. Hinemoa was terrified.
'No,' she cried 'this has happened so many times
that I cannot see my father ever giving permission for us to get married.'
Tutanekai said, 'Look, we are in love, we should
be married! Come to my island of Mokoia with me.'
'It is not possible,' replied Hinemoa. 'They would
see us and bring me back to Rotorua and I would never be allowed to see
you again, ever!'
But Tutanekai was determined. He said, 'No, you
are to be mine. I want you as my wife. I have a plan. When your tribe is
sleeping and I am back in Mokoia you must go down to the water's edge and
push out a canoe and paddle it to me.'
'But how will I find you? How will I find the island of Mokoia?'
'I have a flute,' said Tutanekai. 'I play my music every night.'
'So that's your flute! After all these nights, I
didn't realize it was your music playing to me. Of course I know where
you are. I've known where you've been for so many days and nights now.
Yes! I do have the courage. I will be able to find you.'
Tutanekai returned to his island with his step-brothers
and his father, and Hinemoa waited. That night there was no moon. When
she heard the flute she rushed down to the water's edge to find a canoe.
But there was none. She could not find a single one. They were all high
up on the shore. It was impossible for her to push one down, even though
she tried and tried again - the canoes were very heavy and she was not
strong enough.
Frustrated, she crept back to her sleeping mat and
cried herself to sleep, thinking 'I can hear the sound of the flute and
I can't come to you. I will try again tomorrow night.'
The following night the moon was still hidden and
when darkness fell Hinemoa once again heard her lover's flute. It was time
to go. She rushed down to the water's edge. Impossible! Not a single canoe
could she find.
Night after night the same thing happened. With
the sound of Tutanekai's music floating over the water Hinernoa became
desperate. She must get to Mokoia. She decided to go without the help of
a canoe. During the day she found some dried gourds and hid them away.
That night she went down to the water clutching the gourds and, without
even glancing back, she tied the gourds together and floated them on the
water. Then she lay on them and pushed herself out into the dark lake.
She started to paddle in the direction of the flute playing. The music
guided her through the moonless night and although she was exhausted, she
kept on paddling.
She was getting nearer to Mokoia but the cold water
had chilled her to the bone and she began to feel very weak. The music
sounded faint now but all the same it gave her courage to press on. Suddenly
she felt as if she might be within shouting distance of the island. She
put a foot down in the water and touched some waving weed. A moment later
she felt solid land and climbed, stiffly, out of the water.
Terrified of the darkness and the stillness, she
took a few hesitant steps on to the dry land which felt warm under her
feet. The rest of her body still felt cold - she was quite naked as she
had thrown off her cloak when she plunged in. The warm rocks reminded her
of the geysers back on the mainland. As she walked a little further the
land became hotter and soon Hinemoa caught the welcome sound of hissing
water. Geysers! A few steps further and she found herself beside a beautiful
pool of hot sulphurous water. She lowered herself in and lay there, soaking
up the warmth.
She lay for quite some time, and gradually her fingers
and toes felt like they belonged to her once again. She wondered what she
should do.
'Now, I know Tutanekai is here, but I can't go down to the village
with just my hair covering my body! I must find a way of making him come
to me.'
Just then she heard footsteps,
so she lay very still. As they came closer she called out, disguising her
voice,'Who is there?'
A terrified voice answered 'Who is that?'
Then Hinemoa called out again, 'What are you doing here?'
The same voice blurted out, 'I am getting water
for my master, Tutanekai .'
'Give me the water bag,' demanded Hinemoa.
Hinemao could just make out the shape of a man holding
a bag at arm's length. As soon as she reached out to take it he ran off.
She had a drink and then sank back into the pool. What should she do now?
Soon she heard more voices. She lay very quietly
and saw a large shadow approaching the pool. She began to panic. 'On no!'
she thought, 'it's a monster. Something terrible will happen to me and
I will never see Tutanekai again.' She closed her eyes, hoping it would
disappear. When she opened them, she couldn't believe what she saw: there
was Tutanekai, who also could
not believe his eyes, standing right before her.
'Hinemoa,' he said, 'How did you get here? How long have you been here?'
Once Hinemoa had recovered from the shock of seeing
Tutanekai, she told him the story of her flight from the mainland, and
how terrified she was of the cold water, and how this beautiful, hot, bubbling
pool seemed to have been put there specially for her comfort and warmth.
When she had finished Tutanekai said, 'Come quickly.
While it is still dark I will take you down to my village. There we'll
find some clothing for you.'
They went to his hut and talked and talked for most
of the night about their love for each other and their desire to spend
the rest of their lives together.
The next morning, when the rest of Tutanekai's family
were up and about, there was no sign of Tutanekai. 'Why isn't he here?'
they asked. So they sent one of the servants to rouse him, who soon rushed
back saying 'I cannot believe it! There is someone else with Tutanekai,
and I... I... they are both asleep in there, and it's... it's a woman,
a woman there with Tutanekai!'
The rest of the tribe looked at each other, amazed.
Could there be a stranger in the village? They had not heard anyone come
into the village in the night. And why had Tutanekai not told them about
this stranger, this woman? They were just about to dispatch the same servant
to find out who this stranger was, when Tutanekai and Hinemoa appeared,
walking towards them. As
soon as Tutanekai's family saw their radiant faces they knew that they
were in love. They knew, too, that this beautiful woman was Hinemoa.
All of Tutanekai's tribe were happy for them but
were also worried abou what Hinemoa's father would do. He might declare
war on them, they said, in order to get his daughter back. So that day
they sent a group of warriors to him. They told him that Hinemoa was safe
and asked him to agree to her marriage with Tutanekai.
At first Hinemoa's father was annoyed, but he soon
relented, realizing how his brave daughter had suffered so for the love
of her warrior Tutanekai. Throughout the whole area there was great feasting,
night after night, and Hinemoa and Tutanekai were finally married. To this
day the warm
bubbling pool where Hinemoa revived herself is known as Hinemoa's Bath.