Marshallese - Lijakwe

Описание: Watch more rhymes and songs from the King County Library System at http://kcls.org/tellmeastory.

I am going to inoñ (tell a story; also means legends) about Lijakwe. Lijakwe was a beautiful woman. You know, you had to see her back then.

The way she looked when the sun set on the Mejkadu part of the island turned the coconut fronds red. This was because of her beauty.

Many (this includes men from the other islands of the Marshall Islands) sought after her regardless of the distance. This did not discourage the men.

Now one of the men… Have you heard the name Labōlāp? It is a reef found behind Rupi.

If you get a chance to visit the reef, you will see how white it is (because he had a skin condition that caused white spots on his skin). This is where that man stays. So, he decided to gather some taro to give [Lijakwe].

On his way to her, he was sure that he would succeed but when they met, Lijakwe shamed him and rejected his gifts. Embarrassed, he left. He is known for being the reef behind Rupi.

If you get a chance to visit Ebon, you will “see” him. Also, the taro at the jito aren’t like the taro at the jitak side of island. This is because this is where Lijakwe stayed.

If you go to the Mejkadu part of the island, you will see two reefs. The two reefs are the bwebwe(tuna) and the iu (coconut).

These are the two landmarks on the island of Ebon. These are found at the Mejkadu part of the island on the jitak side.

Although this a legend, we see some truth in it from these 2 landmarks.

The reef that is known to be Labōlāp and the other, these reefs are called Jikit and Rukit.