Long, long before this boat, Maui was the youngest brother, and his brothers never let him come fishing. So one night he hid in the bottom of their canoe. When they were far out at sea, he popped up! Too far to turn back now.

Maui took out a magic fishhook made from his grandmother's jawbone. He dipped it deep, deep, deep — and something ENORMOUS pulled back. He pulled and chanted, and up from the bottom of the sea came... land! A whole island, huge as a fish, dripping with seaweed.

Some say the islands of the Pacific are all fish that Maui pulled up from the deep. When you stand on an island, you are standing on Maui's catch.

In the old days, the Sun raced across the sky as fast as he pleased. Days were so short that people could not fish, could not plant, could not dry their clothes. Nights came before anyone was ready.

Maui said: ENOUGH. He and his brothers wove strong ropes from flax. They traveled east to the pit where the Sun sleeps, and they laid their ropes like a net around it. When the Sun rose up, roaring — they PULLED. The ropes held! Maui struck with his magic jawbone and would not let go until the Sun promised: I will walk slowly across the sky.

And that is why days are long enough to fish, to plant, to play, and to watch the sunset.

Once, all the cooking fires in the world went out. The only fire left belonged to Mahuika, the fire goddess, who kept flames burning in her fingernails.

Maui volunteered to go get fire — but really, he was curious. Mahuika kindly gave him one burning fingernail. Maui walked away... and dropped it in a stream! He came back: 'I lost it. May I have another?' Again and again, until Mahuika had one nail left and knew she'd been tricked. FURIOUS, she threw her last fire after him, and the whole world began to burn!

Maui called the rain to save him. And Mahuika threw her last sparks into the trees to keep them safe. That is why, when people rub two sticks together, fire comes OUT of the wood. The fire has been hiding in the trees ever since.

Maui had done almost everything. Slowed the sun. Fished up islands. Stolen fire. But people still grew old, and that seemed to Maui like the one thing left to fix.

He wanted to defeat death itself so that no one would ever have to say goodbye. The old stories say he went to face the great goddess of the night, Hine-nui-te-pō, to try to win endless life for everyone.

He did not win. Even Maui, the greatest trickster, could not trick death. But people have told his stories for a thousand years and more — tonight, on this couch, we are telling them again. Maybe that was the way he got to live forever after all.