MAUI’S FISH
A bite! a bite!
Lift it! Pull! Pull!
Oh, the weight!
Hold, hook of noble extraction! Hold, trustworthy well-twisted line!
Tug! Pull, pull!
“A rock! ’Tis a rock thou hast cleverly caught,” cry the Brothers—
No! for in comes the line....in....in....
“’Tis a whale. This great Maui! so mighty, no lesser fish suits him.
The water is troubled; I said if he came, so would grief.”
And truly the water was troubled, a wave struck the side,
The sun sank, it grew chilly and dark.
“The old ground was good. We were fools to have ventured beyond it—
Give up, Maui! Let us go home.”
His back is bent, his muscles are tauten’d,
Sweat pours in the Sea....Pull! Pull!
“A [1]taniwha, surely! some terrible monster has caught us!
Give over!” He would not. Pull! Pull!
Then, “Over with him!”—urges one, but the rest were afraid.
“Cut his line!” But they could not: it held.
And now the waves bubble and gurgle indeed!
A storm he is raising, this fish!
Splash! Now the water foams into the boat—Now
the Brothers must bale her,
Maui the Fisher would fish.
- ↑ Taniwha (Táh-nee-whah): A sea-monster.
51
