William Thomson 1891:526

Home Early witnesses Contents Previous page Next page

Easter Island: Early Witnesses

William Thomson

526

TRANSLATION OF EASTER ISLAND TABLET.

"Ate-a-renga-hokau iti poheraa"

LOVE SONG.

(Plates XLIV and XLV.)

Ka tagi, Renga-a-manu - hakaopa;
Chiu runarame a ita metua.
Ka ketu te nairo hihi - O te hoa!
Eaha ton tiena - e te hoa - e!

Ita haga ta poapatu - O te hoa!
Kahii te riva forani - O te hoa - e!
Auwe ka tagi ati - u - a - iti iti.
Eha ton tiena - e ta hoa - e.

Ta hi tiena ita have.
  Horoa ita have.
  Horoa moni e fahiti;
        Ita ori miro;
        Ana piri atu;
        Ana piri atu;
        Ana taga atu.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION.

NATIVE LOVE SONG.

Who is sorrowing ? It is Renga-a-manu Hakopa!
A red branch descended from her father.
Open thine eyelids, my true love.
Where is your brother, my love?
At the feast in the Bay of Salutation
We will meet under the feathers of your clan.
She has long been yearning after you.
Send your brother as a mediator of love between us,
Your brother who is now at the house of my father.
O, where is the messenger of love between us?
When the feast of drift-wood is commemorated
There we will meet in loving embrace.

TRADITION IN REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF THE ISLANDERS.

The island was discovered by King Hotu-Matua, who came from the land in the direction of the rising sun, with two large double canoes and three hundred chosen followers. They brought with them potatoes, yams, bananas, tobacco, sugar-cane, and the seeds of various plants, including the paper mulberry and the toromiro trees. The first landing was made on the islet of Motu Nui, on the north coast, and there the first food was cooked that had been tasted for one hundred and twenty days. The next day the queen started in one of the canoes to explore the coast to the northwest, while the other canoe, in charge of the king, rounded the island to the southeast. At Anekena Bay the

526