Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 9, 1 September 2012 — Maui moʻolelo [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Maui moʻolelo

n old Hawai'i, kūpuna told and retold mo'olelo to convey eultural values. Many years ago, Maui kūpuna shared these two mo'olelo. Our keiki ean still learn from them. Two neighbors from Kahana Beach frequently went night fishing together. After dark, they would swim out and set their net near the outer reef, then return to shore. They'd swim back out, beating the water, to chase the fish into the net. They hauled the net in, returned to shore with their catch and took

the net into a cave on shore. Then, while one man divided the fish, his friend stretched the net out on the heaeh to dry. Eaeh man took home his share of fish. One moming, as the wife of the man who divided the fish hung her fish to dry in the sun, her neighbor's wife was struck by the size of the fish. They were twice the size as any her husband brought home! She brooded until her husband returned after work. "Why do our neighbors have such large fish, when you bring only small ones home?" she demanded. Her husband said nothing. That night, as the men swam out toward the net, the husband swam ahead and dove under the water, first. The net was loaded with fish. Quickly rising to the surface, he shouted, "Go and tell my wife that I am at the point of the fish!" His neighbor thought his friend was being attacked by a shark. He

swam to shore in terror, and hurried to tell his friend's wife her husband was being eaten by a shark! The grieving wife ran along the heaeh. She heard a ghostly sound

coming fromthe cave. Trembling, she stood frozen **

and listened "I'mhere,in this cave," a voice called. Her husband's ghost! Hei

husband eame ^ out and took her arm. He was alive!

He had deliberately misled their neighbor, so he could see the catch for himself. They divided the fish and, this time, took the biggest fish home. Never again did the man help his neighbor. Because of his selfishness, he had lost both a helper and a ffiend. A WAGER F0R 'A B0NE' Long ago, a Moloka'i chief sailed

to Kā'anapali and met a young ali'i there. He asked to see the high cliffs on Maui. "I see nothing like the Moloka'i cliffs. The steepness, great height and spectacular beauty

of our pali cannot be imagined by one who has not seen them.

They rise like towering battlements from the sea. i If you have anything like 1 them on Maui, I would ■ like to see it." He smiled confidently. The Maui ali'i had been pleased to meet this

ir man, but now, pride in his island was challenged. He resented the superior way the

Moloka'i chief had spoken. Surely Maui's cliffs were as beautiful as any island in the sea! I won't allow this fellow to think he ean eome to Maui and speak in such a way, he thought. "I dare you to try and elimh one of our cliffs," he said heatedly. "And, our wager will be a bone." This challenge meant death for the Moloka'i chief if he failed, or death

for the other if he succeeded. But he was agile, strong and skilled in climbing cliffs. Besides, it would be cowardly to refuse the challenge. The Maui chief led the newcomer to a boulder near the shore. The Maui chief took him to the other side, where a depression in the great rock was revealed. "You must stand with your heels together and move both feet at the same time, see if you ean elimh this rock." It looked hopeless, but for the honor of his island and his life's sake, the Moloka'i chief made a desperate attempt. The rock slanted outward above the depression making it impossible ! He tried, repeatedly, before conceding: "You have won. Our wager was a bone, my life is yours." The Maui chief was deeply impressed by the efforts and admired the Moloka'i ali'i's sportsmanship. After all, it had been a trick. "I eall our wager off," he said. "Just remember that it is not a good thing to boast. And now, we will be friends." ■

MO'OLELO v www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org i HIST0RY / NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D.