TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

Working from the hypothesis that Metoro knew what he was doing when reading the texts for Bishop Jaussen (and that he did his best to deliver an adequate 'translation' of the glyphs) - and furthermore supposing that those who created Manuscript E also knew and tried their best to give the 'true' picture - I find it reasonable to try to fit one of the takaúre glyphs in G to the position in time-space which was labelled Hanga Takaure (Bay of Flies) by the kuhane of Hau Maka.

One of the 6 glyph candidates immediately can be distinguished, viz. Ga4-2 which is the only takaure glyph on side a:


Ga4-2	Gb2-34	Gb3-1	Gb3-4	Gb3-5	Gb4-4

The other five are rather closely assembled on side b and they therefore hardly could be connected with Hanga Takaure. We have learnt that haga presumably indicates a resting place, and - furthermore - that Hanga Te Pau very probably is a name for the last day of the year. I think Hanga Takaure is another similar place of final rest (with the connotation of a season ending). There cannot be many takaure glyphs at Hanga Takaure, at the end there should be only one, viz. the last one of them.

Ga4-2 is located in the 7th period (of 31 ending in a similar manner):

7
7	Ga4-1	Ga4-2	Ga4-3	Ga4-4

Earlier (at tagata) I had come to believe that the 'fully grown' season illustrated in Ga4-1 was meant to be understood as the season ending at midsummer. Now, however, that is no longer a tenable suggestion, because we know that midsummer is located around Gb1-6 (much further ahead in the calendar):

	208		*9 29**
Ga1-26		Gb1-6
210			261
471

From this we learn that tagata glyphs can be determined not only by signs on the tagata glyph itself but alternatively by the following glyph. As will be proven later on in this 'excursion' it is probably the takaure season which is ending in the 7th period.

... Summary: The plain (without extra signs) tagata glyphs symbolize the apex (fully grown) 'person' - not an unitiated youth and not an old man but a warrior in full strength. As such tagata was used at noon and in the middle of summer.

A fully grown season (tagata) which is located elsewhere than at 'zenith' (noon or midsummer) was adorned with one or several signs to identify what season was meant.


Ha6-2	Ga4-1	Eb3-1	Eb5-4
noon	midsummer	winter (from autumn to spring equinox)	summer (from spring to autumn equinox)

The examples of texts with winter and summer tagata glyphs prove that with extra signs present we cannot expect the reading to be 'center' or 'zenith' ...

The tagata glyphs are not rare in the rongorongo texts. Therefore I expect such a glyph to appear closely before the only other haga te pau glyph we have, viz. the reversed sign in Pa6-15. This prediction proves to be true:


Pa6-8	Pa6-9	Pa6-10	Pa6-11	Pa6-12	Pa6-13	Pa6-14

Pa6-15	Pa6-16	Pa6-17	Pa6-18	Pa6-19	Pa6-20	Pa6-21

The forward leg in Pa6-15 ends in emptiness, with the foot invisible - like a ghost. Then, in Pa6-16 the opposite of a rounded club foot is presented. The new season has as one of its qualities the opposite of pau, it is affluent. The 'fish' is rising again (Pa6-17).

Tagata in Pa6-14 is not designed en face, time is moving forward, I guess. In Pa6-12 pure may mark the 'zero' before time starts to move again. 6 * 12 = 72 = 360 / 5 and 6 * 14 = 84.

6 * 15 = 90 (a quarter is ending). I get the idea to see whether 5 * 18 = 90 may show us the ending of the preceding quarter, and it could very well be so:


Pa5-15	Pa5-16	Pa5-17	Pa5-18

Seen isolated like this we can read that the 2nd (because there are twin glyphs) season is ending at Pa5-18. Furthermore, the inverted maro strings suggest renewal (not finished). The tagata glyphs have signs looking like the fully grown 'summer tagata' (cfr above). Possibly, therefore, the 2nd part of summer (from midsummer to autumn equinox) ends here, without it meaning that the real final has been reached. It is the season of Pax rather than Vayeb.

When I look which glyphs arrive before and after the 4 above, it becomes clear that indeed the 3rd quarter probably is meant:


Pa5-9	Pa5-10	Pa5-11	Pa5-12	Pa5-13	Pa5-14


Pa5-19	Pa5-20	Pa5-21	Pa5-22	Pa5-23	Pa5-24	Pa5-25

In P (as well as in Q and H) the 'night calendar' follows, while in A the text continues with end of the year:


Aa1-13	Aa1-14	Aa1-15

Niu in Aa1-13 can be compared with niu in Pa6-20. Niu belongs to the end of the year, and it seems to come after winter solstice, judging from its position in P.

The 'night' is the 4th quarter according to P (and Q and H), while in A the 4th quarter is described differently:


Aa1-9	Aa1-10	Aa1-11	Aa1-12

There are 4 glyphs (as in P, H, and Q), presumably to indicate the last 4 months of the regular year, and there is a division in the middle, beyond which 'death' comes. Maybe the sign of renewal in P (and H, Q) by way of reversed maro strings means we should interpret the double 'cut marks' on the throat of 'kuukuu' (Aa1-11) as a sign of his 'head' being 'implanted' to ensure next generation? The last of him (pau) is taken care of and a new fire is alighted at Hanga Hoonu.

This text is important for us and will be useful for the further translations.