The Breadfruit Tree
The god Kuu, who was of a polygamous nature, once came to Hawai'i and married a Hawaiian woman, with whom he lived many years and raised a large family. He did not tell the woman that he was a god; he worked on the land like nobody else.
A time came when food was scarce and no one could get enough to eat. Kuu's wife and children were starving. Kuu was sorry for them. He told his wife that he could get food for them. At first, his wife would not heart of it, but she finally consented to his going when she heard the children crying with hunger. Kuu said, "Let us go into the yard." There he said his good-bye to the woman and told her that he was going to stand on his head and disappear into the earth. Then she must wait until his toes appeared out of the ground. Out of them would grow food for the family. He stood on his head and began to sink into the ground; first his head and shoulders, then finally his whole body disappeared.
His wife watched the spot every day and watered it with her tears. One day a sprout appeared, and from it a tree grew so rapidly that in a few days the family had the food that Kuu had promised. It was the breadfruit. The wife and children ate all they wanted. Only they could pick the fruit; if anyone else tried, the tree would run back into the ground. After a time, sprouts grew about the parent tree, and these were given to friends and neighbors to plant in their own gardens. Thus Kuu's gift blessed his people.