A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Taepupuliti is a man who changes into a fish and swallows Deitari while the child is bathing with village companions. He carries the child to another country and keeps him at the back of his house. His fish form and the distant dwelling both participate in the abduction rather than describing an ordinary predatory fish.
Deitari’s father eventually finds him with a small fish helper and sits drinking kava with the captor. Tari lets the liquid fall from his mouth, while Taepupuliti becomes affected by his own drink. The father takes his child away. This short episode gives a definite transformation and rescue but no additional name for the fish species.
Origins & earliest records
R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891), Chapter XIX, III.13, p. 407. His introduction credits islanders’ written manuscripts for these translated tales; specific individual writers are not supplied here.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected tale read in the public primary transcription, with printed-page markers retained. Descriptive profile titles are identified where the being is unnamed. The original page images have not been visually collated in this pass.
In the literature
“changed himself into a fish”
Chapter XIX III.13, p.407; transformation · R. H. Codrington
Taepupuliti is introduced as a man who changes into a fish, devours the boy Deitari and transports him to another country. Deitari is subsequently located at the back of his house. This episode supplies no particular fish species and no assertion that he is identical with Taekeke in the following separate tale.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Melanesians, Chapter XIX, III.13, p. 407
Chapter introduction, p. 356, identifies the manuscript basis. Local story headings retained; collector judgments are not present community consensus.
- 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; selected University of Toronto historical scan/OCR. Chapter X final accounts and complete Chapter XIX III.9 and III.13 independently read; interleaved Basi footnote excluded from Deitari narrative.
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; selected University of Toronto historical scan/OCR. Chapter X final accounts and complete Chapter XIX III.9 and III.13 independently read; interleaved Basi footnote excluded from Deitari narrative.
- Taepupuliti is introduced as a man who changes into a fish, devours the boy Deitari and transports him to another country. Deitari is subsequently located at the back of his house. This episode supplies no particular fish species and no assertion that he is identical with Taekeke in the following separate tale.
Chapter XIX III.13 The Story of Deitari, Aurora, p.407; Fish-form captor
- Tari and the captor meet; the father remains unaffected, but Taepupuliti is affected and the child is carried away. The selected account does not say Taepupuliti is killed or that all his captives share this outcome. No procedural formula is copied.
Chapter XIX III.13 The Story of Deitari, Aurora, p.407; Defeated without a narrated killing
- Codrington describes all stories except the first as translations of manuscripts written for him by islanders. This selected tale’s individual writer is unnamed in the inspected introduction and heading.
Specific reported account, not modern universal consensus. No song, prayer, healing or ritual formulas excerpted; facsimile not visually checked in this batch. No original manuscript independently inspected or unnamed narrator identity invented.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCodrington 1891, Chapter XIX: Stories, III.13, p. 407Research access: 2026-10-05
- Primary provenance statementCodrington’s Chapter XIX collection and translation statementResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.