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TRANSLATIONS
Earlier we arrived at this preliminary structure:
Although the death of Kuukuu (the yam planter) may have occurred at summer solstice (as suggested in the table above) that is far from certain. 'Deaths' may be expected not only at summer solstice (of the first half-year sun) and at winter solstice (of the second half-year sun), but also at the end of 'summer' (in 'August'). "As 8 is the sacred numeral of Tinne's month - and in the Imperial Roman Calendar also the ruling month was the eighth, called Sebastos ('Holy') or Augustus - so the eight-day period rules the calendar. In fact, Tannus [another name for Tinnus] displaces his oak-twin Durus and seems to be doing him a great kindness - the same kindness that Celestial Hercules did for Atlas - in relieving him of his traditional burden. The twins were already connected with the numeral 8 because of their eight-year reign, which was fixed ... by the approximation at every hundredth lunation of lunar and solar time. That a calendar of this sort was in use in ancient Ireland is suggested by numerous ancient Circles of the Sun, consisting of five stones surrounding a central altar; and by the ancient division of the land into five provinces - Ulster, the two Munsters, Leinster and Connaught - meeting at a central point in what is now West Meath, marked by a Stone of Divisions. (The two Munsters had already coalesced by the time of King Tuathal the Acceptable, who reigned from 130-160 A.D.; he took off a piece of all four provinces to form his central demesne of Meath.)
And there is a clear reference to this calendar system in the tenth-century A.D. Irish Saltair na Rann where a Heavenly City is described, with fifteen ramparts, eight gates, and seventy-two different kinds of fruit in the gardens enclosed." (The White Goddess) This is yet another calendar system, a system based on 5 main seasons (each divided into 3 periods). The 15 periods were connected to letters, e.g. B for the beginning of the year and R for the end of the year. These letters were then associated with trees, e.g. B with birch and R with elder (Ruis in Irish). And then, of course, everything else was also classified in accordance with the fundamental system chosen. Old Ireland and old Rapanui (and old - it seems - everywhere else) had fundamental systems which, once defined, included everything in its cosmos. Indeed that is the definition of cosmos: an ordered whole. We should note that the 'extracalendrical' 5 days needed to complete 5 * 72 = 360 days (up to 365 days) were vocals and that each such vocal 'governed' one sector of the year circle. The vocals were more sacred than the consonants (that can be ascertained from reading The White Goddess) and they dominated the structure. I have mentioned this calendar system in order to establish as fact that we should expect on Easter Island exactly such a complicated cosmos as is described in Barthel 2. Certainly the rongorongo texts (even if not created by the Polynesians) should exhibit the same intricate type of structure. We do not know if Metoro's kuukuu referred to Kuukuu the yam planter. We do not know if the 6th bird in Barthel's list, kukuru toûa, is connected with Kuukuu the yam planter. And we do not know if Metoro had read Aa1-11 as the designer of the glyph intended. These tough questions must be left unanswered for the moment. I think we instead should listen to Barthel 2 (about moa): "While the dog and the pig existed only in the traditions as the shadows of the past, the domestic fowl (moa) that were brought along achieved a position of supreme importance. As a matter of fact, they dominated the island's economy to the point that one is tempted to speak of a prevailing 'economy of fowl'! Their influence, in its many ramifications, touched every aspect of life of the Easter Islanders, including the socioeconomic and the ideologic. As the only permanent livestock, they were an essential part of the islanders' subsistence. All sources count moa (Gallus sp.) among the animals imported by Hotu Matua, and the terminology, including figurative terms, is solidly rooted in the Polynesian language. Moa means 'fowl' in general as a generic term, but it also means 'rooster'. On the other hand, the name for 'hen' is formed by adding uha, the general Polynesian addition for female animals. Specific names are formed by adding attributes to moa - such as moa maanga and moa rikiriki for 'chicken', moa tanga for 'young hen or rooster', and moa toa for an especially splendid 'rooster'. Which came first, the hen or the egg? The egg of course, because in alphabetical order hua comes before uha. There is an extensive terminology dealing with characteristics of the anatomy and the different types of plumage. It is also truly amazing to what extent types and scenes from the world of fowl were projected upon people and situations. Some examples of 'zoomorphic patterns of speech' will serve to illustrate the point. An adopted child is a 'chick that is being nourished' (maanga hangai). Formerly, a marriageable daughter, as well as a beloved wife, was called a 'hen' (uha). It was a mark of distinction for a grown son or a brave young man to be referred to as a 'rooster' (moa).
One of the Rongorongo tablets and a petroglyph (Barthel 1962) indicate that the group of explorers of the immigrant cycle were known as 'roosters'. The same figurative meaning is found in a fragment of the Metoro chants:
The deeper meaning of this passage can be discovered by comparing it with the 'great old words' (Barthel 1959a:168). The 'one who beats his wings' refers to the best person, and the 'one who ties up the fruit' refers to the richest. The 'one who scratches diligently' must be a person who is industrious, so that we can interpret the praise of a promising young man."
If the explorers were alluded to by Metoro, we may imagine a new preliminary structure:
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