Thursday, August 12, 2010

More on Tongan Giving

Tongans readily give each other whatever they have. Just last Saturday, I was on the beach watching a fisherman pull his catch from his net, when another fisherman who had gone spearfishing came ashore.

The spearfisherman had about eight or so medium-sized fish and a sea urchin. A friends and I went up to him to see what he had. The fisherman, who has his own family to feed, tells us to take this fish, that fish, and the prized sea urchin. After all that work, he’s just going to give a lot of it to us.

My friend had told me earlier how hungry she was today. “No good food today,” she had told me. Now, with a fish in hand, she promptly ripped off the head and took a nice bite. I delicately gnawed at my fish, not wanting to end up with half a tooth or the Tongan gold cap. My friend tells me to wait and cut it up at home, and, oh, just take this fish too.

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