7. We had better return to the words of Metoro:
The 'calabash' is of the hardened type, the one who carries 'liquids'. Keeping the dry old skull ('bone') of One Hunaphu in mind we ought to change our first approximate translation: 'Here is (the) offspring, the water carrier.' Polynesian grammar does not demand that hua should be an object (concrete or abstract) it can take on other functions, for instance indicate action. In the Mangarevan dialect hua means to produce, to bear fruit. The ejection of 'sweet water' from the 'old calabash' (te hipu) is what Metoro meant. The reversed hipu in Eb7-2 is a sign of action, of producing offspring:
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