TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

"... suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself 'Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!' (when she thought it over afterwards it occured to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but, when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge ..." (Carroll)

Time means change. "In the nick of time" alludes to the marks we cut to count time. Alternatively we may say "at the spur of the moment" alluding to the 'manu tara' of mother nature.

We must now come up from the rabbit-hole, and continue on the surface. Time cannot stand still or we will be dead. So, the first glyph (Pa5-67) in the array of 6 X-glyphs:


Pa5-67	Pa5-68	Pa5-69	Pa5-70	Pa5-71	Pa5-72

what does it tell us? 4 of course - just as its mirror glyph at the other end (GD88 - mea ke), Pa5-72.

GD88 does not occur in Tahua. Neither does it occur in Aruku Kurenga, but in Mamari we find it in this interesting sequence:


te hokohuki erua		te marama	te maitaki

te henua	kua haga te mea ke	manu puoko i tona ahi	kua heu te huki

In Metoro's expression 'ke' (at Ca5-14), i.e. 'opposite' etc, refers - I guess - to the (pairwise) opposite positions of the small circles.

Ké

1. Other; different; different being; hare ké, a different house; e-ké-ro-á... e-ké-ro-á... there are some who... and others who...; me'e ké, something distinct, different: te puaka ina oona kuhane; me'e ké te tagata, he hakari oona, he kuhane, an animal has no soul; man is different, he has a body, and a soul; matu'a ké, the other relatives. 2. Ké te kairua, person who turns up for meals at other people's homes. 3. Used in exclamations: hahau ké! what a cool breeze!; hana ké! how hot! takeo ké! how cold! Vanaga.

Other, distinct, different, diverse, otherwise; koona ke, elsewhere; tagata ke, some one else; mea ke, contrary, distinct, otherwise; hakake, feint, stratagem, to feign; hagake, to act contrary. T Pau.: ke, different. Mgv.: ke, another, other, else, different, of partial comparative value. Mq.: ke, é, to be different, changed, no longer the same. Ta.: e, different, strange, other. Keke (ke), other, distinct, special; hikohiko keke, hide-and-seek; kekee (ke), irregular, uneven, rough; ke avai, a superlative expression; hinihini ke avai, ancient; ika ke avai, abuse; kori ke avai, abuse; maori ke avai, skilful, handy; pipiro ke avai, disgusting odor; tupu ke avai, of swift growth; ua ke avai, a shower of rain. Keekee; niho keekee, long protruding teeth.

Mea

1. Tonsil, gill (of fish). 2. Red (probably because it is the colour of gills); light red, rose; also meamea. 3. To grow or to exist in abundance in a place or around a place: ku-mea-á te maîka, bananas grow in abundance (in this place); ku-mea-á te ka, there is plenty of fish (in a stretch of the coast or the sea); ku-mea-á te tai, the tide is low and the sea completely calm (good for fishing); mau mea, abundance. Vanaga.

1. Red; ata mea, the dawn. Meamea, red, ruddy, rubricund, scarlet, vermilion, yellow; ariga meamea, florid; kahu meamea purple; moni meamea, gold; hanuanua meamea, rainbow; pua ei meamea, to make yellow. Hakameamea, to redden, to make yellow. 2. A thing, an object, elements (mee); e mea, circumstance; mea ke, differently, excepted, save, but; ra mea, to belong; mea rakerake, assault; ko mea, such a one; a mea nei, this; a mea ka, during; a mea, then; no te mea, because, since, seeing that; na te mea, since; a mea era, that; ko mea tera, however, but. Hakamea, to prepare, to make ready. 3. In order that, for. 4. An individual; tagata mea, tagata mee, an individual. 5. Necessary, urgent; e mea ka, must needs be, necessary; e mea, urgent. 6. Manners, customs. Churchill.

But Metoro's intention might (at least) equally well have been to indicate that here a different (new) sequence of events is beginning to unfold, the expression haga ke means 'to act contrary':

Haga

1. Bay, fishing spot. (Figuratively) he haga o te ákuáku, it is the [evil] spirit's fishing spot, i.e. a place where they hide waiting for people to fall under their power. 2. To want, to love. Ku haga á i te vai, I want water, I am thirsty. Vanaga.

1. Bay, strait, anchorage, strand, beach. 2. Work, labor, employment, act, affair, creation, design, state, maker, fashion, manufacture, occupation, profession; to do, to make, to construct, to employ, to form, to manufacture, to fashion, to found, to be busy with; haga rakerake, crime; tagata haga ei mea, mercenary; haga no iti, to plot mischief; haga ke, to act contrary; haga takataka, to disjoin; haga nui, difficulty, fatigue, to weary; tuhi ki te haga, to give employment; haga hakahou, to make over, to renew, recovery; haga koroiti, to deal prudently; haga nuinui ke, to overburden. 3. Agreement, conduct, liking, intention, desire, will; to resolve, to permit, to endeavor, to tolerate, to be willing, to wish, to approve; haga ihoiho, fixed desire; haga mai, haga no mai, to agree, to hearken favorably; tae haga, despite, involuntary, to refuse, to renounce; noho hakahaga, apathy. 4. = haka. Churchill.

The contrary action (haga ke) probably should be taken literally - the sun is starting to return. There is a bend (haga), although an extremely weak one, at the solstices. Conceptually, though, the return of the sun is important. There is a contrary action of the red one (mea), the Sun. The sun may very well be referred to as 'mea', by Metoro; we have met tapa mea (recount the periods of the daylight). In Ca5-15 we certainly seem to be rewarded with an affirmation of these thoughts, the sun bird flies towards us again:


kua haga te mea ke	manu puoko i tona ahi

GD88 probably is a kind of emblem for the beginning of a new year, and the sequence of glyphs in Mamari cited above therefore (probably) tells about the events around new year.

In Pa5-71 we immediately notice that the 'toes' are cut off - the old fire is extinguished:

Compared with the 'leg of ending' in Tahua there is a difference in the message:

The old fire seems to continue without being extinguished. But we notice that the right 'ear' (left from us seen) is pronounced in A too.

At the other end of new year time the shape of niu (Pa5-67) may be interpreted in several different ways, I suppose, because the Polynesian languages give room for many reflections. In Barthel 2 he gives an example:

"... Based on the three sources, the original version may have had the following form:

kainga kino / kahukahu o heke / rimurimu roroa / mai te unu / mai te vere / ka toe / kainga kino hoki / tai ua / ka okooko / tai papaku / ka ora"

"... It is one of the cardinal principles of Polynesian poetry to use the description of something concrete as a cover for various allusions. This principle is practiced her with great skill. Below are four possible translations of the report of the explorers and two of the answers to the king.

Report of the explorers, first version:

The land is bad. / The growing shoots cannot spread. / Too long is the tangle (of weeds) / when one pulls it out, / when one weeds it. / Leave (this bad land) behind (you)!

(Compare MAO. kahu 'young shoot, sprout', wakakahukahu 'to begin to grow, acquire size'; Mao. unu 'to draw, pull out'; RAR. unu 'to draw, to drag'.)

Report of the explorers, second version:

The uterus is bad. / The original yam cannot slide out / because of the long seaweeds. / Let's have a drink! / Let's have a bit (of food)! / Leave something behind!

(Compare RAP. kainga 'matrix, uterus'; yam varieties RAP. papaki kahukahu and (h)anau kaho; TON. kahokaho 'yam, a particularly good kind'; RAP. and MGV. unu 'to drink'; MQS. vere 'morceau'.)

Report of the explorers, third version:

The food is bad. / The octopus is hiding in his ink. / His tentacles sway like seeweeds / when one tries to pull him (from his hiding place) / when his tentacles / are parting.

(Kainga means the act of eating in several Polynesian lnaguages. According to information based on my own fieldwork, the meaning of kahukahu o heke is 'when an octopus hides in his ink'; MQS. ve'eve'e 'tentacules du heke'; MAO. toe 'split, divide'.)

Report of the explorers, fourth version:

A bad meal. / The hymen will not be deflowered / in the long tangle (of the pubic hair) / when one thrusts back and forth. / Let's have the fold (of the female genitals). / Tear open (the hymen)!

(Compare TUA. kahukahu 'the maidenhead, hymen'; MQS. kahukahu 'membrane'; RAP. kai heke, as well as hakaheke 'to deflower'; TUA. unu 'to move longitudinally', unuunu 'to move vigorously back and forth'; TUA. verevere 'pudenda, muliebra; TUA. toe 'to tear, split'.)

Answer of the immigrant king, first version:

The homeland is bad, too. / The flood brings destruction. / The low tide salvation.

(Translated completely from RAP.)

Answer of the immigrant king, second version:

From a bad homeland we have withdrawn. / Bloody wrath. / Fend off the spears! / Wrath (that causes) corpses. / Bring salvation!

(Compare MAO. tai 'anger, rage, violence'; TUA. ua 'blood'; MAO. okooko 'parry spear thrust by clasping the spear in arms'.)

The first version of the explorers' report describes the real situation of the unsuccessful yam plantation (established by Kuukuu on the rim of Rano Kau) and has been recognized as such by previous authors (already Routledge has written, in RM:278, 'for when they had planted yams, grass grew up').

The second version points to the mythical idea of the origin of the first yam and can be understood only because of the two names of varieties and their relationship to Tongan mythology, where the voracious female demon Faimalie gives birth to kahokaho, the most highly valued variety of yams ... The demand for food and drink may be an allusion to the voraciousness of the mother who gives birth to the yam.

In the third version, the transition from land to sea is accomplished, as shown by the linking of categories of yams and sea animals. The difficulty of raising yams is compared to the difficulty of catching an octopus who is hiding in his ink. The latter reference may be part of a fishing incantation (ME:191): the common factor is that both the weeds and the octopus have to be pulled out by hand.

The fourth version takes up the sexual connotation of heke by comparing the unsuccessful yam plantation to an unsuccessful sex act. There is also a hidden reference to the protracted birth mentioned in the second version.

If the sequences of the different versions of translation is altered, it becomes apparent that the various steps form a complete cycle with the end connected to the beginning:

1. The sprouting shoots cannot spread out. / 2. The octopus is hiding in his ink. / 3. The hymen cannot be deflowered. / 4. The original yam cannot slip out.

This type of transformation of four levels of reference presupposes a highly developed poetic style:

1. naturalistic description / 2. comparison with a similar action in a different environment / 3. transference to sexual behavior and frustration / 4. elevation of biological events to a mythological plane

Thus, illo tempore is connected to the present time (the time of the episode), when a decision is demanded. The various levels of meaning verify Stimson's remarks about texts from the manuscript of Ra'ivavae:

The venerated chants of the revered lore (vānanga, ānanga) can be translated in three distinct ways:

(1) With the literal, usual meanings of the words; this form of rendering I call 'exoteric'.

(2) With the poetic, philosophic or metaphorical meanings known only to the intellectuals (koroua) who had been formally instructed in the vananga; this form I call 'exoteric' or 'esoteric-philosophic'.

(3) With the literal, erotic meanings of the words, which I call 'erotic' or 'erotic-esoteric', for, as a matter of fact, this form, too, is esoteric, and known only by the initiated. (Stimson 1940:51)"

To these different ways of reading (also rongorongo I take for granted) must surely be added the primary scene, the cosmological one - dictated by the different manu tara of Mother Nature. Cosmos dictates it all and I see calendars everywhere in the rongorongo texts. Hotu Matu'a arrived - they said - from the east (not from the west as the experts from the civilized world have 'proved'), but according to the cosmological frame of reference he must have arrived at the eastern horizon (as he is the incarnation of the sun).