It was necessary to return to the beginning of side b in order to establish a point of origin and reference for the text. Line Cb6 is beginning more than a quarter of a year later, when the moko season was arriving: ... A une certaine saison, on amassait des vivres, on faissait fête. On emmaillottait un corail, pierre de defunt lézard, on l'enterrait, tanu. Cette cérémonie était un point de départ pour beaucoup d'affaires, notamment de vacances pour le chant des tablettes ou de la prière, tanu i te tau moko o tana pure, enterrer la pierre sépulcrale du lézard de sa prière ...
Here I will insert a long passage from Anthony Alpers: Maori Myths & Tribal Legends: "... The sky that floats above the earth, // great Rangi nui, the spread-out space, dwelt with the red glow of dawn // and the moon was made; the great sky above us // dwelt with the shooting rays and the sun sprang forth, // they were thrown up above us as the chief eyes of heaven. Then the heavens became light, // the early dawn, the early day, // the mid-day, the blaze of day from sky. Then Rangi nui, the Sky, dwelt with Papa tu a nuku, the Earth, and was joined to her, and land was made. But the offspring of Rangi and Papa, who were very numerous, were not of the shape of men, and they lived in darkness, for their parents were not yet parted. The Sky still lay upon the Earth, no light had come between them. The heavens were ten i number, and the lowest layer, lying on the Earth, made her unfruitful. Her covering was creeping plants and rank low weed, and the sea was all dark water, dark as night. The time when these things were seemed without end, as it is stated in the tradition: From the first division of time unto the tenth, and to the hundredth, and to the thousandth, all was barren, and in vain did she seek her offspring in the likeness of the day, or of the night. At length the offspring of Rangi and Papa, worn out with continual darkness, met together to decide what should be done about their parents, that man might arise. 'Shall we kill our parents, shall we slay them, our father and our mother, or shall we separate them? 'they asked. And long did they consider in the darkness: The night, the night, the day, the day, Their seeking thought also for their mother, that man might arise. Behold, this is the word, the largeness, the length, the height of their thought. At last Tu matauenga, the fiercest of the offspring of Sky and Earth and the god of war, spoke out. Said Tu: 'It is well. Let us kill them.' But Tane mahuta, god and father of the forests and all things that inhabit them, answered: 'No, not so. It is better to rend them apart, and to let the Sky stand far above us and the Earth lie below here. Let the Sky become a stranger to us, but let Earth remain close to us as our nursing mother.' The other sons, and Tu the war god among them, saw wisdom in this and agreed with Tane, all but one. This one, that now forever disagreed with all his brothers, was the god and father of winds and storms, Tawhiri matea. Tawhiri, fearing that his kingdom would be overthrown, did not wish his parents to be torn apart. So while five sons agreed, Tawhiri was silent and would not [speak], he held his breath. And long did they consider further. At the end of a time no man can measure the five decided that Rangi and Papa must be forced apart, and they began by turns to attempt this deed. First Rongo ma Tane, god and father of the cultivated food of men, rose up and strove to force the heavens from the earth. When Rongo had failed, next Tangaroa, god and father of all things that live in the sea, rose up. He struggled mightily, but had no luck. And next Haumia tiketike, god and father of uncultivated food, rose up and tried without success. So then Tu matauenga, god of war, leapt up. Tu hacked at the sinews that bound the Earth and Sky, and made them bleed, and this gave rise to ochre, or red clay, the sacred colour. Yet even Tu, the fiercest of the sons, could not with all his strength sever Rangi from Papa. So then it became the turn of Tane mahuta. Slowly, slowly as the kauri tree did Tane rise between the Earth and Sky. At first he strove with his arms to move them, but with no success. Then he placed his shoulders against the Earth his mother, and his feet against the Sky. Soon, and yet not soon, for the time was vast, the Sky and Earth began to yield. The sinews that bound them stretched and ripped. With heavy groans and shrieks of pain, the parents of the sons cried out and asked them why they did this crime, why did they wish to slay their parents' love? Great Tane thrust with all his strength, which was the strength of growth. Far beneath him he pressed the Earth. Far above he thrust the Sky, and held them there. As soon as Tane's work was finished the multituide of creatures were uncovered whom Rangi and Papa had begotten, and who had never known light. Now rose up Tawhiri, the god of winds and storms, who all this time had held his breath. Great anger moved him now, and this was Rangi's wish. Tawhiri, who feared that his kingdom would be overthrown, feared also that the Earth would become too fair and beautiful. For he was jealous now, jealous of all that Tane had procured. For Tane was the author of the day - Of the great day, // of the long day, of the clear day, // of the day driving away night, of the day making all things distinct, // of the day making everything bright, of the day driving away gloom, // of the hot, sultry day, of the day shrouded in darkness. And so Tawhiri followed Rangi to the realm above, and consulted with him there. And with his father's help Tawhiri begot his numerous turbulent offspring, the winds and storms. He sent them off between the Sky and the Earth, one to the south, another to the east, another to the north-east. Then, in his anger, and remembering Rangi's wish, he sent the freezing wind, the burning dusty wind, the rainy wind, the sleety wind, and with them all the different kinds of clouds. Most powerful of all, Tawhiri himself came down lika a hurricane, and placed his mouth to that of Tane, and shook his branches and uprooted him. The giant trees of Tane's forests groaned and fell, and lay upon the earth to rot away, and became the food of grubs. When his fury had dealt with Tane, Tawhiri turned on Tangaroa the sea god. From the forests he swept on down to the sea and lashed it in his rage. He heaved up waves as high as cliffs and whipped their crests away, he churned the sea to whirlpools, he battled with the tides, till Tangaroa took flight in terror from his usual home, the shores, and hid in the ocean depths, where Tawhiri could not reach him. As Tangaroa was about to leave the shores, his grand-children consulted together as to how they might save themselves. For Tangaroa had begotten Punga, and Punga had begotten Ika tere, the father of fish, and Tu te wanawana, the father of lizards and reptiles. These two could not agree where it was best to go to escape the storms. Tu te wanawana and his party, shouting into the wind, cried 'Let us all go inland,' but Ika tere and his party cried 'No, let us go to the sea.' Some obeyed one and some the other, and so they escaped in two parties. Those of Tu te wanawana hid themselves on land, and those of Ika tere in the sea. This is what is called, in the ancient traditions of our people, 'The Separation of Tawhiri matea', and it is put in this fable: The Shark was for going to the sea, but the Lizard was for going inland. Shark warned Lizard, 'Go inland, and the fate of your race will be that when they catch you and before they cook you, they will singe your skins off over a lighted wisp of fern.' Lizard answered, 'Go to the sea, and the fate of your race will be that when they serve out baskets of food to each person, you will be laid on top to give a relish to it.' So they fled their separate ways, the fishes in confusion to the sea, and the lizards and reptiles to the little hiding places in the forests and the rocks. And for this reason Tangaroa, enraged that some of his offspring deserted him and were sheltered by the forests, has ever since made war on Tane, who in return has helped those who are at war with Tangaroa. So the sea is forever eating at the edges of the land, hoping that the forest trees will fall and become his food, and he consumes the trees and houses that are carried down to him by floods ..." 'Lizard' is probably the translation of Moko:
When there were consecutive efforts by the god children to push their parents apart we will remember the consecutive efforts to lift the Turtle in Manuscript E, although it ended in another way: ... They all sat down and rested [on the plain of Oromanga], when suddenly they saw that a turtle had reached the shore and had crawled up on the beach. He [Ira] looked at it and said, 'Hey, you! The turtle has come on land!' He said, 'Let's go! Let's go back to the shore.' They all went to pick up the turtle. Ira was the first one to try to lift the turtle - but she didn't move. Then Raparenga said, 'You do not have the necessary ability. Get out of my way so that I can have a try!' Raparenga stepped up and tried to lift the turtle - but Raparenga could not move her. Now you spoke, Kuukuu: 'You don't have the necessary ability, but I shall move this turtle. Get out of my way!' Kuukuu stepped up, picked up the turtle, using all his strength. After he had lifted the turtle a little bit, he pushed her up farther. No sooner had he pushed her up and lifted her completely off the ground when she struck Kuukuu with one fin. She struck downward and broke Kuukuu's spine. The turtle got up, went back into the (sea) water, and swam away. All the kinsmen spoke to you (i.e. Kuukuu): 'Even you did not prevail against the turtle!' Easter Island was a poor land for rising crops, because Sun did not rise high enough. New Zealand is even further down, but it is anyhow a very rich country. |
