Fairy Tales and Folk-Lore of New Zealand and the South Seas/The Fairy Canoe
LESSON II.
THE FAIRY CANOE.
(Aitutaki.)
One of the most famous chiefs of the South Sea Islands long ago was Rata. He was of a most daring and adventurous character, always longing to see foreign lands, so, determining to go away on an exploring voyage, he set out to search for trees fit to form the hulls of a great double canoe. These double canoes were formed by two single canoes fastened together side by side, but with a space between, this space being decked over and a house or houses erected thereon. In such canoes long voyages were made, as they were almost impossible to overturn however strong a gale might be blowing. Rata took his best and most valuable axe, and flinging it over his shoulder proceeded to the forest, glancing about here and there to find the kind of tree of which he was in search. He discovered the suitable timber and was preparing to fell it when his attention was drawn aside by a commotion taking place among the branches of the shrubs near him. There he saw a fight taking place between a lovely white heron and a huge water snake of the kind which lives in the sea. The cause of the combat was as follows:—The heron had been fishing on the coral reef, and in wading about it had chanced to put its foot on the eyes of the snake, which had been protruding from a hole in the coral. The heron immediately flew away, but the snake felt insulted and determined to take revenge, so it followed the flight of the heron with its eyes and noted how the bird had flown inland and settled on a lofty screw-palm tree. Then the snake left the salt water and swam up the current of a mountain stream till it arrived near the tree on which the heron was sleeping. Easily the snake climbed the tree, and taking two or three turns of its tail around a branch it fiercely attacked the heron. They fought hard all night, and the next morning appeared, that on which Rata observed them. The heron cried out to the man, “O Rata, kill the evil snake and end the fight.” But the serpent said, “Rata, do not interfere. It is only a trial of strength, and it must be fought out fairly.” Rata thought that it was no business of his, so he went on with his work, but the heron said to him reproachfully, “You will not be able to finish your canoe without my help.” Rata chopped down two of the best trees he could find, and then went in the evening to his own house and slept. The elves of the forest gathered together the chips cut from the tree, and packed them in carefully so that no one could see that the trees had been wounded; then they set the trees upright again. When Rata came back there were the trees standing as he had first seen them. He rubbed his eyes and stared awhile, then proceeded to chop away at the timber. Hour after hour passed, at last the first tree, with a mighty crash, came down; he went to the other, worked away with untiring arms till the second tree lay by the side of the other. Then he lopped off the branches, but by this time the night was falling, so he went to rest. He returned on the third morning, and found the snake and the heron still keeping up their terrible struggle. He passed on to the trees he had felled, intending to hollow out their trunks for the hulls of the canoes. There they stood sound and whole, not a leaf missing! Then Rata understood what the heron meant when it had cried, “You will not be able to finish your canoes without my help,” so he went to the place of conflict and found that the beautiful white bird was exhausted and nearly overcome. Rata rushed forward and attacked the serpent with his axe. With a few mighty blows the hero succeeded in destroying the snake and rescuing the heron from death. It flew to a branch of a neighbouring tree and rested all day, watching Rata at his work as a third time he hewed away at his trees and a third time felled them. As soon as Rata had gone away the heron flew hither and thither among all the feathered creatures of the ocean and forest, collecting them to help in the work of assisting to make the canoes. They pecked away with thousands of beaks till the holds were hollowed out, and then came the more difficult task of joining the pieces together. Some of the sea-birds with their long bills bored holes through which the lashings were passed, and the land-birds with their strong claws hauled the ties fast and knotted them surely. They had not finished till near dawn, and they then resolved to bear the canoes to the sea near Rata’s dwelling, so they came in a great company, and each held on with its beak to some part of the canoe, then the cloud of strong wings was spread above, beating the air, and the canoe rose above the trees with a rush of fluttering feathers. Down to the sea they went bearing the double canoe, which afterwards became the most famous vessel in Pacific Island story. Thus was Rata rewarded for having saved the life of the fair white heron in its struggle against the evil serpent.
| at-ten′-tion | branch | val′-u-a-ble | mount′-ain |
| re-venge′ | ea′-si-ly | suit′-a-ble | bu-si′-ness |
| for′-est | o-ver-come′ | dif′-fi-cult | beak |
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her′-on, the name of a kind of longnecked, long-legged, bird that lives on fish.
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elf (plural elves), another name for fairies.
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