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Te Ika a Maui (The Fish of Maui)
STACE .
Artist Danny Ngene Ngene
Oil on custom wood
measurements - 60cm x 60cm
Taken from the traditional legend of Maui fishing up the North Island of New Zealand, here is an abridged adaptation of the legend ...
THE GREAT FISH OF MAUI
One morning, while it was still dark, Maui's brothers rose silently from their sleeping mats and hurried down to the beach, thinking that Maui was asleep.
"It is well that we left Maui asleep," said one.
"It is indeed," said another. "But he can be a most useful fellow to have around.
"That may be so," said a third, "but we dare not have him with us when we go fishing, for he is a mischief-maker and may play tricks on us."
In the evening his brothers returned empty-handed and, thinking that they were unobserved, they dragged their canoe up the beach and hid it in thick bush. but Maui marked the place and, before dawn, he concealed himself under the seats where his brothers would not see him.
Soon afterwards they arrived, and, after the usual preparations, they put out to sea.
"It is a fine day for fishing, is it not? If you will bear with me, my brothers,? he said, "perhaps your luck may change."
The brothers were angry to find him aboard. "We are not far from land," said one, "let us turn round, and return him to shore."
They started to turn their canoe round, but while they were doing this, Maui muttered a powerful incantation, at once causing the land to become so distant that only the mountain ranges could be seen.
The brothers looked at each other in surprise. "We have come further than we realised," they said. "It is too far to go back now. what is to be done with him?"
"Why not take me with you?" said Maui. "You may need me to bail out the canoe."
They agreed reluctantly, and began to paddle further out to sea, until they reached an ancient fishing place.
On and on they paddled on, until their arms and shoulders ached, and it seemed they could go no further. But Maui kept urging them on.
"We are almost there, my brothers. The mountains are barely visible now. The moment they disappear, we shall know that we have arrived."
Thus Maui and his brothers reached at last the most ancient of fishing places, and there the anchor was dropped Then the brothers let down their lines, and before they had touched the bottom there was a fish on every hook. Again they let down their lines, and, after they pulled them up, the canoe was full of fish.
Excited by their wonderful catch, the brothers said to Maui, "Let us return to land."
But Maui said, "Not yet, I have some fishing to do." His brothers laughed and said, "What can a fellow like you catch? Why, you haven't even a hook!"
"What is this then?" he replied, and laughed at the astonished looks on their faces, when they saw the hook that he had taken from under his cloak.
It was decorated with paua shell and a tuft of dog's hair, and as he turned it in his hand it flashed in the sunlight. It was so fine a hook that each brother longed to own it. What they did not know was that a chip of their grandmother's jawbone, attached to the barb, gave it magical powers.
"True, that is a hook," they said. "But what use is it without bait?"
"I had hoped," said Maui quietly, "that you would give me some."
"What! Give you bait?" said the brothers. "That we shall never do."
"So be it," said Maui. He clenched his fist and struck himself on the nose and as the blood ran down, he smeared his fish-hook with it, and then let it down into the water, where it became hooked in the doorway of a meeting-house.
Then Maui braced his feet and began to pull on the line. Sweat poured from his body, as he slowly hauled up the great fish. The gable broke the surface, then the sea for miles around was disturbed, as the enormous body of the fish came into view.
Then Maui's brothers threw up their hands and began to wail. "Oh, Maui, you are to blame for our misfortunes. You brought us here, far from the land, against our wishes. Now a god rises from the depths of the sea, angry at being disturbed. He will devour us, and not even our bones will survive his anger."
But Maui did not hear them He was chanting an incantation which caused the fish to become placid and the waves to subside. Then he continued hauling on the line, until the fish lay still on the surface, with the canoe raised high and dry on its back. Maui had fished up the North Island of New Zealand, traditionally known for this reason as Te Ika a Maui (The Fish of Maui). If you look at a map you will see that its shape resembles that of a fish.
Hand Painted in the North Island of New Zealand
All prices are exclusive of postage and packaging
COMMISSIONS ALSO TAKEN
Price is dependent on work involved per piece and will be discussed on application.
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| The Fish of Maui |
$2,500.00 |
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