Every day, the men went fishing along the rivers. Fish were always in plentiful supply. My great-grandfather was renowned for being the best fisherman. "He can speak to the fish," is what they used to say. His nets contained nothing but the largest fish. Word of his talents soon spread the island. All the fishermen wanted to beat Gramoun. They began fishing for more fish than they needed, so much so that one day, fish numbers had dwindled.
Mother Earth became angry. She began roaring in anger. The hot air rising from the ocean started swirling around. An enormous spiral of rain and wind bore down on Reunion Island, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Gramoun's house was spared. That evening, Gramoun had a fitful sleep. He had a strange dream.
Mother Earth appeared before him as a cone-shaped mask and said: "The fishermen have squandered the resources that I put into the rivers. They are not aware of nature's limited resources. They are wasteful because they have more than they need. You, Gramoun, you have always respected your environment. I do not want you and your family to go hungry, but I want the fishermen to learn their lesson. There will be fewer fish in the rivers. However, every year after the heavy rains, you will find small fish swimming up-current at the river mouths. That is the only time when you will be able to go fishing."
The next day when Gramoun woke up, the cyclone was long gone. Gramoun went to the river to admire its flowing mass after the torrential rain, when he saw a strange object stuck in the rocks. He removed it from the water. "Vovo!" he cried. His parents came from Madagascar and that was how they called such objects. The fish trap, which reminded him of the face that he had seen in his dream, was full of young fish. They were so small that he called them "bichiques".
Ever since, the fishermen have to venture out to sea and struggle to bring back enough fish to feed their families. However, after heavy rain, as if to remind them of the cyclone that devastated their ancestors, they can find the famous bichiques at the river mouths. When they go fishing, they use a vovo, now called a vouve. Si zistoir la lé mentèr la pa moin lotèr! (2)
(1) In the Réunion tradition of storytelling, a story begins with "Kriké! Kraké!" (2) "If this story is not true, I'm not the one that made it up"
