PROVERBS. 
27 
3. He pai tangata ekore e reia ; he kino wall in e ka reia. 
Let a man be ever so good looking, he will not be much sought 
after; but let a woman be ever so plain, men will still eagerly 
seek after her (literally run off with). 
4. Ko Waitaha nga tangata, ko kawe ke te ngakau. 
The men truly are Waitaha in name, hut their hearts are any¬ 
thing and everything (Waitaha was once a tribe celebrated 
for number and courage). 
5. He kino kai e kore, e rein ki te pai tangata, he pai tangata e 
rere, ki te kino kai. 
The had quality of the food a man eats will not affect his good 
qualities, or lower him; hut his good qualities will raise or 
sanctify the food. 
6. Ka ruku ruku a huna, ka horahora a papaka nui. 
He who has a thick garment fears not the rain; hut he who has 
only a thin one flees to the house as soon as it begins. 
7. Ka waia te wahie mo takurua, ka mahia te kai mo tau. 
Fuel is only sought for against winter; but food is cultivated 
for the whole year. 
8. Ma pango, ma wero ka oti. 
When gentlemen and slaves unite, the work will soon be done. 
(This refers to the custom of chief’s painting themselves with 
red ochre and slaves with charcoal, before they went to war.) 
9. Ka hia nga kui kui i hold Id toitoi. 
How many old women are there who return to youth ?—Toi toi 
is synonimous with the English word toy, or expressive of the 
struggle young men have to gain their wives. 
10. He kai tangata he kai titongi, koke mahia e tona ringaringa, tino 
kai tino makona. 
Whoever trusts to another man’s labor for his food, will be dis¬ 
appointed ; but he who labours with his own hands, will have 
enough and to spare. (The titongi is a tree whose fruit is 
only in season for a shoi’t time.) 
11. Hau i waka aua te kakahu, he taniko taku. 
You wove the garment, I put a border to it. (A proverb used 
when a person accuses another of having brought any evil upon 
him, of which in reality he himself was the cause.) 
12. Tenei ano a mutu, kei roto i tona ware punga were were. 
The spider is not seen when hid in his web ; so the real inten¬ 
tion of the man is concealed in the recess of his heart. 
