TRANSLATIONS

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16 ...
Kb1-12 Kb1-13 Kb1-14 Kb1-15 Kb1-16 Kb1-101
18
Ga5-10 Ga5-11 Ga5-12 Ga5-13 Ga5-14 Ga5-15 Ga5-16

... If Kb1-101 not is parallel to Ga5-16, but a different kind of glyph, there will be 28 (instead of 29) regular periods in K. Period no. 16 will then stretch 3 glyphs further on (covering what so far has been described as period 17). The beautiful pattern with 36 glyphs in 10 periods (17-26) would then be destroyed, however, and therefore the hypothesis must be that Kb1-101 is a glyph which is parallel to Ga5-16 - first of all in its location but preferably also in its type.

On the other hand, the reconstructed ordinal number in the line for Kb1-101 (i.e. *19) seems to be wrong. *18 would be a better choice. The situation - it may be argued - can be saved by suggesting that Kb1-101 has a reconstructed ordinal number *18 and that Kb1-101 is parallel in position and glyph type with Ga5-16 and that its colour is 'black'.

However, as a consequence the glyph number for period 16 in K will then be *12 (instead of 13?) and we will have 2+3+(2+3+3) [corrected from '9'] = 13 instead of 14 for periods 14, 15 and the beginning of period 16. That cannot be an acceptable solution, because 14 + 24 + 13 = 51. Another possibility is to count only 2+3 = 5 glyphs (parallel to periods 16-17 in G), 14 + 24 + 10 = 48:

K calendar
period no. number of glyphs
1, 2, 3 3 7+3+4 = 14 48
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 10 3+2+3+2+2+2+2+3+2+3 = 24
14, 15, 16 (start) 3 2+3+5 = 10
16 (end) 7
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 10 3+6+4+4+3+6+2+2+3+3 = 36 50
27, 28, 29 3 5+4+5 = 14
30  4

The structure 3+10+3+10+3 = 29 periods is intact, but we have now reduced the total number of glyphs to 98+11 =109, which indicates that the black 'periods' are not yet described properly.

The reduction from 30 to 29 periods did not occur by fusing period 16 with period 17, it occurred due to eliminating period number 30 from the count because it has another type of end glyph. In Tahua the end glyph Aa8-85 appears to be like a canoe with 3 passengers onboard:

Aa8-85 Ab1-1

The form is like the moon sickle of waning moon (south of the equator). The 3 'passengers' probably depict 3 phases of the yearly cycle of the sun and this may explain the question posed by Best:

"In the Maori tongue the word ra denotes the sun, as it does, with some dialectic changes, throughout Polynesia, and as it did in Babylonia and Egypt. Komaru and mamaru also denote the sun, but are seldom heard. These three names are also applied to a canoe-sail, though one fails to see any connection between the two."

The common component in komaru and mamaru is maru:

Maru

Samoa: malū, gentle, easy, soft. Tonga: malu, loose, soft, mild, easy. Uvea, Nukuoro: malu, tender, soft. Hawaii: malu, quiet. Futuna: malŭ, tender. Nuguria: maru, soft. Tahiti: maru, soft, gentle, easy. Paumotu: hakamaru, to grow milder. Rapanui: maruaki, to decay. Churchill 2.

Maru a Pó in Tahiti was another [in addition to Ovakevake, Hiva and Maori] 'place where ákuáku supposedly lived before coming here'. Vanaga.

The Maori used the same word for both solstices, marua-roa, 'long pit', and applied the term also to the month or season during which the Sun passed through its most northerly or southerly declination. A qualifying word such as takurua, 'winter', or o-rongo-nui, 'summer', was usually appended to denote which solstice was meant. When no explanatory word was added marua-roa seems to have signified the winter solstice... Makemson.

Viti: malua, to go gently, to be in no hurry, by-and-by; vakamalua, gently. Churchill 2.

Maruaki, to feel hungry, to be starving, hunger; he-topa te maruaki, to feel hungry. Vanaga.

Maruaki, appetite, desire to eat, greedy, hunger, fasting, famine, weak from hunger, dearth, stavation; hakamaruaki, to starve; we note in Motu maro, famine, dearth. Churchill.

Maruaki, to decay. Churchill 2.

Marumaru, shady; ka-oho ki te kona marumaru, go in the shade. Vanaga.

Marumaru, shade, thicket, somber, umbrella; koona marumaru, sheltered spot, copse; hakamaru, to cover with shade; hakamarumaru, to shade. P Pau.: hakamaru, to shadow. Mgv.: maru, shade, shadow, obscurity. Mq.: maú, shade, shadow, shelter. Ta.: maru, shade. Churchill.

The end of the year seems to be denoted both by maru and maro - while feathers (maro) can signify the fiery aspect of the sun, maru signifies the shadowy aspect. No shadow without a fire.

I decide to collect all glyphs similar to Aa8-85 under GD98 in the glyph dictionary. The label will be ihi:

Ihi

1. Line of singing women at a feast or an êi. 2. Ihi, ihi-ihi, to break up into small pieces, to crumble, to tear to pieces; he-ihi i te maúku, to separate fibres. Vanaga.

Ihiihi, to hop. Churchill.

To crumble (ihi) may be a description of how the reign of old sun is breaking up. A sinister feast may accompany, where he is torn to pieces (ihi). And the line of women sing (ihi).

Another label which I considered possible for GD98 was tuku:

Tuku

1. To leave something lying spread on the ground; to spread, unfurl, unroll something on the ground; tukuga, mat spread on the ground; tukuga tagata, mat on which have been put pieces of cooked human flesh. 2. Tuku kupega, a fishing technique: two men drag along the top of a fishing net doubled up, spread out on the bottom of a small cove, trapping the fish into the net; tukutuku, to fish while swimming, holding a basket-shaped net. 3. Tuku huri, to sit with one's buttocks resting on one's heels, soles flat on the ground. Figuratively: ka tuku! pay attention! (literally: sit still!).  4. Tuku rîu, to sit in the posture typical of choir singers in rîu festivals or singing festivals in general, which was sitting on one's heels. Tukuturi, to sit with one's buttocks resting on one's heels, soles flat on the ground. Vanaga.

To give, to let go, to deliver, to accord, to go back to the boat, to dedicate; rima tuku, to bend at the elbow (? tuke). P Pau.: tuku, to lay down, to place, to deliver up. Mgv.: tuku, to give, to deliver, to let alone. Mq.: tuku, to give, to let go. Ta.: tuu, id. Tukuga, plate, ladle, pottinger, legacy, to dedicate (tukaga). Churchill.

H.: Ku'u ku'u 1. Redup. of ku'u 1; to let down gradually, slack off a little at a time. See ala ku'uku'u. Ho'o ku'uku'u lenient, permissive; to pay out, as a fishline. Kī ho'oku'uku'u, slack key, as on a guitar (kī hō'alu is more common). Ua ho'oku'uku'u loa na mākua i keiki, parents are too lenient with children. (PPN tukutuku.) 2.Small, short-legged spider, so called because it lowers itself (ku'u) on a single string fiber. Ke alanui a ke ku'uku'u, the path of the spider (a name for the Equator). Ho'o ku'u ku'u, same as above. 3. Boomerang. 'U'uku, tiny, small; few. 'U'uku iho, undersized, smaller. Ho'o 'u'uku, to make small, reduce, lessen. Wehewehe.

Maori: tuku, to subside, to settle down. Tahiti: tuutuu, to slacken or ease a rope. Hawaii: kuu, to let down, to slacken. Tonga: tuku, to slacken, to let go as a rope; tukutuku, to sink in the sea. Futuna: tuku, to put down. Niuē: tuku, to bury. Rarotonga: tuku, to let down, to let out, to drop down. Mangareva: tuku, to throw the fishing net of fillet. Paumotu: tuku, to lay down. Sikayana: tuku, to put down. Nukuoro: tuku, to permit, to allow. Manahiki, Fakaafo: tuku, to place. Nuguria: tuku, to set. Rapanui: tuku, to give, to accord. Churchill 2.

To leave something lying spread on the ground sounds like the dead body of the sun after the feast.

We leave these speculations and return to the glyphs. Kb4-10 has a design which looks closer to that in Aa8-85:

Kb4-10 Aa8-85 Kb4-18

There are 3 'passengers' in Kb4-10 and the 'canoe' is like waning moon. The numbers give help: 10 means (I guess) finished, i.e. the period with 3 subperiods is 'moving away'.

18 presumably marks the end of the solar year and the 2 'sails' means that both half-years are 'on board'.

The Kb4-18 canoe is high up in the glyph line, a way to tell us that we have reached the top of the solar year. The summit (sun-mit) is balancing between waning and waxing and therefore the outline of the canoe is symmetric and seen as if from below.

The 29th period in K (given that we do not fuse together period 16 with period 17) is closely connected with the '30'th period:

29
Kb4-10 Kb4-11 Kb4-12 Kb4-13 Kb4-14
'30'
Kb4-15 Kb4-16 Kb4-17 Kb4-18 Kb4-19

I have here added Kb4-19 although I earlier have regarded it as beyond 'period number 30'. The inverted henua ora tells about (I have guessed) the new life, which probably explains the lost head of the 'person'.

The synodic month has a length of ca 29½ days. It would therefore be appropriate to locate the finish (Kb4-18) halfway into 'period 30'. Given that, we ought to find 2 more glyphs at right (beyond Kb4-19). But that is not the case, because in Barthel's description of line Kb4 there is no obliterated glyph beyond Kb4-19 - it is the last glyph in the line.

Therefore I believe the 10 glyphs above are to be regarded as a group.

It seems all very orderly and possible to understand. With confidence we return to the similar situation when the 1st half year is finished:

16
Kb1-7 Kb1-8 Kb1-9 Kb1-10 Kb1-11
Kb1-12 Kb1-13 Kb1-14 Kb1-15 Kb1-16

I have here subtracted the glyphs beyond Kb1-16 - they are destroyed and the numbers also tell me to subtract - the 16th period and glyph number 16 in the line. Moreover, 10 glyphs is used at the end of the year (Kb4-10--19).

Kb1-13 ought to mark the end of the 1st half year. The canoe is oriented at 'sun-mit' and the 2 'passengers' indirectly announce how the waxing phase is at its end; they 'sit' to the right of the 'canoe' and the waxing phase - south of the equator - has the form of the letter C.

In Kb1-9, on the other hand, the 'sails' are oriented to show waning phase, supposedly of the 1st half year:

distance 4
Kb1-9 Kb1-13
distance 8
Kb4-10 Kb4-18

Both at the end of the 1st and at the end of the 2nd half year the waning phase is shown in the '3-passenger canoe', while in the 'summit canoes' the 2 'sails' seem to indirectly indicate waxing phase (Kb1-13) respectively waning phase (Kb4-18). However, the 'canoes' in Kb1-13 and Kb4-18 directly tell us not to think about waxing or waning. Instead, the symmetric 'canoe' with 'sails' at right probably tells about the middle of the year, while 'sails' at left probably tells about the end of the year.

29½ divided by 2 results in 14¾. Yet we find both Kb1-9 and Kb1-13 in period 16. Wouldn't it be more harmonious to have them in period 15?

The system with calendars using 'years' (i.e. half-years) appear even more clear if we compare period 15 with the similarly located period 28:

15
Kb1-4 Kb1-5 Kb1-6
28
Kb4-6 Kb4-7 Kb4-8 Kb4-9

The upward pointing wedges inside the two 'summit canoes' in Kb1-4--5 can be contrasted with the downward wedges inside the single 'summit canoe' in Kb4-8. Here 'up' presumably means the high position of sun, while down presumably means the low position of sun.

While 'up' in the glyph line for the 'light summit canoe' (in Kb4-18) occurs in midwinter, the 'up' inside the 'dark summit canoes' (Kb1-4--5) occurs at the height of the sun. Inside implies reversal.

Can we continue one step further, comparing period 14 (from 27/2 = 13½ = 14) with period 27? Possibly, but we cannot yet understand the glyphs enough to tell for sure.

13
Ka5-13 Ka5-14 Kb1-1
14
Kb1-2 Kb1-3
27
Kb4-1 Kb4-2 Kb4-3 Kb4-4 Kb4-5

Barthel's description of the end of line Ka5 agrees exactly with how Fischer has depicted it. Therefore, it is quite possible that the headless state of the 'person' in Ka5-13 was intentionally drawn so (while the missing parts in Kb4-1 and Kb4-3 presumably are just the effects of time). The similarities between Ka5-13 and Kb4-19 are obvious:

13 '30'
Ka5-13 Kb4-19

In Ka5-13 two maro feathers indicate 'finish', while in Kb4-19 the opposite message is conveyed by reversed henua ora.

Kb1-1 consequently not only is located at the beginning of side 2 of London Tablet, but also marks the beginning of the 2nd 'year'. The rei miro in Ka5-14 is 'stripped of its signs of life' and the 'person' in Kb1-1 is decapitated.

The design of glyphs are relatively secure ground compared with my numerical fancies. Let us therefore return to them and see if they survive.