Once two people from the Kiwai tribe had an argument. One stated:
- Hivio the sun and Ganumi the moon are two different people.
And the other one argued that Hivio and Ganumi are one person. Their argument turned into a fight, and one beat the other soundly.
And then the beaten man was ashamed of his weakness and decided to set off by canoe in order to finally find out exactly where the home of Ganumi the moon is and how Ganumi travels across the sky.
Day and night he rowed with an oar in the open sea, guiding the canoe to the place where the moon rises. Finally he sailed to the house of Ganumi-moon. At this time the tide had just begun to ebb, and the boat ran aground.
The first time Ganumi-moon appeared before a man in the form of a little boy, who began to invite him to come ashore.
“No,” said the man, “you are a little boy, not the moon.” I want Ganumi himself to invite me.
“I am Ganumi-moon,” answered the boy. - Please come ashore.
“No,” the man insisted, “I want to see an adult, not such a child, you are not Ganumi at all.”
And he stayed in the canoe.
Ganumi-moon began to grow quickly and soon came out to man in the form of a young man. But he again refused to go ashore:
“I’m waiting for the real Ganumi-moon to appear, and not one like you, young man.” I'm waiting for an adult to take me ashore.
Time has passed. Ganumi acquired a beard, and then he again came to man. But he continued to say:
“I wish that Ganumi-moon himself would come out.”
-Yes, I am Ganumi! And again the man did not believe him. The next time Ganumi-moon appeared in the form of a gray-haired old man.
“Come ashore,” he called the man.
- So are you Ganumi? - asked the guest. “I want Ganumi himself to invite me to the shore.”
- Well, of course, I am Ganumi-moon.
“No,” the man doubted, “I think you are not Ganumi.”
Finally, Ganumi-luna trudged along like a decrepit old man, the old man could barely walk.
Only then did the man get out of the boat and follow him to the shore. This is the real Ganumi who has come, he thought.
Ganumi-moon showed the man his possessions:
“Everything here is mine and everything is white: a white hut, a white garden, white land.”
Then he showed the man another place:
“And here is the domain of the darkness of the night Duo, everything here is black.” From here comes the darkness of the night.
Finally he brought the man to the third place:
-Here is the domain of Hivio the sun. Everything here is red: a red hut, a red vegetable garden, red soil. It’s just like that: after the darkness of the night comes the light of the sun.
Then Ganumi-luna and the man ate together, thereby cementing their friendship, and when they finished the meal, Ganumi-luna said:
- Watch how I rise across the sky. There is darkness ahead, I follow it, and the sun follows me. The sun and I are two different people.
Ganumi-moon climbed a tree and from there rushed into the sky. He sank to the edge of the cloud, and everything around lit up.
The man saw this and thought: It turns out that this is my truth. The moon is one person and the sun is another. My friend was wrong when he said that the sun and the moon are one person.
The guest of Ganumi-moon did not sleep all night, he kept inspecting Ganumi’s possessions. Nothing grew here except low trees and bushes: the moonlight was very close.
Dawn had begun, but the moon was still in the sky.
Finally the sun rose. Then Ganumi left the sky and returned home.
He told the man:
- Well, have you seen me now? Did you look at me well?
-Yes, I saw you, Ganumi-moon, and Hivio-sun, and the darkness of the night Duo. You are three different people, but you all live here together.
And then the night, the moon and the sun came, and each of them brought a treat to the man.
Duo said:
“This is my food, it’s all black: black banana, black taro, black yam.” That's why they call me the darkness of the night Duo.
Ganumi-luna nodded towards his food:
-And my food is all white: white banana, white taro, white yam.
Hivio the sun, in turn, showed the food he brought:
-This is my food, it’s all red: red banana, red taro, red yam. Remember: my name is Hivio the sun.
Then Ganumi-moon said to the man:
- Wait a little! Sunset will begin soon, and when the sun goes down, I will head up. I will tie a rope to the canoe and drag it to the place where you came from. When we get to your house, pull the rope and I’ll stop. Let all the people of the village gather. Show them the rope and say: This is the rope of Ganumi-moon, with which he pulled my boat. And show them our food, and then untie the rope.
At sunset, Ganumi called the man:
“Go sit in the canoe, and I’ll tie the rope.”
And so they set off. Finally the man sailed to his house, and when he pulled the rope, Ganumi-moon froze in the sky. And people saw the boat and started shouting:
- Here is the man who went to look at the moon! He's back!
The man who visited Ganumi-moon called all the people of the village. He did not forget to call the person with whom he was arguing. The man told the people this:
- Look what I brought with me. This food was given to me by the darkness of the night Duo, so it is all black. This food is Ganumi moon, so it is all white. This food was given to me by Hivio-sun, that's why it's all red. And this is Ganumi’s rope, with which he pulled my boat and brought me home. Now you've seen my friend and I'll let him go.
As soon as the man untied the rope, it flew into the air and instantly disappeared.
The man took all the food he had brought out of the boat, but people were afraid to try it:
- What if you can die from it?
“No,” the man convinced them, “the night, the moon and the sun said: This is real food, don’t be afraid, eat it, they don’t die from it.”
And then everyone started eating it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru