| Ahu
1. Funerary monument with niches holding the
skeletons of the dead. 2. Generic term for a grave, a tomb
merely enclosed with stones. 3. Stone platform, with or without
graves. 4. Elevated seat, throne. 5. Swollen; to swell up:
ku-ahu-á tooku va'e, my foot is swollen; ananake te raá
e-tagi-era te ûka riva mo toona matu'a ka-ahu ahu-ró te mata,
every day the daughter cried for her parents until her eyes
were quite swollen. Vanaga.
1. To transfer, to transplant, to take up by
the roots. 2. To puff up, to swell, a swelling, protuberance;
gutu ahu, swollen lips; ahuahu, to swell, plump,
elephantiasis, dropsy; ahuahu pupuhi, amplitude;
manava ahuahu, indigestion. 3. Paralysis. 4. A carved god of
dancing, brought forth only on rare occasions and held of great
potency. Ahuahu, inflammation. Ahukarukaru (ahu
2 - karukaru), dropsy. Churchill. |
To bring summer, it ought to
mean, but what has that to do with the skeletons of the dead? Tavake
was swollen, I remember. Does it mean that Castor is 'liquidating' the
watery season?
I searched for where Metoro
used piri and my definite impression from those glyphs indeed
concur with death and water. If the basic sense is the last phase of the
old year, it makes sense. Let us look at the piri glyphs:
 |
 |
 |
|
Bb8-23 |
Bb10-11 |
Bb12-8 |
| ko korua ra ku
pipiri |
e ka
pipiri
raua |
e tagata rima
piri ki te puoko |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ab1-23 |
Ab1-24 |
Ab1-25 |
Ab1-26 |
Ab2-64 |
| ki te
ika - mo tui no te ariki - nuku hakapiri
te aha - no te ariki - e hau tui ika |
ko te manu
piri e rua - ki te
ragi |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ab3-63 |
Ab3-64 |
Ab3-65 |
Ab3-66 |
Ab3-67 |
| i te
kana - ka pipiri
- ma te vae Rei - aia - te ui mai |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ab4-6 |
Ab4-7 |
Ab4-8 |
Ab4-9 |
Ab5-4 |
| kua
piri ia ko agaagata |
e
piri raua - ma te
hokuhuki |
ma te ravarava |
ka
pipiri |
ka
pipiri
te hetuu |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ab8-5 |
Ab8-7 |
Aa1-49 |
Aa1-50 |
Aa1-51 |
| ku
pipiri te hetuu |
kua tau i te hetu e
ku pipiri |
e ihe
ka pipiri i te henua |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Aa3-73 |
Aa4-2 |
Aa5-37 |
Aa6-31 |
Aa7-18 |
| ka
pipiri te hetuu |
pipiri i te hetuu |
ka
piripiri - i te
henua |
te manu ariga
piri erua |
ka
pipiri te hetu |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Aa7-25 |
Aa7-35 |
Aa7-43 |
Aa7-47 |
Aa7-56 |
|
pipiri te hetu |
ka
pipiri te hetu |
ka
piri te ragi ura te
ragi kaa |
ka
pipiri te hetu |
e
pipiri te hetu |
 |
|
Aa7-67 |
|
pipiri te hetu |
 |
|
Cb9-26 |
| e manu
piri rua |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb3-27 |
Eb5-35 |
Eb7-41 |
Eb7-42 |
| ka
pipiri to ihe |
Kua
pipiri te hetu |
kua
pipiri ko te henua |
We cannot now
look closer at all the glyphs surrounding the piri (which is necessary to be able
to draw more definite conclusions), but we will be convinced by just
looking at the few in C and E:
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
Cb9-24 |
Cb9-25 |
Cb9-26 |
Cb9-27 |
Cb9-28 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Cb9-29 |
Cb9-30 |
Cb10-1 |
Cb10-2 |
Cb10-3 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Cb10-4 |
Cb10-5 |
Cb10-6 |
Cb10-7 |
Cb10-8 |
The headless
person in Cb9-25 apparently is identical with honui at left -
unless there is a little, hardly visible, 'cut' in the connection
between them. Cb9-28 may be united twins. In Cb9-26 (where 9 * 26 = 18 *
13) the birds are also united. Cb9-30 should remind us of Ca7-1, where
the cock just has cried out:
 |
 |
|
Ca6-28 |
Ca7-1 |
| kua Rei te vae |
A new cycle has
just begun. In Eb3-27 the right and left parts are like a pair of
reversed twins:
|
8 |
 |
|
 |
|
Eb3-26 (59) |
Eb3-27 (60) |
Eb3-28 (61) |
| tagata - e Tapamea |
ka pipiri to ihe |
te kiore - te henua |
Metoro
indicates with Tapamea (instead of his normal tapamea) the
importance of the change. The ordinal numbers are counted from Eb1-37 at
the beginning of the 24 periods. If we add 36, Eb3-27 will be number 96
from the beginning of side b. The period number (8) says the cycle is
complete. Ihe presumably is a shorter version of ihe tau:
| Once in a
while Metoro instead of ihe (tau) said
tau avaga, which means a stone at a burial place,
tau meaning stone and avaga meaning niche.
Ihe
seems to mean a needle or point. (Though it is only a name
for a fish in Vanaga.) |
The beginning
of the long last (24th) period, we know, probably describes the end of
the old year:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb5-29 |
Eb5-30 |
Eb5-31 |
Eb5-32 |
Eb5-33 |
Eb5-34 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Eb5-35 |
Eb6-1 |
Eb6-2 |
Eb6-3 |
In Eb7-41--43
the twin henua and the beginning of the new line (with tagata + Rei)
probably also are the last
glyhs of a cycle:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
Eb7-36 |
Eb7-37 |
Eb7-38 |
Eb7-39 |
Eb7-40 |
Eb7-41 |
Eb7-42 |
Eb8-1 |
We remember the
similar Ha10-35 from our poporo studies:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ha10-30 |
Ha10-31 |
Ha10-32 |
Ha10-33 |
Ha10-34 |
Ha10-35 |
Ha10-36 |
Maybe Ha10-30
and Ha10-32 are the 'twins'? Also the 'fists' of pare (Ha10-31)
could refer to Pipiri, the twin stars, which fight for domination
at cardinal points.
Ha10-36
obviously, then, is the winner (this time). His numbers may seem to tell
the opposite story (10 * 36 = 360), but the reward of winning is to be
allowed to 'plant'.