Title: Niuē-fekai (or Savage) Island and its People

Author: S. Percy Smith

Part of: Tidal Pools: Digitized Texts from Oceania for Samoan and Pacific Studies

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

Share:

Matila foafoa

45. Mele, Lata, Fakapoloto, Hakumani and Matila-foafoa were persons of note of old. Matila-foafoa was a man noted for his skill at the game of Ta-tika. These were the males of the Motu-a-Hina, that is, the second heaven. Matila-forfoa had a son born to him, which he took and cast away in the forest that he might die in the first heaven. Some hiapo cloth was stuffed into the child's mouth, which became full of the spittle, and this became as milk for the child. So the child ate it and lived, and grew up to run about, but he knew not who his father was.

46. The child went forth and came upon a chieftainess who was blind from her birth, as she cooked yams by the fire. The child went and sat down by the side of the fire where the yams were cooking. When one was done the blind woman scraped it, and returned to the fire for another, but the boy snatched the cooked one and eat it. The blind-woman returned and scraped another, leaving seven remaining. She said, “My eight yams have become seven.” She returned again, and the seventh was taken, leaving six. She said, “My seven yams have become six.” So on with the fifth, fourth, third, second and

page 107

ke nonofo he lagi-tua-taha—ko e kelekele momo ia, ti pehe ko e motu he aho a ia, kua nonofo ai a tautolu.

42. Ko e lagi-tua-ua, ko e laga i luga ia, ne tu ai e lā mo e mahina mo e tau fetu; ka e tokolalo e lagi ia, ko e Motu-a-Hina ia, mo e hana mangafaoa, hanai:—

1.	Hina
2.	Hina-hele-ki-fata*
3.	Hina-o
4.	Hina-e
5.	Hina
6.	Hina-kula
7.	Hina-taivaiva
8.	Hina-ma
9.	Hiki-malama
10.	Hiki-lau-ulu

43. Ko e tau fifine ia he lagi-tua-ua, kua iloilo ke taute mena—ke fili kafa-lauulu mo e kafa-hega, ko e hega-tea, mo e hega-palua ne mua he mitaki, ke fiofio aki e gahua he fili ai e tau fulu hega-tea mo e tau fulu he hega-kula oti. Ko e hega-palua ia, ko e koloa ia ne mua he mitaki i Niuē-fakai. Nakai moua he tau tagata oti; ko e tau iki ni mo e tau toa ke moua e koloa ia.

Ke he vaha tuai ne moua a Kili-mafiti, e Patu i Mutalau, ko e kafa ne 20 ofa; ko Lagi-likoliko, i Mutalau, ne 28 ofa; ko Lagi-likoliko, i Mutalau, ne 20 ofa; ko Kulatea i Hakupu, ne 20 ofa; ko Palakula i Mutalau, ne 18½ ofa. He hau fou, te moua mai a Peniamina mo Toimata, mo Paulo, ka e loga he vaha fakamua atu ko e moua ni he tau toa e kafa-kula ia.

44. Kua liogi atu ke he tau fifine ne tohi ai i luga la, e fifine ke taute gahua pihia:—“Hina-e, Hina-o, Hina, Hina-ma, Hina-taivaiva, Hiki-malama, Hiki-lauulu, ke mai ho tufuga.”