Maui made scaling the vertical¹ cliff look simple as he climbed higher and higher. Before long, two hands appeared next to him, straining to keep pace. Maui rolled his eyes when he saw Moana but wasn't surprised that she had followed him. Moana breathed heavily as she jumped to catch rock after rock, pulling herself up the spire².

 

"So, ‘daughter of the chief,'" said Maui as he climbed, "thought you stayed in the village kissing babies. I'm just trying to understand why your people decided³ to send—um—you."

 

"My people didn't send me," said Moana, reaching toward another rock. "The ocean did."

 

"Right. The ocean. Makes sense: you're what ... eight? Can't sail. Obvious choice."

 

Moana was aware of Maui's sarcasm⁴. "It chose me for a reason," she said.

 

"If the ocean's so smart, why didn't it just take the heart back to Te Fiti itself? Or bring me my hook? I'm gonna tell you why, baby face: ocean's kooky-dooks."

 

Moana looked down to the ocean, now hundreds of feet below. She took a deep breath and continued, focused on making her way to the top.

 

"But I'm sure it's not wrong about you, right? You're the Chosen One!" Maui shoved Moana up the last little bit to help her get to the plateau.

 

At the top, she looked out at the expansive horizon and closed her eyes. "It chose me for a reason."

 

"If you start singing, I'm gonna throw up," said Maui as he heaved himself the last few feet to solid ground.

 

Moana looked around the small, desolate⁵ mountaintop, searching for a way in. "Not seeing an entrance," she said.

 

"It only appears after a human sacrifice," said Maui. Then he smiled. "Kidding. So serious."

 

Maui inhaled⁶ and let out a heavy breath, blowing dust off the top of the plateau. Then he gave a big warrior⁷ cry, stomping⁸ his feet dramatically before he jumped onto the rocky ground. It trembled and cracked, revealing a massive face on its surface. The mouth of the face slowly opened, and a strange vortex swirled⁹ a thousand feet below. Moana stared at it in awe¹⁰, completely intimidated¹¹.

 

"Don't worry," said Maui. "It's a lot farther down than it looks." Then he held his knees, jumping in like a cannonball and shouting, "Cheeeee-hooooo!"

 

Moana watched anxiously, frozen for a moment. Then she heard him yell, "I'm still falling!" He finally disappeared into the portal. Moana stared nervously¹² from the ledge¹³ as the whirlpool started closing.

 

"You can do this," she said to herself, willing some confidence. "Go!" she yelled. Without another thought, Moana dove in, and the open mouth slammed shut behind her.

 

After a long fall, Moana finally hit the ocean waters of the portal and dove deeper and deeper. Her eyes bulged¹⁴ and her vision blurred¹⁵ as she started to run out of air. At the very bottom, a purple spiral swirled supernaturally. In a flash, she was sucked into its depths.

 

Below her, Maui burst out the floor of the ocean and crashed through the ceiling of the strange underworld. Thunderous growls¹⁶ and groans¹⁷ came out of the fog from enormous monsters lurking¹⁸ in the shadows. Maui landed with effortless grace.

 

"And he sticks the landing," said Maui, cheering for himself.

 

He looked at Mini Maui, who smiled as he pulled out a little scoreboard and gave a check to Moana. "What?" said Maui, confused. "Dum-dum, she's not even here. You saw her face; no mortal's gonna jump into—"

 

Maui stopped midsentence as he watched Moana break into the underworld, right where he had. She smacked¹⁹ into him, bounced off his body, and rolled downhill into a glowing forest made of oddly shaped bioluminescent trees and plants.

 

"Well, she's dead," Maui said nonchalantly.

 

Mini Maui gestured for Maui to go help her. But the demigod chose to ignore him.

 

Moana tried to get her bearings, but she was hanging upside down. Before she knew what was happening, she felt a strange force slowly pulling her up. Then she realized ... she was wrapped in the tongue of a giant monster! The beast looked like an oversized frog with big lumpy eyes, and Moana was like a little fly trapped in its tongue. The wart-covered monster was slowly but surely slurping²⁰ her toward its drooling mouth!

 

As she started to wriggle²¹ and panic, an even bigger monster—in the shape of a giant flower—chomped down and ate the first monster in one bite! Luckily, Moana fell to the ground and out of the second monster's reach. But she was still trapped in the slimy severed²² tongue.

 

"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!" she sad, trying to untangle herself from it.

 

She quickly ran for cover and peered out to discover a glowing neon world within the mist. Giant anemone²³ trees swayed slowly as sea urchin²⁴ spines²⁵ rose up, reaching out, threatening to strike. Creepy sounds and growls echoed all around in a chorus of nightmare terrors. It was the most frightening place Moana had ever been.

 

"Maui?" Moana whispered urgently, wondering where he had gone. "Maui?"

 

A monster appeared right in front of her and cast a shadow so dark that it blocked out all light and made it impossible for her to see! As it reached for her, it stepped on a small vent²⁶ that hissed²⁷ and erupted, shooting out hot, steaming water. The powerful geyser blasted the shadowy monster up into the ocean before he could grab her!

 

Moana tried to calm herself and realized she was sitting right next to an enormous shell-shaped cave. She peeked²⁸ inside and could see the unmistakable shape of Maui's magical hook! It was sitting on a pile of shimmering²⁹ gold and jewels. Maui appeared right behind her and gazed at the giant hook, too.

 

"Haaaaaaa!" Maui said, yearning³⁰ to hold it again. He could barely speak, overjoyed to see his prize possession after being separated from it for a very long one thousand years.

 

Startled by the sound of Maui behind her, Moana turned and instinctively³¹ threw a wild punch, right to Maui's gut³². He barely flinched³³ and instead just stared at her.

 

Moana shook her fist, trying to ease the pain in her hand that hitting Maui had caused her. "Sorry, I though—there was a monst— Earlier there was a big, horrible—But I found your hook, so that's goo—" she stammered³⁴, trembling with fear.

 

Maui palmed her head and picked her up, placing her to the side of the cave. "Stay here. Be quiet," he whispered.

 

"What? No," Moana said, starting to follow.

 

"'Cause you're gonna face Tamatoa?" Maui asked sarcastically³⁵ with raised eyebrows³⁶. "I've been waiting a thousand years to get my hook, and it's gonna be hard enough without it getting screwed up by a mortal, who has no business being in a monster cave except ... ," Maui's voice trailed off as a plan brewed³⁷. His eyes brightened when he came up with an idea. "Except maybe as bait."

 

Moana's face fell, but before she could protest, Maui put her to work.

 

As if clanging cymbals³⁸ together, Moana banged a pile of gold objects noisily as she made her way through the treasure-filled lair³⁹. A variety of jewels and treasures were strewn all over, making every corner of the place sparkle and glimmer⁴⁰.

 

Moana took a deep breath as she prepared to play her part. "Wow," she said, sounding stiff and overly loud. "There is a lot of shiny stuff in here!"

 

"Louder," Maui whispered from behind a big mound⁴¹ of gold.

 

"Gold, gold, gold!" shouted Moana, a little louder. "I love gold!"

 

Moana walked around the lair, tripping over jewels and continuing to make as much noise as she could.

 

Maui remained hidden and whispered to her, "When he shows up, keep him distracted; get him to talk about himself. You know the type—loves bragging⁴² about how great he is."

 

"You two must get along great," said Moana.

 

"Not since I ripped off his leg," said Maui. "Although with that guy, it's really more of an arm. He's got plenty."

 

"Of arms?" asked Moana, starting to feel nervous. "How many does he have? Maui? Hello? Hello?"

 

But Maui was gone. Suddenly, the pile of treasures behind Moana rumbled⁴³ and rose. She braced⁴⁴ herself, ready to meet Tamatoa.

 

攀爬这陡峭的岩壁对毛伊来说轻而易举，因此他越爬越高。过了会儿，他发现身旁出现两只手，还一直和他保持相同的速度往上爬。他看到莫阿娜跟着他时，并未感到吃惊，只是朝她翻了个白眼。莫阿娜则奋力去够一块块岩石，气喘吁吁地朝塔顶爬去。

 

“所以，‘酋长之女’，”毛伊边爬边说道，“我还以为你待在村子里带小孩呢。我只是想知道为什么你的岛民们会派——嗯——你来。”

 

“不是他们派我来的，”莫阿娜爬向另一块岩石说道，“是大海选中了我。”

 

“是是是，大海选的。倒也说得过去：你是那什么……老八吧？连船都不会开，真会选人。”

 

莫阿娜听出毛伊在讽刺她，说道：“大海选我，自有理由。”

 

“如果大海真有那么聪明，为什么它自己不把特菲提之心放回去？为什么不帮我找回鱼钩？告诉你实情吧，小屁孩：大海其实就是个笨蛋。”

 

莫阿娜看了一眼下方离他们几百英尺远的大海。她深吸一口气，继续集中注意力往上爬，好快点到达塔顶。

 

“不过，我知道错不在你，对吧？你是个被选中的倒霉蛋！”毛伊说着便往上推了莫阿娜一把，助她爬上了这座高高的岛。

 

到达塔顶后，莫阿娜放眼望向广阔的地平线，然后闭上眼睛。“大海选我，自有理由。”

 

“如果你再叽叽歪歪，我就要吐了。”毛伊说着，奋力翻身上了塔顶。

 

莫阿娜又扫视了一眼这个狭小、荒凉的塔顶，搜寻着入口。“没有看到入口。”她说。

 

“除非有人英勇献身，否则入口不会出现。”毛伊说。然后他笑道：“开个玩笑啦，别当真。”

 

他猛吸一口气，重重呼出，吹掉了覆盖在塔顶的灰尘。接着，他又来了个勇士般的呐喊，夸张地跺着脚，然后跳到一块岩石上。岩石开始摇晃破裂，表面随即出现了一张巨脸。这张脸上的嘴慢慢张开，一股奇特的涡流打着旋向下延伸，有一千英尺深。莫阿娜畏怯地盯着这漩涡，十分害怕。

 

“不用怕，”毛伊说道，“这漩涡其实比看上去深得多。”然后他抱着双膝，像颗炮弹般俯冲而下，随即传来他“哟——嚯!”的叫声。

 

莫阿娜焦急地看着这一幕，呆立了会儿。然后她听到了毛伊的喊声：“我还在往下落！”最后他消失在入口处。这张大嘴上的漩涡开始变小，莫阿娜站在一旁紧张地盯着它。

 

“你可以的。”她给自己打气，想找点自信。“我来啦！”她大叫着，不假思索地纵身跃入漩涡，这时巨脸上的大嘴在她身后合上了。

 

在漩涡里下落很久之后，莫阿娜终于落到了入口处的海水里，往下越潜越深。当她开始缺氧时，她的双眼突起，视线变得模糊起来。一个神奇的紫色漩涡从海底旋起，一转眼，她就被吸入涡流深处。

 

在她身下，毛伊撞破海底，冲进了奇特的地下世界。重重迷雾之中传来潜伏在暗处的巨兽们发出的雷鸣般的咆哮与呻吟。此时，毛伊以优雅的姿势轻松地着陆了。

 

“我成功啦。”毛伊为自己欢呼道。

 

毛伊看了看小毛伊，只见他笑着拿出小计分板，在莫阿娜的名字后面画了一个钩。“什么？”毛伊不解地问他，“你个小笨笨，她都不在这儿，你看她那副样子，没有一个凡人能跳进——”

 

毛伊才说到一半，便看见莫阿娜也从刚刚那个入口闯了进来，猛地撞到自己身上，又弹了出去，一直向下滚，滚到了一片发光的丛林中，那里长满了奇形怪状的发光植物。

 

“好吧，她死掉了。”毛伊漠不关心地说道。

 

小毛伊示意毛伊去帮帮她，可半神毛伊却视而不见。

 

莫阿娜想弄清自己身在何方，却发现自己正被倒挂着。还没来得及搞清楚状况，她就感觉被一股奇怪的力量往上拽。然后，她意识到……自己正被卷入一只大怪兽的舌头里！这头怪兽看起来像只双眼凸起的巨型青蛙，莫阿娜则像困在它的舌头上的小苍蝇。这只满身疙瘩的怪兽正流着口水，卷起舌头，准备将莫阿娜当点心吃进去。

 

莫阿娜惊恐万分，开始扭动着往外爬。突然，一只体形更大像食人花的怪兽，咬住那只巨型青蛙，一口吃掉了它！幸运的是，莫阿娜掉到了地上，落到食人花怪兽够不着的地方。可她仍被困在那条异常黏滑的舌头上。

 

“哎呀！哎呀！哎呀！”莫阿娜挣扎着从舌头上爬出来。

 

她迅速找到地方掩护自己，然后向外张望，发现雾里有一块霓虹闪耀的地方。在那里，巨大的海葵树缓慢地摇摆着，海胆的刺直挺挺地竖立，随时准备袭击。令人毛骨悚然的咆哮声回荡在周围，合奏成一支惊魂梦魇曲。这真是莫阿娜到过最可怕的地方了。

 

“毛伊？”莫阿娜着急地轻声喊道，想知道他去哪儿了。“毛伊？”

 

一只怪兽突然出现在她面前，投射出一个巨大的黑影，挡住了所有的亮光，使她什么也看不见了！它朝莫阿娜逼近时，不小心踩在一个间歇泉口上，一阵嘶嘶声过后，冒着热气的泉水喷薄而出。这只怪兽还没来得及抓住莫阿娜，就被这股强有力的水柱猛冲进了海里！

 

莫阿娜尽力使自己平静下来，然后发现自己正坐在一个巨型贝壳状的洞穴旁。她往里面偷瞄了几眼，看见一个清晰的轮廓，那正是毛伊的魔法鱼钩！它被堆在一摞闪闪发亮的金银珠宝上。这时，毛伊出现在她身后，也盯着这个大鱼钩看。

 

“哇哈哈哈!”毛伊兴奋地笑着，迫不及待地想再次拿起它。再次看到那把和自己分开足足有一千年的宝贝鱼钩时，他高兴得说不出话了。

 

莫阿娜被背后传来的声音吓了一大跳，快速转身，本能地奋力一拳，正好打中了毛伊的肚子。毛伊丝毫没感觉，只是盯着莫阿娜看。

 

莫阿娜摇晃着拳头，想缓解手上因为袭击毛伊带来的疼痛。“对不起，我以为——又是一只怪——之前这里就有一只很大很可怕的——但是我发现了你的鱼钩，所以那个——”她结结巴巴地说道，害怕得发抖。

 

毛伊用手抓着她的头，将她一把提起，放到洞的一旁，轻声说：“待这别动，别出声”。

 

“你说什么？我不要。”莫阿娜说道，想跟上他。

 

“你想和螃蟹怪对决吗？”毛伊眉毛上扬，嘲讽地问道，“为了拿回鱼钩，我都等了一千年了，螃蟹怪本身就难对付，要是再被你一个凡人搞砸，我就前功尽弃了，况且你来这里又没什么事儿，除非……”毛伊顿时心生一计，降低了音量。他想出了一个好主意，两眼放光，说道：“除非你可以当诱饵。”

 

莫阿娜脸色一沉，还没来得及反对，就被毛伊推进了洞里。

 

莫阿娜进入这个满是珍宝的兽穴，一路不停敲打着各种金器，发出类似铙钹撞击的声音。洞穴里撒满了各种各样的奇珍异宝，每个角落都金光闪闪。

 

莫阿娜深吸一口气，准备当好诱饵的角色。“哇塞，”她大叫起来，声音太过响亮且极不自然，“这里有好多闪亮的东西啊!”

 

“再大点声。”毛伊躲在一大堆黄金后面小声提醒她。

 

“哇，好多黄金啊，黄金，黄金！”她大叫起来，声音稍稍响亮了一点，“我好喜欢黄金啊！”

 

莫阿娜在兽穴里四处走动着，踢翻各类珍宝，继续弄出更大的响动。

 

毛伊仍躲在一旁，对她轻声说道：“只要他一出现，你就设法让他分心，引导他吹嘘自己。你知道他就是那种——喜欢自吹自擂家伙。”

 

“你们俩肯定相处得十分愉快。”莫阿娜说道。

 

“在我扯掉了他的腿后，我跟他就不愉快了，”毛伊说，“不过那个家伙，可不止一条腿。他有好多腿。”

 

“你说的是腿？”莫阿娜开始紧张起来，“你说他有多少条腿？毛伊？喂？喂？”

 

可毛伊已经走了。突然，莫阿娜身后的珠宝窸窣作响，不断上升。她打起精神来，准备对战螃蟹怪。

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