TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

6 of the 12 glyphs describe the first half of the night:


Aa1-37	Aa1-38	Aa1-39	Aa1-40	Aa1-41	Aa1-42

The two first (though slightly different, as we have seen) obviously are a pair. Having noticed this we can perceive also Aa1-39--40 and Aa1-41--42 as pairs. The structure can be regarded as consisting of two triplets (Aa1-37--39 respectively Aa1-40--42) or of three pairs.

These 6 glyphs come after Aa1-36, the last glyph in the day calendar, and with Aa1-42 as the last of the glyphs before midnight (Aa1-43) we should remember the distribution of glyphs on side a and b on Tahua:

side a	670	200π + 42
side b	664	200π + 36
sum	1334	400π + 78

Also the numbers are signs to be interpreted.

Another structure than three pairs alternatively two triplets emerges if also the second half of the night is taken into consideration. The central portion seems to define a pattern with (2 + 3) + 4 + 3 = 9 + 3 glyphs:

			before midnight
Aa1-37	Aa1-38	Aa1-39

Aa1-40	Aa1-41	Aa1-42
			from midnight
Aa1-43	Aa1-44	Aa1-45

Aa1-46	Aa1-47	Aa1-48

The last three toa are clearly shorter than the earlier 9. The new 'year' is shorter in stature than the old one. I should add this observation to the dictionary, but its place is at the end of next page:

We should also consider what Metoro tried to tell Bishop Jaussen about the text:


Aa1-37	Aa1-38
e ia toa tauuru - ehu	e ia toa tauuru - ehu

Aa1-39	Aa1-40
e ia toa tauuru - no te uru nuku	*e ia toa tauuru*

Aa1-41	Aa1-42
e tauru papagete	e ia toa* tauuruuru*

The words of Metoro surely are signs which we need. Definitely he knew enough to be of help. But to use his words in order to find out the meaning is beyond our reach. What we can see, though, is that he regarded the first 4 glyphs as a group. After midnight (Aa1-43) he saw two more e ia toa tauuru (Aa1-44--45), and 4 + 2 = 6.

Considering also the other glyphs, we have one more example with toa (in Aa1-42). From this we can guess that Metoro saw a quartet (Aa1-37--40) followed by a special case (Aa1-42). According to Metoro there should be 5 toa before midnight and 2 after.

The structure 4 + 1 = 5 should remind us of the '4 corners of the earth' and of the special extracalendrical 5 days beyond 360 (as for instance in the ancient Egyptian calender and in the Mayan 19th month Vayeb). The structure of a night calendar cannot be completely independent of the structure for the 'winter' half in the calendar for the year.

Possibly, therefore, the 2 toa beyond midnight correspond to the two months beyond winter solstice, before the reappearance of light is announced by some star in the sky. The last triplet of toa glyphs are of another sort than the preceding, they are shorter, maybe because a the new daylight is around the corner:


Aa1-37	Aa1-38	Aa1-39	Aa1-40	Aa1-41

Aa1-42	Aa1-43	Aa1-44	Aa1-45

Aa1-46	Aa1-47	Aa1-48

I have looked for more instances where Metoro said 'e ia' but found none. Probably he used Tahitian and ia is îka. This conclusion can be drawn by comparing with the other three (parallel) night calendars, where rau hei (a kind of 'fishes') are used instead of toa:


Ha5-42	Ha5-43	Ha5-44	Ha5-45	Ha5-46		Ha5-47	Ha5-48

Pa5-24	Pa5-25	Pa5-26	Pa5-27	Pa5-28	Pa5-29	Pa5-30	Pa5-31

Qa5-32	Qa5-33	Qa5-34	Qa5-35	Qa5-36	Qa5-37	Qa5-38	Qa5-39

Tahitian is also used for the crucial 'Ark of Noa':


Aa1-44	Aa1-45	Aa1-46	Aa1-47	Aa1-48
e ia toa tauuru	i te fenua* - e ia toa tauuru*	ma te hokohuki - e ika* no te tagata*	ma te tauuru ki te ragi	e tauuru no te henua

Then, suddenly Metoro changed to Rapanui again - we find ika in Aa1-46. Was the intention to say that Tahiti and Easter Island are two different lands and that Easter Island (farther east and closer to the morning sun) corresponds to the new day? I believe so.

Aa1-46 has no parallel in the other three texts. We can see a toa sign which differs from the pair in Aa1-47--48 (which, though, are not quite identical - the ragi one has a slight bulge towards right at the top end). Aa1-46 has a looking back person and toa is bulging slightly to the left.

I have redmarked Qa5-36 and a few other glyphs above because their numbers suggest a 'season' is ending. 5 * 36 = 18(0) and Pa5-28--31 probably alludes to the end of a month. 5 * 48 = 240. Thinking this way we will identify Aa1-46 as probably corresponding, because 1334 = 46 * 29.

Metoro surely noticed (or knew beforehand) the special characteristics of the last part of the night.

His hokohuki for the special Aa1-46 connects hokohuki he used at two glyphs in the preceding day calendar:


Aa1-16	Aa1-17	Aa1-18	Aa1-19	Aa1-20	Aa1-21

Aa1-22	Aa1-23	Aa1-24	Aa1-25	Aa1-26	Aa1-27

Aa1-28	Aa1-29	Aa1-30	Aa1-31	Aa1-32	Aa1-33

Aa1-34	Aa1-35	Aa1-36

Hokohuki at 46, 23, and 29 seems to imply that Metoro thought 45, 22 and 28 were 'last' glyphs, and that 46, 23, and 29 were 'dark'.

If he interpreted the text correctly, we can suddenly understand why Aa1-22 has such a peculiar arm - it refers to the end of a cycle (22 / 7 = 3.14). The same kind of sign is used in Aa1-18, and the following glyph has number19.

The complex meanings of uru and uruuru should be looked at again:

Uru

Uru. 1. To lavish food on those who have contributed to the funerary banquet (umu pâpaku) for a family member (said of the host, hoa pâpaku). 2. To remove the stones which have been heated in the umu, put meat, sweet potatoes, etc., on top of the embers, and cover it with those same stones while red-hot. 3. The wooden tongs used for handling the red-hot stones of the umu. 4. To enter into (kiroto ki or just ki), e.g. he-uru kiroto ki te hare, he-uru ki te hare. 5. To get dressed: kahu uru. Vanaga.

Uruga. Prophetic vision. It is said that, not long before the first missionaries' coming a certain Rega Varevare a Te Niu saw their arrival in a vision and travelled all over the island to tell it: He-oho-mai ko Rega Varevare a Te Niu mai Poike, he mimiro i te po ka-variró te kaiga he-kî i taana uruga, he ragi: 'E-tomo te haûti i Tarakiu, e-tomo te poepoe hiku regorego, e-tomo te îka ariga koreva, e-tomo te poporo haha, e-kiu te Atua i te ragi'. I te otea o te rua raá he-tu'u-hakaou ki Poike; i te ahi mo-kirokiro he-mate. Rega Varevare, son of Te Niu, came from Poike, and toured the island proclaiming his vision: 'A wooden house will arrive at Tarakiu (near Vaihú), a barge will arrive, animals will arrive with the faces of eels (i.e. horses), golden thistles will come, and the Lord will be heard in heaven'. The next morning he arrived back in Poike, and in the evening when it was getting dark, he died. Vanaga.

Uru manu. Those who do not belong to the Miru tribe and who, for that reason, are held in lesser esteem. Úru-úru. To catch small fish to use as bait. Uru-uru-hoa. Intruder, freeloader (person who enters someone else's house and eats food reserved for another). Vanaga.

1. To enter, to penetrate, to thread, to come into port (huru); uru noa, to enter deep. Hakauru, to thread, to inclose, to admit, to drive in, to graft, to introduce, penetrate, to vaccinate, to recruit. Akauru, to calk. Hakahuru, to set a tenon into the mortise, to dowel. Hakauruuru, to interlace; hakauruuru mai te vae, to hurry to. 2. To clothe, to dress, to put on shoes, a crown. Hakauru, to put on shoes, to crown, to bend sails, a ring. 3. Festival, to feast. 4. To spread out the stones of an oven. Uruuru, to expand a green basket. 5. Manu uru, kite. Uruga (uru 1). Entrance. Churchill.

Ta.: uru, the human skull. Mq.: uu, the head. Sa.: ulu, id. Moriori: ulu, id.

Uru, make even. Kapingamarangi.