TRANSLATIONS

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The structure of the bird list needs to be changed:

pi riuriu sooty tern kukuru toua albatross ? ruru black petrel
kava eoeo d:o makohe frigate taiko
te verovero d:o kena booby kumara white tern
ka araara d:o tavake redtailed tropic bird kiakia
tuvi gray tern
tuao dark brown tern
tavi small lead-coloured tern

If these 15 bird items should represent the cycle of Sun, we can for instance count with 24 days for each bird because 24 * 15 = 360. The last 3 birds would then cover 3 * 24 = 72 days (equal to the page number where the birds are located in Manuscript E).

On the other 'hand', with 20 days for each bird, which is suggested by the text in Manuscript E and which agrees with the Mayan structure, there will be 4 * 20 = 80 days for each group in the table above, and 20 * 15 = 300 (presumably the Sun year according to counting time by the Moon).

Beyond kiakia there will then be 3 * 20 = 60 days, just as from the exit of Sun at 16 Pax:

16 Pax 17 Kayab 18 Cumhu 19 Vayeb

The small lead-coloured tern named tavi certainly represents Saturn (with very poor light).

But the Mayan calendar evidently has 18 * 20 + 5 = 365 regular days, not 15 * 20 = 300. This difference can be eliminated if we add 3 months from the 'back side' of the previous year, and we can then update the bird table anew:

4 pi riuriu sooty tern 8 kukuru toua albatross ? 12 ruru black petrel
5 kava eoeo d:o 9 makohe frigate 13 taiko
6 te verovero d:o 10 kena booby 14 kumara white tern
7 ka araara d:o 11 tavake redtailed tropic bird 15 kiakia
16 tuvi gray tern
17 tuao dark brown tern
18 tavi small lead-coloured tern

 

72)

he manu tara.erua kauatu te huru.i too mai ai

20

he pi riuriu

a Teke. a Oti

20

he kava eoeo

a Teke. a Oti

20

he te verovero

a Teke. a Oti

20

he ka araara

a Teke. a Oti

20

he kukuru toua

a Teke. a Oti

20

he makohe

a Teke. a Oti

20

he kena

a Teke. a Oti

20

he tavake

a Teke. a Oti

20

he ruru

a Teke. a Oti

20

he taiko

a Teke. a Oti

20

he kumara

a Teke. a Oti

20

he kiakia

a Teke. a Oti

20

he tuvi

a Teke. a Oti

20

he taiko

a Teke. a Oti

20

he tavi

a Teke. a Oti

he ki a Teke.kia Oti.ka mau tahi te kaha manu

ena ki runga ki te miro.he mau tahi e Oti.

All these bird names begin with he. In addition te is added at verovero and ka in the following araara - which suggests teka (the 'fire stick'). The first 'bird quarter' is completed with the pair verovero and araara.

Te signifies the presence of Sun according to the kuhane list of place names, we should remember. And he occurs only at Tama:

1

nga kope ririva tutuu vai a te taanga

2

te pu mahore a hau maka o hiva

3

te poki uri a hau maka i hiva

4

te manavai a hau maka o hiva

5

te kioe uri a hau maka o hiva

6

te piringa aniva a hau maka o hiva

7

te pei a hau maka o hiva

8

te pou a hau maka o hiva

9

hua reva a hau maka o hiva

10

akahanga a hau maka o hiva

11

hatinga te kohe a hau maka o hiva

12

roto iri are a hau maka o hiva

13

tama he ika kino he ihu roroa

29

te pito o te kainga a hau maka o hiva

13 at Tama can be understood as the result of adding 1 ('one more') to number 12:

1

2

3

4

5

6

He Anakena

Hora iti Hora nui Tagaroa uri Ko Ruti Ko Koró

12

11

10

9

8

7

He Maro

Vaitu potu Vaitu nui Tarahao

Tehetu'upú

Tua haro

There are 3 double-months around winter solstice:

10

11

12

1

2

3

Vaitu nui Vaitu potu

He Maro

He Anakena

Hora iti

Hora nui

While the bird list offers only 2 double-months and presumably after summer solstice:

9

10

11

12

he ruru

he taiko

he kumara

he kiakia

 

ascending

5

6

7

8

he pi riuriu he kava eoeo he te verovero he ka araara

top

9

10

11

12

he kukuru toua he makohe he kena he tavake

descending

13

14

15

16

he ruru

he taiko

he kumara

he kiakia

renewal

17

18

19

he tuvi he taiko he tavi

Above I have added 4 to reach an ordered structure with 17 at the beginning of the new cycle.

Beyond te-ka light has returned in full strength. Colours can therefore be assigned to the quartet of birds which follow.

Kena probably represents white, and tavake can illustrate red by way of its beak and tail.

Makohe is the frigate bird, and we should notice that it was Mako'e who who named the places in the 2nd list and who stayed alone on the island.

Maybe the frigate bird corresponds to black. The pattern with a change from black to white was used from Te Pei to Te Pou and also from Kumara to Kiakia. The central colour change of the bird list is from makohe to kena (from 10 to 11).

As to kukuru toua we need a separate page.

 

"The sea bird named kukuru toua, which follows the sooty tern sequence, has not been identified so far (Fuentes 1960:239). The addition toua indicates the color of the egg yolk, while the first word seems to indicate the Polyesian word for pigeon (MQS. kuku; MAO., RAR., TUA., kukupa; TAH. 'u'upa; MGV. kukuororangi; TON. kulukulu). In a recitation, the following is said about this bird:

ka riti te hupee How it flows from the nose when he cries
(paringi te matavai) (y derrama lágrimas)
o te kukuru toua of the yellow Kukuru
eve pepepepe with the very short tail.

(Barthel 1960:854; addition by Campbell 1971:404)

The Metoro chants contain two additional fragments:

kua hupe ma te maitaki
kua rere te manu vae oho
ku pepepepe te manu kukurutou
......
eaha te huri
o te manu kukurutou
ko te manu eve pepepepe

(Barthel 1958:177, 188)

While the spelling of the name is slightly different, in this instance too, the very short tail (eve pepepepe) is mentioned. The bird in question might conceivably be Diomedea melanophrys, an albatross with black lids, or even Diomedea chlororhyncos, the yellow-beaked albatross. In this case, kukuru toua would describe the peculiar shape of the beak (compare the 'tubular noses' of petrels) and its yellow color, while eve pepepepe seems to refer to the relatively short tail of the powerful bird. If this identification is correct, then the albatross is ranked after the sooty tern, who is the object of a cult, but ahead of the frigate bird; and because of his size, the albatross precedes the following enumeration of sea birds." (Barthel 2)

Here there is much to consider. Barthel's idea of the size of the bird being significant is reasonable. A great (Herculean) 'fire' should be represented by a good-sized bird. We remember the small lead-coloured Saturn-bird tavi at the end of the list.

top

he kukuru toua he makohe he kena he tavake

descending

he ruru

he taiko

he kumara

he kiakia

renewal

he tuvi he taiko he tavi

The very short tail of this great bird probably means it has a short life span. Maybe his tail ends with the arrival of the black makohe, and his spirit (pepe) will then leave.

Pepe

1. A sketch. 2. Bench, chair, couch, seat, sofa, saddle; here pepe, mau pepe, to saddle; noho pepe, a tabouret. Pepepepe, bedstead. 3. Pau.: butterfly. Ta.: pepe, id. Mq.: pepe, id. Sa.: pepe, id. Ma.: pepe, a moth; pepererau, fin, Mgv.: pererau, wing. Ta.: pereraru, id. Ma.: parirau, id.  Churchill.

Sa.: pepe, a butterfly, a moth, to flutter about. Nukuoro, Fu., Niuē, Uvea, Fotuna, Nuguria, Ta., Mq.: pepe, a butterfly. Ma.: pepe, a grup, a moth; pepepepe, a butterfly; pepeatua, a species of butterfly. To.: bebe, a butterfly. Vi.: mbèbè, a butterfly. Rotumā: pep, id. Churchill 2.

Mq.: Pepepepe, low, flat. Ha.: pepepe, id. Churchill.

If toua means yellow, then his spirit should be a butter-fly. But I think another interpretation is more to the point, viz. the fertile land which has recovered from the season of 'straw':

Tou

In ancient times, a tou was someone who had recovered from an epidemic, but whose illness meant that someone else in the family had to die. The tou were regarded as portents of evil. Toutou, lush; fertile (land).  Toûa: Egg yolk; the colour yellow; soft, fibrous part of tree bark; toûa mahute, mahute fibres. Vanaga.

Toua: Wrath, anger, rage, revenge, battle, combat, debate, dispute, dissension, uprising, revolt, quarrel, fight, hostility (taua); toua rae, to provoke, rae toua, to open hostilities, toua kakai, to rebuke, tuki toua, to stir up dissension; totoua, hostility; hakatoua, fighter, warrior. P Mgv.: toua, war, battle. Mq.: toua, war, dispute, quarrel. The form with o is found only in these three languages, taua is found in the general migration, Rapanui is the only speech which has both. Toutou, fertile (tautau); hakatoutou, to fertilize. Mq.: taútaú, fertile. Toùvae, to run; hakauruuru toùvae, id. Churchill.

Expressed in glyphs the fully grown warrior (hakatoua) probably is tagata:

The yellow Kukuru should be the personification of Spring Sun. When he leaves abruptly after a short lifespan, there will be tears. He will be struck by a fin like Kuukuu, the planter.

... No sooner had he pushed her up and lifted her completely off the ground when she struck Kuukuu with one fin. She struck downward and broke Kuukuu's spine. The turtle got up, went back into the (sea) water, and swam away. All the kinsmen spoke to you (i.e. Kuukuu): 'Even you did not prevail against the turtle!'

His spine will snap like the sika (= teka?) of Tu'i Tofua and the 'turtle' will then return to the sea.

The planetary time is Mercury and he is not visible for more than a short while (he has a short tail). Mercury is the young reckless driver of the solar chariot who ends at the bottom of the sea (eve):

Eve

1. Placenta, afterbirth (eeve). T Pau.: eve, womb. Ta.: eve, placenta. Ma.: ewe, id. Haw.: ewe, navel string. 2. The rear; taki eeve, the buttocks; hakahiti ki te eeve, to show the buttocks; pupuhi eve, syringe. 3. The bottom of the sea. Churchill.

 
kua hupe ma te maitaki
kua rere te manu vae oho
ku pepepepe te manu kukurutou
Bb1-24 Bb1-25 Bb1-26
kua hupe ma te maitaki kua rere te manu
Bb1-27 Bb1-28 Bb1-29
vae oho ku pepepepe te manu kukurutou - kua mai ïa - ki to vero

 

eaha te huri
o te manu kukurutou
ko te manu eve pepepepe
Aa5-8 Aa5-9 Aa5-10
eaha te huri o te manu kukurutou ko te manu eve pepepepe