Creation story of the Ngardmau Waterfall

The creation story of the Ngardmau Waterfall: Love of the One-Eyed Fish

Once, in a small pond, there lived two one-eyed fish, one with a left eye, the other with a right eye. They were deeply in love. Other fish mocked their lack of an eye, but they didn’t believe they lacked anything, for together they were complete and had more than enough eyes to see the beauty of the world.

One day, the two were swimming side by side the pond’s calm waters when a sudden storm hit and tossed them about in its strong torrents. The one-eyed fish struggled to not be separated or get swept away. “Hang on!” They desperately cried to each other.

But the fish with the left eye tired and a fierce current pulled her over a precipice.

The storm passed. The pond calmed. The right-eyed fish searched for his beloved but could only hear a faraway cry from far below that he could not respond to. He fell into despair.

The agony was too much for the right-eyed fish and he was about to throw himself down into the deep void when a stranger wrapped him in its long body and saved him. It was an old eel, one-eyed himself, who had been watching the right-eyed fish. The eel listened to the fish’s story with tears in his eyes, for he too had a painful parting with the one he loved. The old eel wanted a different, happy ending for this young fish. “I pray my body, though old and infirm, be allowed to span the distance between these two loving fish.” Upon saying this, the eel’s body began to grow longer and longer until if finally transformed into a waterfall over the precipice.

The right-eyed fish leapt into the waterfall, with his heart full of love and gratitude. When he reached the bottom he looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow as if the old eel was giving his best wishes for the two fish.

And thus the two were united and the waterfall has remained.