44 



Mat and Basket Weaving. 



it lias been translated into German elsewhere. '^ I do not pretend to be a Samoan 

 scholar, but the similarity with the Hawaiian has warranted me in translating the 

 song from the text of O. Steiibel.'^ There are expressions of which the meaning can 

 onh' be guessed at, and even the learned translator into German, Dr. W. von Biilow, 

 has not always been sure that he has guessed aright. 



There are several versions of this story ; the present one was colle^led at Safune 

 and Dr. von Biilow gives another not very different, in the volume referred to. The 

 stor}' is in genuine Polj'uesian form, and serves to explain the reverence with which 

 certain fine mats are to this day preserved by the Samoans, wrapped in siapo and care- 

 fully stored among their choicest treasures. 



O LR TAI.A I I,K IR. 



O Neefanua ma si ana tama o le pipili ma lona 

 tuagane o Uu (Vaiuu) ma o Ololua (Lolua): ua sau la 

 latou vaa mai Fiti ma lalaga mai i ai o le ie i le vaa. 



Ua maua o le igoa o le ie o le Lagavasa. 



Uua taunuu ai i Siuutu i Salailua, ua toe lalaga 

 ona toe sauni lea a oo mai i le Itu o taiic. 



Ua lalaga o le ie. ua pipii ma Ic cleele. 



Ona faaigoaina lea foi o pipii ma le elccle. 



Ona fua lea. 



Ua sau o le vaa i gatai o .Safune. 



Ua fai atu Uu, sei nofo o le vaa i tuaau, sei asia o 

 le nuu nei po e i ai o se latou ava. 



Ua alu ai Uu, ua tui le ava. 



Ona alu ifo lea ona fai utui, oomai ia ua maua o 

 le ava. 



Ona alu ai lea o le vaa ua oC i uta. 



Ona fai atu lea Uu, oomai ina oo i uta : au fia nofo 

 i si ou ava. 



Ona ua nofo ai Uu ua faatupu maa i totonu o le 

 ava, e i ai o le maa i nei onapo i le ituava sasae. 



Ua alu ai o le vaa, ua tuuta i uta, na taunuu ia 

 Tugaga ; ua tulia ; 



Ona alu ane e moe i le fuefuc. 



Ona toi igoa ai o le ie Ua moe i le fuefue. 



Ona latou oo lea i le Ituvai i sasae, ua latou oo i 

 Asu, ua lalaga foi o le ie : ua oo i onapo o le tuaoloa, 

 ua agimai o le matagi, ua sau o le oneone i le fale, 

 oneone ai o le ie. Ona tata lai lea o le ie, ua asuasu, ona 

 faaigoaina lea o le maota o Asu, i le asuasu o le ie. 



Ua oo o le malaga o le alii Lealatelc o Tanuvasava- 

 samanaia, ua afe i le fale o le Pipili i Safune. 



Ua avaga o le Pipili ia Tanuvasavasamanaia, ua 

 fanau o Tualafalafa o le teine. 



"Archives Internationales d'Ethnographie, xii, 136. 

 "Die Leute des Tagaloa, p. 144. 



TIIR TALR OF THE MAT. 



Neefanua with her daughter the cripple (hunch- 

 back) and her brothers Uu and Ololua came in their 

 canoe from Fiji, and she plaited a fine mat in the canoe. 



Then was given to the mat the name l.agavasa 

 (woven on the high sea). 



They made land at Siuutu in Salailua and wove 

 the mat again and traveled to Itu o tane. 



She wove the mat and the dirt clave fast to it. 



For this was the mat named Pijiii ma le eleele. 



More leaves were to be collected. 



The canoe went on to the seaward of .Safune. 



Then spake Uu, "The canoe must rest on the other 

 side of the reef and a boat-passage must be found in 

 the reef." 



Then went Uu to pick out a boat-passage. 



He returned and said, "Come, there is a boat- 

 passage at hand." 



Then went the canoe through the I'ecf to tlie land. 



"Now," said Uu, "Come, go yovi ashore while I stay 

 by my boat-passage." 



Then stayed Uu there and raised up a stone on the 

 inner half of the entrance, that verj' night, a stone on 

 the east side of the passage. 



The canoe made land and was drawn up on the 

 beach, it came to Tugaga ; they went onward. 



She went thence and slept in the bush. 



From this was the mat called "Ua moe i le fuefue." 



She went then to the east side of the stream, and 

 turned to her mat-weaving again. Then arose in the 

 night the .southeasterly wind and blew the sand into the 

 house so that the fine mat was full of sand. Then was 

 the mat shaken : thence came the name of the chief's 

 house, "Asu," from the shaking of the mat. 



The chief Tanuvasavasamanaia of Lealatcle was 

 journeying and came to the house of Pipili at Safune. 



Then Pipili married Tanuvasavasamanaia and bore 

 him a girl, Tualafalafa. 



