HOLD YOUR BREATH STORIES NO. 3

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 16, 9 April 1927, Page 22

HOLD YOUR BREATH STORIES NO. 3

THE KING WHO CHEATED

By H.T.G

One Christmas time, when the pohu tukawa flowers were tinting our coast* a glorious crimson, all the birds of th* bush held a meeting. This was lonr before the days of the Maori, when the wekas and kiwis and moas were all about the same size, and no bird was master over the others. The meet nr was held to decide who was to be of the birds, for all agreed that die time had come to appoint a king so large and important had the birdworld become. After much loud chattering and quarrelling, the birds called out to an old and wise seagull, who was slowlv circling overhead. This gull t a d travelled far, and had visited manv lands, and he gladly came down amonc them and gave them his advice: “All the kings I have seen,” he said, “have been big and mighty and strong I suggest that you put off crowning a king for a year, and that meantime you all live well, eat well, and try to grow big, so that by the next time your pohu tuka was bloom, you can choose the biggest bird among you to be your king!” “Hooray! Hooray!” cried all the birds, “ Thank you. friend seagull, .for your splendid idea!” The visitor bowed gracefully, wished them all good-bye, and flew off to his beloved ocean. At once the birds began to try to grow big, but first they agreed to be fair and honest, and they all swore not to use any magic or black art. For, in those days, many elves and gnomes lived in the bush, and wielded great powers over all things, bcth good and evil. Well, every bird did its best to find the right food and to discover the right way to make itself bigger, and very soon the weka and the kiwi grew much longer legs and bigger bodies. This growth made the moa very envious, and, I am sorry to say, he quickly became so jealous and wicked that he broke his oath and sought the aid of that evil gnome, the taniwha. The taniwha can live in the water like a fish, or perch in the trees like a bird, or crawl on the ground like a serpent. When the moa went to look for the taniwha, he found him living in the shape of a hideous bat, hanging by his tail in a deep, dark cleft between two slime-covered rocks under a softflowing waterfall. “ Yes, v said the bat, “I shall help you. But first you must promise to make me a prince of the islands as soon as you become king!” “ Certainly and solemnly I promise!" said the moa, “ Now tell me, oh taniwha, what I must do to outgrow all my rivals?” “ Listen carefully: First, gather seven leaves of the rata when the moon is seven days old. Next take seven beakfuls of dead nikau which has grown in the shade of seven kowhai trees. Then steal seven baby kakas from seven nests and kill them all. Let their blood get dry in the hot sun for seven days. Next scrape the gum from seven stalks of seven flax plants grown on seven hills. Now put all these together and stir them seven times seven, and no more. Let the mixture set during seven dark nights. Then find a cave seven times as big as yourself, swallow the mixture in seven gulps and stay in. the cave seven days and seven nights. Th-en go to sleep and see what will happ n to you when you awake. And now go forth, and take care never to tell the secret to anyone.” And the bat disappeared in the darkness. At first the moa felt frightened, but he dearly wanted to be king, so he set about finding all the things he needed. So long was he in getting everything just right, and so long was he in finding the right cave, that he did not finish all he had to do until shortly before the next Christmas. But sure enough he went to sleep, as he was told, in the cave seven times his own size. Behold! When he awoke he exactly filled the cave! Seven times bigger in every way had he grown! He crawled out, the mightiest bird in the worldAll the birds fled before him. He strode forth. King Moa indeed. He killed all that came in his way. and merely laughed at the bat when reminded of the promise to make him a prince of the islands. He told the great secret to his wife, and she, too, grew as big as himself. She laid huge eggs from which came great chicks who quickly grew into towering moas. And so the moa family became the terror of the forests and the hills and the plains, for none could resist themAt last, in fear and trembling, the other birds sought., the aid of the terrible taniwha that lives in the trees. But the taniwha merely smiled a knowing smile and said, patience for seven moons! 'WallWait!” And they waited. At the seventh moon there came * this country the first of the Then more came, and more, till tne. spread over the land. The wekas an the kiwis and all the birds hid themselves in the trees and the thickets, for they knew that Man was tnei master, and that Man was ever hungry for bird-flesh. . The moas, too, tried to hide, I( * they had no protection from the spears. But how could they hi° ’ Their huge bodies towered above tr bushes and the rocks, so that soon the Maoris killed the father m that had grown so big in the cave, a ate him. Then they killed the motner moa, and soon they killed the son ’ the daughters, the grand-sons and grand-daughters. And before ' - long every moa that had once stalJ " j over the land, as king or queen, fou its fate in a Maori cooking-pot. Anow, not a moa is to be found a • where in the whole wide world, have only their bones and their left to show us what huge birds were. trV • And so, I advise you never to - to swell yourselves into im pc-rta *q never to break your wx>rd, and nev tell the secrets that are meant for J ears alone.