"A CHANT OF CREATION

 

God-of-angry-look by lying with Roundness made the poporo berry.

Himahima marao by lying with Lichen-in-the-soil made the lichen,

Parent-mother by lying with Pipiri hai tau made wood,

Ti by lying with Tattoing made the ti plant,

Elevation by doing it with Height made the inland grass.

 

Sharpness by lying with Adze produced obsidian,

Twining by lying with Beautiful-face-with-penetrating-tongue produced the morning-glory,

Parent-god by lying with Angry Eel produced the coconut,

Grove by doing it with Trunk produced the ashwood,

Veke by lying with Water-beetle made the dragonfly,

Stinging-fly by doing it with Swarm-of-flies produced the fly,

Branch by lying with Fork-of-tree made Beetle-that-lives-in-rotten-wood,

Lizard-woman by lying with Whiteness made the gannet.

 

Hard-soil by lying with Covering-below made the sugar cane,

Bitterness by doing it with Bad-taste produced the kape,

Tail by lying with Hina oio produced the crayfish,

Killing by doing it with Stingray made the shark.

Tiki-the-chief by lying with Heap-of-earth made Hina kauhara;

Kuhikia by lying with Wetness made the bulrush;

Kuhikia by lying with Pigeon made the seagull;

Small-thing by doing it with Imperceptible-thing made the fine-dust-in-the-air.

 

     It runs red, the blood of the kovare.

     Abundant the kovare, rough the eels.

     The rain falls in long drops."

 

(Legends of the South Seas)

 

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