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There was a couple by the name of Tafitofau and Ogafau who had twelve children. The first ten were boys who were all named Tui, and Tui and Tui, and Tui, and Tui, and Tui, and Tui, and Tui, and Tui, and Tui followed by their only sister named Sina. Sina was the eleventh child.
This couple and their children lived near the end of the village by the beach. This part of the village was always very breezy, and was the seagulls’ favorite place to congregate in the sky. They soared on the winds, and glided over the ocean. To view the gogo became a favorite pastime for Sina and her brothers who would leave the house and chase underneath the seagulls that were flying above. Sina especially loved to wake up in the earliest hours of the morning to watch the sky, and determine the point from which the seagulls began their flight, and discern where in the forest they were flying to next.
This couple and their children lived near the end of the village by the beach. This part of the village was always very breezy, and was the seagulls’ favorite place to congregate in the sky. They soared on the winds, and glided over the ocean. To view the gogo became a favorite pastime for Sina and her brothers who would leave the house and chase underneath the seagulls that were flying above. Sina especially loved to wake up in the earliest hours of the morning to watch the sky, and determine the point from which the seagulls began their flight, and discern where in the forest they were flying to next
One morning, while Sina was watching the seagulls flying overhead, she noticed a rare white seagull flying among the other black seagulls.
She felt a chill throughout her body, since this was the first time she had seen a gogosina (white seagull). She was equally surprised that his white seagull could fly together with the black seagulls. She stood up and ran towards the point where the flight of the gogosina began. She saw the white feathers of the gogosina shine as the rays of the morning dawn reflected upon it. The gogosina flew downwards towards Sina, and then flew back high into the sky. Sina noticed that it was only the gogosina flying above her, and that the other black seagulls had flown away. Sina desperately longed for the gogosina as it circled above for a while and dipped its wings, diving closer to her. Sina even tried to capture the gogosina with her hands. Unfortunately, the gogosina glided towards her, but then flew up again and off into the forest where Sina could no longer see it. Sina cried as her gogosina flew away, as she had fallen in love with it, and wanted to catch and even marry the gogosina. She then fell upon the ground, saddened by her longing for the gogosina. Her brothers saw this and asked Sina what had happened. Sina replied, begging them to please go and search for the white gogosina who had flown away into the forest. Sina declared impetuously that if they could not find her gogosina, she would never find happiness for the rest of her life.
Sina’s brothers were very worried because their sister had cried unceasingly, and had imposed a very difficult, if not impossible, task upon them. Nevertheless, they did as their sister requested, for they loved her and wanted her to be happy. For this reason, they said to Sina, “Come, our dear sister. Even though you have given us a difficult task, we will all go and look for your gogosina. But remember Sina, please stay home. Do not go out and call for it. If we are late in returning and you are hungry, there is food on the top shelf of the house. You do not have to go out,” they reminded her in stern warning.
Sina was so happy with her brothers’ decision, hoping they might bring her gogosina back soon. So Sina went home and stayed alone in the house while all her brothers went to the forest to look for her gogosina. The trail through the forest led the search for the ten brothers. They crawled under thick bushes and next to large wild trees. They climbed the high mountains, and down the valley in search of the gogosina for their sister Sina. Unfortunately, while they searched endlessly, they could not find the gogosina. The search took a long time, and delayed their return to check on their sister who remained alone at the house. Sina, too, was becoming impatient, since she had waited a long time for her brothers, was growing weary of being left alone, and becoming hungry. Eventually, Sina began to lose interest in the gogosina as she became more concerned for her brothers who had been gone for such a long time. When she looked for food and could find none, she realized she must leave the house to find something to eat, and also to call out for her brothers.
Sina had forgotten the careful instructions her brothers had given her, especially because she was getting hungry. She went outside her house and walked straight towards the forest, where she started to pick fruits from the trees, eating them as she walked along the path in search of her brothers. As she walked, she called out to her brothers, crying “Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui.”
Alas, her brothers were very far away, and did not answer. She then walked a little further and she called again, with greater urgency, “Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui”
As she walked alone in the forest, the sau’ai (evil giant spirit) named Tuiletafu’e had been watching her and listening as Sina when she called her brothers. Setting a trap for the unsuspecting girl, he responded to her without revealing himself, “Here I am, come here.”
Sina did not hesitate, but ran happily towards the location of the voice, assuming it was one of her brothers. But, to her shock and dismay, the moment she reached the spot where the voice came from, the sau’ai who had hidden himself behind a tree jumped out and captured her. Sina was terribly frightened when she felt the coarse hands of the sau’ai on her body. She cried when she saw the ugly face and the hairy features of the sau’ai. She struggled in fear and anger as she tried to free herself from the grasp of the large hands of the sau’ai. But the sau’ai only laughed mockingly and said, “Ha ha ha, I have found a delicious morsel of food for my supper!”
Sina did not utter a word but only cried and thought of her brothers. The sau’ai lifted Sina up and walked towards his big house. He placed Sina in the center of the house and told her, “Sit down and look for lice in my hair, and I will not eat you. Instead, I will make you my wife.”
Sina sat down and the sau’ai laid down and put his smelly head on Sina’s legs. Sina touched the thick hair of the sau’ai and combed it with her fingers. The hair of the sau’ai was not only long and dangled around the inside of the house, but it was also as thick as a rope. The sau’ai felt sleepy because of the touch of Sina’s fingers combing through his hair, and eventually he fell asleep. The sau’ai began to snore loudly as he fell into a deep sleep. Sina worried, and thought her brothers should have returned home, despite that they were still on their way looking for her. Certain that they were near, Sina began to feel confident and bravely called out again to her brothers. She continued to comb the hair of the sau’ai while calling, “Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui and Tui.”
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Sina’s brothers had arrived at home individually with different kinds of gogosina. When they did not see Sina at home they left at once to search for their sister. The nine older brothers went off in the wrong direction of the forest to look for her. But the youngest brother went straight to the place where the sau’ai’s house was located. The youngest of the Tui’s heard his sister’s call then he cried and answered like this:
Sau Fuga Sina, Sau Fuga Sina! Come Sina, Come Sina,
O le tama fafine o le feagaiga, The daughter of the covenant,
Na e tagi i le laumanu o le gogosina, You cried for your gogosina,
E te manamea i nai ona tifa You take pride as she glides
Ifo manu, a’e mauga Through the valley and up the mountains
O au manu na ae ta alu ita Those are your birds and I will go
Ne’i ta pa’u , ta lili’a In case I fall and am lifted
Sina heard the cry of her little brother and she cried with joy and called out to Tui saying these words:
O Aue, Tui e sau ‘i le fale Oh, Tui come to the house
Sau i le Fale ua ta gagase Come to the house I am tired
Na ou vala’au ia Tui ma Tui I called out to Tui and Tui
Ae oe mai ‘o le tasi Tui But only one Tui answered
O Tuiletafu’e lea moe nei Tuiletafu’e is sleeping here
O loo tofa i o’u vae nei He is sleeping on my legs
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The youngest Tui heard these words of Sina, and instantly ran towards the sounds of his sister crying. He was horrified when he saw the big sau’ai with his head laying on his sisters legs, and especially afraid when he first saw the hairy body and the ugly face of the sau’ai. It was equally frightening to see the movement back and forth of the trees each time the sau’ai breathed in and out when he snored his thunderous snores. Tui concentrated as hard as he could for his very young years, and finally thought of a way to kill the terrible giant. He saw the thick hair of the sau’ai scattered all over the house.
While the sau’ai slept and snored, he then braided the sleeping, snoring sau’ai’s hair and tied a section of it to every pole of the house. When he was finished, he stood his sister up, and they ran out of the house together. They went as far away as they could, and then stopped and stood still, waiting and watching to see what the sau’ai would do when he awoke. Finally, the sau’ai started to move about when he sensed, in his sleep, there were no longer Sina’s soft legs underneath his hairy head.
He abruptly stopped his snoring when he tried to turn his head, and suddenly felt as if someone was pulling on his hair. He then turned towards the other side and felt the same sensation. The sau’ai was very upset when he saw that his hair was braided to the poles of his house. Seeing this, he reacted violently, thrashing about as he tried to stand up. But as soon as he stood up, he pulled all of his hair and with it every single pole of his house. This caused the whole house to come crashing down upon him, which buried the sau’ai and immediately killed him.
Hearing this noise behind them, Sina and Tui knew the sau’ai died. They were not concerned any more as they ran happily to find the other brothers who were still searching for Sina on the other side of the forest. Soon enough, they found one another, and all returned home together happily. Thankfully, Sina realized how much she loved her brothers, and would never again risk them for the childish love of a gogosina.
Note: HTC Fofo Sunia, in “Sina and her Lover- the Gogosina”, in Samoan Legends of Love and Courtship, pp 6-9, tells a different version of this story. Here, Sina’s brothers collaborate and cooperate to rescue her from the giant, in the same clever manner, but thereafter, return to the forest to seek the gogosina so that Sina and the bird can marry. Sina is obviously unlike most girls, since, in this version she is the equal of her brothers, if not unsurpassable, in games and sports, and becomes erotically attached to the gogosina who instantly returns her passionate gaze, and, in the end, is married to her.
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