MAORI LORE.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 59, 15 October 1864, Page 5

MAORI LORE.

j£AXJT— THB XAOBI HEECUXES— TWO O* HIS V V -. ;■• " JiABOBS. >■■■-- (From the Southern Monthly Magazine.) Maui the son of Taranga and Makea-tutara, wu born on the seashore. His mother hurled : him-intoithe ocean :'; the waves dashed him to land, •"fro /there ih the foam. of the eea the sea-weeds ■wathedhhn ronnd. AtLwfc feW dorm and hhe ■ whirlwind returned him to theland, where, buried ih- the seaerift, flies sw»rm<?d about him, and the ' wild sea-birds hovered over him, until his ancestor, The-great-Child-in -Heaven, observed him and •ame"to his rescue. Raising him up, he took him to liis home; and hung hinroTer Gre. . The heafc * and smoke'revived him, and by the kindness of his ancestor he became a man. ■ "V, ■ - After this, -Maui being grown up, he appeared 'to his. mother and: his j brethren ; but they dis- - owned himat first, j Thenhetoldthem the history of ;j his birth, and of his being flung into the ocean, j and returned by the storm to the land, and pre•erradby his ancestor. The-great-Child-in-Heaven ; -and when ther heard all this, they accepted him and he dwelt:" ith fchem thenceforward. . - Now, this Maui, whilst yet young, performed many wonderful acts ; but ho* was capricious and mischievous, and cared not whether his deeds were good or evil, so they were great, and wonderful, and surpassing those, of alhothers. .""So it hajipened'bn a day that he saw the people •SrhO Were carrying 'food; to his ancestress, - The Tarthest-Bounda-of-Earth (I)— and he enquired <if .them saying, "Eor whom; is that food which carry*?" He was . answered, " Eor your ancestress, Muri-ranga-whenua." ■-,"; .Where : is she?"- "Away yonder.".: jThen; Baid Maui, " leave it for me to carry.". So he carried . the food then and on several following days, but never took it to Muri-ranga-whenua.. He carried it but a part ofthe way, and there left it., ; So at last as h* went oh another day to caary the food, Mauri-ranga-whenua perceived that she was cheated, and she swelled up her breast vrith the intention to swallow up -Maui. So she smelt about to the north, south, and east ; but .could perceive nothing. At last; turning to the west, she smelt Maui, and cried out, " the wind haß -brought you hither." Then she heard Maui, mutteringto himself, and was aware that it was her grandchild, and.so the swelling of her chest went back ; bufc had any other wind but the west brought him, he would have been devoured. So she called - out, " Are you Maui ■?"■ "■. Yes, lam Maui." Why do you- thus illtreat me?" " I want, you to lend: me your jaw-bone." Then said Ranga-whenua; "Take it.', So Maui took the jaw-bone, pf Muri-Mkhga-Whehua, and returned home to his brethren, and they' theii perceived that his object" had been to possess himself of that invincible weapon. Ia those days the sun wias much hotter than how, and the days were very short; ; for the sun remained riot very long in the heavens, his pace was so quick before he set ; and men could ; not labor "to procure food by reason of the heat and the shortness of the days j but had the day's been longer, the world would have been burned up, so great was the heat of the sunV. So Maui said to his, brethren, "Let us assail the sun, and take from' him some of his great. heafc, and' bind him, and retard hismotioh; thatthe days may be longer, and men have more tune to pultivate fche earth." • But his brethern answered," No man may approach the Vun, so vehement is his heat." Then said Maui, " You have seen my numerous labors, and that I never failed. Iv this also I shall be successful— in this and ingreater things also." A ■■' ■■' "A '■' A A ..,.. v : - "So his brethren were persuaded, and consented to attack the sun. ' ' m. • So they commenced making ropes. Then indeed might be , seen the art of ropemaking — twisted rbpes, plaited ropes, . knotted ropes, all kinds of ropes they made ; and when they had finished, Maui took his club, and, with hisbrothers bearing the ropes, he started for the rising of the sun. Long they journeyed," travelling by night, and resisting by day in the open plains, till, geting nearer and nearer, they at last arriyed at : the plac where the sun comes forth. Now they build walls of earth, and houses of boughs of trees, to save them from the heat* and, now they raise the 'snare of ropes wherewith to : catch the sun at his arising, and having thus prepared, they take their stations, Maui at one side and his brethren afc the other side, of the rising of the lun, all with their war-mats on. (2) Maui thsn, holding in his hand the jaw-bone of Mauri-ranga-whenua, addressed his . brethren— "Be patient, and cautious, . and pitiless ; startled him not ; let him be enveloped in our snares, even to the armpits;. then when I shout, haul in your ropes, and hold him long, whilst I attack aud maim' him. with my. club. Be Bure you have ;no pity; when. he cries for mercy, be merciless, oh my friends." . ■ »■ i-i • Now the sun arises, like flaming fire, blazing upon the earth! On, he comes; his head is in the snare; now his arm pits are enclosed ; now , they haul the ropes. Ha ! the hero is ensnared! Now leaps forward Maui-tiMtiki-o-Taranga (3), and, club in hand, assaults .the sun. Down on his yellow hair the ponderous weapon comes ; his shining locks divide, and how in scattered rays they reach the ends of the earth,, riot as of old in solid flames of fire. Then the entangled hero cries, " Wherefore assault you me, oh man! you who dare assault even The-Great-Child-RA? "- Thus was heard the sun's true name—Tama-nUi-te-RA. The fierce assault continues ; at last they ■ release the sun; wounded and shornr.of half his fire, slowly he takes his way, and. it- is long before he reaches his.setting„:piace.- . So, the days have ■mcebeen longer and more cool, and men can labor in comfort. So Maui and his companions returned home. And on a day when his brothers had gone to sea to catch fish, Matu overheard Ms wifes and child- - T6TV grumbling amongst themselves afc, his {indolence in not going to fish also, like his brethren. So he cried out, i"Ha;you! you women and children in no great Vwork have I failed ; and think you I cannot catch fish? Soon the sun shall ■hine upon ."them heaped upon the shore." y ■ " Now Maui prepares a hook ; he fashions it from the jaw-bone of Muri-ranga-whenua, and then he twists a rope. "Now," say*, he to his brothers, -"let ub go to sea and fish;" but his brothers refused to let him enter the canoe, fearful he should play them some evil trick, and went to Bea themselves.. V So on their return at night, Maui went and hid under the. stage of the, canoe, and in the morning the brothers put to sea again, nofc knowing that Maui was wifch them. So when they had got out from the land, Maui arose from his place of concealment, and when the brothers ■aw him, they proposed to return and set him On jhore.- But Maui Baid* to them, "Suffer- me tp. remain to bail but the water which comes into the canoe." So they allowed him to remain. Then they pulled out to eea to the -usual ffshing-place, and' were about to anchor, when Maui persuaded' them to go still further, and so he persuaded them to go still farther and farther, till afc List they got to the most distant anchorage canoes had ever readied. And here again' they prepared to anchor, hut Maui said them, "' It ia not worth while to fish here ! lefc'us go out into the currents of the graat ocean, out of sight of land, and our canoe wih bo loaded in the winkjng of an eye,* for the fish will follow the hook in shoals right into the canoe." So on thoy went, and at lasfc the land dißsapearing, they anchored, and the brothers began to fish. Twice only they threw .out their hooks, and as Maui had said, the canoe was loaded, for the fish followed the' hooks in shoals - n.) — ".Thc-farthost-Bounds-of-Earth," literally Muri-ranga-whenua, which may be translated variously, as the last' range of earth, the last line or boundary of land, oi* the end or extremity of the earth] (2.) — " With thoir war-mata on." The natives formerly made .a thick matted sort of cloth, imperTious to spear thrusts, which thoy used as armor ; in more modern times this defence was only used to save tho breast .from injury in climbing trees. I cannot find abettor English term of description than "war-mats," if I gave tho native word it would nofc be understood by most readers. (3.)— "Maui tikitaki-o-Taranga.'* Tho full title of Maui; be has, however, other names, such as likoi Pt***U*Ji" A*, i but *ttw *be** j-jfcfcr proper

-into the eahoet* So the brothers of Maui prepared to the land ; bufc Maui entreated them, saying, " Stay yefc a little longer, till I throw but my hook."; Then said the brothers, "Where shouhLyou-* find a hook?". , .;,-...: •"■:■'" y- V'y " Ah " said Maui, " but I have a hook."; „s\Then; throw out';"'-'' -'Then froih under -his cloak hopullßhis hook, glistening with: inlaid pearl, carved and ornamented with tufts of hair and feathers, the jawbone of hisauceßtreßSj \ Muri-ranga-whenua; l . Then Maui said, " Give me some bait," but the brothera^answered,*'' None shall you have." So lie closed his fist; and. struck himself on the nose. : The: blood'flowedjrandhe ; rubbediton his hook, and cast' it into the sea. Down gbesthe hook— down] downy Now itis nbar the bottom of the sea, audi now it has reached the house-top of Tbngohui, the'ancestor of Maui, who dwells beneath the -waters, ; Down goes the hook ;?it passes the : cave, the carved work of the liouse front. Now it lias reached the floor and Maui hauls the hue. Ha ! the house 'of that ancient, Tongomii, is caught by the hook of Maui-tikitiM-'o-Tarahga!. - .-A-Ai ,:-.* y. -.-.-y, • . .Vv Ax-.*-. - Now] Maui hauls again with all his ; force ; far .up. he tugs" the liouse of Tongoii'ui, and with ; it comes V-a world ! Now the' full strain he feels ; his strength is matched; no nearer comes the hook. The turbid ocean boils ; the mountain tops are;hearj and many> whirling ybrtex roars. Now madness 'seizes Maui ; fierce ho strains, and shouts his lifting song— ,: "Wherefore, '--• Wherefore, O Tongouui! Cling you to; tho ocean depths P. ■y; Resisting stiH V. V -V '■«'-.. The force of Ranga-whenua. Diving in the troubled sea, Diving! -Lifting! '^a'aAA-aAIa ■-■■. A:'' :'■*.' The force of Rahga-whenua '- Prevails ! " '...".*'•■ Ha! the fish of" Maid rises; from they wafcers—^a land-fish— a- spacious country — Papa-tu-a-nuku ! So nowthe cannoe of Maui lies dry on land, and he says to his brethren, " Remain -here :now till my return. ' Igo to present an offering to the gods ; they first; miisfc taste bur fish, Touch it not, nor divide ifc till my return, '. when the gods, | being appeared, we shall divide it, and each shall receive his portion in peace, : and rejoice in the possession thereof, and that wliich remains shall remain hi peace, and undistubred. "" The hero then departed, bearing the offering to the gods ; but no sooner 1 had he disappeared, than his brothers, disregarding his words, began to cut up and eat the. fish of Maui,, thus failing to appease the gods by presenting them with tho first ofthe fish of Maui, their imitator and disciple. . ; Now the Bca-god Taugaxoa, Bcciiig the evil deeds of Mtui's brethren, became enraged, and caußed the fish to struggle. Dashing about with fierce convulsions, it became deformed and shapeless. And ifc is. from this cause that the land is illformed — mountains, valleys, plains, ravines, and precipices^ all mingled -without 'order. Had it not been for the impiety ofthe brothers of Maui, the fish would have lain still, and so also would the land have remained for ever; for the fish of Maui is, the land. But now second time was the land disturbed, since the separation of Heaven from Earth. The first was when the Heavens, and the Winds, and fche Floods, made war against the children of the Earth, and now again by the convulsions of the fish for Maui, for such was the will of Tangaroa.