|
TRANSLATIONS
We are back again at Ab1-2:
Life is onboard a canoe seen far
away at the horizon. Hau tea means light, and therefore
also life.
I guess that the canoe seen
sideways is far away at the horizon, while the canoe close-up is
seen like in GD48 (vaka):
In the tapa mea
glyphs during the daytime they are depicted as close-up, while
in the parallel texts (in H/P/Q) the sun canoes often are
depicted as far away. That does not bother me, other causes may be
the reason for that.
Te/ta-uru papagete/i haunts
my mind.
 |
 |
|
Bb3-12 |
Aa1-41 |
| te
uru papageti |
e tauru
papagete |
I have no evidence to point at, but
I have a hunch that it means something like 'the hour of the
parrot', a fiery red-coloured bird, like phoenix, with a
function similar to that of its more humble cousin the cuckoo in
the Swiss clock.
The Spanish
papagayo (for parrot) is not enough similar a word to be
evidence, though.
Another curious word is ehu:
 |
 |
|
Aa1-37 |
Aa1-38 |
| e ia toa tauuru
- ehu |
e ia toa tauuru
- ehu |
I have searched through all
Metoro's readings and found just one possible other example:
 |
|
Ab2-3 |
| e mama vaiehu |
| Mama
1. To chew. 2. To mouth-feed (arch.)
he-mama i te vai tôa koia ko te tiapito kiroto ki
te haha o te poki, she mouth-feeds the child
with sugarcane juice together with tiapito
juice. 3. A sea mollusc (with an eight-horned
shell). Vanaga.
1. To leak, to ooze, (maamaa).
2. To chew. 3. Light not heavy, (maamaa). 4.
A limpet (Chiton magnificus). 5. To open the
mouth; hakamama, to yawn, to gape, to be
ajar. Churchill. |
Vaiehu, with water (vai) combined with ehu
is not far away from ehu ûa (drizzle), I think:
|
Ûa
Rain; 1. ûa hakamito,
persistent, but not strong, rain; 2. ûa kura,
fine rain, drizzle; 3. ûa matavaravara,
strong rain; 4. ûa parera, torrential
rain; 5. ûa tai, rain followed by fair
weather at sea. Ehu
ûa, drizzle. Vanaga.
Ûaûa. Tendons,
muscles. 1. Hau ûaûa kio'e, line made
from rats' tendons. 2. Ûaûa toto, vein,
artery. 3. Ûaûa piki, spasm. Vanaga.
1. Rain; hoa mai te ua,
to rain; mou te ua, to cease raining. P
Mgv., Mq., Ta.: ua, rain. 2. Vein,
artery, tendon (huahua
1) (uha
G); ua nene,
pulse; ua
nohototo, artery,
ua gaei,
pulse. Uaua,
vein, tendon, line;
kiko uaua, muscle T.
Hakauaua,
to mark with lines. P Pau.:
tare-ua,
tendon. Mgv., Mq., Ta.:
uaua,
vein, tendon. Churchill |
I imagined that ehu meant
yellowish and thought about autumn leaves, but the night
calendar in Tahua is not a calendar for the year, that I
had convinced myself of earlier. I then checked in the glyph
catalogue under GD67 (where I have put all maro glyphs)
and in Aruku Kurenga and Tahua I found only these
additional glyphs with maro streaming upwards:
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ba4-14 |
Ba4-20 |
Ba4-25 |
Bb4-9 |
| tuu i te
kihikihi - i te
henua - kua moe - kua hakarao ki tona tamaiti |
ki to
kihikihi - ko
koe i te henua |
e tagata -
hakahunu kua tupu te
kihikihi i te henua (includes Ba4-24) |
kua oho mai i
te maro |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ab4-23 |
Ab4-32 |
Ab4-58 |
| ki te tai - ka
hakatuu |
mai marae hea
tau ua i hao ai te maro |
ko te maro here
- i te vae - ko te tagata (includes Ab4-59) |
In Keiti there were no such
examples, but in Mamari there were many (15, i.e. 36 % of
all 42 maro glyphs):
| Kihikihi
Lichen; also: grey, greenish grey,
ashen. Vanaga.
Lichen T, stone T. Churchill. |
And then we are back to ehu,
which also has to do with ashes, as if the fire of the sun is
'finished' after the sun no longer can be seen:
| Kehu (cfr
ehu) Hidden; what cannot
be seen because it is covered; he-kehu te raá,
said of the sun when it has sunk below the
horizon. Vanaga.
Kehu, hakakehu, to
hide, disguise, feint, feign, to lie in wait.
Kekehu, shoulder G. Churchill. |
|
Ehu
(cfr kehu)
Ehu ûa, drizzle. Vanaga.
Firebrand. Ehuehu: 1.
Ashes. P Mgv.: ehu, ashes, dust; rehu,
a cinder, ashes. Mq.: ehuahi, ashes. Ta.:
rehu, ashes, soot, any powder. 2. Brown,
brownish. P Ta.: ehuehu, red, reddish.
Ha.: kehu, red or sandy haired. Mq.:
kehu, fair, blond. Mgv.: keukeu-kura,
id. Ma.: kehu, reddish brown. Sa.:
'efu, id. To.: kefu, yellowish. Fu.:
kefu, blond, red. Niuē:
kefu,
a disrespectful term of address. Ragi
ehuehu, a
cloudflecked sky. 3. Imperceptible. Churchill.
Pau.: kehu,
flaxen-haired, blond. Ta.:
ehu,
reddish. Mq.: kehu,
blond. Sa.: 'efu,
reddish, brown. Mq.:
kehukehu,
twilight. Ha.: ehuehu,
darkness arising from dust, fog, or vapor.
Churchill. |
EHU
In Churchill 2 we find (item 272) an
extensive survey covering several
variants of Polynesian words
incorporating the fundamental ehu:
| |
dust |
ashes |
vapor |
darkness |
twilight |
muddy |
|
Samoa |
efu |
lefu |
|
nefu |
|
nefu |
|
Tonga |
efu |
efu |
|
nefu |
nefu |
ehu |
|
Niuē |
efu |
efu |
lefu |
|
|
|
|
Uvea |
efu,
nefu |
efu,
lefu |
nefu |
nefu |
|
nefu |
|
Futuna |
efu |
lefu |
|
nefu |
|
|
|
Nukuoro |
rehu |
lefu |
|
|
|
|
|
Maori |
nehu |
rehu |
ehu,
nehu, rehu |
rehu,
nehu |
|
ehu |
|
Moriori |
|
rehu |
|
|
|
|
|
Tahiti |
rehu |
rehu |
|
|
rehu |
ehu |
|
Marquesas |
ehu |
ehu |
|
|
ehu |
|
|
Rarotonga |
|
reu |
|
reu |
|
|
|
Mangareva |
ehu,
neu |
ehu,
rehu |
|
|
|
|
|
Hawaii |
ehu |
lehu |
ehu |
ehu,
lehu |
|
|
In Hawaii (according to Heyerdahl 6)
Wakea was sometimes spoken of
as 'The ehu, the blond, the
bright, the shining one'.
There is much
discussion in Heyerdahl 6 about the
racial background of the
Polynesians, where he distinguishes
between three elements. I have
constructed a simple summary table:
|
pakepakeha * |
maori |
manahune ** |
|
reddish wavy (urukehu)
hair |
black straight hair |
very black hair |
|
white (kiritea)
or copper-coloured (maurea)
skin |
brown skin |
very dark (manauri)
skin |
|
aquiline nose |
aquiline nose |
flat nose and spreading
nostrils |
|
wavy hair |
straight hair |
bushy (frizzy) hair
standing out from the
head |
|
very thin lips |
thin lips |
thick lips |
|
* Maori traditions
explains that they were
"... a race of 'gods'
... who are said always
to live on the sea, and
are white in complexion
- hence the name
Pakeha they gave to
the white man on first
becoming acquainted with
us in the eighteenth
century ..." |
|
** In a Maori dialect:
manahune = 'scab,
or mark on the body' |
"... Being now
willing that Tonga should also be
inhabited by intelligent beings, he
[Tangaloa] commanded his two
sons thus:
Go, and take with you
your wives, and dwell in the world
at Tonga: divide the land into two
portions, and dwell separately from
each other. They departed
accordingly.
The name of the
eldest was Toobó (in present
Polynesian spelling Tu Po, or
'Divine-Night'), and the name of the
youngest was Váca-acow-oóli (Vaka-akau-uli,
or 'Vessel-of-logs-to steer') who
was an exceedingly wise young man;
for it was he that first formed
axes, and invented beads, and cloth,
and looking-glasses.
The young man called
Toobó acted very differently,
being very indolent, sauntering
about and sleeping, and envying very
much the works of his brother. Tired
at length with begging his goods, he
bethought himself to kill him, but
concealed his wicked intention; he
accordingly met his brother walking,
and struck him till he was dead.
At that time their
father came from Bolotoo with
exceeding great anger, and asked
him. Why have you killed your
brother? Could not you work like
him? Oh thou wicked one! begone! go
with my commands to the family of
Váca-acow-oóli and tell them to
come hither.
Being accordingly
come, Tangaloa straightaway
ordered them thus: Put your canoes
to sea, and sail to the east, to the
great land which is there. Be your
skin white as your minds, for your
minds are pure; you shall be wise,
making axes, and all riches
whatsoever, and shall have large
canoes. I will go myself and commend
the wind to blow from your land to
Tonga; but they shall not be able to
go to you with their bad canoes.
Tangaloa then
spoke thus to the others: You shall
be black, because your minds are
bad, and shall be destitute; you
shall not be wise in useful things,
neither shall you go to the great
land of your brothers; how can you
go with your bad canoes? But your
brothers shall come to Tonga, and
trade with you as they please ..."
(Heyerdahl 6)
|
After the sun has sunken below the
horizon in the west he cannot be regarded as young, he is very
old. Therefore the description of Váca-acow-oóli (Vaka-akau-uli,
or 'Vessel-of-logs-to steer') as the younger brother must be
wrong.
Black comes before white and youth
is found in the east, while old people approach the western
horizon.
Furthermore, Heyerdahl has argued
for fair people being earlier inhabitants on the Polynesian islands
than the 'maori' (i.e. those with ancestors from the
American Northwest Coast). The reason for Toobó being
described as the older brother must be to identify
Váca-acow-oóli with the people on the coast of South
America. '... Put your canoes to sea, and sail to the east, to
the great land which is there ...'
|
