rata me te rakau rata and the tree

I have been reading the book 'Rata me te rakau - Rata and the tree.' I hope you like my retelling of the story.

"Long ago there lived a man called Rata. He needs to make a big waka for his people so they can be safe because there was a storm coming. So Rata started to look for a long tree that was tall and straight to make a big waka. He was looking and looking for a tree and he finally found the perfect tree. He started chopping and chopping till it fell down.

The next day he came back to the forest and he couldn’t believe his eyes! The tree was straight and tall again. He started chopping again. Then the next day he came back to the forest and he saw the tree straight and tall AGAIN. He he was angry. He pretended to leave but came back to hide in the bushes to see who was putting the tree back. He saw lots of insects and birds came out of the treetops and bushes.  They started to put the tree back together. Rata said “why are you doing this?”. They said its because you never thanked the forest. Rata apologised and said he was thinking with his head, not his heart.

The next day, Rata saw the insects and birds making big waka for Rata. He was thanking the insects and the birds for doing this for him. 

So he went to the village with the waka and he saved the people. The people were happy that they were safe and Rata promised to always thank the forest when he needs something".