PBS Short Film Festival

Grandpa, why do fish have so many Colors?

Hmmm... have you heard of the legend IDODO?

No, what's this story about?

Well... IDODO is our legend... of how the different fish got their many colors.

What I am about to tell you happened at the time of our great-ancestors on an island called Panutibun in the South Pacific.

There were days, on which the villagers worked in their gardens.

On those days young and old grabbed their bush knives, harks and Bilums and left the village early in the morning for it was a long way to their gardens.

On days like these the village was empty nobody stayed behind, everybody left the village In the evening, the woman, man and children returned to the village, with canoes full of crops tired from working in the gardens all day long.

But their place looked different The strange smells and the mess indicated that strangers must have been there.

Annoyed, the villagers cleaned up the mess Who were these invaders?

The next day, as all got ready to return to the gardens one man named Bedi stayed behind.

He wanted to find out what was happening while they were gone.

He hid in his house and peered through the gaps in the wall onto the village square.

he waited and waited... and watched the scene intently from his hiding place He had to be patient for a long time There!

Something stirred on the beach...

He saw one fish after another come onto shore and turn into humans... eagerly they adorned and painted themselves, because they were looking forward to their big festival in the village square.

The fish, called Deb, spearheaded the Sing Sing and Buluy hit the drum on his big belly.

And so the fish all danced to his rhythm and they were very happy.

In the evening the fish heard that the humans returned from their gardens.

Hastily they wiped off human skin and adornment, washed the colour away and splash!

...disappeared as fish into the depths of the ocean.

After their return to the village the man told of his miraculous experiences The villagers marvelled about his stories The next day no one went to the gardens.

All waited in their hiding places for the fish to come out of the water.

Because it was so quiet, the fish dared to come ashore again quickly making all their preparations and the Sing Sing began.

But immediately the men, women and children shot out of their houses and tried to catch the frightened fish!

It was total chaos!

The fish, still in their human disguises, were desperately looking for an escape.

some fish bumped into the houseposts colour pots were knocked over others tried to hide in the bushes ...or in the pig den.

Lelei was the first one to get away.

But a group of fish, following him, ran over him ...and dived into the waves with all their colourful decorations and painted skin, where they turned into fish again.

When you look at the fish in the reef today, you will see that they shimmer in all shapes and colours.

They are the descendants of these fish, who long ago dared to come on land for their Sing Sing and who had no time to remove their colours when they had to escape so fast.

There is Uzu, the red fish, this is the one who got poured over with red paint Matu, with the swollen forehead bumped into the house-post.

Lelei was trampled over by the others, when he ran away.

And Azong turned all black, when he hid in the pig den.