CorENso.— On a better Knowledge of the Maori Race. 115 
Once for all, I may say that, in translating those ancient proverbs aud 
proverbial sayings which I now bring before you, I have studied accuracy 
before elegance, endeavouring also, at the same time (as far as the differing 
idioms of the two languages will allow), to preserve much of the manner 
in which the pregnant thought was originally expressed; such being just 
as important as the thought itself. In the original, the expressions are 
arranged for the most part antithetically in distichs, like the Proverbs of 
Solomon, and, not unfrequently, poetically ; and are truly rich in images 
borrowed from the whole world of Nature. 
MAORI PROVERBS, ETO. 
I. RELATING To INDUSTRY. 
1, He tangata momoe, he tangata mangere, ekore e whiwhi ki te taonga. 
A sleepy-headed lazy fellow will never possess riches. 
Resembling some in the Proverbs of Solomon. 
He kai kei aku ringaringa. 
I can earn my food with my own hands. 
Lit. I have food in my hands ; or in the use of my hands. 
. Tama tu, tama ora ; tama noho, tama matekai. 
The working chief (or son) flourishes; the idle chief wants food. 
Lit. Standing chief—living chief; squatting chief—hungry chief. 
He kai tangata, he kai titongitongi kaki ; 
He kai na tona ringa, tino kai tino makona noa, 
Food from another is little and stinging to the throat ; 
Food of a man’s own getting, is plentiful and sweet, and satisfying. 
. He panehe toki ka tu te tangitangi kai. 
A little axe well-used brings heaps of food. 
This reminds one of the Persian proverb :—‘‘ In time the mulberry leaf 
becomes satin." To have plenty of food for hospitable purposes was the 
greatest of all things with a New Zealand phiof a as nothing raised them 
and their tribe more in the estimation of all. 
6. Takoto kau ana te whanau o Taane ! 
The forest is felled (for planting), the hard work is done. 
Lit. The children of Taane are lying prostrate.—T'aane being the god 
of woods and forests, the trees were called his children or offspring. 
7. Tena te ringa tango parahia ! 
Well-done the hand that roots up weeds ! 
Applied to a steady worker in root-crop plantations. Parahia, alow-. 
spreading weed (Ctenopodium pusillum), is particularly plentiful at Taupo. 
8. He mate kai e rokohanga, he mate anu ekore e rokohanga. 
Hunger can be remedied, not so the want of warm clothing. 
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