I hope that my American readers had a lovely Thanksgiving week. Did anyone get a chance to go and see Moana? I still haven't, but I've heard some really great things about it from my friends! I'm looking forward to checking it out (hopefully) over winter break.
Alright, on to this week's story!
Many Polynesian cultures have stories about Maui beating up the sun.
That is the tale we're going to examine today. It helps to
demonstrate that Maui is a compassionate demigod, even if the ways he
shows that compassion are a little...violent.
Long ago there was a time when the days were exceptionally short.
The sun moved quickly across the sky, and daylight fled before
daytime tasks could be completed.
This issue came to Maui's attention. His mother complained that
there was not enough time for her to dry her kapa (a type of fabric
made out of bark). Other mortal women in the villages raised the
same complaints. Upon hearing of their troubles, Maui determined to
make the sun move more slowly so that the women would have more time
to complete their tasks.
There are several variations on how he accomplished this task. In
some versions of the story, Maui creates a lasso of sorts out of a
female relative's hair. In others, it is his own hair that he uses
to catch the sun and drag it towards him.
With the sun ensnared, Maui proceeds to beat it into submission.
Several cultures say that he uses the magical jawbone of his
grandmother to accomplish this task – how's that for a mental
picture? (One version of the story I read even said that he starved
his grandmother to death and took her jawbone for his weapon – but
that was only one version of the story, so I'd take it with a grain
of salt. None of the others mention him murdering his ancestress.)
The weakened sun is completely intimidated, and more than willing to
give in to Maui's demands. Because of the demigod's actions, the sun
begins to travel more slowly across the sky. Days are longer, and
the women have the time they need to complete their chores.
What do you guys think? Maui was so nice and helpful for his mama!
(This picture had a bit more of a Greco-Roman feel to the armor, but I really love the concept and artwork.)
So the good news is that I have successfully completed NaNoWriMo! That means that I'm no longer trying to cram 50,000 words into this month. I'm still swamped with papers and finals for school, but I've got more time to devote to posts now. That's very good news, because today's post is the last I had pre-written!
I'll be back next week with another post about Maui! See you guys then.
I'll be back next week with another post about Maui! See you guys then.
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