MAORI • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Maori

... very common. The North American Indians believe that the moon is inhabited by a man and a dog. The Maoris believe in the man, but not in the dog, which is not surprising when we remember the limited fauna of the antipodes. The Maori legend runs something like this. A man called Rona went out one night to fetch water from a well, but, falling, sprained his ankle so as to be unable to return home. All at once the moon, which had risen, began to approach him. In terror he clung to a tree, which gave way, and both tree and Rona ...

— Storyology - Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore • Benjamin Taylor