TRANSLATIONS
To avoid misunderstandings: My explanations, for example of reiga as re-ī-ga and the meanings presumably connected with its component parts, do not in any way assume an etymological perspective. Instead it is the perspective of wordplay - what could be done with the component parts of words, given the field around littered with words somewhat similar and easy to imagine manufactured by earlier wordplays. Take Hua Reva - in addition to what earlier has been said we now are in a position to interpret a supposed wordplay behind reva, viz. re (the spirit of the sun in his last stage of the year cycle) coupled with va (a shorter form of vai, water). Quite possibly this is a rebus, and a glyph in Mamari helps us:
The glyph type vai has two parts, the upper (closer to us) canoe-formed oval and the lower consisting of two half hidden moon crescents (one waxing and one waning - as they would appear if standing on the equator, the path of the sun). I imagine the moon crescents signify the female companion of the sun (moon) whose blindingly white sands is the ideal residence for him: ... The dream soul went to the other side of the mountain Hau Epa. As soon as the dream soul looked around, she saw the sand (beach), which was very white and light ... "The veil of Latona, the mother of Apollo and Diana (Sun and Moon), was black. The Hindus of north-west India still worship 'Suria', the sun, under the emblem of a black stone. The colour of the Egyptian bulls Apis and Mnevis was black, and in the hieroglyphic representations of acts of consecration or anointing, the officiating priests is painted black, and the recipient of the ceremony is painted red; this more especially in upper Egypt. Hence the black colour would seem to indicate superior sacredness. It is possible that from these and similar considerations of superiority or sacredness arose the Polynesian proverb (in Hawaiian), 'he weo ke kanaka, he pano he alii', red is the common man, dark is the chief. In 'Polynesian Researches' the Rev. Mr. Ellis explains a similar expression in Tahiti, from the fact that a dark and bronsed complexion was looked upon, among the chiefs, as a sign of manliness, hardihood, and exposure to fatigue and danger, and a pale complexion was considered a sign of effeminacy. The probable reason and explanation of the proverb may be found in the grander amount of tattooing with which the bodies of the chiefs were adorned. As late as the time of Kamehameha I of Hawaii, his rival, Kahekili, King of Maui, had one half of his body entirely blackened by tattooing. The connection of the black colour with Siwa's symbols may be found in the Hindu legend, according to which, at the churning of the sea of milk for the production of Amutham (the Ambrosia of immortality) Siwa, the supreme, was appealed to by the other gods to remove the poison vomited in the Ambrosia by the serpent Vasuke. He complied with their request by drinking up the poison, but from that time he was known by the name of 'the azure-necked one' , because the colour of the poison remained on his neck as a sign of what he had done. - See Oriental Illustrations, by J. Roberts, p. 6." (Fornander) Without there being any exact correspondence between Siwa with a blue neck or the serpent Vasuke vomiting poison and the rongorongo signs, I suspect there is a kind of correlation between (e.g.) Hindu images and Polynesian images - in an ancient world thinking and using images these had no borders:
When sun gets old he takes a drink and then it is all finished. Digging wells at Hua Reva - possibly an important true historic event - may have persuaded the 'historians' in the leper station to insert this station on the moon side (the spirit side of the sun), although Hotu Matua obviously must have been alive until then.
Instead of now continuing with the remaining stations on side b (presumably Roto Iri Are and One Tea) - which do not look easy interpret - I intend to look on side a:
Reading backwards is not easy and we need the fundamental table (where I have marked blue the stations on side b and red those on side a):
What can possibly come before Nga Kope Ririva? I have guessed Maunga Hau Epa because of haś in Ga8-5:
Furthermore, this haś has 16 'feathers', equal to the maximum number of kuhane stations possible to make room for (according to the proposed scheme) in the text of G. And then, beyond, follows a glyph similar to Nga Kope Ririva:
This is an important suggestion. As a kind of confirmation we have 209 - 177 = 32 = half the number of squares on a chessboard (signifying the all-important growth depending on the benevolent influence from the sun in form of rays and rain - vaiora a Tane). 16 is the similar, though weaker, influence from the moon (16 = 32 / 2). Furthermore, 13 + 16 = 29 and 11 + 19 = 30, as if to indicate Ga8-5--6 to be the true 29.5 glyphs (instead of Ga8-3--4). The differences between Ga8-6 and Ga7-8 must be noticed. In Ga8-6 the top 'eye' is marked and in Ga7-8 the bottom 'eye'. We can understand: Maunga Hau Epa is high and Nga Kope Ririva is as low as you can get. We are reminded of the 'Rain God' climbing high and suddenly being as low as you can get: Ga8-5--6 stand out against a fairly uniform group of glyphs (although a twin pair appears 11 glyphs later):
It is curious that Ga8-3--4 were chosen to be located at the important point instead of Ga8-5--6, where haś and maitaki are good signs for indicating Hau Epa. But the curve at the top in Ga8-4 (4 * 8 = 32) - and in other glyphs around - may have been regarded as necessary. There should be a curve here, the curve which the kuhane followed. The curve in Ga8-5 may be another curve, referring to the sun. Possibly Hau Epa once was Haś e pau, I think, the sun 'feathers' have all been used up. All the 'poporo balls' ought to be counted in some way, and together they say much darkness. The 22 glyphs above presumably are to be read as twice 9 + 2 = 18 + 4, the two cycles of sun respectively moon are here completed together (the numbers say). 4 * 4 = 16 'poporo balls' are located in the first 9 and 4 * 4 + 2 + 4 in the second 9, together 9 * 4 (= 36) + 2 = 38 'balls', though 8 of them are located in line Ga7. Possibly the counting should begin with Ga7-33 (because the preceding Ga7-32 has an ordinal number indicating maximum growth - and because the 'balls' are markedly smaller). Then there will be 3 * 4 + 4 * 4 (= 28, the number of the moon) 'poporo balls' followed by 2 + 4 (= 6, the number of the sun). Perhaps we must count Maunga Hau Epa, the last station of the living sun, with a larger number than 29.5? Let us now return to the long quotation from Barthel 2, which I broke off because I had imagined seeing kuhane stations in the text of G. |