There once was a beautiful maiden who lived on the Cook Islands. She had met Tinirau, the god of fishes, and she fell deeply in love with him. Tinirau lived far away on a floating island. Ina went to the beach and cried for her love, Tinirau.

Ina so wanted to see Tinirau that she asked some fish to take her to him. The angelfish agreed, so Ina gathered coconuts and stepped into the water. The angelfish gathered round her and tried to take her to Tinirau, but after a short while Ina was too heavy. Ina became angry and she beat them soundly with a stick, which is why the angelfish now have black stripes on them.

A larger fish offered to take Ina, and she jumped on the fish, but she was still too heavy. That fish too, was beaten so badly by an angry Ina that it was pummeled flat and is now known as the flounder.

The brave soldierfish then came to Ina’s aid and was able to carry her easily, but it swam so fast that Ina had to hold on to the tail, and she cut her hand, leaving a red stripe that can still be seen today. This made the soldierfish angry, and he left her all alone.

Ina was so saddened now, that she began to cry and moan. A great shark passing by heard her crying and offered to help. Ina asked the shark to take her to the floating island of Tinirau. The shark agreed and Ina crawled onto the back of the large fish and they swam for a long time. After a while, Ina became thirsty and she took a coconut and cracked it open up on the shark’s dorsal fin. After drinking the milk, Ina had to relieve herself and did so on the back of the shark. This made the shark angry, and he warned her to be more grateful or he would abandon her. This is the reason that shark meat has the aroma of urine today.

When they were about halfway to the floating island of Tinirau, Ina again became thirsty, and opened another coconut. But this time, Ina cracked the coconut over the shark’s head, which has left a bump passed down to all sharks since and is known as Ina’s bump today. This hurt the shark considerably and he shook Ina off and left her floating on the surface as he dived below.

Ina was all alone and far away from anywhere, but she so wanted to see Tinirau, that she started to swim. Tekea, a great white shark swam up to her. Tekea told Ina that Tinirau had sent him to help her. She crawled onto Tekea and he sped her off to the floating island, where, waiting on the shore, was Tinirau, her lover. Ina became Tinirau’s wife and they lived the rest of their days on the floating island.
ENJOY!!!