4. This intricate web of clearly interconnected strings of ideas makes me remember from The Eighth Land (p. 35): On other Polynesian islands, pei (or pehi) is the name of a game of skill that involves throwing. In MAO. it can mean 'earth; clump of earth', which may be a possible translation when there is talk of a 'clump of earth as residence' (ko te pei te nohonga) or of 'Te Pei', which can be lost and found. Te Pei is also the name of a place on the southern shore of Easter Island. The six references in the text do not allow for a general definition, but perhaps an expression from Mangaia can provide some insight: 'Hina alone keeps seven, yes eight balls in motion' (Pei aea i te pei itu, i te pei varu, é Ina é, Tregear 1891:596). Here an outstanding achievement is characterized by the ability to extend control beyond seven to eight. But pehi also means a great canoe, which possibly might explain the form of the beak in Eb7-6:
To avoid drowning at the time when he is abruptly pushed down from his high summer sky Sun needs a canoe. The glyph type manu rere probably means the 'living spirit', and in the domain of Moon a canoe is more in place than a bird. Also Pharaoh travels in a ship when he goes down into the world of night. Hina is Moon and by relying on her the order (light, life) can be preserved in spite of the changes. A calendar tightly knit to the phases of Moon can incorporate all the main cycles of heaven. And it is necessary to do so because only by the daily reminders from looking at Moon can the complicated system be kept alive in the mind. In Antony Alpers' The World of the Polynesians there are more explanations: There was noise at night at Marioro, it was Hina beating tapa in the dark for the god Tangaroa, and the noise of her mallet was annoying that god, he could endure it no longer. He said to Pani, 'Oh Pani, is that noise the beating of tapa?' and Pani answered, 'It is Hina tutu po beating fine tapa.'
Then Tangaroa said, 'You go to her and tell her to stop, the harbour of the god is noisy.' Pani therefore went to Hina's place and said to her, 'Stop it, or the harbour of the god will be noisy.' But Hina replied, 'I will not stop, I will beat out white tapa here as a wrapping for the gods Tangaroa, 'Oro, Moe, Ruanu'u, Tu, Tongahiti, Tau utu, Te Meharo, and Punua the burst of thunder'. So Pani returned and told the god that Hina would not stop. 'Then go to her again', said Tangaroa, 'and make her stop. The harbour of the god is noisy!' So Pani went again, and he went a third time also, but with no result. Then Pani too became furious with Hina, and he seized her mallet and beat her on the head. She died, but her spirit flew up into the sky, and she remained forever in the moon, beating white tapa. All may see her there. From that time on she was known as Hina nui aiai i te marama, Great-Hina-beating-in-the-Moon. Tangaroa is in his 'harbour', he is taking a rest, and it is winter solstice north of the equator but summer solstice south of the equator. In the Hawaiian calendar Kaloa inhabits the very end of the season of 'high tide':
But the story comes from Tahiti, south of the equator, where it should be summer solstice or the end of the season of 'ebb'. It is nighttime and looking at the stars in the sky they are positioned high up because the sky dome has gradually been moving higher and higher since winter solstice. Now the sky cannot go any further up (north), it has come to a standstill. In daytime also Sun has gradually been moving higher and higher because he has his path in the sky. Next comes the season of Moon, when the face of Sun is hidden behind rain clouds and when Sun needs a canoe to protect himself. With such a canoe he can move away to his winter maid. In Teuira Henry's Ancient Tahiti is a description of how the living spirit of Ta'aroa separated from his body: The first god's house in the temple was the body of Ta'aroa's own person, and it became a model for all other god's houses. One day Ta'aroa let himself go into a trance and his spirit stood away in space while his body floated in the sea, then he said to his daughters: 'Oh, girls! How many canoes are there at sea?' And the daughters replied: 'It is like one, it is like one!' Then Ta'aroa's spirit said: 'Who can it be?' And they answered: 'It is thyself assuredly!' |
