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In English, this story by Oli Heve is:

The Big Fish

page 3

“How many mussels do we have now, Laki?” Hāvini asked his son. Hāvini and his children, Laki and Meliha, were fishing.

“Hold on! One, two, three … we have forty-six. That’s plenty,” Laki replied.

“We have ten pāua,” said Meliha to her father.

“And we have heaps of fish. The pail is full,” Laki said.

Suddenly, a fish took Meliha’s line again.

“Good one! You go, girl!” Hāvini said to Meliha. They all laughed.

When Meliha pulled the fish out of the water, they saw it was a kahawai. It was huge! Wow!

Laki caught a fish as well.

 

 

page 4

“Hey! How’s that? It’s a huge fish! Meliha, look how big the fish is. It’s bigger than your fish,” said Laki.

“You’re right. It must be a huge fish,” Meliha said.

Hāvini helped Laki pull the line in.

Meliha remembered her cellphone. She took some photos of Laki catching his “huge” fish. As they pulled the fish in, they saw it was a big spotty. Meliha helped Hāvini and Laki bring the fish into the boat.

“How about that, eh?” Laki was singing and dancing around in the dinghy.

Meliha and her father were laughing at Laki all this time. The boat was now rocking.

SPLASH! What was that?

Laki has fallen into the sea. Meliha and their father laughed some more. Hāvini pulled Laki back into the dinghy.

“Are you hurt Laki?” Meliha asked.

“How can an ‘expert fisherman’ be hurt?” Laki answered.

Hāvini and his children all laughed.

page 7

“Come on, let’s get back to shore. We have enough catch for the week,” Dad said to his children.

When they arrived home, the young people helped their dad put the fishing gear away.

“Laki, you take the mussels. Meliha, you take the pāua. I will bring the fish,” their dad said.

“Leave them behind the house. Then go and help your mum prepare our dinner.”

“Come here please, you two,” said their mum, Kia. “Meliha, put ten mussels and three pāua into that bowl. Put these five fish in as well. Take them for Aunty Fetu,” Kia said. “Laki, you take this share to your grandparents, Peato and Mele.”

page 8

Meliha and Laki returned home. “Mmm, the food smells yummy!” Laki said to his sister.

“Yes, it does. I’m so hungry,” said Meliha.

Dinner was cooked. It was roast chicken, boiled fish from the day’s catch, and rice. There were also raw mussels and pāua on the table.

“Meliha, Laki, come! Tell your dad we are ready for dinner,” Kia said.

“Meliha, can you say grace?” Hāvini asked his daughter.

“Jesus, thank you for your love, the food you provide, together with the drink you have given us to nourish and sustain us. Jesus, thank you for your love. Amen,” prayed Meliha.

“Dinner is so yummy, thank you,” Laki said to their mum.

“Yes, it is. I’m very hungry too,” said Hāvini.

They all ate hungrily and talked excitedly about the fishing.

 

 

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“Kia, I took some photos on the cellphone. Here are some photos of the biggest fish we caught,” Meliha said to her mum.

“Too right. We caught heaps of fish. I probably caught the most fish,” Laki said to Meliha.

“Yeah, it was so cool! But I think I caught the most fish. Look at all the fish I caught,” said Meliha to their mum. Then Meliha showed Kia some more photos.

“But I caught the biggest fish,” Laki said to Meliha and Kia.

“That’s huge,” Kia said.

“It sure is!” laughed Laki.

“What happened?” Kia asked her daughter.

“That’s the biggest ‘fish’ we caught. Hāvini caught it,” Meliha said to their mother. Meliha and her mother were laughing.

 

 

page 12

“Why are you all laughing?” Laki asked. “Show me!” Laki walked over to his mum, to look at the photos. He saw a photo of himself. His father was pulling him back into the dinghy.

“That’s the biggest ‘fish’ we caught. Hāvini caught it,” Meliha told their mum. Hāvini and Kia laughed.

“Who caught the biggest ‘fish’, Laki?” asked Meliha, laughing.

“Whatever!” Laki said.

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