While Tui led the village council, people complained about the poor harvest and the lack of fish. A worried chatter¹ filled the fale. "More crops are turning black," said one villager.

 

"We won't have enough food," said another.

 

"It's happening all over the island," said another.

 

The troubled sounds of the villagers began to build as the comments intensified² and people all started talking at once.

 

Trying his best to calm them and regain³ order, Tui said, "Then we will dig new fields; we will—"

 

Suddenly, Moana burst in. "We can stop the darkness and save our island!" she shouted. "The heart of Te Fiti is real."

 

Everyone stopped talking, and an awkward silence fell. They all stared at Moana as if she were crazy.

 

"There's a cavern⁴ of boats, huge canoes... . We can take them, find Maui, make him restore the heart," Moana continued, exhilarated. She held the heart up to Tui. "We were voyagers; we can voyage again."

 

The villagers looked to Tui, confused and anxiously waiting for his response. Without a word, he pulled Moana out of the fale.

 

"You told me to help our people. This is how we help our people!" Moana said.

 

Tui walked past her, grabbing a torch. "I should've burned those boats a long time ago."

 

"What? No!" Moana said, pulling on Tui's arm. "We have to find Maui. We have to restore the heart!"

 

Tui grabbed the heart out of her hand. "There is no heart! This is just a rock!" he shouted, throwing it into the bushes.

 

"No!" Moana scrambled⁵ around, searching for the heart. She found it in the tall grass and clutched it in her hand, but then something else on the ground caught her eye: Gramma Tala's walking stick.

 

Moana picked it up, concerned. "Gramma ..."

 

The blare of a conch shell wailed⁶ in the distance as a warrior⁷ raced up wearing a grave expression. "Chief," he said. "Your mother!"

 

Moana ran toward Gramma Tala's fale as fast as she could. She made her way through a group of villagers who circled the outside of the hut. Inside, Moana found Gramma Tala on her back, almost lifeless. Sina sat by her side. Tui rushed in, and he and Moana shared a worried look.

 

"We found her at the edge of the water," said the warrior.

 

"What can be done?" asked Tui.

 

Moana watched him talk to the warrior, slowly moving closer to listen in on their conversation, when she felt a hand gently touch hers. She turned to see Gramma Tala reaching out to her and trying to whisper something.

 

Moana bent⁸ down close, putting her ear next to Gramma Tala's lips.

 

"Go," Gramma Tala whispered.

 

"Not now, I can't," said Moana.

 

"You must." Gramma Tala's voice sounded weak and raspy. "The ocean chose you. Follow the fishhook—"

 

"Gramma—"

 

"And when you find Maui, you grab him by the ear, and you say, ‘I am Moana of Motunui... . You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti.'"

 

"I can't leave you," said Moana with tears in her eyes.

 

"There is nowhere you could go that I won't be with you. You will find a way, Moana," Gramma Tala said, giving her a hongi. "You will find your way... ."

 

As the healer hurried in, Gramma Tala pressed her shell necklace into Moana's hand and whispered, "Go."

 

Moana glanced down at the necklace. She remembered seeing the first ancestor with the same sunrise shell necklace in the wayfinders' cavern. He had placed it around the neck of the young wayfinder, someone who used the sun, wind, moon, stars, and currents to navigate⁹ with, who sailed off in search of new islands.

 

She wrapped her hand tightly around it and backed out of the fale. Outside, she looked up at the stars twinkling against the dark night sky and scanned them, searching for the constellation¹⁰ of Maui's hook. She found it, and without another thought, Moana placed Te Fiti's heart securely inside Gramma Tala's necklace and fastened it around her neck. She had made up her mind. She was going to go.

 

Moana hurried to her fale and collected supplies. Sina appeared and surprised Moana by handing her a rope, along with a few more things for her journey. They stared at each other, trying to read each other's thoughts. Then Sina moved aside, allowing Moana to walk by.

 

Moana hurried out of the village, passing a black banyan¹¹ tree, its dead leaves crunching¹² beneath her feet. She went to the secret cavern and climbed into one of the canoes.

 

Pushing off, she launched the boat and paddled through the great waterfall into the lagoon¹³.

 

As she sailed out, she turned back toward her village and saw the light in Gramma Tala's fale go out. Moana knew that meant Gramma had passed away, and she felt a great sadness. Suddenly, a glow appeared on the shore, catching¹⁴ her eye. It streaked¹⁵ through the water toward her. As it rocketed under the boat, she could see that it was a spectral¹⁶ manta ray. It continued toward the open ocean, breaching¹⁷ over the reef, illuminating¹⁸ a safe passage for Moana to follow.

 

With the light of the moon above and the manta ray below, Moana felt certain she was doing the right thing.

 

Determined¹⁹, she paddled toward the reef, and as a wave swelled²¹ toward her, she opened her sail, ready to face it. She guided the canoe over the massive swell²⁰, riding the wave, and as it crashed, Moana blasted over the reef!

 

She looked back once more at the island of Motunui and watched as her home disappeared in the distance. Turning her eyes to the open ocean, Moana felt a rush of excitement.

 

She gazed up at the stars and focused on the constellation of Maui's hook. With her fingers curled around the necklace, she set out to find the demigod.

 

此刻，图伊正在召开岛民大会，人们纷纷抱怨收成不好，也没捕到多少鱼。此时，一个忧虑的声音响彻茅屋。“越来越多的庄稼变黑了。”一个岛民说。

 

“我们的粮食不够了。”另一个声音附和道。

 

“整座岛都出现了这种情况。”又有一个声音传来。

 

岛民们的抱怨声此起彼伏，谈论也愈发尖锐。所有人都发起了牢骚。

 

为了维持会场秩序，安抚大家，图伊说道：“那么我们就开垦空地，我们将——”

 

突然，莫阿娜冲了进来。“我们能阻止黑暗蔓延，拯救我们的岛！”她大叫道，“传说中的特菲提之心确实存在。”

 

此刻所有人都停止了讲话，会场顿时陷入一阵尴尬的沉默。大家都瞪大了眼睛盯着莫阿娜，好像她疯了一样。

 

“在一个洞穴里有很多船，还有巨型独木舟……我们可以用它们去找毛伊，让他把特菲提之心放回原位。”莫阿娜继续兴奋地说道。她将手里的特菲提之心举给父亲看：“我们原本就是航海家，我们可以再次扬帆起航。”

 

岛民们困惑不安地看向图伊，等他回应。而他则一言不发地把莫阿娜拉到了部落茅屋外面。

 

“您告诉我要尽力帮助岛民们。这就是我们可以为大家做的啊！”莫阿娜说。

 

图伊手里抓着一根火把，快步走过她身边。“我当初就该把那些船通通烧光。”

 

“什么？不能烧！”莫阿娜扯住父亲的手臂喊道，“我们得找到毛伊。我们必须把特菲提之心放回原位！”

 

图伊酋长从她手里抓过那颗心。“这根本不是什么特菲提之心！只是块石头！”他气得大叫，还将那颗心扔到了草丛里。

 

“不要！”莫阿娜急忙四处搜寻特菲提之心。她总算在一株高茎草上发现了它，将它抓在手里，这时地上有个东西引起了她的注意——塔拉祖母的手杖。

 

莫阿娜捡起手杖，担忧地喊了声：“祖母……”

 

这时，远处传来了海螺壳发出的嘟嘟声，一位勇士跑了过来，面色凝重地说：“酋长，您母亲出事了！”

 

莫阿娜飞快地跑向塔拉祖母的部落茅屋。屋外围了一圈人，莫阿娜直接挤过他们来到屋内。她看见塔拉祖母躺在床上，快不行了，母亲西娜正坐在床边陪着她。这时图伊也冲进了屋里，和莫阿娜担忧地对视了一眼。

 

“我们是在海边发现她的。”勇士说道。

 

“我们要怎么做才能救回我母亲？”图伊问道。

 

莫阿娜看到父亲正同那位勇士谈话，便慢慢靠近他们，想听听他们在说什么，这时她感觉一只手轻轻碰了碰她。她转头看见塔拉祖母朝她伸手，好像想对她说点什么。

 

莫阿娜弯下身，将耳朵凑到塔拉祖母的嘴边。

 

“出发吧。”塔拉祖母低声说道。

 

“现在不行，我不能离开您。”莫阿娜说道。

 

“你必须出发，”塔拉祖母的声音既虚弱又沙哑，“大海选中了你。跟着鱼钩座——”

 

“祖母——”

 

“找到了毛伊后，你就抓着他的耳朵，对他说‘我是来自莫图鲁尼岛的莫阿娜，……请上船，我要带你跨越整片大海，归还特菲提之心。’”

 

“我不能离开您。”莫阿娜眼里泛着泪花，哽咽道。

 

“不管你去哪儿，我都会陪着你。莫阿娜，你会找到方向的。”塔拉祖母说着，给了她个碰鼻礼。“你会找到你的方向……”

 

这时，医生从门外匆匆进来，塔拉祖母把自己的贝壳项链交到她手上，低声说：“快出发吧！”

 

莫阿娜低头扫了一眼项链，想起当时在寻路人的洞穴中，看到的第一位先辈就有条一模一样的朝霞贝壳项链。他给一位青年寻路人戴上这条项链，正是这位寻路人利用太阳、海风、月亮、星星和洋流导航，驾船出海去寻找新岛屿。

 

莫阿娜把项链紧紧攥在手里，然后往门外退去。到了屋外，她抬头望向黑暗夜空中闪烁的群星，扫视一圈，寻找毛伊的鱼钩座。不一会儿，她找到了，二话不说就将特菲提之心放入塔拉祖母的项链中，然后把它系在脖子上。她下定决心，立即出发。

 

莫阿娜急忙赶回家收拾东西。这时，她母亲西娜出现了，让人惊讶的是，她递给莫阿娜一根绳子和几样路上用得到的东西。她们对望了一会儿，想猜透对方的心思。随后，西娜移到一侧，让她离开。

 

莫阿娜匆匆走出村子，途经一棵黑色的悦榕树，落叶被她踩得沙沙直响。她径直奔向那个秘密洞穴，爬上了其中一艘小船。

 

她用桨推岸撑开船，慢慢划着，穿过大瀑布朝环礁湖驶去。

 

莫阿娜划着船，回头望了眼村庄，看见塔拉祖母屋内的灯光灭了。她知道祖母已经离开了人世，一阵悲伤涌上了心头。突然，岸边出现了一缕亮光吸引了她的注意。这缕亮光划过水面朝她游来，加速游到船下方时，莫阿娜看清这是一条发光的蝠鲼。它继续朝开阔的大海游去，跃过礁石，为莫阿娜照亮了一条安全大道。

 

天上月光照，船下蝠鲼游，莫阿娜确定自己做了一个正确的决定。

 

她坚决地朝礁石驶去。一股海浪朝她打来，她升起船帆，准备迎浪而上。莫阿娜在滚滚浪潮中驱船前行，就在海浪拍打礁石时，她驾船顺势成功冲过礁石！

 

她再一次转身看向莫图鲁尼岛，望着自己的家渐行渐远。随后，她收回视线看向广阔的大海，一阵兴奋感传遍全身。

 

她抬头仰望星空，将目光锁定在毛伊的鱼钩座，又伸手摸了摸脖子上的项链，随即出发去寻找半神毛伊。

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