Maui and the Secret of Fire

By Chrissie Ward

Fire was given to people by the great ancestress Mahuika. It was a precious gift and had to be carefully tended. Every night, the last of the glowing embers were covered with thick ash. In the morning the fire keepers scraped away the ash and blew on the embers, placing dry twigs on them until a flame leapt forth.

Maui was not the kind of person who accepts things the way they are. In a curious mood, he wondered what would happen if he put out all the fires in the land. One night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, he got up and filled gourds with water. Then he went through the village and poured water over all the stored embers, chuckling with glee as each fire hissed and died.

In the morning there was a great commotion when everyone awoke and found there was no fire in the village. "Alas!" they cried. "Who could have done this thing?"

Maui stepped forward and said, "I did, because I want to know the secret of fire."

Taranga, Maui's mother, spoke to him sternly. "You know that fire can only be obtained from your ancestress Mahuika. You must go to her, tell her that fire has been lost from the earth, and ask her to give us some again. But take care and don't play any tricks with her, for she is very powerful."

Maui assured Taranga that he would not trick an old woman, and set off on the path his mother pointed out to him. Two friendly fantails darted around his head as he went, catching the insects that were disturbed by his feet. He walked for many miles, crossing sparkling streams and mighty rivers, travelling through gullies and over hills. At length he came to the cave that was the entrance to Mahuika's underground home. Maui clambered down, and in the darkness he could see a distant glow. He followed this until he came to a chamber where an old woman was seated on a stone. Fire flashed from her fingers and toes, and she was a fearsome sight. Maui approached her respectfully.

"Greetings, old woman," he said. "You must be Mahuika. I have travelled a long distance to ask for your help."

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"I am Maui, and my mother is Taranga."

Mahuika beckoned him to come closer and peered into his face.

"Well, well, so you are my grandchild. What help do you want from me?"

"I have come to beg some fire from you, for all the fires on earth have gone out. Without fire, how shall we keep warm on cold winter evenings? How shall we cook our potatoes, our fish, and our pigeons? Please help us, Grandmother."

"You are welcome!" Mahuika cried. "Here is fire for you." She pulled out the nail of her little finger and gave it to Maui. Fire flowed from the nail, and Maui marvelled. He thanked his ancestress and left, carrying the flaming nail. But he had not gone far when he came to a stream. "Ah ha!" he thought "I have one fire nail from the old woman. Let's see if I can get another." He dropped the flaming nail into the water; the fire hissed and went out.

Maui splashed himself with water and went back to the cave. "Grandmother!" he called. "When I was crossing the stream my foot slipped on a mossy stone and the fire has gone out. Please give me another of your fire nails."

Mahuika scolded Maui, but she pulled out another of her fingernails and gave it to him. Fire flashed forth, and he thanked the old woman and carried the nail from the cave. When he reach the stream, he dropped the second flame into the water.

Back he went. "Alas, honoured ancestress! That flame also fell into the water. Please give me another, or your children will all die!"

"You are a very careless boy," Mahuika grumbled, but she pulled out another fingernail and gave it to him.

Maui dropped that flame into the stream--and the next--and the next. Mahuika tut-tutted, but she believed Maui's stories. She pulled out all her fingernails and started on her toenails. By now Maui was carried away with his own cunning. He had forgotten about the people in the village who needed fire, and he had also forgotten about his mother's warning. He went back for more and more. And so it went on, until Mahuika had pulled out all but one of her toenails. Then, when she had only one nail left, on her big toe, she realised that Maui had been playing tricks with her. When he returned, she was waiting for him at the entrance of the cave.

"Alas, Grandmother!" Maui cried. "Again, I must ask you for the gift of fire."

Mahuika sprang out from the cave with the last flaming toenail in her hand.

"Ha, Maui! You want my fire, do you? Here, take it!" With all her force she flung the nail at Maui. But she was aged and couldn't throw very far. The nail fell short and landed in a clump of dried bracken. Immediately the bracken caught fire, and the flames and sparks spread quickly until all the grass, shrubs and trees nearby were ablaze.

Maui turned and ran for his life. The mocking laughter of the old woman rang in his ears and the fire raged at his heels. He ran as fast as he could, but the fire spread just as fast. The flames jumped hungrily from tree to tree, and when Maui glanced back he could see nothing but a wall of fire. When he came to a lake he plunged in, but the water was almost boiling and he jumped straight out again.

Closing his eyes, he chanted a prayer that changed him into a hawk. Up he flew, but the fire pursued him into the sky and singed his feathers. In desperation he called upon Tawhirimatea, the god of wind and weather, for help. "Send down rain," he begged, "or the whole land will be destroyed!"

His prayers were heard. Great clouds gathered and Tawhirimatea sent down rain. At first a light rain fell, then stronger rain, then a deluge. The fire was quenched and went out. So much rain fell that Mahuika almost drowned, and by being soaked she was deprived of her power. Fire was nearly lost forever. But when the water reached Mahuika's head, the last seeds of fire flew out of her topknot and took refuge in the hearts of five trees: the mahoe, the totara, the patete, the pukatea, and the kaikomako.

Maui watched all this from where he flew as a hawk, high up in the sky. He changed back into his normal shape and broke off a branch from each of the five trees. Then he returned to his village. The people exclaimed when they saw his sooty face and the burns on his body. Taranga, his mother, guessed what had happened.

"I warned you not to play tricks with Mahuika. And why are you carrying those branches? Without fire, they are no use to us."

Maui flung the branches down on the ground.

"I have discovered the secret of fire," he said. "It is here, hidden in the wood."

Then he showed everyone how to get a spark by rubbing a stick of one kind of wood in a groove made in another kind of wood. And so Maui brought fire under man's control forever.