An old Maori folktale as told by Dame Kiri Tekanawa
Maui had often heard his brothers talking about
how there was not enough sunlight during the day. Night after night they
would sit round the fire and discuss this problem. No matter how early
they got up, still there weren't enough hours of sunlight for all their
village duties and for hunting and fishing. So Maui thought about what
he could do to solve their problem. Then he
announced to his brothers that he had found a
solution: 'I think I can tame
the Sun.'
'Maui, don't be so ridiculous!' they replied.
'No one can tame the Sun. For a start, if you got anywhere near him you
would be burnt to a cinder. There is no way of taming the Sun. He's
far too big and powerful.'
But Maui said, with great authority this time,
'Look, I can tame the Sun. Get all the women of the tribe to go and cut
as much flax as possible - I want a really huge pile - then I will show
you how to make a net that will be strong enough to capture the Sun. I
will make sure that he won't go so quickly across the sky in future.'
The brothers obeyed him and when they had collected
mounds of flax Maui showed them how to plait it into strong ropes. He made
long ropes and short ropes, and tied some of them together to make a net
gigantic enough to catch and hold the Sun. After many hours of plaiting
they finally had enough rope and nets to please Maui.
Then he set off, equipped with his special axe,
with his brothers and some men from the tribe and it took several days
to reach the Sun's resting place in the East. After a short stop they started
their preparations. They found the cave from which the Sun would be rising
next morning and they quickly set to work covering the entrance with the
net of plaited ropes. When they were sure they had done a really good job
they camouflaged the ropes with leaves and branches. They also made themselves
clay walls as a protection against the Sun's fierce heat, and smeared the
clay all over their bodies. Then they hid.
Maui crouched down on one side of the cave
and the rest of the men were on the other side. It wasn't long before they
saw the first glimmer of light from the cave. Then they felt the scorching
heat. The men were shaking with fear as the light grew more and more blinding
and the heat more and more stifling. They were sure that Maui's plan would
not work. Suddenly they heard a sharp shout from Maui, 'Pull! Pull the
ropes as hard as you can.'
The net fell like a huge noose over the Sun.
Although the men were terrified that the Sun would kill them all, they
pulled and strained as hard as they possibly could so that the Sun could
not escape.
The Sun, who was raging at being held captive,
struggled and roared. Maui knew he had to do something more than just hold
the Sun in the net so he yelled to one of his brothers to take his end
of the rope. He rushed out from the protection of his wall and, with his
special axe raised high above his head, he ran towards the Sun. Even though
the heat was singing his body and his hair, he started to attack the Sun
with his axe.
The Sun roared even louder. 'What are you doing?
Are you trying to kill me?' he screamed.
'No. I am not trying to kill you,' answered Maui,
'but you don't understand. You go too fast across the sky, and we are all
unable to do our daily work. We need more hours of light in our days for
hunting and fishing, for building and repairing our village houses.'
'Well,' said the Sun, 'you have given me such
a battering that I don't think I could speed across the sky now, even if
I wanted to.'
'If we release you,' said Maui, 'will you promise
to slow your journey down?'
'You have so weakened me that now I can only
go slowly,' answered the Sun.
Maui made him solemnly promise to do what he
had asked and then hereleased the ropes. Maui's brothers and the men of
the tribe watched as the Sun, slowly and stiffly, began to lift into the
sky. They all smiled at Maui - they were proud of him.
To this day, the Sun travels on his long lonely
path across the sky at a very slow pace, giving us many more hours of sunlight
than he used to do.