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TRANSLATIONS
Maybe the 'war
of the islets' is the reason for the Easter Island unique system
of writing? The 'Battle of Trees' in ancient Britain was fought
in the stone age. Easter Island was also in the stone age. Both
in ancient Britain and on Easter Island there was a cosmic
system without which everything would have fallen to pieces. To try to
change the fundaments of such a cosmic system would indeed lead
to war.
Maybe the two
different sides of Tahua describes the two different
cosmic systems? If side b (the beginning of the whole text) is
less sun-centered than side a, then side b may represent the old
moon system. We have 4 great henua on side a, but 8 on
side b:
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4 quarters defined by the cardinal points of the sun
(equinoxes, solstices)
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Aa1-43 |
Aa4-38 |
Aa7-82 |
Aa8-84 |
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Ab1-62 |
Ab1-77 |
Ab2-1 |
Ab2-18 |
Ab2-47 |
Ab6-78 |
Ab6-80 |
Ab8-35 |
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8 'quarters' defined by the cardinal points of the
moon (cfr the moon calendar in Mamari)
? |
Already early I found it clear that henua (GD37) must
mean a period of time (or rather a 'season'):
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GD37
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henua |
'henua'
A
period of time. In the world of Metoro this
is not the abstract period of time but the concrete
seasons including all their scheduled events, in
other words: what constitutes the world for us
living people. |
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1.
Probably this type of glyph originates
from the image of a
wooden staff (kouhau). Such were
used in different circumstances: measuring, memory
aids (cutting marks in the wood), sign of power etc.
"He [Eric Thompson] established that
one sign, very common in the codices where it
appears affixed to main signs, can be read as 'te'
or 'che', 'tree' or 'wood', and as a
numerical classifier in counts of periods of time,
such as years, months, or days.
In Yucatec, you cannot for instance
say 'ox haab' for 'three years', but must say
'ox-te haab', 'three-te years'. In
modern dictionaries 'te' also means 'tree',
and this other meaning for the sign was confirmed
when Thompson found it in compounds accompanying
pictures of trees in the Dresden Codex." (Coe)
2.
Example (Eb3-1--3 respectively Eb5-4--6):
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'winter' (from autumn to spring
equinox) |
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'summer' (from spring to autumn
equinox) |
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'Winter' has
the
short ends of the staff indented
meaning less sun.
The man in 'winter' has a
'barren' Y-shaped hand and his elbow ornament in
not complete (at spring equinox there still
remains three months until summer solstice). The
man in 'summer' has a 'growing' arm and no
incomplete elbow ornament. The three
double-month symbols in 'winter' are more
pronounced towards the left, the three
double-month symbols in 'summer' are more
pronounced towards the right.
When the staff has
hatchmarks across it,
e.g.
meaning a time when the sun is
below the horizon, the short ends of henua
are never drawn indented (as in 'winter' above).
Presumably in ancient times 'winter' meant the
long period of darkness and absence of the sun,
and then hatchmarks across the 'summer' staff
would indicate 'no light' to show that the dark
part of the year was meant. Therefore, these
hatchmarks might mean 'negation'.
There is a double meaning in
henua, not only a period of time but also a
connection with light. Henua without
hatchmarks means a period of light, henua
with hatchmarks a period of darkness.
There are no henua in a
calendar for the moon, because the 'land of the
moon' is the night. Instead, for a period of
night 'marama' (GD44) or 'toki'
(GD79) are used. Calendars
involving sun and light use henua or 'tapa
mea' (GD54).
3. In the Japanese language yellow is
'kiiro' (ki-iro = tree-colour) and
'tree' is written with the Chinese character
showing a tree:
 
The four examples at right are
early variants (ref. Lindqvist). The wood of a
tree is yellow and the sun is yellow, therefore
the stem of a tree could be used as a symbol for
the sun and - more precisely used - as the
path
of the sun.
On the other hand, the Chinese
had also another character derived from the
picture of a tree, and this they used for the
colour red (aka in Japanese):
In the early examples of this
character the stem of the tree is marked with a
dot (middle) or a horizontal line (right).
The Chinese used the stem of
certain trees to make red colour pigment. Red or
yellow - both colours are reminiscent of the
sun. On Easter Island they preferred to use the
hard reddish wood from Toromiro for all
kinds of wood work, like houses, canoes and
sculptures. This kind of wood was in ancient
times sacred.
To illustrate the path of the sun
the stem of a tree was used. That is the origin
of the picture behind GD37.
It is, however, also useful to
compare with the path of the sun as illustrated
in the Gateway of the Sun in Tiahuanaco (ref.
Posnansky):
Here we can see that the long
winding path of the sun - always with straight
segments - has bird heads inserted symmetrically
at crucial points (cfr GD57). Similarly
to the strings of kaikai the path
of the sun has no ends.
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I
have no reason to change anything in this for the moment. I just
would like to point out that the 'trees' in the Battle of the
Trees were letters. They carved letters in wood and therefore
the association between trees and letters was close.
Trees and letters were based on the calendar and the calendar on
what was 'written' in the sky. Cosmos derived from the sky.
The rongorongo wooden boards with their incised signs
could very well be equally closely bound up with the calendar
system.
When we so often find glyphs depicting sun and moon it is
probably due to the fact that the cosmos of those who created
the texts was derived from the sky.
Lately I have gradually become more
conscious about another aspect, viz. that each island is a world
separate from the rest. Each island is its own cosmos:
Also the great
ships which once moved across the sea had this status - they were
like small islands and therefore when reaching an atoll it could
equally well be said that the atoll moved towards the ship:
... In the
Marquesas group rafts were formally used, and are referred to in
some recorded oceanic voyages. Huge rafts were here generally
constructed from extremely thick bamboo. The old natives of
Fatuhiva still speak of an attack made by neighbouring
tribes upon the inhabitants of Manuoo Valley, with the
direct result that, to save their lives, the whole population of
that district - men, women and children - embarked upon a number
of large rafts made from thick bamboo securely lashed together.
They stored
coconuts, poi-poi, and other provisions on board the
rafts, as well as fishing gear, and a fresh water supply in
large bamboo canes with pierced joints. And thus they all
deserted the island in a body. Years later one of these refugees
returned to Uapou Island in the Marquesas group, bringing
the news that his party had landed safely on an atoll in the
distant Tuamotu group ...
When Metoro
sometimes said henua at other
glyph types than GD37, the glyph in question seems often to be
showing a 'canoe'. The following table is the result of an
investigation into where Metoro
said henua without any
accompanying sign of GD37:
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Ba1-9 |
Ba1-10 |
Ba1-17 |
Ba1-29 |
Ba1-30 |
Ba3-11 |
| ki te
henua |
ki tona
henua |
ki te
henua
|
i
te henua |
ku
hanau ïa mai tae tuki te
henua |
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|
Ba9-44 |
Ba10-21 |
Bb2-18 |
Bb8-28 |
Bb11-29 |
| ki te
henua - kua hua
|
mai tae tuki te
henua |
hokohuki ma te
henua |
ku kotia ko te
henua |
kua
oho ia i te henua
- eko te matagi |
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|
Ab2-23 |
Ab2-45 |
Ab2-51 |
Ab2-66 |
Ab3-74 |
| na rima tuhi
henua - i haga
te maro |
e uhi tapamea -
tae ai ihe tagata tua i te
henua |
ui ki te
henua |
ki
te henua |
e
henua ui ki te
vai (includes Ab3-75) |
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Ab4-13 |
Ab4-34 |
Ab4-44 |
Ab5-40 |
Ab7-13 |
Ab8-28 |
| ma to
henua |
ki te
henua ko mata
tuna vai |
ki te
henua |
ma te
henua |
o
tona henua |
ki
te henua |
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|
Aa1-12 |
Aa1-27 |
Aa1-48 |
Aa1-49 |
Aa1-50 |
Aa1-51 |
| ki te
henua |
ki te
henua |
e tauuru no te
henua |
e
ihe ka pipiri i te henua |
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Aa2-31 |
Aa2-42 |
Aa4-39 |
Aa5-46 |
Aa5-54 |
Aa5-68 |
Aa6-1 |
|
henua noho ragi |
ki te
henua i ruga te
ragi |
ki uta ki te
pito o te henua |
i
te henua |
e
henua ko to ihe |
e ika moe i te
henua |
Kua rere ko te
manu - ki to henua |
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Ca1-13 |
Ca1-20 |
Ca5-1 |
Ca8-27 |
Cb11-3 |
| te
henua |
hakaraoa - te
henua |
E hua ki te
henua - ka huki |
tupu te ure o te henua |
ko
te inoino - te henua |
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Cb11-18 |
Cb12-24 |
Cb14-17 |
Cb14-19 |
| tagata -
henua hikihiki |
e ariki noho i
te henua |
e noi koe te
manu - kokoti hia te henua |
i te
henua |
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Ea2-12 |
Ea2-15 |
Ea2-26 |
Ea2-28 |
Ea2-32 |
Ea3-24 |
| te kiore ki te
henua - e ku
kikiu te kiore |
e tagata
hakakaikai toki - ki te
henua koti |
ka rere te toki
- i te henua |
rere te toki rere ki te
henua e tagata tagi karaga era e |
ki
te henua |
toki i te henua
ku tutu raua (includes Ea3-23) |
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Ea8-2 |
Ea8-107 |
Ea9-35 |
Eb1-2 |
Eb7-24 |
| ki te raa - te
henua |
ko raua ku tutu
i te henua |
te
henua |
te
henua |
te
henua |
GD14 glyphs (henua
ora) have not been listed. I could above also have excluded
the 'broken' (koti) henua (Ba3-11, Bb8-28 and
Ea2-15). Obviously they can be seen as one henua divided
into two pieces. We know that the symbol means a broken up
season. At the 11th kuhane station we have 'daybreak' (or
spring equinox?), the
place where the 'bamboo' (kohe) staff is broken:
...
The dream soul went on. She was careless (?) and broke the
kohe plant with her feet. She named the place 'Hatinga Te
Koe A Hau Maka O Hiva' ...
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Stations of the dream soul of Hau Maka: |
My associations: |
The day calendars: |
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11 Hatinga Te Kohe |
Daybreak:
one period ends and another starts. |
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12 Roto Ire Are |
'Rosy
fingers' on the surface of the sea. |
1 |
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13 Tama |
2nd part
of twilight time. A shark should not walk on land,
i.e. this station belongs to the 'sea' (darkness,
Moon) and there is no henua. |
- |
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14 One Tea |
White
sand: the ground is bathing in light, the 'wooden
sword' (henua) of the sun now clearly rules. |
2 |
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15 Hanga Takaure |
Prolific,
i.e. increasing, is the sun and by 'eating' he
grows. |
3 |
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16 Poike |
High in
the sky the sun now moves. |
4 |
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17 (Mauga) Pua Katiki |
'Noon':
sun reaches its maximum. Female (a.m.) side of exact
middle of the day. The yellow 'halo' (katiki)
surround the fully grown pillar of the sun. |
5 |
... The name
'Breaking of the kohe plant', which is used in the same
or nearly the same form in all of the traditions, must refer to a
special event. *Kofe is the name for bamboo on most
Polynesian islands, but today on Easter Island kohe is
the name of a fern that grows near the beach
...
Where I have guessed
Omotohi (Ca7-24), though, Metoro said
te hare
pure e tagata noho ki roto
We can extract from the table those glyphs which presumably
show a canoe (GD48):
We understand ki
te henua at Aa1-12. The picture of a 'great dead canoe'
refers to the season when sun has 'disappeared' - or is about to
'disappear' - (an euphemism for his 'death'), i.e. the
last season of the year.
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9 |
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11 |
12 |
1 |
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| Garo
1. To disappear, to become lost.
He tere, he garo. He ran away and disappeared.
He û'i te Ariki, ku garo á te kaíga i te vai
kava. The king saw that the land had disappeared
in the sea. I te ahiahi-ata he garo te raá ki
raro ki te vai kava. In the evening the sun
disappears under the sea. Ku garo á te kupu o te
tai i a au. I have forgotten the words of the
song (lit. the words of the song have become lost to
me). Ina koe ekó garo. Don't disappear (i.e.
don't go), or: don't get lost on the way. 2.
Hidden. Te mana'u garo, hidden thoughts.
Kona garo o te tagata, 'people's hidden places':
pudenda. Vanaga.
To disappear, to stray, to omit,
to lose oneself, to pass, absent, to founder, to
drown, to sink; garo noa, to go away forever,
to be rare; garo atu ana, formerly.
Hakagaro, to cover with water; hakagaro te
rakerakega, to pardon. Garoa, loss,
absence, to be away, to drown, not comprehended,
unitelligible. Garoaga, setting; garoaga
raa, sunset, west. Garoraa, the sun
half-set. Garovukua, to swallow up.
Churchill. |
The triplet
Aa1-49--51 we also recognize as referring to the 'station of the
earth':
... At the end of
the 52 glyphs we have:
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Aa1-49 |
Aa1-50 |
Aa1-51 |
Aa1-52 |
48 = 6 * 8 and then
follows - as I 'read' it - the 'death' (GD45, ihe tau) of
the 3 'wives' of the sun + the 'sign of the king' (GD13, rei
miro). Remarkably, all four glyphs show a very subdued
'face', shrunken and not at all at their best
...
Metoro said
e ihe ka pipiri i te henua at Aa1-49--50. Pipiri,
we remember, is to 'catch':
... The black slug which secretes a sticky fluid (piripiri)
has three fundamental characteristics: It is slow, it is black
and it is sticky. From this follows that hakapipiri
becomes to 'glue'. To 'catch' is pipiri, a similar
concept. We remember how the sun moves slow at solstice, as if
he was a slug or as if caught in a snare ...
I
repeat what is said in my dictionary about piri
and then add the item for pipi:
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Piri
1. To join (vi, vt); to meet someone
on the road; piriga, meeting, gathering. 2.
To choke: he-piri te gao. 3. Ka-piri, ka
piri, exclamation: 'So many!' Ka-piri, kapiri
te pipi, so many shellfish! Also used to welcome
visitors: ka-piri, ka-piri! 4. Ai-ka-piri
ta'a me'e ma'a, expression used to someone from
whom one hopes to receive some news, like saying
'let's hear what news you bring'. 5. Kai piri,
kai piri, exclamation expressing: 'such a thing
had never happened to me before'. Kai piri, kai
piri, ia anirá i-piri-mai-ai te me'e rakerake,
such a bad thing had never happened to me before!
Piripiri,
a slug found on the coast, blackish, which secretes
a sticky liquid. Piriu,
a tattoo made on the back of the hand. Vanaga.
1. With, and. 2. A shock, blow. 3.
To stick close to, to apply oneself, starch;
pipiri, to stick, glue, gum; hakapiri,
plaster, to solder; hakapipiri, to glue, to
gum, to coat, to fasten with a seal;
hakapipirihaga, glue. 4. To frequent, to join,
to meet, to interview, to contribute, to unite, to
be associated, neighboring; piri mai, to
come, to assamble, a company, in a body, two
together, in mass, indistinctly; piri ohorua,
a couple; piri putuputu, to frequent; piri
mai piri atu, sodomy; piri iho, to be
addicted to; pipiri, to catch; hakapiri,
to join together, aggregate, adjust, apply,
associate, enqualize, graft, vise, join, league,
patch, unite. Piria;
tagata piria, traitor.
Piriaro (piri
3 - aro), singlet, undershirt.
Pirihaga,
to ally, affinity, league.
Piripou (piri 3 -
pou), trousers.
Piriukona, tattooing on
the hands. Churchill. |
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Pipi 1. Bud, sprout; to bud, to sprout; ku-pipi-á te
tumu miro tahiti, the trunk of the miro tahiti has sprouted.
2. A small shellfish, common on the coast. Vanaga.
1. To blanch, to etiolate. 2. A spark, to sparkle. 3.
Young branches, shoot, sprout, to bud. Mq.: pipi, tip of the
banana blossom. 4. Snail, T, pea, bean. P Mgv.: pipi, small
shellfish in the shape of a mussel. Mq.: pipi, generic term for
shells. Ta.: pipi, generic term for beans. 5. To boil with hot
stones. 6. A wave. 7. Thorn, spiny, uneven. 8. Small; haha pipi,
small mouth. 9. Rump, the rear. Pipine, to be wavy, to undulate.
Churchill. |
Expanding our consciousness to include
all 9 different meanings of pipi attributed by
Churchill is difficult. However, we can understand
'rump, the rear' because the year is at its end. It is
time for a new year, a new 'spark' (pipi) to
generate the sprouts (pipi) of life.
Maybe, even, we can imagine the
undulations (pipine) of the 'frigate bird' (taha)
wing in Aa1-42 as an allusion to the generation of new
life:
To conclude
this investigation into what possible meanings Metoro
had at other than GD37 (and GD14) henua glyphs,
we should make a new table, where we have elminated
those glyphs which are discussed above:
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|
Ba1-10 |
Ba1-17 |
Ba1-29 |
Ba1-30 |
Ba10-21 |
| ki tona
henua |
ki te
henua
|
i te
henua |
mai tae
tuki te henua |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ab2-23 |
Ab2-45 |
Ab2-66 |
Ab4-13 |
Ab4-34 |
| na rima
tuhi henua
- i haga te maro |
e uhi
tapamea - tae ai ihe tagata tua i te
henua |
ki te
henua |
ma to
henua |
ki te
henua ko
mata tuna vai |
|
|
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|
|
|
|
Ab4-44 |
Ab8-28 |
Aa1-27 |
Aa1-48 |
Aa2-31 |
| ki te
henua |
ki te
henua |
ki te
henua |
e
tauuru no te henua |
henua
noho ragi |
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|
|
Aa2-42 |
Aa4-39 |
Aa5-68 |
Aa6-1 |
| ki te
henua i
ruga te ragi |
ki uta
ki te pito o te
henua |
e ika
moe i te henua |
Kua
rere ko te manu - ki to
henua |
|
|
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|
|
|
Ca1-13 |
Ca1-20 |
Ca5-1 |
Ca8-27 |
| te
henua |
hakaraoa - te henua |
E hua
ki te henua
- ka huki |
tupu te
ure o te henua |
|
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|
Cb11-18 |
Cb12-24 |
Cb14-17 |
Cb14-19 |
| tagata
- henua
hikihiki |
e ariki
noho i te henua |
e noi
koe te manu - kokoti hia te
henua |
i te
henua |
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|
Ea2-26 |
Ea2-28 |
Ea3-24 |
Ea8-2 |
| ka rere
te toki - i te
henua |
rere te
toki rere ki te
henua e tagata tagi karaga era e |
toki i
te henua
ku tutu raua (includes Ea3-23) |
ki te
raa - te henua |
|
|
|
|
|
Ea8-107 |
Ea9-35 |
Eb7-24 |
| ko raua
ku tutu i te henua |
te
henua |
te
henua
|
This residue of 34 glyphs should not
bother us too much. After having seen the 9 different
meanings of pipi we should accept several different
meanings of henua.
I cannot, though, resist the temptation
of a few further explanations. Eb7-24 (GD41, hau tea)
should not surprise us:
... There is a double meaning in
henua, not only a period of time but also a
connection with light. Henua without
hatchmarks means a period of light, henua
with hatchmarks a period of darkness ...
GD47 (toa) appears in Aa1-48, in
Ea3-24 and in Ea8-107. Earlier I have suggested that the
image of GD47 once originated from an old type of canoe
with a double tail:
... the
stoical Peruvian seamen, who were capable of restoring
the decreasing buoyancy of their inflated seal-skin bags
by blowing them up while sitting on them at sea, would
also be capable of repairing their reed-craft while
afloat, by exchanging wet reeds in the bottom layers
with a dry supply from above the water level. This would
only have to be done at intervals of many weeks, and
would seem a simple performance since the bow and
stern-pieces, to judge from the prehistoric
reproductions, were raised suggestively high above the
water. These vertical but very light reed-bundles would,
therefore, be kept perfectly dry by the combined action
of wind and sun, and would give a skilled crew the full
opportunity of manipulating the buoyancy of their craft
to a considerable degree over a long period of time.
The same
upturned bow and stern-pieces may even give us a clue to
the stability of these long lost reed vessels:
they are shown by the Early Chimu artists with a
double stern. This, combined with the plain
reproduction of a superimposed platform or deck, clearly
indicates that we are dealing with some sort of forked
or plough-shaped craft, if not directly a double-raft
like some New Zealand log-rafts and some of the decked
reed-rafts of Lake Titicaca used in historical times.
Cb14-17 and Cb14-19 appear at the very
end of the Mamari text (while Ca1-13 and Ca1-20
appear at the beginning). I suspect that Metoro
thought about the beginnings and ends of the
rongorongo texts as being closely associated with
Mother Earth.
Is not
henua = he nua - i.e. 'mother'?
| He, hé
He,
article, also verbal prefix. Hé,
where? I hé, where; ki hé,
whereto; mai hé, wherefrom. Vanaga.
Article. P Mgv., Mq.: e,
the. Sa.: se, id. Churchill. |
|
Nua
1. Mother; this seems a more
ancient word than matu'a poreko. 2.
Blanket, clothing, cape formerly made from
fibres of the mahute tree. Vanaga.
Cloak T. Churchill.
Nu'a
1. Thick; piled one on top of the other, as
leis,
mats, or ocean swells; heaped; lush,
thick-growing; much traveled, as a road;
multitude, as of people, mass. Also
hānu'a.
Moena kumu
nu'a, a sleeping mat made thick
at one end to serve as a head rest; lit.
'mat piled beginning'.
Nu'a
moena,
a heap of mats.
Nu'a kanaka, many people.
Haki nu'a ka
uahi i ke kai, the spray breaks
in masses in the sea.
Ka nu'a o ka palai, the thick
clump of
palai ferns.
Ho'o nu'a,
to heap up; to give generously and
continuously; to indulge, as a child;
surging, rising in swells, as the sea. 2. A
kind of seaweed. Nu'a-kea, a goddess
of lactation. Wehewehe. |
Or maybe
we should call her 'anthill':
... But
in the fullness of time an obscure instinct led the
eldest of them towards the anthill which had been
occupied by the Nummo. He wore on his head a
head-dress and to protect him from the sun, the
wooden bowl he used for his food. He put his two
feet into the opening of the anthill, that is of the
earth's womb, and sank in slowly as if for a
parturition a tergo.
The
whole of him thus entered into the earth, and his
head itself disappeared. But he left on the ground,
as evidence of his passage into that world, the bowl
which had caught on the edges of the opening. All
that remained on the anthill was the round wooden
bowl, still bearing traces of the food and the
finger-prints of its vanished owner, symbol of his
body and of his human nature, as, in the animal
world, is the skin which a reptile has shed ...
Or maybe
we should compare her with a heap of stone:
...
They stayed there twenty-seven days in Oromanga.
Everytime Kuukuu asked, 'Where are you,
friends?' they immediately replied in one voice,
'Here we are!'
They all sat down and thought. They
had an idea and Ira spoke, 'Hey, you! Bring
the round stones (from the shore) and pile them into
six heaps of stones!' One of
the youths said to Ira, 'Why do we want heaps
of stone?' Ira replied, 'So that we can all
ask the stones to do something.' They took (the
material) for the stone heaps (pipi horeko)
and piled up six heaps of stone at the outer edge of
the cave.
| Hore
(Hore, horehore):
to cut with a knife or with an
obsidian blade (also: horea).
Horeko, solitary, lonely;
kona horeko, solitary place,
loneliness. Vanaga. |
Then
they all said to the stone heaps, 'Whenever he
calls, whenever he calls for us, let your voices
rush (to him) instead of the six (of us) (i.e., the
six stone heaps are supposed to be substitutes for
the youths). They all drew back to profit (from the
deception) (? ki honui) and listened. A short
while later, Kuukuu called. As soon as he had
asked, 'Where are you?' the voices of the stone
heaps replied, 'Here we are!' All (the youths) said,
'Hey, you! That was well done!' ...
|
