Hatupatu

HATUPATU was the youngest of three brothers. Though he was but a lad, his brothers were men. They were cruel to him. They beat him and starved him and gave him all the hardest work to do.

Once, when out hunting, they snared a great number of tuis and wild pigeons. Hatupatu was ordered to cook some of them for supper and to pot the remainder for winter use. None were given to him he went hungry to bed. Next day the elder brothers again went hunting, leaving Hatupatu at the camp to finish potting the birds.

Hatupatu looked at the food with famished eyes. "I will have a feast," he said, whatever the result may be."

He brought out the cooked and potted birds, sat down, and fed till he had thoroughly satisfied his ravenous hunger. When he could eat no more he set to work to make the camp look as if an enemy had broken into it and stolen the food. He knew he need expect no mercy from his brothers if they suspected him. He threw the cooking pots about, knocked several things over, cut himself a little and smeared the blood over his hands and face and chest, then lay down and slept.

When the brothers returned they found the camp in confusion, the food gone, and Hatupatu apparently wounded. Some enemy has been here," they cried.

They ran out to look for the enemy. No signs in the bush around, no strange footmarks, pro- claimed the visit of strangers. Puzzled, they returned. The eldest brother bent to look at Hatupatu's wounds, and at once discovered the trick. He shook the boy, pulled him from the mat on which he lay, and pushed him towards the spring. « Wash !" he said.

Hatupatu tremblingly obeyed. As the blood came off, and the brothers saw how they had been deceived, they flew into a fury."You are the enemy ! they cried. They beat him so cruelly that his screams rang through the forest.

His old grandmother heard him from her whare at the edge of the bush. She hurried to the spot to see what was the matter."Leave him alone ! she called to the brothers.

They obeyed her because they feared her magic power. They left the boy and slunk away to their camp.

Why did they beat you "the grandmother asked.

Hatupatu told her about the feast and the trick. For the first time she learned how cruelly his brothers treated him.“You must run away from them," she said.

"Where could I be safe from them ? " he asked hopelessly. They would find me and punish me more cruelly than ever."

"I will give you a magic gift," she said. "You shall have the power to enter earth or water without harm coming to you. Thus you shall escape from your brothers."

She gave him the power, and returned to her home.

Hatupatu ran into the bush. He ran, and walked, and ran on again, till many miles lay between him and his brothers. When darkness fell he crept into a heap of dry fern and slept cosily. Next day he journeyed still further from his brothers, till at last he felt sure he was safe. He was happy at last. He lived by himself in the bush, with no one to beat him and revile him. Everything he caught was his own, so he was well fed. Though alone, he was free, and well content.

One day, while spearing birds with a long sharp-pointed stick, another spear, crossing his, pierced the tree from the other side. He stepped round the trunk to see who was there, and found himself confronting a Mist-woman.

He drew back in fear. He would have fled, but her power held him. Tall as the tree, white and mysterious, she looked down at the lad with thoughtful eyes.

It is a new bird," she said. She gathered him up in one hand. "I will take it home."

Hatupatu struggled, but she held him fast. "I am no bird I am a boy ! he cried. She thought he was but chirping as other birds chirped. She carried him to her home.

It was a huge room, full of birds. Birds of all kinds were here, kept as pets, from bush and river, from sea and lake. They were happy enough, for the Mist-woman loved them and kept them well fed. But Hatupatu, who was not a bird, wept at the thought of his lost freedom. It was lost indeed. For years the Mist-woman held him prisoner, carefully fastening the door on the outside every morning when she left the house, shutting it with magic words each night when'she returned. She fed him well, and petted him but she would not set him free.

At last he learned the magic words that un- fastened the door. Now he only waited for a chance to escape. He made his plan.

Each morning the Mist-woman asked, "Where shall I look for your food to-day ?

"Over the farthest ridge of hills are the finest pigeons,"Hatupatu replied this day.

"I will journey there," she said.

As soon as she was gone Hatupatu opened the door and stepped out, fastening it securely behind him. Gathering twigs, he stopped up any holes through which a bird might squeeze, for fear one should fly out and warn the Mist- woman. Then he set off, running fast for freedom.

But he had missed a tiny hole in the house. The smallest bird found it, squeezed itself through, and flew out to warn its mistress of Hatupatu's escape. Back over the hills came the Mist- woman, following fast in Hatupatu's track. She soon overtook him, for with every few steps she covered miles. As she reached for him, however, he remembered his grandmother's gift. Hastily muttering the magic words, he saw the ground open before him. He stepped down. The earth closed again over his head, leaving the Mist-woman gazing in bewilderment.

He waited below the ground till he thought she must have gone, then he came up again. But she was still there, watching for him. He had to run to escape her. As she overtook him he entered the earth again. So the chase went on for hours, until at last she turned home in weariness. He never saw her again.

In his flight he had unconsciously drawn near his old home. When he noticed this he had a desire to return to it. Now that I am a man my brothers cannot ill-treat me as they did years ago,"he thought.

He went home, but his brothers showed no pleas- ure at his return. He was too big to be beaten or starved, but they took a delight in quarrelling with him and fighting him at every opportunity. He was soon most unhappy.

A neighbour said: Our tribe has many enemies. Surely three brothers should fight them rather than one another."

The elder brothers were pleased with the idea, for they loved to fight. They gathered together the warriors of the tribe and led them across the lake and over the hills to fight a troublesome tribe who had often harassed them.

Hatupatu begged for warriors and a place in the canoes, but his brothers refused to listen to him. They set off without him, and he returned home disconsolate.

He longed to win a battle for his people, to do something that would give him a place in their esteem and his brothers'respect.

"I will go to the fight," he said. "If I cannot have men I can at least pretend to have them." He had a plan in his mind. He borrowed thirty cloaks like those the warriors wore, together with several gayer ones such as commanders wore. Rolling the cloaks into a bundle, he took them on his back and set out.

Coming to the lake, he repeated the magic words, stepped into the water, and walked across on the lake-floor, eating mussels as he grew hungry on the way.

Over the hills, on a little plain beside the bush, he found his brothers encamped with their armies. Walking softly, he crept into the edge of the bush and unrolled the bundle of cloaks. Tying the bushes into the shape of men, he dressed them in the warrior's cloaks, keeping the richer ones for himself. In a short time he had the thing so well done that at a little distance his bushes looked like men.

The enemy came in sight. They showed no fear of the armies on the plain, but Hatupatu soon had them secretly terrified of his army. As they approached he strode out from the bushes, gave orders in a loud voice, disappeared, changed his cloak, came out and gave orders in a changed voice. He kept this up for a long time, till he had worn all the gay cloaks. The enemy thought there were many commanders here, and that therefore there must be a great army hidden behind the trees.

The battle began. Hatupatu could not go into the open to fight, but he shouted orders and made a great noise, keeping the fear of his army in the minds of the enemy.

The elder brothers were losing the battle. Their men were no match for the enemy. At length they were driven back to the edge of the bush, almost exhausted.

On came the enemy. They were now facing Hatupatu's army of bushes. They halted. They could see only thirty men, as they thought; but Hatupatu still shouted orders in different voices behind the trees. How many armies were hidden there?

At last, with a shout, their leader rushed for- ward. Hatupatu ran to meet him, and with one axe-blow struck him to the ground. At the sight of their leader fallen, the terrified enemy turned and fled across the plain, their ears ringing with the fancied shouts of thousands of hidden warriors.

Seeing them run, the elder brothers with their armies turned on them and drove them far across the hills.

When they returned the warriors made speeches praising Hatupatu's cleverness and courage. "He shall be our leader," they said. We will follow none but him." Across the lake the best place in the largest canoe was kept for him.

When they reached their own country the warriors spread his fame far and wide. He became the greatest and most powerful man in the land.

His brothers dared not ill-treat him now, nor even quarrel with him. He was so kind-hearted that he never punished them for their unkind. ness to him in his youthful days, but lived in peace with them, happy in the position he had won.