TRANSLATIONS
The henua ora chapter in the glyph dictionary is
more difficult than rei miro (and rei miro
more difficult than hetuu). Mostly this is due to
the way the dictionary chapters will unfold - the later
ones will presume knowledge of the earlier ones. It
becomes harder and harder for the reader.
For me, on the other hand, there is an incresasing
difficulty due to how the later chapters must not
contradict the earlier ones.
The difference between seasons defined by
cardinal points and seasons defined by calendars must
sooner of later be expressed in concrete terms: How many
days (or rather nights) are documented in the
calendars for the different kinds of season and how are
the calendar seasons coordinated with the cardinal
points?
In order to answer the question more knowledge about the
meaning of the glyphs must be accumulated.
In the henua ora chapter of the glyph dictionary
I have embarked on a journey to unravel the structures
of the E and G calendars for the year. Based on the
discovery how 20 and 26 glyphs in the 1st and 24th
periods of the E calendar may be interpreted to give
clues about how to read the calendar - with the 10th and
11th periods corresponding to the limits of the 20
respectively 26 half-periods (of different 'currency') - the glyph type which
Metoro called vero has to be be explained in the
henua ora chapter.
10 |
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Eb3-32 |
Eb3-33 |
Eb3-34 |
Eb3-35 |
Eb3-36 |
Eb3-37 |
Eb3-38 |
Eb4-1 |
te
maitaki |
te
tagata moko |
te
henua |
te
maitaki |
tagata moko |
te
henua |
Te
maitaki |
te
henua - te kiore |
11 |
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Eb4-2 |
Eb4-3 |
Eb4-4 |
Eb4-5 |
Eb4-6 |
te vero |
te
henua |
toko
tokoga |
te
henua - e rima |
te
kiore - te henua |
We furthermore have discovered how vero (the 19th
glyph among the central 20 on side a of H) together with
the following backwards looking glyph (vae kore)
probably correspond to the season beyond the death of
Kuukuu:
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Ha6-137 |
Ha6-138 |
Ha6-139 |
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Pa6-22 |
Pa6-23 |
Pa6-24 |
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Qa6-24 |
Qa6-25 |
Qa6-26 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
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Aa1-11 |
Aa1-12 |
In the henua ora chapter I have now inserted a
link named vero to be able to explain what the
glyph type means:
Metoro's readings are helpful in this
instance, because at Eb4-2 he
said vero:
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Eb4-2 |
Eb5-10 |
Ga5-17 |
te vero |
kua tu te Ao |
- |
11 |
19 |
19 |
Eb4-2 (in period 11) follows upon
henua ora (period 10) and Eb5-10 (in
period 19) follows upon the autumn equinox
(17-18). (Metoro did not have the
opportunity to read tablet G for Bishop
Jaussen.)
Vero has three meanings: 1) a spear
or dart, 2) to turn upside down, 3) name of
a lunar month (the 10th on Marquesas, about
April on Hawaii).
To turn upside down symbolizes death (...
Ulu fell on his face and died
...). Spears lead by
way of association to the obsidian spear
heads (matá) on Easter Island, an
instrument for killing in the tribal wars.
The 10th month on Marquesas (veo)
suggests that rongorongo writers may
have used this glyph type to indicate the
'death' of a season.
In the 10th period of E the same story is
told by henua ora
- the sun canoe
has been drawn up on the beach and does not
move. It is still, i.e. 'dead'. After autumn
equinox the canoe
is turned upside down (vero).
As to 'kua tu te Ao' at Eb5-10 we
need not worry too much about that for the
moment, but ao means, among other
things, 'nightfall'. It is strange how
'fall' (in nightfall) and in the season fall
= autumn is English picture language quite
similar to that used in the expression:
Ulu fell on his face - i.e. the 'black
cloth' covered his head (as when a black
cloth is put over a bird-cage to silence the
bird).
The little moon sickle (like a reaping-hook)
at the bottom of Eb5-10 indicates darkness
- the time of the moon. Presumably the moon
sickle has been added to
intensify the idea of 'darkness'. Autumn equinox
means not only the 'death' of sun's canoe but also that the dark season
has arrived and moon now rules. |
Vero
To throw, to hurl (a lance, a
spear). This word was also used with the
particle kua preposed: koía kua
vero i te matá, he is the one who threw
the obsidian [weapon]. Verovero, to
throw, to hurl repeatedly, quickly
(iterative of vero). Vanaga.
1. Arrow, dart, harpoon,
lance, spear, nail, to lacerate, to
transpierce (veo). P Mgv.: vero,
to dart, to throw a lance, the tail;
verovero, ray, beam, tentacle. Mq.:
veó, dart, lance, harpoon, tail, horn.
Ta.: vero, dart, lance. 2. To turn
over face down. 3. Ta.: verovero, to
twinkle like the stars. Ha.: welowelo,
the light of a firebrand thrown into the
air. 4. Mq.: veo, tenth month of the
lunar year. Ha.: welo, a month (about
April). Churchill.
Sa.: velo, to cast
a spear or dart, to spear. To.: velo,
to dart. Fu.: velo, velosi, to
lance. Uvea: velo, to cast; impulse,
incitement. Niuē:
velo,
to throw a spear or dart. Ma.:
wero, to
stab, to pierce, to spear. Ta.:
vero, to
dart or throw a spear. Mg.: vero,
to pierce, to lance. Mgv.: vero,
to lance, to throw a spear. Mq.:
veo, to
lance, to throw a spear. Churchill 2. |
When arguing for the meaning of vero as the
'fall' of a season on its 'face', I cannot use knowledge
which will arrive only later. Therefore I cannot refer
to how in Eb4-5 there is a picture of how the summer henua
has began to grow
(shown by the hand gesture). The eating gesture was
described in the hetuu chapter, but henua
is still an unknown concept:
11 |
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Eb4-2 |
Eb4-3 |
Eb4-4 |
Eb4-5 |
Eb4-6 |
te vero |
te
henua |
toko
tokoga |
te
henua - e rima |
te
kiore - te henua |
We can compare with the 'parallel' henua in the
19th period, where the growth gesture is more marked:
19 |
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Eb5-10 |
Eb5-11 |
Eb5-12 |
Eb5-13 |
kua tu
te Ao |
te rima kua haga i te
henua kaoa o te heke |
te
henua - te kiore |
The henua in Eb5-12 is not of the 'midnight'
type. Maybe there is a moon sickle protruding from
henua?
Why is there a 'midnight' henua in Eb4-3? Maybe
it refers to when (at winter solstice?) the 'fallen' season
will 'stand up' again? Maybe it is there to balance the
summer henua?
The expression 'kua tu te Ao' refers to the
arriving autumn and possibly kua tu = stand up?
We remember kua tuu (if that is the same
expression?) at Aa1-13:
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Aa1-13 |
kua tuu |
The expression henua kaoa o te heke probably
refers to the left (henua) part of Eb5-12:
Kao 1. Side, edge, rim; kao gutu (or just kao), labia minora. 2. Steep, almost perpendicular; thin, skinny.
Motu Kaokao, name of one of the islets opposite Orongo, with
a steep shape. Vanaga.
Cloth, clothing, garb.
(Perhaps a variant of kahu.) Kaokao, side, flank, ribs,
lateral. P Pau.: kaokao, the side, flank. Mgv.: kaokao,
the side, flank. Mq.: kaokao, id. Ta.: aoáo, id. In
Nuclear Polynesia this is particularized, in Samoa to the armpit, in
Tonga and Futuna to the sides of the canoe. Therefore it may be
considered a borrowing from the Tongafiti. Churchill. |
Kaoa
Mgv.: a fish. Mq.: kaoa, a small fish. Churchill. |
Kaoti
Pau.: enough. Mgv.: oti, enough, to end. Ta.: oti, to end.
Sa.: oti, to die. Ma.: oti, ended. Churchill. |
The general impression I get from
'enough' (kaoti), 'rim' (kao), 'flank' (kaokao)
etc is that summer has ended and that autumn equinox is located at
the side (in the armpit?) of the henua cycle.
The 'cloth' kao maybe has to be black. The sides
of a canoe are similar to the sides of the solar cycle,
I think.
Metoro's small fish (kaoa) may allude
to te Ao, the Fall; indeed that is the first
allusion - the words sound so alike as to strike the
mind.
The three little islets outside Orongo: Motu
Nui, Moti Iti and Motu Kaokao (in
shrinking order and more and more close to Orongo)
could lead to the idea of Motu Kaokao being a
kind of small fish. Islands were often regarded as fishes in
Polynesia.
The conclusion is - I think - that it is not a moon
sickle protruding from the flank of the henua, it
is something else. Its function is to point to the flank
(armpit?) of the fat henua (now 'full', having
'eaten enogh').
Metoro seems to have known what the rongorongo
texts meant. But how can I use this kind of
argumentation in the glyph dictionary?
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