Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/401

Rh Kika (Sir Octopus), and Riiki the Eel, and a multitude of others. And the youngest child was Na Arean the Younger, namesake of Na Arean the Moa-ni-bai. And Na Arean the Younger was also called Te Kikinto (The Mischief-maker), for he made mischief among men.

So when these works were done, Na Arean the Moa-ni-bai said in his heart, "It is enough, I go, never to return." So he spoke to Na Atību, saying, "Na Atību, here is thy dwelling-place; thy task is to make a world of men; and as for me, I go, never to return. Finish my work."

And Na Atību called his son Na Arean the Younger; he told him the words of Na Arean the Moa-ni-bai. Na Arean answered, "Sir, what shall be done in this matter?" His father said, "Do that thou wilt do."

Na Arean the Younger began his work; he looked upon the multitude of the children of Sand and Water. They lay, moving not, in their birthplaces. It was as if they were dead. He called aloud to them, "Sirs, what think ye?" Only his voice came back again, "Sirs, what think ye?" So he said in his heart, "These be mad folk," and he named them Bāba ma Bōno (Fools and Deaf-mutes). Then he stretched out his hand over the multitude. He stroked their bodies, they stirred; he bent their legs, they were supple; he loosed their tongues, they spoke; he touched their eyes, they saw; he opened their ears, they heard; he called them by name, they answered; and he said, "They are no longer fools, nor deaf, nor dumb; they are all in their right minds."

He went back to his father Na-Atību and said, "Sir, they are all in their right minds. What shall be done in this thing?" Na Atību answered, "Do that thou wilt do."

So Na Arean said to the children of Sand and Water, "Arise." They would have arisen, but behold, the heavens were not yet on high; their foreheads smote the heavens,