Maui and the Sun

You can call me Maui. From the warm sands of my island home, I used to watch my mother, Hina, sigh as she laid out her beautiful kapa cloth, only for the sun to race away before it could dry. The days were just a blink, a flash of light so fast that fishermen couldn't mend their nets and farmers couldn't tend their gardens before darkness fell again. This is the story of how I decided to fix that, the tale of Maui and the Sun. I saw the frustration on everyone’s faces and knew that even though I was known for being a bit of a trickster, this was one problem I had to solve with all my strength and cleverness for the good of my people.

My brothers laughed when I first told them my plan. 'Catch the sun?' one of them scoffed, his voice full of doubt. 'It's a giant ball of fire, Maui! It will burn you to a crisp!' But I wasn't discouraged. I knew I needed something extraordinary, something magical. So, I journeyed to the dark underworld to visit my wise grandmother. She gifted me the enchanted jawbone of one of our great ancestors, a tool humming with mighty power. With this in hand, I returned and convinced my brothers to help. We gathered every strong vine and coconut fiber we could find, twisting and braiding them for weeks under the moonlight. We wove sixteen immensely strong ropes, each one feeling alive with the magic of the earth. My plan was simple but daring: we would travel to the very edge of the world, to the great pit where the sun, Tama-nui-te-rā, slept each night. There, we would lay our trap and wait for him to rise.

Our journey was long and secret. We traveled only in the cool darkness, paddling our canoe across the vast, starry ocean and trekking through silent, shadowy forests. We had to be as quiet as ghosts, for if the sun saw us coming, our plan would be ruined. My brothers were often scared, their whispers filled with doubt in the quiet of the night. 'What if he burns our ropes? What if he burns us?' they would ask. But I reminded them of our mother's unfinished work and the hungry bellies in our village. I held the magic jawbone tight, its cool weight giving me courage. After many nights, we finally arrived at the edge of the world. Before us lay a deep, dark pit, and we could feel a faint warmth rising from its depths, like the breath of a sleeping giant. This was Haleakalā, the house of the sun. We hid ourselves behind great rocks, laid out our sixteen ropes in a giant loop around the pit's edge, and held our breath.

As the first glimmer of dawn touched the sky, the ground began to tremble. A fiery leg, then another, emerged from the pit. It was Tama-nui-te-rā, beginning his frantic daily race! 'Now!' I shouted. My brothers and I pulled with all our might. The ropes tightened like mighty fists, snaring the sun's powerful rays. He roared in fury, a sound that shook the mountains, and fought against our trap, filling the air with scorching heat. Can you imagine how hot it must have been? The world grew blindingly bright as he thrashed about. While my brothers bravely held the ropes, their knuckles white, I leaped forward with my enchanted jawbone held high. I was not afraid. I struck the sun again and again, not to harm him forever, but to make him listen. Weakened and tangled, the sun finally surrendered, his fiery voice now a mere whisper.

‘I promise,’ the sun gasped, his bright light flickering, ‘I will walk, not run, across the sky.’ I made him swear that for half the year, the days would be long and warm, giving everyone time to live and work. He agreed, and we carefully released him. True to his word, he began his slow, steady journey across the sky. When we returned home, we were heroes! The days were finally long enough for fishing, farming, and for my mother’s kapa to dry in the golden light. My story, the myth of how I slowed the sun, is still told across the Pacific islands. It reminds everyone that with courage, cleverness, and a desire to help others, even the most impossible challenges can be overcome. It’s a story that lives on in songs, dances, and in the warm, long summer days that we all enjoy thanks to a determined demigod and his brave brothers.

Reading Comprehension Questions

Click to see answer

Answer: They thought his plan was impossible and very dangerous. They believed catching the sun, which is a giant ball of fire, would be deadly and that he would be burned to a crisp.

Answer: This is a metaphor that means the sun's roar was incredibly loud and powerful. It was so loud that it felt like the entire landscape was vibrating or trembling from the force of the sound.

Answer: He likely felt a little discouraged that they didn't believe in him, but he was determined and didn't give up. To stay brave, he held onto the magical jawbone his grandmother gave him, which filled him with courage.

Answer: The main problem was that the sun moved too quickly across the sky, making the days too short for people to finish their work, like fishing, farming, or drying cloth. Maui solved it by trapping the sun with sixteen magical ropes and making it promise to move more slowly.

Answer: This shows that Maui's goal was to help his people, not to be cruel or destructive. He needed the sun to be a partner in his solution, so he had to get its attention and force it to make a deal, rather than destroying it, which would have created a much bigger problem.