On Fiji Islands by Ronald Wright

Author:Ronald Wright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eland Publishing
Published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Dinner was a buffet, served in the residence hall and attended by the Chairman, Secretary, four other councillors and their wives. The men wore cotton trousers and open-necked shirts, the women voluminous print dresses (derived from the Mother Hubbards of the missionaries) and strings of plastic beads. Rongorongo arrived, dapper in formal sulu, black sandals and white shirt.

The Chairman got to his feet and began to make a speech in the Banaban language (though he spoke good English), pausing after each paragraph for Rongorongo to translate:

‘Chairman wishes to welcome you here, and to thank you for coming through all the … hardships of aeroplane, taxi and boat. He begs you to excuse any inadequacies of the … facilities here on Rabi.

‘Chairman wishes that you will enjoy your stay here with us, the Banabans, and that the people will help you with your important work of interviewing and writing about the Banaban people.

‘We call upon Our Lord that he may help us find wisdom and truth, and guide us in the many tasks we have to perform.’

Saho then rose and did his best to reply. (The important thing, he had told me, was to mention everyone, especially God, and remember to thank specifically for everything.) When he had finished I did the same. Rongorongo managed to make our halting efforts sound poetic in his language – clearly he was drawing on a long tradition of formal oratory. He concluded by saying grace, and then sat down beside Saho.

‘The food is on the table!’ Rongorongo said, and beamed enthusiastically.

‘After you, Rongo,’

Saho replied.

‘No, after you,’ said Rongorongo.

‘After you!’ Saho repeated.

Finally, the Chairman prevailed upon us to fill our plates first. On the table were dishes holding vast amounts of sausages, tinned fish, hard-boiled eggs, tinned tomatoes, fried chicken, roast goat, rice and potatoes. The caretaker, meanwhile, had started a noisy generator; the residence was brightly lit. I felt the Banabans discreetly yet intently watching to make sure I ate enough. Every time our plates were even half empty, we were exhorted to fill them again.

More speeches ended the meal; then Chairman and councillors politely left, saying that their wives were tired. Rongorongo and Saho drank tea and discussed how they would go about their project. They had bought a tape recorder and were planning to interview those who remembered the war.

‘This is a very unhappy business, you must understand,’ Rongorongo said. ‘For example, there is a woman living here today who saw her father’s head cut off with a sword when she was only a teenage girl. Most people prefer to forget such things, but I think it is important we find out the truth. That is why I think it is necessary that I come with you, to translate but also to … reassure. If you talk to them alone sometimes they may exercise their right to … distort. But if they see a man of God there, they will have to tell the truth.’

My gaze strayed round the room, and I was cheered briefly by its uninhibited decor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.