TE RATA

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1933, Page 7

TE RATA

(A Maori Legend by N.F;H.) , ~' HOPELESSLY Te Bata pushed on, in the storm. He was completely lost in a strange, wild country, and a terrible feeling ■of shame surg«d through him as he thought how this had come to pass. He, .Te Rata, son of the ancient and beloved chief Wha-te-ta, was disgraced. He hid led a party of young and eager warriors like himself in pursuit of a marauding war-party of Where-Wheres, who had burnt and destroyed a tiny hamlet many miles to the south of Wha-te-ta's pa. And he had not only led hjs warriors into a deadly trap, where many had perished beneath the axes of the treacherous Where-Wheres, but fear had gripped him in the heat of1 battle, and he had fled into the secrecy of the waving toi-tois. On and on he had fled, his weapons dropping from his nerveless grasp as he stumbled on in the gathering gloom. Then, ahead, barely visible in the driving rain, Te Eata caught a furtivil red flicker. Was it,-could it bo a fire? . :' Eager, stumbling, he pushed nearer; the red glow grew larger. And now clearly he could see the opening of a cave, from which a fire .flung a warm reflection. Around the fire were gruuped about a dozen small men, .of a lighter brown in colour than Te Eata himself. As he came suddenly among them, they sprang instantly to their feet, small sharp spears grasped firmly; and pointed ominously in his direction. "Shelter," gasped Te Eata faintly, "that is all I crave." And-'hs sank down exhausted on the floor of the cavern. And so Te Rata came to live with the Little People of the Mist, as h« called them. He was treated kindly, more as one of themselves : than * stranger, yet in spite of his disgrace, he pined for his own tribe. ' • . He never openly asked Kgo, the chieftain of the Little People' of the Mist, if he could return to his own country, but at length the day came when he decided that he would . And to his surprise, Ngo agreed. ' . : ■ In the early morning, mists, escorted to the outskirts of Ngo's territory, Te Eata departed from the Little People of th'o Mist. Sadly he bade .farewell to the little chieftain, thanking him for his many kindnesses. Soon- he was out of sight. •■ : ■ • ■. •; It was many moons before Te Rata found his way to Wha-te-ta V pa. And although the proud old chieftain -was grieved at his son's disgrace, h« was overjoyed to see him whom he had given up for lost. . .;;. "Te Eata, my son," he said, "the past cannot be undone; but remember, there is the future." . ■ . ' ■ " ' ■ «■■■»«»■«««■»■■■■« «■•■■■.■■■., „