Page:Fairytales•Tregear•1891.pdf/136

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130
THE BROTHER'S LIKENESS.

she refused to listen to their proposals, and treated them with haughty disdain and contumely. In a rage the sisters waited awhile till Sina had gone down to bathe in a clear lonely pool; then they too went to the pool and emptied the likeness of Malu upon the water. Sina was struck with admiration for the beauty of the shadowy chief, and said, “Out of all the world this shall be my husband.” Then she commanded that all the young men of her people should attend a meeting beside the pool and be compared with the likeness in the water. Such a wonderful likeness! When Malu moved about and acted in Samoa, so also his shadow moved and acted in the pool.

Suddenly Sina heard a voice of weeping and lamentation: “Oh our brother Malu, our brother in the limpid water, it is for your sake that we are here despised and insulted.” Then Sina knew what a mistake she had made in slighting the stranger women, and casting her pride away, she came to beg their pardon and apologise for her previous conduct. The anger of the sisters was not to be appeased. They set out for the coast, and to their surprise encountered Malu, who, unable to bear the suspense of waiting, had followed them to Fiji.

Sina saw Malu, and being impressed even