_Rev. A. O. Forbes_



I.--SNARING THE SUN


Maui was the son of Hina-lau-ae and Hina, and they dwelt at a place
called Makalia, above Kahakuloa, on West Maui. Now, his mother Hina
made _kapas_. And as she spread them out to dry, the days were so
short that she was put to great trouble and labor in hanging them
out and taking them in day after day until they were dry. Maui,
seeing this, was filled with pity for her, for the days were so
short that, no sooner had she got her kapas all spread out to dry,
than the Sun went down, and she had to take them in again. So he
determined to make the Sun go slower. He first went to Wailohi, in
Hamakua, on East Maui, to observe the motions of the Sun. There he
saw that it rose toward Hana. He then went up on Haleakala, and saw
that the Sun in its course came directly over that mountain. He then
went home again, and after a few days went to a place called Paeloko,
at Waihee. There he cut down all the cocoanut-trees, and gathered the
fibre of the cocoanut husks in great quantity. This he manufactured
into strong cord. One Moemoe, seeing this, said tauntingly to him:
"Thou wilt never catch the Sun. Thou art an idle nobody."

Maui answered: "When I conquer my enemy, and my desire is attained,
I will be your death." So he went up Haleakala again, taking his
cord with him. And when the Sun arose above where he was stationed,
he prepared a noose of the cord and, casting it, snared one of the