A MAORI LEGEND

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21256, 30 August 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

A MAORI LEGEND

(By Rhona Mould, Robinson's Bay, Banks Peninsula; 16 years) The Maoris tell us the man in the moon is a woman, and perhaps they are right. They have this legend about her:— Rona, who was a Maori maiden, stole out one dark , night to seek water for her dying mother. She had to pass through a very dark forest to reach the stream. The moon had not risen and she stumbled all the way. The roots tripped her up, the brambles tore her flesh and the moreporks called aloud as if to frighten her. At last Rona reached the stream, but. alas in the darkness she stepped too far on to the deceiving watercress. Down, down she sank into the water. Rising to the top she cursed the moon, cursed it for hiding and thus allowing her to drown. The moon was angry when he heard these curses and swooped down to earth and captured Rona. When she felt herself being drawn skyward, she grasped a ngaio tree, but the tree came away from the earth and went with her. Now, if you look at the golden face of the moon, you will see Rona with her gourd and beside her the ngaio tree.