Maui Catches The Sun - Version II

Many years ago, long before anyone can remember, the people of New Zealand had very hard lives. They would have to work very quickly to get their daily chores done for the sun crossed the heavens so quickly that there was never enough time to complete even one chore.

"Oh!" the people moaned, "We run around to get food and we run to get the wood.  We are tired and this life is so hard."

The sun, named Ra, was a happy fellow.  He loved to tear across the sky as quickly as he could, it was a game he played to pick a spot on the earth and see how fast he could get around the world, back to that very spot.  He never bothered to look down and see what the funny creatures were doing below. They seemed such boring things, he thought, always running to and fro.  Sometimes he would hear them calling to him, but he was far too busy playing his games that he had no time to stop and listen.

One day a man came to New Zealand.  He was a very powerful man and the people asked if he could help them with their problem.

"Ra is a very selfish being," they complained, "He races so quickly he never hears our calls."

The man named Maui looked thoughtfully at Ra who was rushing madly towards the horizon.

"Let me think for a few days," he said, "I will think of a plan."

Several days later Maui came back and asked for some of the strongest men.  He led them into the hills and told them to collect all of the flax that they could. When they had mountains of flax they were ordered to help Maui weave thick long ropes, all the while Maui chanted a very powerful prayer to strengthen the ropes.  When they had finished Maui knotted the ropes together to make the mightiest net that any of the men had ever seen.

"We must await Ra with stealth," he said,  "When he comes over the horizon of the highest mountain range we will cast the net and capture him."

A few of the men were a little afraid and did not want to help Maui, for the sun seemed far more powerful than this mere man.  Maui may very well be mighty but Ra seemed far more superior.

"You may leave," Maui said, "There is nothing you can help me with if you fear the Almighty Ra."

The men who were afraid walked slowly away.  They new that the other men would come back as heroes if they were successful, but none of them had the courage to stay and find out.

Fifty men stayed with Maui.  They stretched the mighty net across the long range where Ra would appear and then 25 men hid at one end of the range while the other 25 hid at the opposite end.  Maui hid in the centre and they all waited quietly for Ra to rise.

They didn't have long to wait.  Ra's first rays quickly grew to full light and the men all leapt up in unison to cast the mighty net over Ra.

"What are you doing!" he bellowed.

"Halt Ra.  You have made life very difficult for the people of this land and now you must slow your tracks."

"What are you talking about you imbecile!  I am the mighty Ra and you, dear boy, are in my way!"  

Maui laughed loudly, "Mighty Ra, you say.  You race about this world like a child at play.  You are not worthy of such a term as Mighty.  I would say playful Ra...mmm... or childish Ra."

"You do not know who you are talking to!!" Ra stormed.

"Oh yes I do," Maui calmly answered, "I see you for barely a moment each day and I know very well who you are. You do not seem to know who it is that I am."

" You!! "Ra bellowed,” You!...You are nothing but a nuisance.  That’s who you are."

"Ah, but I see the people who live on this world, and I see what it is that they need.  They say I am the mightiest being in all of the universe.  They say that I am the greatest living thing that ever was."

The men that held tight to the net all looked at each other. They did not even know who this man was who carried the name Maui.  Perhaps he was indeed mighty, for they had never heard of another who would try to stop Ra.

"And who is it that you are?” Ra asked in his big booming voice.

"I am Maui.  I am from the island of Waitangi Ki Roto.  My grandmother is the Old Wise One who knows the most powerful magic and taught me.  I am the keeper of the magic patu which is so mighty that if I were to hit you with it just once, you would stagger for eternity across these skies."

Ra looked rather disbelievingly at this mortal looking man in front of him.

"Why should I believe such a puny little creature like you?'

"Why are you trapped in the confines of a net made of flax?"

Ra did not understand what Maui spoke of.  

"You are so powerful Ra.  You should have burned yourself free instantly.  After all you are the Mighty Ra."

Ra thought for a moment. This was true; his flaming body should never have even paused at a flax net.  Perhaps this man spoke the truth and perhaps if he were nice to Maui he would not hit him with his magic patu.

"Well," he muttered, "what is it that you stop me for?"

"The people here say that they have no time to tend to their chores.  Before they have finished you have disappeared behind the horizon and they are left in the darkness.  Sometimes they must try to see with the light of Marama the moon and that is not good, for they cannot see properly and they have mishaps.  You must slow down so they may live easier."

"Oh, why must I slow my pace?  It is tiresome when I cannot race, the boredom will surely kill me."

"I order you to slow your pace. Take note of what the people do during the day and take pleasure in seeing the children race about, it may surprise you how entertaining it can be.  If you do not agree, I will have to use my patu!"

"Aue!  There is no choice for me is there?" Ra sighed, "You are a very mean man Maui, but I will listen to you."

"Yes Ra, you will listen to me for if you do not then I will have to return and capture you again, and the next time I will not talk, I will batter you so that you have no choice but to slow down."

Ra looked very unhappy indeed.  He did not speak again, and Maui nodded for the men to release the ropes of the net.  It slid to the mountainside and Ra ascended on his daily route slowly, just as he had been told to do.

The men all looked rather sad and bewildered, for they had seen the most powerful being getting a growling from a man who looked no different from themselves.

Maui travelled back to their village with them where they were all hailed as heroes.  The people celebrated for many days because all of their chores were done very early in the day now.  They all heard the tale told over and over again and then they asked to see this magic patu.

"I do not have a magic patu,” Maui declared.

The people gasped in disbelief.

"Ra will never know that I do not have a patu, for the magic that weaved into the ropes that bound him was enough for him to believe that I could do almost anything."

The people roared with laughter and celebrated anew at the cleverness of this man named Maui.

Ra did indeed look upon the people now that he had to slow his tracks.  He found that the man named Maui spoke truthfully at how entertaining they could be.  The children laughed, played, fought and best of all, they got up to mischief.  The adults worked and travelled.  Some hunted and some argued or even battled.  Big huge battles where death and grieving occurred.

Ra was happy to slow his tracks, for the people were quite a pleasure to watch, sometimes he saw their sorrows and Ra learned of emotions he had never felt before and he found himself eager to see them the next day and the next.

All of these things had always been unnoticed and now Ra quietly thanked Maui for showing him that there was more to racing about a planet.  When he thinks about it deeply he often thinks how boring he really was.