Manaia (mythological creature) Manaia (mythological creature) The Manaia is a mythological creature in Māori culture, and is a common motif in Māori carving and jewellery. The Manaia is usually depicted as having the head of a bird and the tail of a fish and the body of a man, though it is sometimes depicted as a bird, a serpent, or a human figure in profile. Other interpretations include a seahorse and a lizard. The word "manaia" is cognate with the founding Samoan term "fa'amanaia", and relevant to the Niuean "fakamanaia", both meaning to make a decoration or embellishment. The Manaia is traditionally believed
The Crab and the Fox their familiar pursuits and take up a business they know nothing about”. The fable appeared in the Medici manuscript in the 15th century and later among those recorded by Roger L'Estrange (1692). In Victorian times the story appeared in George Fyler Townsend’s new translation with the moral “Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness”. Crabs are not a natural food for foxes but anciently they were confused with crayfish and there is a freshwater species of crayfish that is eaten by foxes in the Balkan Danube region. There is in addition a South American Crab-eating Fox about which