122 Transactions.—M iscellaneous. 
Applied to a man who eats more than his share, or who takes away tit- 
bits from others at meals. 
55. Patua tho, he kaka, ki tahaki tera ; a, ka puehuehu, ma tana whaiaro tera. 
He pounds away, lo! a stringy bit,—that's placed alongside (for the 
visitors); ha! a nice mealy bit, that’s for himself or his favourite. 
This has reference to the preparation of fern-root for eating ; and was 
used for a sly, selfish, greedy person. 
N.B.—There was a great difference in fern-root, of which varieties the 
Maori had many names. ‘The difference was much the same as in the 
various kinds of potatoes and of flour with us. 
56. Pikipiki motumotu, ka hokia he whanaunga ! 
Constantly returning (at food-time, saying, he does so) because he is 
a relation ! 
This proverb is concerning a lazy fellow, a '*loafer," who always con- 
irives to drop in at meals, because he is a relation ; and is often used in 
times of scarcity of food, so as to cause those sitting at meat to eat up their 
victuals quickly. But the whole story is too good to be lost, so I give a 
translation of it. 
— * Tama-ki-te-wananga was lighting his fire to roast his food, but the 
fire did not burn briskly, so he said, ‘ Bother the fire, it does not kindle 
well; and stooping down he blew atit with his breath that it might burn 
the better. At this very moment Hauokai had come up, and was standing 
behind his back, but Tama did not know of it; so he kept on blowing away 
at his fire, saying, between whiles, ‘Flame up, blaze away, that thou be 
not caught by Hauokai. It came to pass, however, that he (Tama) was 
indeed thus eaught by him while saying those very words. On hearing them, 
Hauokai ealled down from behind his back, * What have you got against 
me, O Tama-ki-te-wananga ? Then Tama turned round and looked up— 
alas! there, verily, was Hauokai himself standing looking down on him. 
For some time Tama kept looking up with vacànt surprise, not knowing 
what to say. At last he said, ‘Thy often comings and goings.’  Hauokai 
replied, ‘ Yes, my returning hither was owing to my relationship.’ Then 
Tama said to Hauokai, ‘ Just so, and more too; it is thy continually return- 
ing hither.’ Then it was that Hauokai said to Tama, * I frequently returned 
hither, as you have said, through our relationship, but now you and I shall 
be separate; we shall never again see each other from this time forward ; 
nevertheless, our two spirits (wairua) shall meet in the nether world 
(reinga).* And from that time they never saw each other up to their 
death.” 
* There are several items of interest in this old story, but I must pass them by to 
take up a more modern one. A few years ago, the then Superintendent of the late Auck- 
