The Legend of Hatupatu and his Brothers

When Tamatekapua went with his followers to Moehau, the hill near Cape Colville, and Īhenga and his followers went to Rotorua, then Hānui, Hāroa, and Hatupatu went also to Whakamaru, to Māroa, to Tuata, to Tutukau, to Tuaropaki, to Hauhungaroa, to Hurakia, and to Horohoro, the districts which lie between Lakes Taupō and Rotorua, and between Rotorua and the head of the Waikato River, to snare birds for themselves, and followed their sport for many a day, until they had hunted for several months. But their little brother Hatupatu was all this time thinking to himself that they never gave him any of the rare dainties or nice things that they got, so that they might all feast together, but at each meal he received nothing but the lean tough birds; so when the poor little fellow went and sat down by the side of the fire to his food, he every day used to keep on crying and eating, crying and eating, during his meals. At last, saucy, mischievous thoughts rose up in his young heart. So one day, whilst his brothers were out snaring birds, and he, on this as on every other day, was left at their resting place to take care of the things, the little rogue crept into the storehouse, where the birds, preserved in their own fat, were kept in calabashes, and he stole some, and set resolutely to work to eat them, with some tender fern root, nicely beaten and dressed, for a relish; so that to look at him you could not help thinking of the proverb, "Bravo, that throat of yours can swallow anything."

He finished all the calabashes of preserved birds, and then attacked those that were kept in casks, and when he had quite filled himself he crept out of the storehouse again, and there he went trampling over the pathway that led to their resting place, running about this side, and that side, and all around it, that his brothers might be induced to think that a war party had come, and had eaten up the food in their absence. Then he came back, and ran a spear into himself in two or three places, where he could not do himself much harm, and gave himself a good bruise or two upon his head, and laid down on the ground near their hut.