A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Taekeke makes a fish image from woven vines and enters it, becoming a fish for voyages toward Opa or Raga. A kingfisher’s arrival signals occupation of the image; an old woman in the house then breaks a stick and sends it into the sea. His forbidden interior room holds the object when it is not in use.
His son enters without understanding the mechanism and is accidentally sent away. Taekeke discovers the departure, weaves coconut material into a covering for his own breast and enters the sea to retrieve him. On their return he forces the reluctant son to pursue a man in a breadfruit tree. The sea rises with the moving fish, carrying it up to swallow the man. Back at the house the swallowed victim remains alive briefly before dying. Taekeke’s predatory figure is not identified with Taepupuliti from a different narrative.
Origins & earliest records
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter XIX, III.14, pp. 407–408. Chapter XIX identifies islander-written manuscripts as its basis, without naming each individual contributor.
Records & interpretation
Complete relevant selected tale or explicitly abridged footnote read. Local identity, separate versions and unnamed narrator limitations retained.
In the literature
“turned into a fish”
Chapter XIX III.14, pp.407–408; entering the image · R. H. Codrington
Taekeke makes and enters a woven fish image, becoming a fish for predatory journeys. His forbidden room contains it. The unnamed son enters while his father is away and is sent to sea; the father finds him near Opa and brings him home. This separate account is not identified with Deitari’s captor Taepupuliti.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.14, pp. 407–408
Published collected witness; modern oral/community variants not exhausted.
- 02
The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; University of Toronto historical scan/OCR. Complete selected Chapter XIX II.1–2 and III.14–17 narratives and the complete separately marked Qat-wuruga manuscript abstract independently read. Chapter XIX p356 says stories except the first derive from islanders’ manuscripts supplied to him; no individual writer supplied for these selected accounts. Original manuscripts not independently inspected.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891; University of Toronto historical scan/OCR. Complete selected Chapter XIX II.1–2 and III.14–17 narratives and the complete separately marked Qat-wuruga manuscript abstract independently read. Chapter XIX p356 says stories except the first derive from islanders’ manuscripts supplied to him; no individual writer supplied for these selected accounts. Original manuscripts not independently inspected.
- Taekeke makes and enters a woven fish image, becoming a fish for predatory journeys. His forbidden room contains it. The unnamed son enters while his father is away and is sent to sea; the father finds him near Opa and brings him home. This separate account is not identified with Deitari’s captor Taepupuliti.
Chapter XIX III.14 Taekeke, Aurora, pp.407–408; fish image and son
- The father orders the reluctant son to eat a man in a breadfruit tree and strikes him. Water rises with the son’s movement and carries him up to swallow the man. They place the swallowed victim at the back of the house, initially alive; frightened by the sea creatures’ open mouths, he remains there and dies. No rescue or later resurrection is narrated.
Chapter XIX III.14, p.408; coerced predation and victim’s end
Original island manuscript not inspected; unidentified narrators not invented. Specific local version, not present community consensus. No ceremonial formulas copied; facsimile not visually checked in this batch.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary collected textCodrington, Chapter XIX, III.14, pp. 407–408Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.