Centuries ago on the tiny isle of Kosrae, there lived a magician known as Lupan Finpikal. He lived all alone at a spot at Lelu town, called Finpikal, where people rarely visit. He had neither wife nor children, so all he ever do or his daily chores are really easy tasks. Every morning after he got out of bed, he prayed to his gods before proceeding with his daily chores.

One day he accidentally pounded on his finger while pounding on coconut fibers to make robes. He went out to his taro patch and cut out a taro leaf, made a basket-like form out of the leaf and let the blood on his finger drip into the leaf. After he tended his wounded finger, he carried the taro leaf, which contained his blood, inside his hut and hung it up on a hook.

Lupan Finpikal woke up early the next morning to find the taro leaf moving. He scrambled to his knees and started praying to the gods to let the unknown moving object inside the taro leaf a baby girl. Since Lupan Finpikal was a regular prayer including that he had great powers and believe, he unhooked the taro leaf to find a perfectly formed baby girl inside. Lupan Finpikal was so overjoyed; that he hired two maids to see to his daughter’s every need.

Several years pass, Lupan Finpikal’s daughter quickly matured and developed into a beautiful maiden. No one knew of his daughter until a few years later. When word got out that Lupan Finpikal had a beautiful daughter staying with him at Finpikal, the Royalties and High Chiefs of Kosrae began to visit Finpikal regularly. Without knowing that her beauty had captivated each and every one of the Royalties and high chiefs that visited her, the daughter enjoyed their visits and even began to look forward to them. Unfortunate though for those high chiefs and royalties, they were all married, but even that didn’t stop them from admiring Lupan Finpikal’s daughter and give jewelry’s that they actually stole from their wives jewelry cases.

Later on, the Queen and the wives of the daughter’s admirers heard of Lupan Finpikal’s daughter. They really wanted to see with their own eyes what all the others were impressed about this daughter, they’ve just known even existed. They had a meeting and decided that they were going fishing the next day, and they were to drop their nets near Finpikal.

Lupan Finpikal’s daughter was sitting on the beach when the Queen and the other royalties came upon her. They sat down and chatted with the daughter, but couldn’t resist the urge to just chat without ever staring at the daughter’s unexplainable beauty. Jealousy broiled inside them when each of them spotted her very own jewelry on the daughter. They quickly hid their hatred and said pleasant farewells to Lupan Finpikal’s daughter. Their were great tensions in the royal atmosphere the following weeks after the visit. The royalties and their wives were cold to each other.

The Queen couldn’t stand the cold stares she saw with on her peoples faces. Besides she now have an excuse to destroy the daughter, since she was jealous of Lupan Finpikal’s daughter’s looks, that she decided to hold a feast next day and she would invite the daughter and see what she could do about her. She sent out the daughter’s invitation and the daughter accepted it without hesitation, because she had thought that the Queen liked her and that they were friends.

The next day came and the feast began. Everyone was enjoying themselves when the Queen suddenly announced that her daughter, the princess, and Lupan Finpikal’s daughter were to play a game. The islanders called the game "fut moh". The game consisted of two players, big, round, and hard orange. The players have to walk a certain distance opposite from each other. One of the player have to start the game by throwing the orange up in the air, reach the other player, and the other player would catch it with her foot, kick the orange up in the air, and catch it with her hand and throw it back to her opponent. The game started, both of the girls were doing great until, Lupan Finpikal’s daughter accidentally threw the orange too hard at the princess. The orange was too fast for the princess to catch that it hit her right in the face.

Lupan Finpikal’s daughter felt really guilty for hitting the princess, although it was an accident, that she got sick. Th Queen, glad that she now have a perfect excuse to be angry of the daughter, and could even think up something to get rid of her. She wouldn’t take the pleadings of Lupan Finpikal’s admirers, that moment was her chance to get rid of Lupan Finpikal’s daughter.

The next day, the Queen announced for all the islanders to hear and witness the daughter’s punishment. She was to paddle all the way to Pohnpei, get a package from the Queen of Pohnpei, than paddle back to Kosrae without anyone’s help. The daughter felt that he punishment was fair since, it was her hand that threw the orange on the princess’s face. She went home and told Lupan Finpikal of her punishment. Lupan Finpikal didn’t waste any second. He went down on his knees, and started praying to his gods for his daughter’s safety. He went to his daughter after his prayers and gave her some common parent advises, while his daughter, overly obedient, listened to each and every word coming out of her father’s mouth. Lupan Finpikal concluded his parenting by telling his daughter that when she Pohnpei, she will come upon two maids, and she must listen carefully to every advise they would give her.

Early the next morning, the daughter pulled down her canoe to the ocean and started on her journey. Her trip went very well indeed, she didn’t bump into any hardships, in fact she was really eager to reach Pohnpei that; she could meet the Queen of Pohnpei. Deep down in her heart, she wanted to make friends with the Queen of Pohnpei, since the Queen of Kosrae didn’t seem to like her that much. On the other hand, back on Kosrae, the daughter’s admirers were worried sick. There weren’t any known history of Kosraen women surviving that kind of journey, in fact there weren’t any women brave enough to attempt a dangerous expedition as such.

Arriving on Pohnpei, Lupan Finpikal’s daughter felt a little lonely and scared. Eventually, after walking around in search of the two maids her father promised would meet her, she actually stumbled unto them while crossing paths. The two maids, though flustered by the sudden intrusion, were awed by the daughter’s beauty. They found out later on after the girl introduced herself that they were good friends with the girl’s maids’ back in Kosrae, and they were willing to help her with anything she would need. Lupan Finpikal’s daughter didn’t want anything more than to just get the package and go back to her father, so the two maids gave her advises she would need when she reach the Queen’s place. The most important advice they gave her was; she shouldn’t stay for whatever the Queen of Pohnpei request. If she stay, she would be made a servant, and if she take their advice, she would be embraced on the island of Kosrae as their Queen.

The daughter wasn’t really sure that she should take the maids advice. The Queen of Pohnpei seemed kind and she certainly wanted to be her friend. She thought about it again and decided that she should do as the maids requested her to do. She remembered that she at first thought that the Queen of Kosrae was her friend until she later found out that she despised her. She took the package and without a backward glance, she ran to her canoe and paddled all the way back to Kosrae. She was, as the two maids had predicted, was crowned the Queen of Kosrae when she arrived with the package.

This legend mainly explains how Kosraens today rarely complain, and are always friendly. They learned these skills from the famous daughter of Lupan Finpikal.

As told by: Shrue K. Nithan

Edited by: Teyonné T. Abraham