Kumaku was a little girl who was very clever, but sometimes misbehaved. One day, her mother was busy preparing dinner. Kumaku's mother had been too busy to make salt so she needed salty water from the sea. She asked Kumaku to help her by gathering seawater in a shell.
As Kumaku left the house, her mother warned her to stay away from spiderwebs. Kumaku just giggled. She knew there were giants on the island who liked to eat humans. The giants strung spiderwebs across paths to capture people. But Kumaku wasn't scared. She thought she knew better than her mother. So when she saw a path with spiderwebs, she ran down it. She even sang a song to the giants:
I am collecting water from the sea
Where are you, giants?
Come and help me!
Hearing her words, two giants jumped out of the bushes. They grabbed Kumaku and carried her to the water. She filled her shell with water and smiled at the giants. As they reached out to grab her again, she sang a magic song:
Come, winds from Fiji,
Blow the black sand of the sea,
Into the giants' eyes
So they cannot see.
Come, winds from Tonga,
Blow the white sea sand,
Sting their eyes
While I run to the land.
With those magic words, a strong wind blew in from the sea. The wind blew black and white sand into the giants' eyes. Blinded by the sand, the helpless giants tried to find Kumaku, but she easily escaped them and ran up the path. She delivered the water to her mother. But of course Kumaku didn't tell her mother what had happened!
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