Page:Fairytales•Tregear•1891.pdf/127



A chief named Hema was crossing a lake in a canoe with his wife, when around him rose from the dark waters hundreds of mysterious and dreadful water-spirits called Pona. These Pona fairies were a malicious and evil race, which dwelt beneath the waters during the day, and at night withdrew from the waves and slept in a great dwelling or temple which they possessed on land. They slew Hema, and hung up his dried bones in their meeting-house as a mark of scorn, Hema’s wife Uru being carried into captivity. A long time she remained a slave, kept in the temple as its doorkeeper and attendant.

Hema had left two sons behind him in his home ere he set out on his fatal journey. The names of these two sons were Tawha and Kari. These two young men longed to avenge their father’s death, and to ascertain if their mother was still alive. They resolved to set out on an expedition to the land inhabited at night by the Pona fairies, and to rescue their mother from captivity, as well as to remove their father’s bones from their insulted position. They departed on their quest, and reached the temple,