MAUI AND TUNA
Here
in the Tuamotu we
tell of the rivalry
of Maui and
the eel-god known as
Tuna. These
two compared their
force for Hina's
sake, and Maui
won. Afterwards,
seeing grey hairs on
his mother's head,
Maui wished
to conquer death;
but men cannot do
this.
Hina
was living with
Tuna in his land
beneath the sea; but
she became tired of
her eel-husband,
also of the coldness
there. One day she
said to eel Tuna
that she was going
out to fetch food
for them. Then she
travelled far away,
to find a new man
for herself. She
came to the land of
the Tane
tribe. When she saw
those husband-people
Hina sang her
chant about what she
wanted:
Inland eel here -
manly thing! / Eel
of the sea there -
watery thing! / I
here am a woman for
the eel-shaped one,
/ I have come to
find him at
Raronuku, / I
have come to find
him at Raro vaio.
/ Your fame, O
Tane tribe, is
known to me!
But
the men of the
Ngati Tane,
Husband-tribe, all
shouted to that
woman who invited
them, 'There is the
road! Keep going on!
We will never take
Tuna's woman
- he would kill us
in a day!' Therefore
Hina went on
to the land of the
Ngati Peka,
and she sang her
chant to them. But
the men of that
tribe answered in
the same words as
the Tane men.
Therefore Hina
went on until
she reached the
Tu tribe's land.
They would not have
her there; no
man-erect of Tu
would take her,
Tuna's woman.
Then
Hina passed
the house of
Huahega, sang
her chant. And
Huahega said to
her last-born son,
to Maui tikitiki
a Ataraga: 'Take
that woman for your
wife.' Therefore
Maui did so, and
they all lived
quietly together
there. After a time
the people of
Tuna's land told
Tuna: 'Your
woman has been
carried off by
Maui.' Tuna
replied. 'Oh! - let
him have that woman
to lie on!' But they
kept on going to
him, always telling
him, 'Your woman is
taken by Maui.'
Therefore Tuna
grew angry, and he
said, 'What sort of
man is this Maui
tikitiki?'
'He
is a small man, and
the end of his
ure is bent.'
Said Tuna,
'Then just let him
see this dirty cloth
between my legs, and
he'll be showing us
his heels.' Then
Tuna said, 'Go
and tell this
Maui that I am
coming to have it
out with him.' Then
Tuna sang his
song of lamenting
for Hina:
First
voice: Kua riro!
Stolen from me!
Second voice:
Grieving for the
wife is the heart.
Chorus: Kua riro!
Stolen from him! /
The winds have
brought the word /
That she is taken.
Now we go - First
voice: We leave for
Vavau, land
of speeding wave /
To see the loved one
- Second voice: -
Kua riro! / The
wailing winds lament
it! / Grieving love!
Then
the people told
Maui that
Tuna was coming
to have it out with
him. 'Just let him
come!' said Maui.
But they continually
told him of
Tuna's threats;
therefore he asked
them, 'What sort of
ure is this
Tuna?'
'Aue!
He is huge! He's as
big as a whale's!'
'Like a standing
palm-tree?'
They
lying answered,
'Like a leaning
one!' 'He is weak
and bending?'
'Always drooping.'
'Then just let him
see the crooked end
of mine and he'll go
flying for his
life!' said Maui.
Maui
waited with his
family, he dwelt
there quietly in
that place. One day
the sky grew dark
and thunder rolled,
the lightning
flashed. All the
people, knowing this
was Tuna,
were afraid, their
skin was trembling,
and they cried out
blaming Maui:
'This is the first
time that one man
has stolen the woman
of another man! We
will all die!' But
Maui said to
them, 'Just keep
together. We will
not be killed.'
On
came the monsters,
came Pupa vae noa,
and Poroporo tu a
huanga, Toke
a kura, and
Tuna nui himself
- they all came
rushing on the land.
And Tuna
stripped off his
loincloth, and he
held it up;
at once a mighty
wave reared up and
swept toward that
land. Then
Huahega shouted
to her son, to
Maui tikitiki,
'Quick now! Show
them yours! Pull it
out!'
Did
Maui then as
Huahega told
him, did as his
mother said. That
wave fell back, the
great wave of the
monsters soaked
away. The bottom of
the sea was bare,
and all the monsters
floundered on the
reef, they flapped
in pools. And
Maui went out,
he went with his
weapon and he beat
them dead, each one.
He killed them all,
excepting Tuna.
Then Tuna
went to Maui's
house with him and
they two lived
together quietly.
One day Tuna
said: 'We two are to
fight this out. When
one of us is dead,
the other can have
the woman.'
Said
Maui, 'What
kind of combat do
you wish?' Said
Tuna, 'One of us
enters into the body
of the other, goes
completely in. When
it is over I will
kill you, and take
the woman back to my
land.' So Maui
agreed, and Tuna
said, 'I will try it
first.' He began his
chanting:
Hiki
tautau orea,
/ Tautau orea,
/ He tangata nui
i whano mai /
I
tena motu ra
... It is I, Tuna,
/ That now enters
your body, O Maui!
With this word
Tuna went
completely into
Maui's body, he
went through the
place for entering
and disappeared.
After a while he
came out again. Said
Maui,
'Now it is my turn,'
and he spoke a chant
like that which
Tuna
said:
Ko
vau, ko Maui, e tomo
ki roto / I ia a u,
e Te Tuna!
With
this word Maui
entered into
Tuna's body, and
all of Tuna's
sinews came apart,
he died.
Maui
came out again; he
cut off Tuna's
head to take it to
his ancestor. But
Huahega his
mother took it from
him and she said:
'You must bury this
head of Tuna
beside the post in
the corner of our
house.'
Maui
did so, and that
head grew up, it
sprouted, it became
a coconut tree. On
the nut which is its
fruit we see the
face of Tuna,
eyes and mouth. All
coconuts have this.
(Antony
Alpers,
Legends of the South
Seas) |