On a remote Tongan island -

- there once lived a very beautiful young girl. She lived with her parents beside the fresh water lake. Every morning the girl, whose name was Heina, used to bathe in the lake. Unbeknown to her, she was watched by a fresh water eel as she swam and splashed in the cool water.

The eel fell in love with her and one day the eel approached Heina expressing his love. Eventually the girl agreed to marry him but when her parents found out, they were very angry.

The father determined that his only daughter should never see the eel again; laid in wait for the water creature and trapped him. The parents, in order to put a stop to this unlikely romance, decided to kill the eel but before he died he was able to see the girl once more.

The eel begged the girl to ask her parents to allow her to have the eel's head and to bury it outside her house. This was done. Each day Heina sat where the head was buried and her tears fell on that spot.

After a few weeks a green shoot peeked through the tear-soaked soil. It was at this time that Heina realised she was pregnant to the eel. As the plant grew, so did the child within her. The child that Heina bore was a son and the plant grew taller and became the first Coconut Palm. As the boy grew, he learned to climb the Coconut tree. He became expert at climbing the tree and bringing down the nuts from the very top. Heina knew instinctively that this strange tree would be of use to I her people. She learnt to de-husk the coconuts and found that every part of the tree was of great value in daily life. The fronds would make a roof or a basket to carry food. The trunk made the poles for houses or wood for the fires. In fact the tree had uses in every way.
As a reminder of this love story, the eel's face can be seen on every nut in the form of three dark patches - two for the eyes and one for the mouth. It is only from the mouth that the goodness comes, for this is the only place that you can make a hole to reach the milk.