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TRANSLATIONS
We left Barthel 2 at a point where he had told about star names, and his text then continues: "The two RAP. names of stars [He Kope Riva, probably the Belt of Orion, and Te Pou, Sirius] delimit the first third of the way to the residence of the king. Below is, once again, the basic (though reordered by me) list of Manuscript E. According to G the picture is different: Te Pou is the 2nd station on side b, and Nga Kope Ririva is only 3 stations away from Te Pei because the text on side a must be read mirror-wise. The moon moves from west to east and we should first follow her on side b. On side a we must follow the sun, which means moving backwards in time as measured by the moon. From Nga Kope Ririva in the extreme southwest, at the end of side a, we move towards east (and towards the beginning of side a) to Te Piringa Aniva. Hanga Takaure at Ga1-1 can only be understood properly if we think of it as following One Tea, the last kuhane station on side b. On side b, the moon side, things move smoothly from Te Pei (where the light from Sirius still has not appeared) to One Tea (with the white sands of the moon). Te Piringa Aniva, early on side a, is the last station of the sun - as regarded from the moon who has moved from the end of side a towards its beginning. (Hanga Takaure marks the point at which winter, takaure, the south coast, ends.)
Te Pou (Sirius) is located early on side b, and is, structurally regarded, not at all connected with Nga Kope Ririva. Nga Kope Ririva marks beginning of the cycle of the sun as defined by the return of the spring sun - while Te Pou presumably marks the beginning of a new year associated with winter solstice. The distance between the two stars need not be a quarter, though. Measured in days (i.e. glyphs) we have Te Pou at Gb2-11 (ordinal number 266 counted from Ga1-1) and Nga Kope Riva (if that star connects to Nga Kope Ririva) at Ga7-8 (ordinal number 177). 266 - 177 = 89, i.e. a moon quarter (3 * 29.5 = 88.5). 266 and 177 are not random numbers. 2 + 6 + 6 = 14, and 1 + 7 + 7 = 15, i.e. half 28 respectively half 30. From Te Pou up to and including (Hanga) Te Pau there are exactly 100 glyphs (days), because Te Pau has ordinal number 366 counted from Gb8-30 (not from Ga1-1). Now it is possible to define where the solar year really begins - it is governed by Sirius, but the year does not begin at Te Pou. Instead we have to go backwards in time to Gb8-30:
The other year, which begins at Nga Kope Ririva, ends with Hanga Takaure at Ga1-1:
Hanga Takaure defines the end of the lunar year, Hanga Te Pau the end of the solar year. The first third of the way to the residence of the king, at Anakena, as measured between the two star stations, is 89 nights (moon-time) long, i.e. 3 lunar months. If there are 6 more lunar months to Anakena, it should be located at glyph number 3 * 89 = 267 counted from Ga7-8. This is also exactly the distance from Gb8-30 to Te Pou.
This cannot be true, because Gb8-3 lies immediately to the east of One Tea. If we try moving in the other direction, from Nga Kope Ririva clockwise 2 * 89 = 178 glyphs, i.e. go backwards from Ga7-8, we come back to Gb8-30 (because Nga Kope Ririva is glyph number 178 counted from Gb8-30). That alternative is equally impossible, because Hanga Takaure lies just around the corner. We continue quoting: "For all the names in the first third of the list, the use of the definite article (te, pl. nga) is characteristic." This is unquestionably a correct statement. What does it mean? The definite article was used on side a for all 6 'true' solar stations, but not for Hanga Takaure and not for Mauga Hau Epa. These two stations are 'dark'. As if to compensate, the two first stations on side b have a definite article (Te Pei and Te Pou). Yet Te Pei is dark. Te Pou (Sirius) was used to define the solar year, we have seen, therefore it had a definite article, and maybe as a corollary Te Pei also got a definite article. But in the darkest of times (Te Pei) there must be some way of kindling the new flames. We will come back to Te Pei. |
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