Pipiri and his sister Rehua were lying on their mats in the corner of the house. They were alone - mother and father went in a canoe to fish. The palm trees rustled above the children, and they could hear the waves rolling onto the shore, but there were no other sounds. The children spoke in whispers, they were very lonely, and the night seemed dark and uninhabited. They soon fell asleep, but woke up again when their parents tiptoed into the house.
“Shh,” said the father, “the children are sleeping.” We were lucky with our catch today, and I'm hungry. If they wake up, we won't be able to have dinner in peace.
“I’ll cook the fish in the yard,” said the mother, “and we’ll eat it under the trees.”
They left. The father collected wood and lit the fire, while the mother cut and cleaned the fish. She put the fish on long sticks and, when the fire began to go out, fried it over the coals.
Pipiri and Rehua lay very quietly. A delicious smell came through the open door, and the bright glow of the fire was visible.
- They will come to wake us up and give us something to eat? - Rehua whispered.
- No, I don’t think they will come. They are too greedy,” Pipiri replied. Rehua was indignant:
- They are actually very kind. Maybe they're just sorry to wake us up. Pipiri didn't even want to listen to her.
“They don’t really like us,” he said, “this isn’t the first time this has happened.” When they eat, they burn the leftovers. Tomorrow morning they'll pretend they didn't catch anything. Mother will give us one tarot. You'll see!
Rehua lay silently and thought for a long time. Then she said slowly:
- I think you're right, Pipiri. They give us almost no fish. They don't even call us by our real names. Why does father always say "Pipiri-ma" as if we are just two Pipiri?
“Because he doesn’t want to take the trouble to call us by our real names.” - Pipiri stood up sharply. - Let's run away, Rehua. Come with me, we will go live somewhere else. I will fish for you every day.
“But they will probably see us go to the door,” Rehua objected.
“We won’t go to the door,” said Pipiri. - Look!
He busily set to work on the wall and made a hole. Soon the children were able to crawl through it. They quietly crept away, hiding behind the trees.
Just then Taua and his wife finished dinner. Flames shot up as the remains of the fish were thrown into the fire.
While Taua was stewing it, the wife entered the house and lay down on the mat. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a hole in the wall. Feeling the children's mats, she found that they were empty, ran to the door and called her husband:
- Taua! Hurry here! The children ran away. The parents ran among the trees. In the predawn twilight they saw their children in the distance. Pipiri held his sister's hand and pulled her along with him.
- Come back, Pipiri-ma! - the mother shouted. - Oh Pipiri-ma, come back!
But the children did not look back. They ran as fast as they could, but Taua ran much faster. Soon he approached them and shouted:
- Stop! If you don't come back, I'll beat you both.
The children were exhausted, and Rehua began to cry.
“Oh Pipiri,” she sobbed, “father will catch us and beat us.” I'm afraid.
“Don’t be afraid,” said the brother, “look, here’s a stag beetle.” He will help us.
He grabbed the beetle by the leg and held it while Rehua climbed onto its back. Pipiri followed her. Taua had already stretched out his hand to hold the children, but the stag beetle spread its wings and flew into the sky with them.
The children heard their mother scream:
-Where are you going? Come back to us, Pipiri-ma. We won't punish you if you return.
- No! - responded Pipiri. “We can’t eat what you give us.” You think that food obtained by torchlight is not for Pipirim. You think that tarot is quite enough for Pipirim.
The stag beetle rose higher and higher and finally disappeared from sight.
That night three new stars appeared in the sky. The inhabitants of the island of Tahiti call two of them Pipiri and Rehua, and the third star is the stag beetle that brought them to heaven.
The children of Tahiti know this story well. When night comes, they look at the sky, and when they find three bright stars, one of the children sings:
O Pipiri-ma, come back to us!
And other children answer:
No, we will never return to you! You didn't want to give us the fish you caught, the fish you caught by torchlight.
We've gone through the clouds to the top of the sky On the back of a beetle, and here we'll stay. Forever, forever, like two bright flowers in the sky.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru