How Manu Found Love in the Valley

Adapted from "How Manu Found Love in the Valley" from Folktales of Hawaii by Mary Kawena Pukui.

Retold here by Kealii

INTRODUCTION:

If you like action, adventure, romance, mystery, and tragedy, you have to hear this legend. It is about a man named Manukula who was sent to live on an island called Mokuhooniki, a bird sanctuary off the coast of Halawa Valley on Molokai, because he loved birds. He was sent with spears to defend the island from evil birds that wanted to destroy it. But that’s not what the story is about. The story is about Manukula finding love in the valley.

One day, he traveled to Molokai and told the chief that he was lonely and needed a wife. The chief told him to wait, that he would know what to do when the time came. Then he had a dream which told him to go to the mainland and await further instructions. He padded to the mainland and walked through the valley. He comes to a waterfall, and a little bird sat on his on his shoulder. The bird told him to change into a bird, and then he would be allowed into bird haven. Manu didn’t know what to do.

What will happen to Manukula? Will he turn into a bird? If not, what will become of him? Will he find his true love?

This is a remake of the legend of the mother and father of the birds in Halawa Valley. To find out what happens, listen to this story of love, and chance.