On the south coast of East Timor there once existed a kingdom called Luka, which for a long time waged war against a yet-unnamed neighboring territory.  The following legend, which may have been based on the downfall of a real queen, describes how the name Vekeke came to be ascribed to this territory and how the queen’s demise begot the river that winds through it.

A water pitcher like the one the Luka queen offered to her assassins.

The water bracelet.  Thanks to the phenomenal military prowess of its field commander, the queen, the army of Luka was winning a war with its unnamed neighbor to the east.  To reverse their fortunes, two warriors from the losing army set out to assassinate the queen and steal the thick, gold bracelet (an ornament known as a keke) that encircled her left wrist and was the reputed source of her extraordinary power.  Discovering where she was camped, the two men approached her and pretended they were thirsty.  “Would you give us a drink of water [ve]?”  they asked.  Without hesitation the queen held out a pitcher of water in her right hand, which in Timor is believed to be the superior one.  They refused it, saying, “Give us the pitcher in your left hand, Your Majesty, for we are mere commoners, not royalty like you.”  So she offered them the pitcher in her left hand, which they immediately cut off.  As the queen lay dying, the assassins fled with the severed arm.

The two soon came to a big tree.  After climbing it, they removed the bracelet and placed the arm in the thick, spreading branches before making off with the jewelry.

Sometime later the arm transformed into a river, while the army of Luka, bereft of the queen’s inspirational leadership, lost the war.  In commemoration of their spectacular success, the victors decided to name the territory where they resided Vekeke, which means “the water bracelet.”

By exploiting the resources of myth, folktale, and legend, the people of East Timor sustain their culture’s values in an emotionally stimulating atmosphere and an aesthetically pleasing medium.  Traditional tales bring people together physically as well as morally.  Whether in search of knowledge about the world of nature or their own culture, of moral instruction or information about great deeds done in ancient times, Timorese of all ages enter and share for a short time a magical realm where the mysterious past and tangible present merge.