IN Matang of old dwelt Nakaa the Judge, and he had lordship over all the people. The spirits of Matang also bowed before him, for they feared to look into his eyes. But no land ever seen was as beautiful as that land. It was great, it was high, many were its mountains, all manner of trees were there, and rivers of fresh water. The trees were heavy with fruit. There were lakes with an abundance of fish. Neither hunger nor thirst were in that place, never an ill wind visited it, and the people did not know death.
Nakaa had his dwelling below the mountain in a spot that was very fruitful. And behold! He planted two pandanus trees there, very wide and tall. One tree stood in the north, the other in the south. He said, “The men will be gathered under the tree in the north and the women will be gathered under the tree in the south.” And so it was, the men turned north and the women turned south, each company turned away with its own happiness, and there was neither death nor grey hair among them.
But there came a day when Nakaa was to go on a journey. He gathered the men and the women together in the area between the trees and behold! They looked on each other’s bodies.
And Nakaa said to them, “I go on a journey. See that you turn away from each other when I am gone, the men to the north and the women to the south.” He said again, “This is my word: there will be no traffic between the women and the men while I am gone.” He said again, “There is a mark that I will know when I return, if the men play together with the women.” Those three commands Nakaa spoke before he went on his journey.
And when he was gone, the men returned to their tree in the north, and the women returned to their tree in the south and each company lived with its own thoughts. So it was for a long time. But their hearts were not at ease, for they had looked at each other’s bodies. Their hearts were turned over within them.
And after a long time, it was night, and a south wind moved the trees. Cool was that wind and sweet with the scent of the flowers of the women’s tree. And the scent was blown upon the company of the men where they lay sleeping in the north. Behold! The men stirred, they awoke, their hearts were drawn to the women. They arose. They said together: “We will go play with the women, for the scent of their tree is sweet.” See them now! They go forth, they go running, they are beneath the tree of the women, they are playing with the women beneath the tree. Alas! The mark of Nakaa is upon them but they do not know it yet.
Not long after that, Nakaa returned. He arrived, stood in the area between the trees and called the people to him, saying, “Come, gather here before me!” They heard his word. They came to bow before him, and when they bowed, he took their heads between his hands. He lifted the hairs of their heads between his fingers, he searched there, and found his mark upon them. He saw grey hairs among the black, and he knew they had not obeyed his word. He said, “You have played together under the women’s tree.” And the people did not answer.
Nakaa said again, “Because you could not obey my word, you will leave the land of Matang forever.”
Then the men and the women begged him, saying, “Do not drive us out. If you had not gathered us together, we would not have looked upon each other’s bodies, and our hearts would not have been overturned. This was your doing.” The spirits of Matang also spoke for them.
His heart was softened, but only a little. He said, “You will dream of Matang, but will not enter it. Here are two trees, the men’s and the women’s. One of them you will take with you and the other will remain in Matang. Which tree do you choose?” The men answered, “We choose the tree of the women.” And Nakaa said, “You have chosen the tree of death. So be it. The tree of life will remain in Matang. You will always have death with you.”
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
