Tales of the Menehune and Other Legends of Hawai'i by Mary Kawena Pukui

Author:Mary Kawena Pukui
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kamehameha Schools Press

Told by Mary Kawena Pūku‘i

The Tree with Silvery Leaves

Long, long ago our islands came up from the sea and lay barren—mountains and plains and beaches. The sun god had not yet come from the ocean. Only moon and stars gave light. The tree god came and sat upon the sandy shore where a stream entered the sea. He took white sand, moistened with water from the stream, and made seeds of many kinds. When these were dry he planted them. Some he planted near the beach, some on the level plain, others in gulches or on black lava slopes.

Tiny trees sprang up with many-colored leaves. For a little time these trees grew, but the dim light of moon and stars was not enough. They sickened and withered away. The tree god searched on shore, plain, and mountain slope. “My trees are dead,” he said. “They need the sun.” But still he searched and in small gulches found growing trees. Lighted only by moon and stars these little trees had flourished, and their leaves were like moonlight seen through floating clouds or reflected on still water.

Kukui trees still grow in gulches and on mountain slopes. Lighted now by the sun their small new leaves are green. As the leaves grow they turn a silvery color so that a kukui grove looks as if lighted by the moon. The trees seem to remember it was the moon which gave light to their ancestors.

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