How Maui brought fire to the world (a Maori tale)
Maui was a demigod and was believed to have some super natural abilities. He was also curious and a clever person.
One day when he was lying on the ground after supper, warming his body from a fire pit, he wondered “Where does this fire comes from?”.
To test it himself he destroyed all the fire in his camp and other villages around his area with water.
Next morning the villagers were confused. They did not have fire to cook and keep themselves warm.
Realising it was Maui that destroyed the fire, they asked him to go to the great Goddess of Fire- Mahuika that lived under a volcano and bring a flame back to the village.
Maui was glad to go to the Goddess and bring the fire since he could then find out the source of the fire.
Before Maui left to meet Mahuika, an old villager warned him. “Mahuika is a good-hearted Goddess, but if you trick her, she can be very angry too”
Maui set out to meet Mahuika.
As he reached the burning volcano his entire body began to feel the heat of the fire.
Soon, he found a small cave under the mountain and managed to get into it.
As he walked inside the cave, a thundering voice asked him “Who are you why have you come here?” It was Goddess Mahuika.
Maui gathered courage and explained: “All the fires in the world have been wiped out. Humans are unable to cook and keep warm. Kindly help us”
Goddess Mahuika listened carefully and said “take my finger nail that is a flame and respect it as you have respected me”. She handed over the flame to Maui
Maui bowed down with respect and walked out of the cave. On the way he dropped the flame in a stream and returned to the cave.
He came back to Mahuika and said “I tripped down and fell”. She gave another flame from her finger nail. He again dropped it in the stream and said “wind blew the flame off”.
Maui came back several times with excuses and took all the flames from the Goddess’s finger nails and toes.
When he came back again, Mahuika realised she had been tricked and furiously chased Maui.
Maui ran for his life and with his powers changed himself to a hawk and flew up in the sky.
The furious Mahuika plucked the last flame from the toe nail and threw it on the hawk. But it missed the hawk and fell on five trees- the Mahoe , the Tōtara, the Patete, the Pukatea, and the Kaikōmako trees. These trees happily held onto the fire of Mahuika, considering it a great gift from the Goddess herself.

When Māui returned to his village he didn't bring back fire as the villagers had expected. Instead he brought back dry wood from the Kaikōmako tree and showed them how to rub the dry sticks together forming friction which would eventually start a fire.
The villagers were very happy to be able to cook their food once more and to have the warmth of their fires at night to comfort them.