We have decided to present in Te Ao Hou some bed-time stories for children on a genuine Maori theme. The Adventures of Tu and the Taniwha will be described in a series of five articles intended to amuse the young of all ages. TU AND THE TANIWHA by KATE SHAW Tu Tuatara lived on an island. He had no brothers and sisters, so nearly every day he had to play alone. His mother and father just loved to lie and sleep in the sun and so did Tu, but he was young and he didn't like to sleep all the time. He loved to climb rocks and slither down banks and he was always thinking of adventure. His mother was always telling him “Tu, you must not go past the last rock by the pohutukawa tree at the end of the beach,” but sometimes he would forget and would slip round the other side of the rock before he knew what he was doing. Then he would remember and go back but he would wish he hadn't promised his mother. He felt he would never find adventure unless he could go a long, long way past the rock and the pohutukawa tree. He felt himself growing stronger and stronger and one day he just wished he could go out and wrestle with someone. But there was nobody there and that made him sad. He was sitting in the grass at the top of the beach wishing he had a playmate when he heard a voice say “Hullo! Can you wrestle?” “Oh yea,” he yelled, and he was very excited. “Yes I can wrestle. I'm sure I can wrestle; only there's nobody here to wrestle with. Where are you? I can't see anybody. Who are you?” “I'm in the grass, two manuka sticks away from you and my name is Timi Tuna.” “Yes, I can see you now. Hullo. How did you