Legends of Ma-ui—a demi god of Polynesia, and of his mother Hina. W. D. Westervelt

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664564887

Table of Contents

       HELPS TO PRONUNCIATION

       PREFACE

       I.

       MAUI'S HOME

       II.

       MAUI THE FISHERMAN

       III.

       MAUI LIFTING THE SKY.

       IV.

       MAUI SNARING THE SUN.

       V.

       MAUI FINDING FIRE.

       VI.

       MAUI THE SKILLFUL.

       VII.

       MAUI AND TUNA.

       VIII.

       MAUI AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW.

       IX.

       MAUI'S KITE FLYING.

       X.

       THE OAHU LEGENDS OF MAUI.

       MAUI AND THE TWO GODS.

       HOW THEY FOUND FIRE.

       MAUI CATCHING THE SUN.

       UNITING THE ISLANDS.

       MAUI AND PEA-PEA THE EIGHT-EYED.

       XI.

       MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY.

       XII.

       HINA OF HILO.

       XIII.

       HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER.

       XIV.

       GHOSTS OF THE HILO HILLS.

       XV.

       HINA, THE WOMAN IN THE MOON.

       INDEX

HELPS TO PRONUNCIATION

       Table of Contents

      There are three simple rules which practically control Hawaiian pronunciation: (1) Give each vowel the German sound. (2) Pronounce each vowel. (3) Never allow a consonant to close a syllable.

      Interchangeable consonants are many. The following are the most common: h=s; l=r; k=t; n=ng; v=w.

PREFACE

       Table of Contents

      Maui is a demi god whose name should probably be pronounced Ma-u-i, i.e., Ma-oo-e. The meaning of the word is by no means clear. It may mean "to live," "to subsist." It may refer to beauty and strength, or it may have the idea of "the left hand" or "turning aside." The word is recognized as belonging to remote Polynesian antiquity.

      MacDonald, a writer of the New Hebrides Islands, gives the derivation of the name Maui primarily from the Arabic word "Mohyi," which means "causing to live" or "life," applied sometimes to the gods and sometimes to chiefs as "preservers and sustainers" of their followers.

      The Maui story probably contains a larger number of unique and ancient myths than that of any other legendary character in the mythology of any nation.

      There are three centers for these legends, New Zealand in the south, Hawaii in the north, and the Tahitian group including the Hervey Islands in the east. In each of these groups of islands, separated by thousands of miles, there are the same legends, told in almost the same way, and with very little variation in names. The intermediate groups of islands of even as great importance as Tonga, Fiji or Samoa, possess the same legends in more or less of a fragmentary condition, as if the three centers had been settled first when the Polynesians were driven away from the Asiatic coasts by their enemies, the Malays. From these centers voyagers sailing away in search of adventures would carry fragments rather than complete legends. This is exactly what has been done and there are as a result a large number of hints of wonderful deeds. The really long legends as told about the demi god Ma-u-i and his mother Hina number about twenty.

      It is