Chapter VII
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Papara came from Taiarapu and Hui. It was led by the great warriors, Teieie and Tetumanua, who were, and are still, so famous that even today you may hear the Taiarapu sing of them. Teieie was a cousin of Vehiatua, and is our ancestor, which is not the case with Amo. My father Tati was, as Table II shows, the son of Teuraiterai and Telau of Ravea. Tetau was a granddaughter of Teieie.
Only the other day I heard the Tautira people again sing the last verses of the song which told how Vehiatua remonstrated with Teieie for troubling his authority. The first part is forgotten. The verses I heard were these:
Teieie, e eiaha ei faainoino ite hau
Teieie, why, oh! why will you make trouble with the government!
You have the sun-rise (the Pari)
The Tirimiro and Manuataha (sub-districts).
Te huru toa nei te huru toa nei
You are a warrior, warrior am I!
Haapiti te matai e nauta mai i Tahuarera
Haapite the wind that blows over Tahuarera
Ite rua o matai taua Fatutira ite tai paaina
Brings me the sound of the surf of Fatutira.
O Murihau a nae ra o tau e tai.
Murihau is all I ask and cry for.
Needless to say that Murihau was another village beauty, like the Maraeura of Tauraatua, whose rank was too low for marriage with an Arii.
Teieie and Tetumanua were called the Ohiteitei -- the two serpents. In honor of them all Taiarapu was called Upoeeha. These two great warriors broke up the Feast of Tooarai, and laid low the Moua, the Arii Teriirere, "in whose presence we all go on our knees".
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Indigenous Histories |  |
© Derived from the revised Paris edition of 1901 page 60, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-marua-060.html