Chapter VII
Index
Search
Contact us
| 3 | |
| Faaara viriaro tei Pafaarava
E rima tahivai e rima tahivai Eha ei roto e ha ei rapae Ahiri ite tao a Amo e E te Oropaa e E hopoipoi tia tatou Ite aro na tai ote vaa Nauta tatou hoe ona a ino Tei mua ite Malataupe E aau paapaa tei Vaitoata E pau tatou ite pau o Pairituaipo Ite rahi tauraa Temahuru nia nei Pahupua ma nei Hia orero tina Papara Na hia te moua Ite vaa nui o Hui ma Taiarapu Hoe noa tia ei te pae tahatai Tau mate o no iaia e Na hara oe ete Purahi Ite reva ura ate arii Tei fati hia e Taiarapu A pohe ai tatou e | The scouts at Pafaarava are wakened
One hand is stretched out, and then another. The four (districts) within, and the four without Ah, had the advice of Amo been followed By you of the Oropaa To lead us all The van of the army by canoes on the sea By the mountain-road we had one evil Ahead of us at the Matataupe The dry reef of Vaitoata There we might have died the death of Pairituaipo At the meeting-ground of Temahuru And of Pahupua. Papara is laid prostrate The Mount (the Arii) is laid low By the great army of Hui and Taiarapu Only one now stands on the shore, the Marae, Thou the cause of our downfall. Oh, thou hast sinned,Purahi, Against the reva ura of thine Arii That was broken up by Taiarapu Which brought on our ruin. |
From this song we can make out that Purahi was the woman who caused the disaster at last. Purahi was an Aromaiterai; the daughter of the Aromaiterai who married Amo's sister Tetuaunurau somewhere about 1750 (See Table I). She was therefore first cousin of the young Teriirere, and belonged to the elder branch of the family, while Teriirere was a Tuiterai, and by his mother, Purea, not a Teva at all. According to island law, I suppose Purahi had a perfect right to take the power from Teriirere if she could.
Purahi was supported by Vehiatua; and the army that devastated
 |
Indigenous Histories |  |
© Derived from the revised Paris edition of 1901 page 59, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-marua-059.html