Ahhh, what a glorious day its been. You have me to thank for that, but that's OK, I am happy to do my bit to make your lives just that little bit better. Its not Maui that usually has to do the thanking, but I was overjoyed to see that some of you really appreciated my short history lesson on why you are all so tall and can walk upright now without being weighed down by the sky. I was hoping for a little larger of a crowd, I had hoped that you would all be as enamoured with my people's history as a certain individual in Detroit was. Don't worry, I'll save your blushes, but Maui really appreciated the letter and gifts you sent.

Anyway, onto the next chapter of my life. How Maui wrestled the sun.

A few weeks passed, and I spent my time learning the ways of my people, how they fished, prepared food, made clothes and the like. My mother, Makeatutara, made kapa cloth from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. She would harvest the bark of the tree, before separating the inner bark from the outer. The outer would be discarded, and the inner bark, loututu, would be left to dry in the sun, before being soaked. Once sufficiently soaked, it would be removed and pounded on a tutua, until thin enough to be joined together with a glue made from the kumala or sweet potato. Once completed, the fetaʻaki is smoked then painted and becomes kapa cloth from which we make our traditional dress. It was while learning this skill that my mother told me the story of the sun and the moon. Wakea and Tonga-iti quarrelled concerning a child each claiming it as his own. The pulled and tugged until finally the child split in two. Wakea squeezed and rolled the part he secured into a ball and threw it away, far up into the heavens, where it became the sun. It was full of life and vigour and would race across the sky, shinning and lighting the day, chasing away the darkness. Tonga-iti in disgust cast his part aside, and left it there. Eventually he became envious of the ball that Wakea had created, and he retuned to his half of the child, repeating the trick. However, his half was pale and white as all the blood had drained out, it was much slower and was unable to chase away the darkness. Thus day and night and the sun, Tama-nui-te-rā, and moon, Hine-te-iwaiwa, always remain with the earth.

As I have said though, the Sun was fast and energetic, and raced across the skies. He also kept no standard path or time, choosing to rise early some days, barely lifting above the mountains, and rising late on others, before racing across the skies. I watched my mother toil, sometimes not having enough light to dry the loututu, and having to gather it in and keep it safe until the following day. The inconsiderate nature of Tama-nui-te-rā made the lives of man that much harder. Being the generous of spirit and pragmatic person that I am, and having already defeated the sky, I decided to do something about this. I spoke to my mother, and told her that I would wrestle the sun and make him obey my commands. She smiled and suggested I seek out my grandmother, Murirangawhenua. I went to my grandmother and told her of my pity and how I was determined to make the sun go slower that the days might be long enough to satisfy the needs of men. Impressed, she ripped of her jawbone and fashioned it into a patu so that I may subdue the sun. Next she taught me how to weave rope from hemp fibres and strengthened with the hair of Hine-te-iwaiwa, and in doing so I disacovered the technique of of plaiting flax into stout square-shaped ropes, tuamaka, and the manner of plaiting flat ropes,  paharahara, and of spinning round ropes. 

I thanked my grandmother and set out for Mt. Iao, an extinct volcano, in which lies one of the most beautiful and picturesque valleys of the Hawaiian Islands. I climbed the ridges until I could see the course of Tama-nui-te-rā as he passed over the island. I saw that the sun came up the eastern side of Mt. Haleakala. So I crossed over the plain between the two mountains and climbed to the top of Mt. Haleakala. There I watched the burning sun as it came up from Koolau and passed directly over the top of the mountain. The summit of Haleakala is a great extinct crater twenty miles in circumference, and nearly twenty-five hundred feet in depth. There are two tremendous gaps or chasms in the side of the crater wall, through which in days gone by the massive bowl poured forth its flowing lava. One of these was the Koolau, or eastern gap, in which I planned to catch the sun. So when Tama-nui-te-rā had gone to bed that night, I started to weave some great ropes from hemp, and strengthened with the hair of Hine-te-iwaiwa. As Tama-nui-te-rā rose from his bed the next morning and the first of his rays lit the sky, I lassoed them with my great ropes, one by one. Almost at the end Tama-nui-te-rā realised what was happening and tried to pull me back into the abyss where he slept, but I was too strong, and pulled him free, lassoing the final rays and holding him fast by tying the ropes to some nearby trees. 

I confronted Tama-nui-te-rā and told him of his carelessness, and how his speed and haste brought additional strife to the toils of man. Tama-nui-te-rā laughed, and cried out 'what do I care for the toils of man?' but to paraphrase the great Bard of Treforest, I felt the patu in my hand and he laughed no more. For days and days I beat Tama-nui-te-rā with my magical patu, demanding that he change his ways and slow his journey. Finally on the 5th day, as he was nearing death, he finally acquiesced, and me came to an accord. During the summer months, Tama-nui-te-rā would slow his journey, stretching the days to bring you fun, but in the winter he would be free to race across the sky as he had always done. He also agreed to keep his path more or less even through out the year, making it easier for people to know when and where he would be, its not like they had swiss watches to tell the time by. Satisfied, I released Tama-nui-te-rā, and returned to the village of my people, once again a hero. 

So that is the story of how I wrestled the sun and beat it into submission. Perhaps, if my tale has been well received, I will return in a few days to regale you further with my amazing exploits, and tell you how I stole the secret of fire for you all. and yes, no need to thank me, you're welcome. Someone may want to have a word with Phaethon and Icarus about how to go one on one with the sun and win. 

Not having nickel or dime ahead of anyone in any dog or cat fight which could be a problem when dealing with a Florida Gator crossed with Witch'erd'z genes. The young USS FB paid attention to a beautiful story. Couldn't bet he might as well reflect and take a second to listen to someone else's mind'n tonezz. TonadalToad of the SwampTinggunnaz nods to the whiff'oh 'ead as he nods to the song of a beautiful Siren in the streets. The 'gyft0n3rr wandered how long it'd take for him to con his way into 20largeOnezz. Beautiful words spoken rung true though.