GEOGRAPHICAL DISTEIBUTION OP MYTHS. 339 



tliemselves." Then tliey began to spin and twist ropes to 

 make a noose to catch the sun in, and thus the art of rope- 

 making was discovered. And Maui took his enchanted weapon, 

 which, like Samson's, was a jawbone, the jawbone of his an- 

 cestress Muri-ranga-whenua, and he and his brothers travelled 

 off through the desert, till they came very far, very far, to the 

 eastward, to the very edge of the place out of which the sun 

 rises. There they set the noose, and at last the sun came up 

 and put his head and fore-paws through it ; then the brothers 

 pulled the ropes tight and held him fa'st, and Maui rushed 

 at him with his magic weapon. Alas ! the sun screams aloud, 

 he roars ; Maui strikes him fiercely with many blows ; they 

 hold him for a long time, at last they let him go, and then, 

 weak from wounds, the sun crept slowly along its course.^ 

 Another version of the story was taken down in the Samoan 

 Islands. There was once a man who, like the white people, 

 though it was years before pipes, muskets, or priests were 

 heard of, never could be contented with what he had; pud- 

 ding was not good enough for him, and he worried his family 

 out of all heart with his new ways and ideas. At last he set 

 to build himself a house of great stones, to last for ever ; so he 

 rose early and toiled late, but the stones were so heavy and so 

 far off, and the sun went round so quickly, that he could get on 

 but very slowly. One evening he lay awake, and thought 

 and thought, and it struck him that as the sun had but one 

 road to come by, he might stop him and keep him till the 

 work was done. So he rose before the dawn, and pulling out 

 in his canoe as the sun rose, he threw a rope round his neck ; 

 but no, the sun marched on and went his course unchecked. 

 He put nets over the place where the sun rose, he used up all 

 his mats to stop him, but in vain ; the sun went on, and laughed 

 in hot winds at all his efforts. Meanwhile the house stood still, 

 and the builder faii'ly despaired. At last the great Itu, who 

 generally lies on his mats, and cares not at all for those he has 

 riiade, turned round and heard his cry, and, because he was a 

 good warrior, sent him help. He made the facehere creeper 

 grow, and again the poor man sprang up from the ground near 

 ^ Grey, ' Polynesian Mythology,' pp. 35-8. 



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