Long time ago,lived a couple in Pohnpei who had a daughter. She was an only child and she was very lonely. One day, she went down the river to wash their dirty dishes and there came up a very tiny eel. He came up and started to eat from her plates. She tried to shoo him away but the more she push him away, the more aggressive he gets. Then she got up and left and later brought back food for the eel. Eventually, she took the eel home and place under their house where the eel build his home.
She kept feeding him until he became long and fat. He became her best friend and everyday she would go under the house to visit her friend. She did this daily and her parents became suspicious of what she is doing. And when they found out that an eel is under the house and they also see how big the eel is, they conceived a plan to kill the eel. Then the next morning, the father told the girl to go cruise in town. She was astonished, because that's the first he ask her to go to town. So she went and told her eel friend that she is going to town. When the eel heard this, he told her,"go and if you come and I am dead, reserve my head for you". So she went on her way.
When she came back, the parents already killed the eel, ate it and the only leftovers were the head and the tail. When she saw what the parents has done, she cried for her friend and then she took the head and went away. She cried for the lose of her friend and then she buried the head. Two weeks after, she went back to the grave and found out something odd. There is a plant growing up right where she buried the head. After a month, it grows into a big plant and it is the mangat plant.
Mangat is a banana. It has big fruits and it is very delicious when it is ripe. The fruits are more cylindrical and elongated.
Loveleen James
Madolehnihmw, Pohnpei
Fall 2000