Aotearoa/ New Zealand
Maui the
Half-God and Mahuika
Taken
from Myths and Legends of Maoriland
compiled by A. W. Reed
Maui’s restless mind was never
satisfied with the answers he received to his questions.
“Where does fire come from?” he
wanted to know.
“It is here,” they replied
impatiently. “Why do you want to know where it comes from? If it is ours, do we
need to know how it comes to us?”
“But what if the fire goes out?”
“We do not let it go out. If that
should happen, our mother knows where to obtain fire, but she will not tell
us.”
That night, when everyone was
asleep, Maui left his
whare and crept to the cooking fires that were smoldering
in the darkness. Quietly he poured water on them until the last spark was
quenched.
As soon as the sky flushed with the
first rays of dawn, Maui called to his servants, “I am hungry. Cook some food
quickly.” They ran to the fires, only to find heaps of grey ash. There was an
outcry in the village as the servants rushed to and fro with the news. Maui
stayed in his whare and smiled to himself as he listened to the noise.
Presently he heard the sound of voices on the
marae, the village meeting-place.
His
mother was telling the slaves to go
to the underworld to get more fire.
Maui threw his kiwi feather cloak
round him and strode on to the marae. The slaves were huddled together in
terror, for they dreaded the underworld. “I will go, my mother. Where shall I
find the land of darkness? Who is keeper of the fire?”
Taranga looked at her son
suspiciously. “If no one will go, then my youngest son must make the journey.
If you keep to the path that I will show you, you will come to the house of
Mahuika, your ancestress. She is the guardian of the fire. If she asks your
name, tell her who you are. You must be careful. Be respectful, my son. We know
the ways of Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, but your ancestress is powerful, and if
you try to deceive her, she will punish you.”
Maui grinned mischievously and set
off at once with a long, steady pace that covered the ground quickly, and soon
took him to the shadowy land where the fire goddess lived. Presently he came to
a beautiful whare with splendid carvings, with
paua-shell eyes that shone like
flame in the darkness. A woman’s voice, old and broken, like the crackling of
branches in the fire, came to his ears.
“Who is the bold mortal that stares
at the whare of Mahuika of the Fire?”
“It is Maui.”
“I have five grandchildren called
Maui. Is it Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga?”
“Yes, it is I.”
The old woman chuckled. “What do
you want from your grandmother, Maui-the-last-one?”
“I want fire to take back to my
mother and my brothers.”
“I can give you fire, Maui.”
Mahuika pulled out one of her
fingernails, and it burst into flame. “Carry it carefully, Maui, and light your
fires with it.”
Maui took it away, but when he had
gone a little distance, he threw it on the ground and stamped on it until the
fire had been beaten out. He went back to the whare.
“Aha, it is Maui again,” the old
woman called. “What do you want this time, Maui?”
“Fire. I have lost it. The flame
went out.”
Mahuika scowled. “Then you have
been careless, my grandchild. I will give you another fingernail, but you must
shield the flame with your hand.”
Maui took the burning fingernail.
When he was out of sight, he beat out the flame and returned to Mahuika. The
fire goddess scowled at him, and grumbled as she gave him another.
Five times Maui went away with the
flame, and five times he returned empty handed. Ten times he went away, and ten
times he returned empty handed. Mahuika’s fingernails had all been given away.
Grudgingly she gave him one of her toenails, but in a little while the crafty
Maui came back for another. Five times he went away, and five times he returned
empty handed. Nine times he went away and nine times he returned empty handed.
Then at last, Mahuika’s patience
was exhausted. The subterranean fires shook the house, and Maui had to force
his way through the heat and the smoke that poured from the door and window.
Mahuika’s eyes glared through the darkness like flashes of lightning. She took
her toenail and threw it at Maui. It fell short, and as it touched the ground,
there was a noise like thunder, and a sheet of flame travelled with the speed
of wind towards Maui. He ran as quickly as he could, but the flames were like a
taniwha roaring after him. He changed to the form of a hawk and flew onwards
with great strokes of his wings, but still the flames gained on him. He could
feel the heat singeing his feathers, and to this day you will see that the
plumage of the hawk remains brown where the fire touched it.
A pool of water lay before him and,
folding his wings, he plunged into it. Presently the water grew warm. Maui
stirred uneasily at the bottom of the pool. It was beginning to get hot now. A
few moments later it started to boil and Maui flew upward. The air was cull of
flame. The forest was on fire and the flames were spreading up into the sky.
It seemed as though the whole world
was in danger of being destroyed by fire. Then Maui remembered the gods he had
known. He called to them and they saw that the earth was in peril. They sent
down rain, heavy driving rain that hurled itself against the flames, and
flattened their crests, and broke through the walls of fire. A harsh voice was
heard crying in terror. Mahuika was in the midst of the fire, and as she turned
and fled to her home, her strength began to fail her. The flames subsided into
fitful little tongues, and died suddenly in a puff of steam. Mahuika threw the
last of her fire into the trees, and they gave it shelter and saved it for the
children of men.
At the last, then, there came
goodness from the mischief of Maui, for men learnt to rub the wood of these
trees together so that the fire cam from them, and they could at any time
summon the fire children of Mahuika to their aid.
