Part 4 (1/2)

Iao, an extinct volcano, in which lies one of the most beautiful and picturesque valleys of the Hawaiian Islands. He climbed the ridges until he could see the course of the sun as it pa.s.sed over the island. He saw that the sun came up the eastern side of Mt. Haleakala. He crossed over the plain between the two mountains and climbed to the top of Mt.

Haleakala. There he watched the burning sun as it came up from Koolau and pa.s.sed directly over the top of the mountain. The summit of Haleakala is a great extinct crater twenty miles in circ.u.mference, and nearly twenty-five hundred feet in depth. There are two tremendous gaps or chasms in the side of the crater wall, through which in days gone by the ma.s.sive bowl poured forth its flowing lava. One of these was the Koolau, or eastern gap, in which Maui probably planned to catch the sun.

Mt. Hale-a-ka-la of the Hawaiian Islands means House-of-the-sun. ”La,”

or ”Ra,” is the name of the sun throughout parts of Polynesia. Ra was the sun-G.o.d of ancient Egypt. Thus the antiquities of Polynesia and Egypt touch each other, and today no man knows the full reason thereof.

The Hawaiian legend says Maui was taunted by a man who ridiculed the idea that he could snare the sun, saying, ”You will never catch the sun.

You are only an idle n.o.body.”

Maui replied, ”When I conquer my enemy and my desire is attained, I will be your death.”

After studying the path of the sun, Maui returned to his mother and told her that he would go and cut off the legs of the sun so that he could not run so fast.

His mother said: ”Are you strong enough for this work?” He said, ”Yes.”

Then she gave him fifteen strands of well-twisted fiber and told him to go to his grandmother, who lived in the great crater of Haleakala, for the rest of the things in his conflict with the sun. She said: ”You must climb the mountain to the place where a large wiliwili tree is standing.

There you will find the place where the sun stops to eat cooked bananas prepared by your grandmother. Stay there until a rooster crows three times; then watch your grandmother go out to make a fire and put on food. You had better take her bananas. She will look for them and find you and ask who you are. Tell her you belong to Hina.”

When she had taught him all these things, he went up the mountain to Kaupo to the place Hina had directed. There was a large wiliwili tree.

Here he waited for the rooster to crow. The name of that rooster was Kalauhele-moa. When the rooster had crowed three times, the grandmother came out with a bunch of bananas to cook for the sun. She took off the upper part of the bunch and laid it down. Maui immediately s.n.a.t.c.hed it away. In a moment she turned to pick it up, but could not find it. She was angry and cried out: ”Where are the bananas of the sun?” Then she took off another part of the bunch, and Maui stole that. Thus he did until all the bunch had been taken away. She was almost blind and could not detect him by sight, so she sniffed all around her until she detected the smell of a man. She asked: ”Who are you? To whom do you belong?” Maui replied: ”I belong to Hina.” ”Why have you come?” Maui told her, ”I have come to kill the sun. He goes so fast that he never dries the tapa Hina has beaten out.”

The old woman gave a magic stone for a battle axe and one more rope. She taught him how to catch the sun, saying: ”Make a place to hide here by this large wiliwili tree. When the first leg of the sun comes up, catch it with your first rope, and so on until you have used all your ropes.

Fasten them to the tree, then take the stone axe to strike the body of the sun.”

Maui dug a hole among the roots of the tree and concealed himself. Soon the first ray of light--the first leg of the sun--came up along the mountain side. Maui threw his rope and caught it. One by one the legs of the sun came over the edge of the crater's rim and were caught. Only one long leg was still hanging down the side of the mountain. It was hard for the sun to move that leg. It shook and trembled and tried hard to come up. At last it crept over the edge and was caught by Maui with the rope given by his grandmother.

When the sun saw that his sixteen long legs were held fast in the ropes, he began to go back down the mountain side into the sea. Then Maui tied the ropes fast to the tree and pulled until the body of the sun came up again. Brave Maui caught his magic stone club or axe, and began to strike and wound the sun, until he cried: ”Give me my life.” Maui said: ”If you live, you may be a traitor. Perhaps I had better kill you.” But the sun begged for life. After they had conversed a while, they agreed that there should be a regular motion in the journey of the sun. There should be longer days, and yet half the time he might go quickly as in the winter time, but the other half he must move slowly as in summer.

Thus men dwelling on the earth should be blessed.

Another legend says that he made a la.s.so and climbed to the summit of Mt. Haleakala. He made ready his la.s.so, so that when the sun came up the mountain side and rose above him he could cast the noose and catch the sun, but he only snared one of the sun's larger rays and broke it off.

Again and again he threw the la.s.so until he had broken off all the strong rays of the sun.

Then he shouted exultantly, ”Thou art my captive; I will kill thee for going so swiftly.”

Then the sun said, ”Let me live and thou shalt see me go more slowly hereafter. Behold, hast thou not broken off all my strong legs and left me only the weak ones?”

So the agreement was made, and Maui permitted the sun to pursue his course, and from that day he went more slowly.

Maui returned from his conflict with the sun and sought for Moemoe, the man who had ridiculed him. Maui chased this man around the island from one side to the other until they had pa.s.sed through Lahaina (one of the first mission stations in 1828). There on the seash.o.r.e near the large black rock of the legend of Maui lifting the sky he found Moemoe. Then they left the seash.o.r.e and the contest raged up hill and down until Maui slew the man and ”changed the body into a long rock, which is there to this day, by the side of the road going past Black Rock.”

Before the battle with the sun occurred Maui went down into the underworld, according to the New Zealand tradition, and remained a long time with his relatives. In some way he learned that there was an enchanted jawbone in the possession of some one of his ancestors, so he waited and waited, hoping that at last he might discover it.

After a time he noticed that presents of food were being sent away to some person whom he had not met.

One day he asked the messengers, ”Who is it you are taking that present of food to?”

The people answered, ”It is for Muri, your ancestress.”

Then he asked for the food, saying, ”I will carry it to her myself.”