THE LEGEND OF LAKE TINA FATA

At the dawn of the age of human jealousies, away from the path of humility, on an island in the South Pacific, there is a tiny lake. This reservoir of tears was dug by Fata, the God of Pride, to store his sobs of contempt for the other Gods.

Tahiti’s high volcanic mountains adopted this mirror-like lake as the source of their grandeur and, in homage to the God Fata, named it “Tina Fata.”

Ata, the cloud—the only God able to take any form—is mischievous and greatly amused by the God Fata’s boundless pride. So that Fata will no longer know what has become of his hatred for the other Gods of the sky, Ata sets about emptying all the tears from Lake Tina Fata. This will make “Tangaroa the One” stammer in surprise and make the other Gods of the sky laugh heartily.

Then Ata transforms one of his clouds into a human being made in Fata’s image. He places the mortal at the edge of the lake, in the shade of Aïto, the celestial tree of the warrior Gods. Mischievously, he names this human being who is coming into existence Hutu Païnu: the one who seeks his identity.

Hutu Païnu, lacking the faculty of reason, spends his time gazing at his reflection in Lake Tina Fata.

Hutu Païnu, lacking the virtue of humility, considers his own reflection to be absolute beauty.

Hutu Païnu, lacking the virtue of wisdom, falls in love with himself.

After endlessly admiring himself in Fata’s tears of hatred, Hutu Païnu finally tries to embrace his own reflection so that he may kiss himself.

Aïto, seeing Hutu Païnu begin a suicidal course of action, offers him one of his branches to hold on to, so that Fata’s tears of hatred will not swallow him forever.

But Hutu Païnu has no regard for Aïto’s watchfulness over him.

On the contrary, Hutu Païnu takes advantage of Aïto’s kindness to reveal his hatred for him.

Hutu Païnu has cursed Aïto since his birth, because Aïto alters the beauty of his reflections by casting the shadow of his branches upon him.

Once he has expressed his hatred, Hutu Païnu falls into Lake Tina Fata, which swallows him forever into the realm of those who have nothing and of hatreds yet to come.

Aïto was saddened by the loss of his friend and, after sighing eleven times from excessive sorrow, he asked Tina Fata whether Hutu had truly been beautiful.

Silence settled in until twilight, and only at the dawn of truth did Tina Fata answer Aïto in tears.

He told him that, in truth, he had never seen Hutu Païnu, because while Hutu was gazing at himself in the lake, Tina Fata was admiring himself in the depths of Hutu’s eyes. Despairing that he could no longer gaze at his own reflection, Tina Fata emptied the lake until it ran dry. Deeply offended at having been ridiculed by Ata, he decided to reincarnate in every human being yet to come, so as to impair their love for their fellow human beings.

And so, from that time onward, Fata has lain dormant within every human being.

Sometimes he awakens in certain people, who then become capable of destroying their fellow human beings and their children’s future in the name of Hutu Païnu, now the God of the suffering of identity.

Mathius TO’ERAU, le Suréviste 11 January 2003