you? To whom do you
belong?" Maui replied: "I belong to Hina." "Why have you come?" Maui
told her, "I have come to kill the sun. He goes so fast that he never
dries the tapa Hina has beaten out."

The old woman gave a magic stone for a battle axe and one more rope. She
taught him how to catch the sun, saying: "Make a place to hide here by
this large wiliwili tree. When the first leg of the sun comes up, catch
it with your first rope, and so on until you have used all your ropes.
Fasten them to the tree, then take the stone axe to strike the body of
the sun."

Maui dug a hole among the roots of the tree and concealed himself. Soon
the first ray of light--the first leg of the sun--came up along the
mountain side. Maui threw his rope and caught it. One by one the legs of
the sun came over the edge of the crater's rim and were caught. Only one
long leg was still hanging down the side of the mountain. It was hard
for the sun to move that leg. It shook and trembled and tried hard to
come up. At last it crept over the edge and was caught by Maui with the
rope given by his grandmother.

When the sun saw that his sixteen long legs were held fast in the ropes,
he began to go back down the mountain side into the sea. Then Maui tied
the ropes fast to the tree and pulled until the body of the sun came up
again. Brave Maui caught his magic stone club or axe, and began to
strike and wound the sun, until he cried: "Give me my life." Maui said:
"If you live, you may be a traitor. Perhaps I had better kill you." But
the sun begged for life. After they had conversed a while, they agreed
that there should be a regular motion in the journey of the sun. There
should be longer days, and yet half the time he might go quickly as in
the winter time, but the other half he must move slowly as in summer.
Thus men dwelling on the earth should be blessed.

Another legend says that he made a lasso and climbed to the summit of
Mt. Haleakala. He made ready his lasso, so that when the sun came up the
mountain side and rose above him he could cast the noose and catch the
sun, but he only snared one of the sun's larger rays and broke it off.
Again and again he threw the lasso until he had broken off all the
strong rays of the sun.

Then he shouted exultantly, "Thou art my captive; I will kill thee for
going so swiftly."

Then the sun said, "Let me live and thou shalt see me go more slowly
hereafter. Behold, hast thou not broken off all my strong leg