Myths+and+Legends+Activities

__Here is the story:__
One day, Tane Mahuta, the god of the forest, was walking through the forest. He looked up at his children reaching for the sky and he noticed that they were starting to sicken,as bugs were eating them. He talked to his brother, Tanehokahoka, who called all of his children, the birds of the air together. Tanemahuta spoke to them. "Something is eating my children, the trees. I need one of you to come down from the forest roof and live on the floor, so that my children can be saved, and your home can be saved. Who will come?" All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. Tanehokahoka turned to Tui. "E Tui, will you come down from the forest roof?" Tui looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Tui looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, dark earth and shuddered. "Kao, Tanehokahoka, for it is too dark and I am afraid of the dark." All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. Tanehokahoka turned to Pukeko. "Pukeko, will you come down from the forest roof?" Pukeko looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Pukeko looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, damp earth and shuddered. "Kao, Tanehokahoka, for it is too damp and I do not want to get my feet wet." All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. Tanehokahoka turned to Pipiwharauroa. "Pipiwharauroa, will you come down from the forest roof?" Pipiwharauroa looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Pipiwharauroa looked around and saw his family. "Kao, Tanehokahoka, for I am busy at the moment building my nest." All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. And great was the sadness in the heart of Tanehokahoka, for he knew, that if one of his children did not come down from the forest roof, not only would his brother loose his children, but the birds would have no home. Tanehokahoka turned to Kiwi. "E kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?" Kiwi looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Kiwi looked around and saw his family. Kiwi looked at the cold damp earth. Looking around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and said, "I will." Great was the joy in the hearts of Tanehokahoka and Tanemahuta, for this little bird was giving them hope. But Tanemahuta felt that he should warn kiwi of what would happen. "E kiwi, do you realise that if you do this, you will have to grow thick, strong legs so that you can rip apart the logs on the ground and you will loose your beautiful coloured feathers and wings so that you will never be able to return to the forest roof. You will never see the light on day again." All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. "E kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?" Kiwi took one last look at the sun filtering through the trees and said a silent goodbye. Kiwi took one last look at the other birds, their wings and their coloured feathers and said a silent goodbye. Looking around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and said, "I will."

__Here is the original ending:__
Then Tanehokahoka turned to the other birds and said, "E Tui, because you were too scared to come down from the forest roof, from now on you will wear the two white feathers at your throat as the mark of a coward. Pukeko, because you did not want to get your feet wet, you will live forever in the swamp. Pipiwharauroa, because you were too busy building your nest, from now on you will never build another nest again, but lay your eggs in other birds nests. But you kiwi, because of your great sacrifice, you will become the most well known and most loved bird of them all." The End

__Here is my changed ending:__
Tanehokahoka was filled with joy. He turned to Kiwi and said: " Kiwi, because of the sacrifice you made, those that are born in New Zealand will all be named after you. Because of the sacrifice you made, you will appear on New Zealand's $1 coin. Because of the sacrifice you made, the Chinese Gooseberry will now be named after you. Because of the sacrifice you made, you will now become the most loved and well-known bird in the whole of New Zealand."

The End

=//__Activity 12:__//=

===Become one of the characters in the story and describe your experiences during a certain event. Write in the FIRST PERSON (using ‘I’) and remember to use as many senses as possible in your description.===

Here is the story:
Maui had often heard his brothers talking about how there was not enough sunlight during the day. Night after night they would sit round the fire and discuss this problem. No matter how early they got up, still there weren't enough hours of sunlight for all their village duties and for hunting and fishing. So Maui thought about what he could do to solve their problem. Then he announced to his brothers that he had found a solution: 'I think I can tame the Sun.' 'Maui, don't be so ridiculous!' they replied. 'No one can tame the Sun. For a start, if you got anywhere near him you would be burnt to a cinder. There is no way of taming the Sun. He's far too big and powerful.' But Maui said, with great authority this time, 'Look, I can tame the Sun. Get all the women of the tribe to go and cut as much flax as possible - I want a really huge pile - then I will show you how to make a net that will be strong enough to capture the Sun. I will make sure that he won't go so quickly across the sky in future.' The brothers obeyed him and when they had collected mounds of flax Maui showed them how to plait it into strong ropes. He made long ropes and short ropes, and tied some of them together to make a net gigantic enough to catch and hold the Sun. After many hours of plaiting they finally had enough rope and nets to please Maui. Then he set off, equipped with his special axe, with his brothers and some men from the tribe and it took several days to reach the Sun's resting place in the East. After a short stop they started their preparations. They found the cave from which the Sun would be rising next morning and they quickly set to work covering the entrance with the net of plaited ropes. When they were sure they had done a really good job they camouflaged the ropes with leaves and branches. They also made themselves clay walls as a protection against the Sun's fierce heat, and smeared the clay all over their bodies. Then they hid. Maui crouched down on one side of the cave and the rest of the men were on the other side. It wasn't long before they saw the first glimmer of light from the cave. Then they felt the scorching heat. The men were shaking with fear as the light grew more and more blinding and the heat more and more stifling. They were sure that Maui's plan would not work. Suddenly they heard a sharp shout from Maui, 'Pull! Pull the ropes as hard as you can.' The net fell like a huge noose over the Sun. Although the men were terrified that the Sun would kill them all, they pulled and strained as hard as they possibly could so that the Sun could not escape. The Sun, who was raging at being held captive, struggled and roared. Maui knew he had to do something more than just hold the Sun in the net so he yelled to one of his brothers to take his end of the rope. He rushed out from the protection of his wall and, with his special axe raised high above his head, he ran towards the Sun. Even though the heat was singing his body and his hair, he started to attack the Sun with his axe. The Sun roared even louder. 'What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?' he screamed. 'No. I am not trying to kill you,' answered Maui, 'but you don't understand. You go too fast across the sky, and we are all unable to do our daily work. We need more hours of light in our days for hunting and fishing, for building and repairing our village houses.' 'Well,' said the Sun, 'you have given me such a battering that I don't think I could speed across the sky now, even if I wanted to.' 'If we release you,' said Maui, 'will you promise to slow your journey down?' 'You have so weakened me that now I can only go slowly,' answered the Sun. Maui made him solemnly promise to do what he had asked and then hereleased the ropes. Maui's brothers and the men of the tribe watched as the Sun, slowly and stiffly, began to lift into the sky. They all smiled at Maui - they were proud of him. To this day, the Sun travels on his long lonely path across the sky at a very slow pace, giving us many more hours of sunlight than he used to do.

Here is my story:
It's Maui here, and guess what? You might not believe it, but I slowed the sun. Long ago, in the Land of the Long White Cloud, now known as Aotearoa, the sun speeded across the sky. It was only a matter of hours before it would set. I heard everyone complaining about how they don't have enough time for hunting, fishing, etc. Everybody would discuss it around the campfire. Anxiousness built up inside of me until I couldn't take it anymore. One night, I burst out: "I am going to tame the sun!" Everyone laughed and jeered at me, but I didn't lose hope. I kept on saying positive things until they gave in. So, everyone prepared for the huge task ahead. It felt really good to be commanding everyone! After days of work, we finally came up with several tall piles of ropes, whether it was long or short. The ropes were of excellent quality, as I had taught them how to weave the ropes myself. So, we set off with the ropes and me with my axe. My heart was in high hopes. After a few days of hard walking with the sun beating hard on our backs, we finally reached the cave where the sun would rise up in the morning. It wasn't long before we saw a few shimmers of light. Soon later, we felt really intense heat. Soon, the light became blinding. My men were quaking with fear and muttering fearfully to each other. I could tell that they were starting to doubt my plan. I was starting to get nervous, but I didn't show it. I couldn't let my men see that their leader was scared. I just couldn't! All of a sudden, I realised that the sun had started to rise. "Pull! Pull the ropes!" I panicked. My men pushed away their fear and heaved on the ropes. The sun roared with anger. My men cowered, but did not loosen their grip on the ropes. I charged forward, and ignoing the intense heat, started to hack at the sun with my trustworthy axe. "I am not trying to kill you, but I will only let you go if you slow your journey across the sky," I shouted over the sun's roaring. "I don't think I would be able to speed across the sky after this beating you just gave me anyway!" the sun whimpered painfully. After I was sure that the sun would keep his promise, I instructed my men to loosen the ropes. My men shakily let go of the ropes and the sun limply rose up and drifted painfully across the sky. After my men had recovered from the shock, they all started congratulating me. I felt so good! They were all proud of me, and so was I.