Home      Rosetta Stones      Metoro's readings      Opinions:     Barthel      Métraux

The Rongorongo of Easter Island

Guy on Metoro's readings


Guy accuses Metoro of deliberately deceiving Jaussen, and Barthel of mentioning the evidence only to sweep it under the carpet.

L'examen des notes de Jaussen montre que Métoro, vraisemblablement enhardi par son succès à capter l'intérêt de l'évêque, a tenté de sonder ce qu'il prenait pour de la crédulité en lisant dans un désordre grandissant le verso des deux dernières tablettes qui lui ont été présentées. Jaussen semble s'en être aperçu et ne pas avoir été dupe. Barthel rapporte les faits sans pour autant tirer la conclusion qui s'impose: que Métoro ne savait rien et qu'il se moquait sans doute de Jaussen. C'est au contraire sur le témoignage fantaisiste de Métoro qu'il s'appuiera pour tenter de déchiffrer les rongo-rongo, ce qui le mènera à proposer des interprétations sans fondement. Les chants de Métoro, loin de constituer une clef possible, ne peuvent que retarder le déchiffrement des tablettes en égayant les chercheurs sur de fausses pistes. The examination of Jaussen's notes shows that Metoro, probably emboldened by his success in catching the Bishop's interest, tried to sound out what he mistook for gullibility by reading in increasing disorder the verso of the last two tablets shown to him. Jaussen seems to have realized, and he does not appear to have been fooled. Barthel mentions the evidence without drawing the conclusion: that Metoro knew nothing and was making fun of Jaussen. On the contrary, Barthel would take Metoro's fantastic account as the basis for his attempted decipherment of the rongorongo, and that led him to propose groundless interpretations. Metoro's chants, far from providing a possible key, can only hinder the decipherment of the tablets by sending researchers on wild-goose chases.

(Guy 1999: abstract of "Peut-on se fonder sur le témoignage de Métoro pour déchiffrer les rongo-rongo?" Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol.108, pp.125-132)


     The evidence he presents is out of Jaussen's notes, reproduced pages 173 to 199 of Barthel's Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift. The argument is in five steps.

  1. What we know. The only thing we know for sure is the direction of reading, the same text occurring on three tablets with lines of different lengths (H, P and Q). Reading must start at the bottom left corner, and proceeds to the right. At the end of the line,
  2. The reading of Tablet Mamari. Metoro read the second side of Tablet Mamari from the corner diagonally opposite where he should have started. So he read its last line first, finishing with its first line. The error is certain, because it is that side where occurs the only text of known meaning: a lunar calendar.
  3. The reading of Tablet Keiti. Metoro read each line of the second side of Tablet Keiti back to front. The error is certain, because Metoro's readings match the signs only that way. It must be deliberate because:
  4. Was Jaussen fooled? Jaussen's notes mention how Metoro started reading the second side of Tablet Mamari in terms that show Jaussen's extreme surprise:
    par une exception remarquable aux autres tablettes, Metoro prit cette 15e ligne au bas du verso, au côté opposé au creux, et lit le verso en remontant, comme si l'auteur y traitait un sujet à part by a remarkable exception to the other tablets, Metoro started this 15th line from the bottom of the verso, from the side opposite the indentation, and read the verso going back up, as if the author dealt there with a separate topic
    Barthel 1958:193

    A note near the beginning of Metoro's reading of Tablet Mamari shows that Jaussen was pointing to each sign in turn as he was writing it down, so that it is impossible that he may not have noticed, there and then, that Metoro's readings no longer described the signs of the second side of Keiti.
    un doigt sur le signe, je tâchais de ne plus écrire de son chant que le mot essentiel with a finger on the sign, I now strived to write only the main word of his singing
    Barthel 1958:191
  5. Was Barthel fooled? Barthel does not comment on Metoro having read the second side of Tablet Mamari last line first. He comments on Metoro reading back to front every line of the second side of Keiti, but he does not mention the transposition of the first six signs, and sees no reason for suspicion. Guy then accuses Barthel, in barely veiled terms, of having ignored the evidence for the purpose of furthering his attempted decipherment, based on Metoro's testimony.
    Il semble donc bien que Barthel, tout au désir de parvenir à un déchiffrement, a voulu croire que Métoro en avait la clef; et que ce besoin l'a amené à ne voir que ce qui servait ce dessein et à passer sous silence ou à présenter sous un autre jour tout ce qui le desservait. So it does seem that Barthel, obnubilated by the desire to reach a decipherment, wanted to believe that Metoro had the key; and that the need led him to see only what served his purpose and to hush or to show under a different light all what harmed it.
    Guy 1999:129

Home      Rosetta Stones      Metoro's readings      Opinions:     Barthel      Métraux