But it seemed as if the gods were angry with Te Turi; for, when he would have hidden in the forest, lo, in a moment there grew up a tall hedge of thorns and supple-jacks, through which neither man nor beast could pierce. So then Te Turi gave himself up for lost.

And, as he sped round and round the glade, the roaring of the evil Thing shaped to a voice which cried after him: 'Malign now thy gods, Te Turi, and I will cease from pursuing thee, and will make thee great; but if thou worship not me thou shalt perish.'

Then Te Turi knew that the Thing was indeed a taipo; but he would not revile the gods, but only called more loudly upon ATUA for aid.

And, as he called, his foot caught in a root and he fell headlong, and the spear-bill of the Thing sped at him, coming so near that it grazed his skin, and the blood flowed. And the point of the bill drave into the ground for the half of its length, and there stuck fast.

Now when Te Turi saw this, he flung himself upon the long neck of the Thing and strove to snap the bone, but his hands were not large enough to encircle it, and meanwhile the Thing had freed half of the buried part of its bill, and the earth flew this way and that, as it scratched and tore and twisted, striving to loosen itself and finish Te Turi.

Then Te Turi went blind with rage, forgetting his danger, and, just as the Thing won free, he rushed upon it once more and smote it so mighty a blow that its head was crushed like the shell of an egg, and the Thing fell to the ground with a dreadful crash, and sprawled there in the agonies of death.

Then did Te Turi swell out his chest and roll up his eyes and poke out his tongue at the Thing, and because he was very glad, he chanted: 'Behold, I have slain the evil Thing which sought to devour me. Ha! With one blow of my naked fist I have slain it, for the gods have made me very strong.' And he looked at the fist which had done this wonderful deed.

But lo, a marvel! For the greenstone club, which had dropped from his hand, was now firmly clasped therein, and with the mere of TUMATAUENGA, and not with his naked fist, had he slain the Thing.

Now when Te Turi knew that TUMATAUENGA, seeing his extremity, had brought the mere to his hand, he left off boasting, and chanted: 'Lo now the kindness of ATUA! Behold the goodness of TUMATAUENGA! When I forget the debt I owe to TUMATAUENGA, then may ATUA forget me!'

So he gave thanks for his great deliverance, and took the skin and the tail-feathers of the dead Thing to make mats for a memory of the marvel, and with a glad heart set off to rejoin his friends and the three men.