137 
The Honey-eaters : The Tui 
each sentence representing one of the many tui-phrases. The 
appearance of visitors always caused a stir m a Maori kamga, 
or village, and in this stir the tame tui took part, spea ung in a 
subdued, quiet voice, never screeching harshly like the parrot. 
His speech is partly welcome, partly in the nature of a soliloquy; 
he is pleased to see the visitors, but at the same time wonders 
who they are, and whence they come:— 
Ko Tu koe? 
Ivo Kongo koe? 
Ko te manuwhiri. 
Nau mai! 
Moemoetia mai te kuri. 
Haere mai te manuwhiri! 
No runga te manuwhiri? 
No raro te manuwhiri? 
No te ti? 
No te ta? 
No waka i - o - i? 
Tupu wananga! 
Ki Hawaiki! 
E roro! 
Ki-tahi! Ka tu ke! He! 
Ko wai-wai? 
Korero-rero! 
Ka kore-kore te toki! 
Te Whare-pa-talii! 
Te Whare-pa-rua! 
Te hui te rangiora. 
E roro ki waho. 
Ko Tu koe? 
Ko Kongo koe? 
Ko tenei te manuwhiri! 
Nau mai! 
Kahore te kai i te kainga. 
E Rongo! 
E Rongo! 
E Kongo! Maru! Awa! 
Translation by Henry Stowell. 
Art thou Tu? (The god of war:—Comest 
thou in wrath?) 
Art thou Rongo? (Lord of peace and plenty: 
—Comest thou in peace?) 
It is the guest. 
Welcome! 
Sleep with the dog. (Kill a dog in their 
honour) 
Welcome to the guest! 
From the south is the guest? 
From the north is the guest? 
From somewhere? 
From anywhere? 
Perhaps he has come by canoe? Queries 
unanswered! 
(Silence means non-enlightenment.) 
Ah! they speak now in oracles! (Wananga, 
—on the descent, etc., of man) 
About Hawaiki! (The mythical home of the 
race.) 
What wonderful lore and knowledge. 
An apt proverb! It stands apart! O joy! 
Who can he be who is speaking? 
Speak on (master!) 
What a tongue, to be sure! (Toki, an 
axe for tongue.) 
(As that of) Whare-pa-tahi! * (A notable 
expounder.) 
A second Whare-pa-tahi! 
A recital of the divine history of man. 
Impart thy lore to me. 
Art thou Tu? 
Art thou Rongo? 
This is the guest! 
Welcome! 
There is no food (fit for you) in the village. 
O Rongo! 
O Rongo! 
O Rongo! Maru! Awa! (calls on ancestral 
deities to provide abundant choice 
food for the guests). 
* Whare-pa-tahi was a wise man of ancient times who taught the division of the year into twelve 
months, instead of ten. See J. White, Ancient History of the Maori, Vol. 2, p. 128. 
