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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 6 (October 2, 1933)

[section]

The philosophy, history and poetic expressions of the Maori are illustrated in this further selection of whakatauki or proverbial sayings, gathered from the rich storehouse of native wit and wisdom.

The season's greeting:

Ka tangi te pipi-wharauroa, ko te karere o Mahuru. (The shining cuckoo cries, the messenger of Spring.)

He wha tawhara ki uta, He kiko tamure ki tai. (The broad fruit of the tawhara, or kiekie, is found on land, and the snapper in the sea. Meaning there is food for man everywhere.)

Ka maunu te puru o Taumarere. (The plug of the fountain of Taumarere has been pulled out—hence this flood of people. Taumarere is a place near Kawakawa, Bay of Islands. The expression is used for a large assemblage of the Ngapuhi tribes. It will no doubt be heard from the Ngapuhi orators at the large gathering at Waitangi next January.)

Ka puru te puna i Taumarere, ka tuwhera te puna i Hokianga. (If you stop up the fountain at Taumarere, the water will flow more strongly from the springs at Hokianga. Meaning, though you destroy the people of Taumarere, you will surely draw upon yourselves the vengeance of those of Hokianga.)

Ko Rotorua matangi rau. (A hundred strong winds blow about Rotorua.) Also: Ko Rotorua te puna whakatoto o te riri. (Rotorua is the fount of strife and blood. Used in reference to the many wars which originated in the Rotorua district.)

Matariki hunga nui. (Matariki, the god personified by Matariki, the constellation of the Pleiades, has many people to work for him. All the tribes made offerings of their first-fruits of the kumara crop to Matariki.)

Ma wai e rou ake te whetu o te rangi, ka taka kei raro. (Who can draw down with a rake the stars of heaven, that they may fall to the earth? Meaning, can you lead away a powerful chief as captive?)