The Gift of Kū

retold here by Nalu
Adapted from "The Gift of Ku" from Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits by Caren Lobel-Fried

When Kū was about to arrive the skies were roaring with lightening and thunder. When he arrived no one expected him to be a God. Sure he was handsome and strong and could have been a god, but he was a mere kalo cropper and could not have been a god. Anyways, Kū would work while other men were on their break. They would always tease him because he would work so hard, while they were slacking.

His skin was a shiny brown, while his eyes sparkling as stars at night. One day while Kū was in the forest he met a woman and had an intimate evening. They became engaged one year later. After another year had come to past they had children and a great drought came upon their village. The crops started dying and water was drying up. The people soon had nothing left and started suffering. Kū could not stand this treachery.

Kū told his wife that he could help,but would need to go far away. She agreed and followed him to the forest. In the forest the ground started as to what it seemed to engulf Kū as he was sinking. When he was no longer visible, his wife went home to sleep and weep. The next morning she went to the forest and saw a tree with fruits on it.The tree started talking to her and told her that he was her husband. She saw fruit on the tree that looked like basketballs.He told her to burn the fruit, peel the skin, and eat the fruit. He also said to take the branches, cut the bark, and replant it in the ground into another Ulu tree. He described that the branches were his arms, the fruit was his head, the roots were his legs, and the stump was his body. This was the gift of Kū.