EDUCATION | MOON MYTHS

One bright, moonlight night Rona was sent to fetch some water from a stream; in her hand was a basket, which contained a gourd. On her way to the water, the moon suddenly disappeared behind a cloud, and the road was so bad that she kicked her foot against some of the shrubs. This made her angry, and in her rage she cursed the moon, saying, "Wicked moon, not to come forth and shine." This conduct of Rona's displeased the moon very much, and at once he came down and seized her. Rona, in her turn, seized a tree which grew near the margin of the stream, but the moon tore up the tree by the roots, and flying away carried off Rona and her calabash, together with the tree. Rona's friends, expecting her to come back, went in quest of her. After searching for some time, they called out, "Rona, Rona, where are you?"​And back came this cry to them, "Here am I, up in the moon with the stars."
[Te Ao Hou]

Then Tagaloa, the creator said to Tagaloa-savali, `the messenger', "Come here; be thou ambassador in all the heavens, beginning from the Eighth Heavens down to the First Heavens, to tell them all to gather together in the Ninth Heavens, where Tagaloa, the immoveable, is chief." Then proclamation was made that they should go up to the Ninth Heavens, and Chen visit below the children of Night and Day in the first Heavens.

Then Tagaloa, the messenger, went down to Night and Day in the first Heavens, and asked them, "Have you two any children appointed to you?" And they answered, "Come here; these two are our children, appointed to us, Lagi-uli (black sky) and Lagi-ma (clear sky)." All the stars also were their offspring, but we do not have the names of all the stars (the stars had each its own name), for they are forgotten now, because they dropped out of use. And surely the last injunction of Tagaloa, the creator, to Nigbt and Day was that they should produce the Eye-of-the-Sky. That was the reason Tagaloa, the messenger, went down to ask Night and Day in the first Heavens (if they had any children).

Then answered Night and Day, "Come now; there remain four boys that are not yet appointed, Manu'a, Samoa, the Sun, and the Moon." These are the boys that originated the names of Samoa and Manu'a; these two were the children of Night and Day. The name of the one is Sa-tia-i-le-moa, 'obstructed by the chest'; the meaning of which is this: the boy seemed as if he would not be born, because he was caught by the chest; therefore it was he was called Sa-tia-i-le-moa; that is, Samoa; the other was born with one side abraded ('manu'a' ); then said Day to Night "Why is this child so greatly wounded?" therefore the child was called `Manu'a-tele'.

Then said Tagaloa, the messenger, "lt is good; come now; go up into the Ninth Heavens, you four; all are about to gather together there to form a Council; go up you two also." Then they all gathered together in the Ninth Heavens; the ground where they held the Council was Malae-a-Toto'a, the council ground of Tranquility. Then various decrees were made in the Ninth Neavens; the children of Ilu and Mamao were appointed all of them to be builder and to come down ,from the Eighth Heavens to this (earth) below; perhaps they were ten thousand in all that were appointed to be builders; they had one name all were (called) Tagaloa. Then they built houses for the Tagaloa; but the builders did not reach to the Ninth Heavens - the home of Tagaloa-le-fuli - which was called the 'Bright House' (fale-ula).

Then said Tagaloa, the creator, to Night and Day: "Let those two boys go down below to be chiefs over the offsprings of Fatu and 'Ele-'ele." But to the end of the names of the two boys was attached the name of Tagaloa-le-fuli who is king ('tupu') of the Ninth Heavens; hence the Samoan kings ('tupu') were named 'Tui of Manu'a-tele ma Samoa atoa' (King of Manu'a and whole of Samoa).

Then Tagaloa, the creator, said to Night and Day:- Let those two boys, the Sun and the Moon, go and follow you two; when day comes; let the Sun follow; also when Night comes, the Moon too comes on. These two are the shades of Tagaloa; they are well known in all the world; the Moon is the shade of Tagaloa; but thus runs the decree of Tagaloa, the creator. "Let there be one portion of the heavens, in which they pass along, in like manner also shall the Stars pass along."

The goddess Hina, who could cast a rainbow or thunderclap at will, left the heavens and took on a human husband because she had such great love for Hawaii. She had many children and spent many happy years on Earth. Much later, however, Hina and her husband grew apart. He became angry and violent with her. Even her children did nothing in her defense. One day, Hina decided she had had enough and could no longer remain on Earth with her horrible family. So, she packed a bag of provisions, for the Sun would be hot, and cast a rainbow. Her husband, sensing something was amiss, awoke, and chased after her, quickly catching up. Hina had cast her rainbow at the first object she saw in the night sky; it was the setting Moon on the western horizon. She struggled to step up onto the rainbow, but pushed herself, knowing that her husband would catch her in a moment. The gods, seeing her distress, moved the moon closer to her. She realized that she was receiving assistance from above and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that now her husband could not catch her. He could not climb the rainbow, but just when she thought she was safe, she lost her footing, fell, and began sliding back down the rainbow. Her husband caught her foot and began pulling on her.

Hina, in a desperate attempt to escape, cast a thunder clap which was so long and loud that her husband had no choice but to let her go so he could cover his ears. Once free of his grasp, Hina regained her footing and eventually made it to the Moon safely. Once there, she began to forget about her dreadful Earth family in her new, happy home. From time to time, she still sends thunder and lightning down to the Earth.