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The Story of the Eel of Pahdol |
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ong ago, a couple migrated from the area of Wene and set up their new residence in a place within the division of Kitti, called
Lauatik(1). One day, a torrent of rain began to fall and continued to pound down for so long that it caused a great flood. The flood waters were so extensive that they rushed out over the mudflats and into the ocean. Two women, named Liwetinpar and
Liwetiniro, decided that they would take advantage of the flood and go out to fish where the water met the sea. As the women were busy fishing, a large
starling(2) soared over them, and from its beak it dropped a small, curious stone.
The women were fascinated by the stone, so they took it and returned home to their community. Everyone was interested in the pebble and the story the women
had to tell. The new-comers were especially entranced by the stone, so the two women agreed to give it
to them.
Now, the couple took the stone for their own, but were surprised when a tiny freshwater eel
hatched(3) from the rock and squirmed its way out! They were pleased by the eel and decided to keep it as a pet, so they took it to a place near their home in
Pahdol(4) and set the eel in a river pool, surrounded by beautiful
laurel trees(5) that whispered in the breeze. There they kept and nourished it. But the eel grew to be huge and frightening and it had the unsettling habit of staring at its human masters. Eventually—perhaps fearful of the increasingly menacing monster—the couple decided they would kill and eat the eel before it had a chance to grow larger. But, as they were discussing their plans, the eel overheard and it began to plot against them.
One evening as the couple was returning to their house, the eel violently
attacked(6) with its jaws wide. Horrified, the couple fled into the
jungle with the great eel pursuing them. They found a large rock, which they were able to hide beneath, but the eel was aware of them and shattered the
rock(7) with its huge head. There was nowhere to run and the humans were quickly devoured.
Its hunger temporarily satiated, the monster went down to Nanmair and came upon one of the servants of the
Lord of Deleur(8), hastening to his master with a load of recently-prepared food. The servant, named
Kiroun Mair, took the eel as his mistress(9) and prepared a rocky lair for her to rest within. Now the eel became pregnant with Kiroun Mair’s child and she
was ravenous again. She set out to one of the channels in Kitti to hunt for fish. There she cunningly deceived vast schools of
fish(10) so that they would swim right into her hideous mouth.
When her belly was again full, the eel navigated her way along the river of Kitti, intending to return to her lover’s home. On the way, she spied a wily
fisherman(11)--an eel hunter--who was working along the banks of the river. The eel feared the hunter, terrified that he would catch and kill her, so she dug herself a hiding place in the bank of the river and slithered inside. In the darkness of her musty refuge she gave birth. After returning to Kiroun Mair’s land, the eel regurgitated some of the fish she had devoured for her offspring to eat. Her children would grow to be the human matriarchs of the sub-clans of the Lasialap, including the
Sounlipwantiak (Masters of the Trace of the Footprint), Lasiadohng (Eels of the Campnosperma Tree), and Lasiakotop (Eels of the
Clinostigma Palm).
But the eel became restless, so eventually she left Kiroun Mair and traveled to the division of
Madolenihmw(12). She found the immense Lehdau River to her liking, and she lurked in its deep pools for many years, terrorizing the nearby inhabitants. Parts of the district became almost entirely devoid of human occupants, because she would attack and eat anyone who came down to paddle their canoes in the river or traveled through the forest nearby. Those who were lucky enough to avoid being eaten, fled to other regions, spreading their tales of the dreadful eel of Lehdau.
There was one man, called Nahriting, however, who did not fear the eel. He devised a clever plan for getting rid of her. Nahriting built a special canoe in which he fitted coconut shells that the wind would disturb producing the illusion that the canoe contained human occupants. He even attached a sail to increase the realism of his canoe, before launching it into the river. When the eel came upon the canoe, she called out, asking how many people were inside, because she was extremely hungry. Of course, the empty canoe gave no answer. The eel was puzzled and somewhat suspicious, but she continued to follow the canoe and call to it as it wound its way down the river toward the sea. The canoe sailed out of the river into the sea and traveled all the way to the island of Kosrae with the eel pursuing it.
In Kosrae, the eel again gave birth. Some time later when she was very elderly and near death, she returned to Pohnpei. When she finally died, her gigantic carcass formed
a mountainous ridge near the border of Nett and U.
The Story of Mwahsenlang, ‘Worm’ of Heaven(13)
 here was once a freshwater eel that was called Mwahsenlang. This eel fell in love with a human girl named
Lienpeilang(14). On one occasion, the girl’s parents were shocked to accidentally stumble upon Lienpeilang and the eel passionately making love in the forest. They decided to kill the eel and eat it, but Lienpeilang became aware of their plans and warned her lover of his danger.
Resigned to his imminent demise, Mwahsenlang told the girl to save the bones of his great head after he was killed and devoured. So Lienpeilang’s parents killed the eel and feasted on his flesh, but the girl kept the head as she had been instructed. She took the head of the eel and buried it in the earth. Magically, a sprout grew up from the gravesite and transformed into a type of
banana plant(15) that had never existed on Pohnpei before.
HOME --- POHNPEIAN
MYTHS & LEGENDS: The
Great Eels | The
Coconut | Paipalap,
Rock of Sokehs
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(1) The original text mentions a more specific location called
Iro.
(2) SIOAK: the Micronesian starling (Aplonis opaca), a black species of bird.
(3) Bernart writes that the hatching occurred at a place called
Pahnkipar "Under the Pandanus Tree".
(4) PAHDOL "beneath the hill"
(5) PARINARI LAURINA, a native tree called ais in Pohnpeian and Alexandrian Laurel in English.
(6) This part of Bernart's tale is difficult to follow, but it sounds like the eel burrowed underneath the house and was waiting inside when the couple arrived.
(7) TAKAIDINGIDING "Dripping Rock"
(8) SAUDELEUR, one of the supreme rulers whose line governed from Nan Madol.
(9) "...[the eel] became the man's lady."
(10) PALAPAL: (Siganus punctatus), a species of rabbitfish.
(11) The fisherman's name was Kiroun Mand.
(12) The area, called Sapwalap, is located in central Madolenihmw.
(13) This is apparently an earlier portion of the same totemic myth as the Eel of Pahdol, which was one of Mwahsenlang's descendants.
(14) LIENPEILANG "Woman of the altar of heaven" (?)
(15) Bernart calls the banana uht mwahs, "worm
banana".
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