Māui rāua ko Mahuika
I tētahi ahiahi pō i muri i tana kai, ka takoto a Māui i te taha o te ahi, ka mātiro atu ki tōna mura. Ka mātaki a ia i te ahi e pūrēhua ana, ka tau te whakaaro ki roto i a ia.
"Ahu mai ai tēnei mea te ahi i hea?"
Nā i runga i te whakaaro o Māui, nā tōna pākiki hoki, ka tau ki a ia māna tonu e rapu i tēnei whai whakaarotanga.
I waenganui pō, i te wā e moe ana ngā iwi, ka haere a Māui ki ia pā, ki te whakaweto i ngā ahi katoa, kāore he ahi o te ao. Ka hoki atu a ia ki tana kāinga ki te tatari.
I taua ata tonu ka puta ake te umere o tana pā.
"Mē pēhea e taea te tunu kai, kāore he ahi!" te tioro o tētahi wahine.
"Mē pēhea tātau e mahana ai i ngā pō?" Te kī a tētahi.
"Kāore tātau e ora ki te kore te ahi!" Te tangi a te iwi.
I te tino pukuriri te iwi. Ka pātaihia e rātau a Taranga, ko tō rātau rangatira, kia riro māna e whakatika i te raruraru nei.
"Mē haere tētahi o tātau ki te tiro i te atua kuia nei, i a Mahuika, ka pātai atu ki a ia mō te ahi," te kī a Taranga.
Kāore te iwi rā e pīrangi haere ki te tūtaki ki a Mahuika, kua rongo hoki rātau mō te maunga hū, te wāhi noho o te kuia nei. Ka tono atu a Māui kia haere ko ia ki te rapu i a Mahuika, ā, e harakoa ana i tutuki pai tāna mahi.
"Kia tūpato koe," te kī a Taranga. "Ahakoa he uri koe nā Mahuika kāore tonu tērā e aha ki te mahi hanariki atu koe ki a ia."
"Māku e rapu te kuia nei a Mahuika, ka whakahoki mai i te ahi ki te ao, "te kōrero a Māui ki tana māmā.
Ka toi atu a Māui ki ngā tōpito o te ao, ā, e whai ana i ngā tohutohu a tana māmā, ka kitea e ia te maunga nui rā, e muramura ana i te kaha o te wera. I te take o te maunga ka kite a Māui i tētahi tomokanga ki tētahi ana. I mua i tāna kuhunga atu, ka karakia a Māui ki a ia, hei ārai atu i ngā kino o roto i te ana rā. Heoi anō, ka tūmeke tonu a Māui ki te mea i kite a ia i roto i te maunga tapu o Mahuika.
Ka ara ake te tipuna kuia rā, e hirahira ana tōna tinana katoa i te ahi. Ko ōna makawe he pū ahi, e torotoro mai ana ōna ringa, ā, he puare kē te wāhi i reira ōna kanohi. Ka hongihongi a ia.
"Ko wai tēnei e tomo nei ki taku kāinga?"
Kātahi rā a Māui ka pakari ake ki te kōrero. "Ko au tēnei, ko Māui, te tama a Taranga."
"Ai!" te kī a Mahuika, "ko Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga?"
"Āna, te pōtiki, ko Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga ahau."
"Tika tāu, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, nau mai, haere mai, ki te pūtaketanga o te ahi, nau mai taku mokopuna."
Ka tū a Mahuika ki te taha tonu o Māui, ka hongihongi anō a ia. Torotika tonu te tū a Māui, ahakoa he wera ngā ahi a Mahuika.
"A... he aha te take o tēnei haerenga mai, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga?" te pātai a Mahuika.
Ka kī a Māui, "Kua weto katoa ngā ahi o te ao, i haere mai au ki te pātai i a koe mō tēnei mea te ahi."
Ka āta rongo atu a Mahuika ki a Māui, katahi ka kata atu ki a ia. Ka kumea mai e ia tētahi o ōna matikara, ka hoatungia atu ki a ia.
"Kawea atu tēnei ahi hei taonga mā tō iwi."
"Whakahōnoretia te ahi nei, ānō nei ko au."
Mutu kau ana, ka wehe mai a Māui i te whare, me tana kawe hoki i te matikara ahi a Mahuika.
I a ia e hīkoi ana ka whakaaro ake a ia, "Ki te pau ngā ahi a Mahuika, ka tīkina atu te ahi mai i hea?"
E kore hoki tōna pākiki e puritia, ka whakatakangia atu e ia te matikara rā ki roto i tētahi manga, ka hoki atu anō ki te ana o Mahuika.
"I hinga au, ka taka," te kī a Māui. "Tēna koa homaingia anō tētahi?"
I te pai katoa o Mahuika, kua roa kē a ia i roto i tana ana, kāore he tangata hei kōrero atu, ā, i te harakoa katoa a ia ki a Māui, i hoatu pai noa iho a ia i tana matikara ki a Māui.
Engari ka tineia anō e Māui tēnei matikara, ka hoki atu ki a Mahuika, me tētahi atu kōrero.
"I paratīngia au e tētahi ika, i au e whakawhiti ana i te awa," te kōrero a Māui.
Ka hoatungia atu anō e Mahuika tētahi o ana matikara, me tana kore e aro i te mahi hanariki a Māui.
Pau noa te rā, kua tata pau ngā matikara a Mahuika, mai i ana ringa ki ana waewae, kua tae tata atu ki te mutunga o ana matikara. Ka mahia e Māui tana mahi, ka hoki atu anō ki taua kuia rā, pukuriri ana te kuia rā ki a Māui. Kua tau te whakaaro ki a ia, i te mahi hanariki a Māui ki a ia. Ka whiua atu te matikara ki te whenua.
Ka karapotia a Māui e te ahi, ka whaia a ia e te ahi puta noa i te ana. Ka huri a Māui hei kāhu, ka rere atu ki te rangi. Nā te kaha o te ahi, ka tahuna a raro o ōna parihau, ka wherowhero mai ngā huruhuru.
Ka tirikohu atu a Māui ki te awa, i runga i te whakaaro ka tineia te ahi e te wai, he aha hoki, nā te kaha wera, ka tīmata te koropupū o te wai.
Ka kaha mōrearea a Māui, ka karanga atu a ia ki a Tāwhirimātea mō tana āwhina. "Tāwhirimātea atua o ngā hau e whā, āwhinatia mai!"
Kātahi ka pupū mai ngā kapua pōuri, ka taka mai te ua marangai, ki te tinei i ngā ahi rā. Kua kore kē mai te ahi o te maunga o Mahuika, kua pau kē tōna mauri.
Engari kāore tonu tērā i noho hai āraitanga i a ia. Ka tīkina atu e ia tana matikara whakamutunga, ka whiua ki a Māui, i runga i tōna pukuriri ki a ia. Kāore te matikara rā i ū ki a Māui, i rere tika kē ki ngā rākau, ka ū ki ngā rākau Māhoe, te Tōtara, te Patatē, te Pukatea me te Kaikōmako. Ka ngākau nui atu ngā rākau nei ki te ahi a Mahuika, ki a rātau hoki he taonga.
Te hokinga atu o Māui ki te pā, kāore i whakahokia atu te ahi. Ko tāna kē i whakahoki ko ngā rākau maroke o te kaikōmako, ka whakaatungia atu e ia mē pēhea te mirimiri i ngā rākau, kia puta ake ai he ahi. Ka harakoa katoa tana iwi, kua taea hoki e rātau te tunu kai, te whakamahana hoki i a rātau anō i ngā pō i te taha o ngā ahi nei.
Ka ngata katoa te pākikitanga a Māui ki te kimi i te pūtaketanga o te ahi, ahakoa tata tonu koia kē te utu. I tēnei rā, ka noho tonu ngā huruhuru whero o te Kāhu, kei raro o ana parihau, hei whakamaumaharatanga mō te tata matehanga o Māui. Koia nei te pūrākau mō Māui rāua ko Mahuika.