TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

The toga chapter:

A few preliminary remarks and imaginations:

1. Manuscript E (according to Barthel 2) begins with a list headed by Ko Oto Uta:

*ko oto uta*	1	*ko ataranga.a tuu kumā*	6
ko tangaroa.a oto uta	2	*ko harai.a ataranga*	7
*ko tiki hati.a tangaroa*	3	*ko taana.a harai*	8
*ko roroi.a tiki hati*	4	*ko matua.a taana*	9
*ko tuu kumā.a roroi*	5	*ko hotu.a matua*	10

I imagine this king has his name and position in the list in order to define the beginning.

Fornander has informed us that toga means the setting of the sun:

... Etymologically 'Tonga', 'Kona', contracted from 'To-anga' or 'Ko-ana', signifies 'the setting' ... of the sun ...

... Tonga, Kona, Toa (Sam., Haw., Tah.)... the quarter of an island or of the wind, between the south and west ...

In a cycle the end is equal to the beginning. Therefore it is logical to place the 'setting' (o to) in the first place of the list.

Hotu Matua is the last of the 10 kings on the list. If we have Oto Uta at the beginning, then he will be the first born of the 10. Therefore he will now be in the west. The lastborn should be in the east.

*ko oto uta*	1	*ko ataranga.a tuu kumā*	6
ko tangaroa.a oto uta	2	*ko harai.a ataranga*	7
*ko tiki hati.a tangaroa*	3	*ko taana.a harai*	8
*ko roroi.a tiki hati*	4	*ko matua.a taana*	9
*ko tuu kumā.a roroi*	5	*ko hotu.a matua*	10

Hotu Matua has the highest number, two fists of fingers, while Oto Uta has only one finger left.

Maybe we should count down when we count time. Go from the present backwards in time. Zero will be the end, not the beginning. Beyond Rogo there is a time zero until light arrives again. 364 comes after 363, and 364 = 0.

Uta is the opposite of tai, and the name Oto Uta seems to underline that he is on land, not left in the sea ('out in the bay') which Manuscript E says. If he is the first one and on land, he should have the highest number (10) because time will gradually diminish 10 down to zero. But these numbers in the table are in the manuscript.

Once Oto Uta must have been the youngest one. But number 1 in the list does not describe this fact. Instead the numbers are ordinal numbers counting forward in time. It is like counting objects, there is no room for a zero.

Uta maybe is not to be (primarily) understood as 'not sea'. Instead it could refer to the fact that the descent now has gone so far that he is touching land (in the west). We can compare with the Hotu Iri (grounded Hotu) of the Hawaiians:

Hotu

Ta.: hotu, to produce fruit, Sa.: fotu, id. Mgv.: akahotu, the September season. Churchill.

H.: Hoku, Night of the full moon. When this moon set before daylight it was called Hoku Palemo, Hoku that slips away. When it set after daylight it was called Hoku Ili, grounded Hoku. Ka mahina o Hoku, the full moon of the night Hoku. Cf. hōkū, star. Hō kū, star. (PPN fetu'u). Wehewehe.

Iri

1. To go up; to go in a boat on the sea (the surface of which gives the impression of going up from the coast): he-eke te tagata ki ruga ki te vaka, he-iri ki te Hakakaiga, the men boarded the boat and went up to Hakakainga. 2. Ka-iri ki puku toiri ka toiri. Obscure expression of an ancient curse. Vanaga.

Iri-are, a seaweed. Vanaga.

The time when sun touches land - whether in the east or in the west - should be an important event. When he goes down it means he will begin his nighttime journey, flying like a bird over the ocean on the other side of the earth. Or travelling in his canoe on the underworld sea. In the morning he will arrive in the east, a fresh youth again.

Going up from the horizon in the east or going up from the horizon in the west (which will be east on the other side of the earth) is the same thing.

The stone statue of Oto Uta should not be left out in the sea, it must come up or time will stop. It must be carried on the back of some strong man to its right place. The Maya indians imagined time as carried on the backs of gods, I think.