7 januari 2017
THE ORIGIN OF FIRE
Maui and Hina dwelt together, and to them were
born four sons, whose names were Maui-mua, Maui-hope, Maui-kiikii, and
Maui-o-ka-lana. These four were fishermen. One morning, just as the edge of the
Sun lifted itself up, Maui-mua roused his brethren to go fishing. So they launched
their canoe from the beach at Kaupo, on the island of Maui, where they were
dwelling, and proceeded to the fishing ground. Having arrived there, they were
beginning to fish, when Maui-o-ka-lana saw the light of a fire on the shore
they had left, and said to his brethren:
"Behold, there is a fire burning. Whose
can this fire be?"
And they answered: "Whose, indeed? Let us
return to the shore, that we may get our food cooked; but first let us get some
fish."
So, after they had obtained some fish, they
turned toward the shore; and when the canoe touched the beach Maui-mua leaped
ashore and ran toward the spot where the fire had been burning. Now, the
curly-tailed _alae_ (mud-hens) were the keepers of the fire; and when they saw him
coming they scratched the fire out and flew away. Maui-mua was defeated, and
returned to the house to his brethren.
Then said they to him: "How about the
fire?"
"How, indeed?" he answered.
"When I got there, behold, there was no fire; it was out. I supposed some
man had the fire, and behold, it was not so; the alae are the proprietors of
the fire, and our bananas are all stolen."
When they heard that, they were filled with
anger, and decided not to go fishing again, but to wait for the next appearance
of the fire. But after many days had passed without their seeing the fire, they
went fishing again, and behold, there was the fire! And so they were
continually tantalized. Only when they were out fishing would the fire appear,
and when they returned they could not find it.
This was the way of it. The curly-tailed alae
knew that Maui and Hina had only these four sons, and if any of them stayed on
shore to watch the fire while the others were out in the canoe the alae knew it
by counting those in the canoe, and would not light the fire. Only when they
could count four men in the canoe would they light the fire. So Maui-mua
thought it over, and said to his brethren:
"To-morrow morning do you go fishing, and
I will stay ashore. But do you take the calabash and dress it in kapa, and put
it in my place in the canoe, and then go out to fish."
They did so, and when they went out to fish the
next morning, the alae counted and saw four figures in the canoe, and then they
lit the fire and put the bananas on to roast. Before they were fully baked one
of the alae cried out: "Our dish is cooked! Behold, Hina has a smart
son."
And with that, Maui-mua, who had stolen close
to them unperceived, leaped forward, seized the curly-tailed alae and
exclaimed: "Now I will kill you, you scamp of an alae! Behold, it is you
who are keeping the fire from us. I will be the death of you for this."
Then answered the alae: "If you kill me
the secret dies with me, and you won't get the fire." As Maui-mua began to
wring its neck, the alae again spoke, and said: "Let me live, and you
shall have the fire."
So Maui-mua said: "Tell me, where is the
fire?"
The alae replied: "It is in the leaf of
the a-pe plant" (_Alocasia macrorrhiza_).
So, by the direction of the alae, Maui-mua
began to rub the leaf-stalk of the a-pe plant with a piece of stick, but the
fire would not come. Again he asked: "Where is this fire that you are
hiding from me?"
The alae answered: "In a green
stick."
And he rubbed a green stick, but got no fire.
So it went on, until finally the alae told him he would find it in a dry stick;
and so, indeed, he did. But Maui-mua, in revenge for the conduct of the alae, after
he had got the fire from the dry stick, said: "Now, there is one thing
more to try." And he rubbed the top of the alae's head till it was red
with blood, and the red spot remains there to this day.
Terima kasih telah mengunjungi blog @athia00 ikuti terus cerita lainnya..
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