It Is Told That Long Ago, One Maui, The Son Of Hina, Lived On What
Is Now Known As West Maui.
His mother, Hina, employed her time in
the making of kapas.
She must have made them at night, for her days
were occupied in trying to dry the kapas. Each morning, and all
morning, she toiled at spreading them out in the sun. But no sooner
were they out, than she began taking them in, in order to have them
all under shelter for the night. For know that the days were
shorter then than now. Maui watched his mother's futile toil and
felt sorry for her. He decided to do something - oh, no, not to help
her hang out and take in the kapas. He was too clever for that.
His idea was to make the sun go slower. Perhaps he was the first
Hawaiian astronomer. At any rate, he took a series of observations
of the sun from various parts of the island. His conclusion was
that the sun's path was directly across Haleakala. Unlike Joshua,
he stood in no need of divine assistance. He gathered a huge
quantity of coconuts, from the fibre of which he braided a stout
cord, and in one end of which he made a noose, even as the cow-boys
of Haleakala do to this day. Next he climbed into the House of the
Sun and laid in wait. When the sun came tearing along the path,
bent on completing its journey in the shortest time possible, the
valiant youth threw his lariat around one of the sun's largest and
strongest beams.
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