Plume of the Arawas
III. Two Suns; Two Moons
III. Two Suns; Two Moons
O Fighters Bold!
Rehearse your deeds of war,
And speak of acts perform'd,
That all the warriors here,
May pow'r receive!
T uwharétoa returned to Hikurangi; but, in the manner of his return, he inflicted upon the head chief Taréha a humiliation such as perhaps no head chief of an Arawa pa had ever suffered before.
Holding to the forest tracks throughout the daytime, and reaching the home valley in the darkness just before the dawn, the ariki led his men stealthily forward until, unseen and unheard by the sentries on the towers, they reached the flat near the bottom palisade.
Enjoining his men to remain silent, and warning them to await a signal at break of day, he left them, and soon he was feeling his way towards the palisade on the southern side. Taihoa! Across his back was slung the trumpet Te Umu-kohu-kohu.
With some difficulty he crossed the outer ditch and reached and scaled the bottom palisade. Ha! In the darkness, the sentries failed to see the deeper darkness that moved. Too intent were they on chanting their praises to the morning stars.
Soon the second palisade was surmounted, and then the third. Still no challenge! Tuwharétoa climbed up a tower overlooking the marae and waited; but now Te Umu-kohu-kohu was trembling at his lips.
A greyness, a very faint greyness began to show up in the eastern sky, but darkness, utter darkness still kept the flat hidden from view. A little longer Tuwharétoa waited.
Then suddenly the voice of the trumpet pealed forth from the tower. A moment's silence, then up from the blackness below came a roar, as the warriors on the flat leaped triumphantly into the opening movements of a war-dance.
Ha! How the panic-stricken people of Hikurangi poured forth from their dwellings, and surged about the marae, and dashed to the gates, and rushed around seeking in the dim light either to find or to escape from the unknown foe!
The panic ended as quickly as it had begun. The people, with shouts of joy and laughter, hastened to the bottom of the pa to welcome home the victorious taua. And impotently the angry Taréha had to stand almost alone on the marae and listen to Tuwharétoa as he took charge of the whole proceedings and cried out to his men the ancient greeting:
“ I haeré mai i whéa,
Té-éré, té-éré, téré-nui na Tu?
Whence come ye,
Travellers, travellers, great travellers of Tu?”
Up from the flat came the chorused reply, as the warriors raised weapons aloft in honour of their leader on the tower above:
“ I haeré mai i te kimihanga,
I te hahunga,
I a Tu!
Té-éré, té-éré, téré-nui o Tu!
We come from the seeking-out,
From the searching,
Of Tu!
Travellers, travellers, great travellers of Tu!”
Again there issued that questioning cry from the heights:
“Whence come ye,
Travellers, travellers, great travellers of Tu?”
And back from the warriors on the flat below came the roar of the victors' chant:
“I hacré mai i uta,
I haeré mai i tai,
I haeré mai i te Tu parékura—
Té-évé, té-éré, téré-nui o Tu!
“We come from the land,
We come from the sea,
We come from the battle-field of Tu—
Travellers, travellers, great travellers of Tu!”
………..
That afternoon Tuwharétoa went down to the river with Marama. Ah! How good it was to just lie there in the sunshine and relax, relax, relax! Yet Marama was longing for him to speak. So presently he sat up, and delighted her with tales about Taupo. And how her eyes sparkled as he told her about the giant canoe-hull of the Waiotapu, and about the new world, the wide world, the fascinating world that would soon be opened up for them in the south!
But he said nothing to her about the maiden Rerémoa, nor did he even mention the name of a hated gorge.
The evening that followed was spent with Te Moana the Wise, and greatly did the aged one enjoy himself that night. Worth remaining alive for, he said, as Tuwharétoa finished his tale.
He took a special interest in the hull that had been found. A canoe-hewing expert would be needed to finish off that hull, and to arrange for the carvings that would later on adorn it. The choosing of that expert could be left to him, said Te Moana, as he knew all the canoe-experts of Te Arawa, and within a few days he would secure the best that the tribe possessed.
Then willingly he helped Tuwharétoa to choose the warriors who would be sent to the aid of Rata. More than ninety were chosen, all young, of good rank in the tribe, and full of spirit. But among their number there was not one follower of Taréha. Indeed, even from among his own followers Tuwharétoa chose with the utmost care, lest any element of friction or family feud should be included that might cause discord in the war-canoe later.
And the arrangements for this party would be left in the discreet hands of Te Puku the Fat.
………..
The next day brought further humiliation to the head chief Taréha.
Swept away by the completeness of the Arawa victory in the Uréwera, and much impressed by the spectacular return of Tuwharétoa, the fickle people demanded of the elders that Taréha be made to give up the chieftainship to one more fitted to guard Hikurangi against surprise attacks.
The council of elders gave in quickly, and brought pressure to bear on the head chief. Realising the futility of open resistance, Taréha summoned a meeting on the marae, and invited Tuwharétoa to attend.
Then, before all the people, he spoke in praise of Tuwharétoa and in appreciation of the way in which, despite his youth, he was upholding the tribal name. And finally he expressed his earnest wish that Tuwharétoa should join him in the chieftainship; and so have equal authority with him in the pa.
The compromise offered by the head chief satisfied the people, and cries of approval came from all sides. But Tuwharétoa was quickly upon his feet, and anger was in his voice as he spoke:
“O Taréha, thou hast tried to make thy words as pleasant to mine ears as the rustling of leaves, but I hearken to the thoughts within thy mind, and they sound to me like booming, noisy surf.
“Now as to the sharing of the chieftainship! Do two suns shine during the one day? Do two moons travel the heavens during the one night? No! Not in our world! Therefore, enough for thine offer to share the chieftainship!”
He turned away and addressed himself haughtily to the people on the marae:
“ Hear me, O people of Hikurangi! When ye showed scant respect for my father's memory, all desire for the chieftainship of Hikurangi died in my heart. I would not take the chieftainship now if ye offered it to me, sharing it with no other. Ha! I am free; free to carry out the conquest of Taupo, for Te Arawa. Enough!”
………..
That night Te Moana, in his mild way, remonstrated with Tuwharétoa for his scornful rejection of the head chief's offer, and even more for the taunt which he had hurled at the people. Even though deserved, no good purpose had been served by his words. Many of the people, indeed, had been deeply offended, for they had not liked being talked to in that way.
Tuwharétoa listened with a growing impatience until the aged one had finished. Then he rose, and departed without saying a word, and for a long time Te Moana sat on, thinking.
………..
The tale of the exploits of Tuwharétoa spread quickly throughout Te Arawa, and, by the third day of his return, chiefs and elders from the various branches of the tribe began to arrive at Hikurangi Pa.
For several days they continued to arrive, and as each new party entered the pa it was welcomed by Taréha. For some reason known only to himself, however, Tuwharétoa for days remained moodily in the background, taking little notice of the chiefs and elders who had come from far and near to do him honour. Indeed, he took advantage of the welcome given to the last of these parties and managed, with the aid of Te Puku, to get away his reinforcements for Rata without having first obtained the approval of Taréha and the council of elders.
The turmoil in the pa when it was found that so many young warriors had departed from Hikurangi, perhaps never to return, gave Taréha that which he had long desired, a chance to force Tuwharétoa to face a council-meeting of the whole tribe. So he waited until Tuwharétoa reappeared on the marae, and then he brought up matter after matter in which he claimed that the young ariki had failed in his duty to Hikurangi and to the tribe. And very cunningly did he seek to obtain a mandate that would compel Tuwharétoa to follow the ancient customs of his people.
He pointed out that the ariki would neither paint his body nor have his face tattooed. It was not right, said Taréha, that an ariki should risk having his appearance laughed at in this way by enemies within or without the tribe.
He pointed out that Tuwharétoa was still unmarried, and that he had not as yet attempted to find a mate. The expressed wishes of the people in this matter had been ignored.
He mentioned also that the ariki had repeatedly put off his final test in the Wharé-wananga. Moreover, he would not even consult with the elders on the matter of his plans for Taupo.
In all these things, said Taréha, the ariki had flouted the elders and the people, and he should now be asked to justify himself before the tribal council.
Invited to answer these charges, Tuwharétoa's reply was far from conciliatory. Clearly it angered him to have to speak at all on matters brought up by the head chief.
“Greetings to the chiefs and elders of Te Arawa!” said he. “Now hear me!
“Away back in the past, my fair-haired ancestors neither painted the body nor had the face marked with the lines of the ‘moko,’ yet few laughed at them— and lived. These matters are for me alone.
“As to my marrying, I will choose a maiden to be my mate, but that matter also is for me alone.
“As to the Wharé-wananga, I will comply with the tribal custom. I will submit to the test, but not yet. Enough for that!
“As to Taupo, when the people chose Taréha as head chief of Hikurangi, they left me free, and I refuse now to discuss my plans with the elders. Enough for that also!” And he walked away.
Late in the afternoon, he went back to the marae and demanded to know the decision of the council. It was given to him at once, but many a chief on that marae grew uneasy at the look in Tuwharétoa's eyes as he listened.
“Greetings, O Ariki,” said the spokesman of the council, “as I convey to thee the thoughts of the chiefs and elders of Te Arawa!
“As to the painting of thy body and the adorning of thy face, those matters are for thee alone, as thou hast said. Therefore, enough for those things!
“As to thy marriage, we think it time for thee to marry, and we expect thee to visit all our villages and pas before thou dost choose thy mate. Enough for that also!
“As to the Wharé-wananga, if thou art to remain the ariki thou must pass the final test as thy father did before thee. Give heed, therefore! Ere long we will come again to Hikurangi, and then we must witness that test.
“But as to Taupo, the matter has proved too hard for us, and we must discuss it with our people. It affects the whole tribe, and it is not a matter for thee alone. Therefore, O Ariki, hold back from Taupo, hold back until the tribal council shall have given the word! Enough!”
………..
That evening, to the great relief of Te Moana the Wise, Tuwharétoa unburdened himself of his troubles.
“O Aged One,” said he, “for days I have not been myself. No sooner was I back at Hikurangi than I found that the old people had been tampered with in mine absence. Then later, when chiefs and elders began to arrive from distant pas, I felt that soon they also would be tampered with. So I held aloof from them, and waited.
“And now my fears are realised, for the tribal council has joined with Hikurangi in seeking to tie me down. Aué! To think that it is the head chief of my own home-pa who has arranged the ropes! Dost wonder at my rage at times, O Wise One?”
“O Ariki!” replied Te Moana. “Be patient! Taupo cannot be won in a day or in a year, neither can it be won by thee alone. Thy constant fears are affecting thee, making thee overbearing in thy manner and unduly angry over opposition. Taihoa! Taupo will come to thee in time.”
“In time?” said Tuwharétoa fiercely. “No! It must come soon. Already has almost a year passed by in conflict with Tuhoe. And now mine own people seek to tie me down for one year, two years, three years, perhaps for ever. Aué! Even now I feel the tightening of the ropes; but I will break free. I will break free.”
“O Ariki!” replied Te Moana again. “Be patient! It is thy youth that makes thee intolerant of all restraint, impatient at any delay. Yes! Even the year of conflict with Tuhoe is begrudged by thee. Yet it has been a year of training, of preparation, a year that has left its mark upon thee and made Taupo possible for thee. Therefore, taihoa again! In due time Taupo will come to thee.”
But Tuwharétoa rose to his feet and moved towards the door. At the door he turned, and his voice was harsh with the intensity of his feeling as he cried:
“No! Again no! Delay may be fatal. In my very bones I feel that other tribes see the weakness of Ngatihotu, and I fear greatly that the end of this coming summer will see them gathering for a feast. Ha! Must I wait, and allow Taupo to be lost to my tribe for ever? No! No! Soon, soon, I must be back with Rata at the Waiotapu. Enough!”
And as he moved through the doorway the aged seer gazed after him and murmured:
“Alas! Alas! Not for him will be the easy ways, the pleasant, the smiling valleys of life. For him will be the rough and rugged heights, the struggling, the rising, the slipping, the falling, the rising again, for he will rise, this ariki, though slowly, slowly. Yes, he will rise, and fall again—perhaps.”
………..
With the departure of the visiting chiefs and elders came a period of quietness at Hikurangi, a period during which the people of the pa went down to the fields, and tilled the ground, and planted the crops, and laboured incessantly to make up for time that had been lost.
Every morning, from the pa upon the hill, the restless Tuwharétoa looked down upon the toiling figures in the valley below, and every morning he longed to set out for the Waiotapu River. But Te Moana had made it plain to him that he must restrain his longing, for the canoe-hull would take at least one moon to complete for launching, and the tohunga expert who had been sent was a jealous expert, who would allow no one to interfere with or hasten on the work.
So reluctantly Tuwharétoa waited, but not idly. Forbidden by their rank to join in the labours of the planting, he and Marama daily went off into the forest, or up the river, or on to the Pink and White Terraces and Tarawera Lake. And the evenings Tuwharétoa spent with Te Moana the Wise, mostly in further studies of the art of makutu and in other practice with powers hidden in the mind. But some evenings they kept free.
Thus one evening they talked about Rerémoa, and, in reply to Te Moana's question, Tuwharétoa said that he had not yet told Marama about the maiden of Ngatihotu. Knowing that she thought she had his undivided love, he had feared to distress his sister, and he had dreaded her opposition far more than that of Hikurangi or of the tribe. Moreover, being a Puhi maiden with duties to her tribe, she would be indignant as well as unhappy if told the news, and she would spread the news throughout the land. So he had kept the knowledge from her. Indeed, only Rata and Te Moana shared with himself that knowledge, for his warriors knew nothing about his meetings with Rerémoa, and he had requested Rata to say no word.
Te Moana commended the caution displayed, and then, in kindly manner, he went on to warn Tuwharétoa against any cramping or dominating of the mind of Rerémoa before or after the taking of her to wife. Let the ariki keep her mind free from his mind, and let him treat her always as an equal, even as Mawaké Taupo had treated his wife Te Haahuru in other days! Then would the effect be seen in the spirit of the children that would come. Yes, again would he remind the ariki to beware of the ruthless over-ruling of others, for it was the weakness of the strong!
“As to the maiden,” replied Tuwharétoa after an ominous silence, “I will remember thine advice. Therefore, enough!” And Te Moana wisely left it at that.
On another evening, Te Moana revealed to Tuwharétoa the existence within the pa of two treasures from Hawaiki. In the earth before the statue of Ngatoro-i-rangi in the Wharé-wananga, said he, was buried a block of totara wood, with a hollow space inside tightly covered at the top. Within that hollow space rested a small casket, black with age, a casket made from a strange wood, minutely and wonderfully carved in queer designs.
“O Ariki!” continued Te Moana. “Its name is ‘Tangaroa,’ and inside it is gravel. The casket and the gravel both came in the Arawa Canoe with Ngatoro, but, according to him, their origin was not from Tawhiti but was from the Homeland, Hawaiki - Far - Away. Greetings to the Homeland! Now from Ngatoro the casket and the gravel come down to thee. Therefore, when finally thou dost leave Hikurangi for Taupo, dig up the totara block, and take with thee the casket and its contents, and deal with them as the spirit moves!”
Treasures from Hawaiki! Eagerly Tuwharétoa sought further knowledge about those treasures, but Te Moana could only add some vague and tantalising references to a ceremony performed on Little-Hawaiki in the distant past, a ceremony in which a far-back ancestor of his named Hui-te-Rangiora had taken an honoured part. And with those fragments of knowledge Tuwharétoa had to be content.
On still another evening Te Moana urged upon the ariki the need for a ceremonial visit to all the other pas of the tribe.
“O Tu!” he said. “Courtesy and tribal duty alike demand it of thee. Ah! I know what is troubling thy mind. It is the thought of all the speech-making, and the feasting, and the one-sided love-making, that will mark thy progress through the land. Yet these things must be faced and borne by one who stands upon the pinnacle of fame. But alas, to think that the hopes of the beauteous maidens of Te Arawa are doomed to disappointment from the start! Sad, very sad, O Tu!”
And the old tohunga chuckled over his little jest, but Tuwharétoa merely smiled and said nothing. Yet neither the advice nor the jest was wasted, for on the following morning, when all the people were present in the pa for the morning meal, it was announced on the marae that the ariki would be leaving Hikurangi shortly for a brief tour of the whole tribe, accompanied by Marama and by a guard of warriors under the command of Te Puku the Fat.
And old Te Moana chuckled again, for he knew that Te Puku was being taken to control the speech-making and the feasting, and that, as to the other matter, Marama would never throughout any of the evenings be allowed to leave her brother's side.
Following upon that announcement came another which added to the interest of the people and gave pleasure almost to all. For Marama appeared on the marae and called Niwareka to her side, and then, in the hearing of all the people, she appointed Niwareka to be her friend and companion for the coming tour and for another journey that would follow later. And the pleasure was greater when Marama turned and in sisterly fashion greeted the maiden of the people with an affectionate hongi.
Yet there was one person in the pa who seemed to take no pleasure in Niwareka's advancement. Up and down in front of his rock stamped Te Puku the Fat, loudly and bitterly complaining that he had been dealt a mortal blow by this rise in rank for Niwareka. Alas! What chance had he now of winning the Bright-Eyed One of Hikurangi? And how could he possibly keep watch on her during all the festivities that would greet those who would travel under the wing of the White Hawk of Te Arawa?
“O kindly one! Just listen to that man!” cried Niwareka angrily, as the smiling Marama restrained her from effective reply. “And watch him now as he struts about and enjoys the laughter of the crowd! And look at him, just look at him, as now he moves towards me with dignity of step and with an air of proud supremacy! Ai! How I hate that man!”
………..
In due course, having sent messengers on ahead to announce his coming, the ariki set out from Hikurangi Pa, but behind him he left a very disturbed people, a people who had found out something just before he left.
Ha! So the later journey which Marama had spoken of was to be to Taupo in the south! Aué! Would the ariki indeed carry away their Puhi maiden to far-off Taupo against the wishes of the people, and without even mentioning the matter to the elders of the pa?