“It so did happen that goddess Tarioa, who sat at her cave door weaving the sunsets, seaweed, and the hairs of dead women to make mats for gods’ feet, look suddenly round cave door’s corner and see great chief Ora Tua lying on floor of ocean. Her eyes did shine, for he, too, look ’andsome chief as he stood up all tangled in the sunset. For you must know that the sun was sinking just same time as canoe bottom was knock out on reefs.
“When goddess Tarioa saw Ora Tua, she put her hand to eyes and stare longer while to see so nice chief, chief who had belonger world ’way up ’bove sea floor. She slowly creep out of cave, and while Ora Tua was looker ’nother way, she catch hold of his hair and pull ’im outer of the sunset. As he stand before her, his face and form all shining with golden fire and sunlight that once shine over this world, she say, ‘Ora Tua, you are ’andsome chief!’
“Then Ora Tua look at goddess Tarioa, and answer nice things ’bout the goddess’s face, and he say, ‘Oh, who are you, so beautiful under the sea?’ Then no time am waste between them, they faller in love! Big day gods and Atua (Thunder-god), the god who open door to let out kind sun in morning and tattoo sky by night, peep through crack in that big cave and say, ‘Oh, dear! Dear me! goddess Tarioa am gone now and kiss that Ora Tua, a dead chief who am not _tapu_, but am mortal who once live up in world by the sea.’
“It was then that big gods all rush out of caves and run after goddess Tarioa and Ora Tua, so that they may not kiss again. But so big were their shoulders, all moving alonger underneath ocean water, that it make big waves tumble about up on sea beneath the stars; and so ’nother canoe that was filled with nicer Tahitian maidens knock on reefs and go to bottom of sea too!
“The gods were so pleased that the dead Tahitian girls so pretty all stand before them, that they forget all about wicked goddess Tarioa and chief Ora Tua.”
“What happened then, Pokara?” said I, as the chief licked his lips and looked up towards the starlit skies in deep meditation. And he continued in this wise:
“Well, longer time after Ora Tua kiss goddess, she had two children same time!”
“Twins?” said I, as I laughed, and Pokara vouchsafed a solemn smile.