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Te Tāʻae o te Moana | The Sea-monster
'Te Tāʻae o te Moana | The Sea-monster' is a beautiful story written and narrated by Jean Tekura Mason. The story is based on true events which took place in 1975 when Jean and her siblings encountered a sea monster in Mauke on the way home from school. Author: Jean Tekura Mason Perfromer: Jean Tekura Mason Language: Cook Islands Māori, Maꞌuke variety.
seal
| Te tāꞌae o te moana |
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| The sea monster |
| ꞌE tua tikatikāi tēia nō tētaꞌi au mea tei tupu i runga i a Maꞌuke i te mataꞌiti 1975. |
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| This is a true story based on events which took place on Mauke in 1975. |
| I tētaꞌi rā, kua ꞌaere te ꞌāpiꞌi ē te ꞌoki ra au, ma tōku teina a Poko, ē toku tungāne a Peter, ki te kāinga nā runga i te aranui i Kimiangatau. |
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| One day, after school, as my sister, Poko, and brother, Peter, and I, were walking home along Kimiangatau road, |
| Kua ꞌoro viviki mai tētaꞌi piringa o mātou, a Mikaera, i te āru i a mātou. ꞌE karoꞌanga ē, ʻe ākā mataora tōna. |
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| a cousin of ours, Michel, ran after us quickly and soon caught up to us. He seemed very excited. |
| " ꞌOki mai", nāna ei, " ꞌe ta’ae o te moana terā i nua i te ūapu". " ꞌOki mai kia kite kōtou". |
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| "Come back", he said. "There’s a sea monster on the wharf". "You should come and take a look at it". |
| " ꞌE karo’anga mei te ika rāi, ē ka āvaāva aia mei te kurī rāi". |
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| "It looks like a fish and barks like a dog". |
| " ꞌAkaātea atu ki kō", nāku ei, |
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| "Get away", I said, |
| "tē āvare mai nei koe". "Kāre ꞌe pākau mei tēnā". |
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| "you’re lying". "There’s no such thing". |
| "Tē ꞌinangaro ꞌua ra koe kia tāroroa mātou i te ꞌoki ki te kāinga mei te ꞌāpiꞌi mai, kia pāpāia mātou e tō mātou Mama i mua i te mata tangata!" |
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| "You just want us to be late home from school so Grandma will give us a hiding in public"! |
| Kāre mātou e ꞌinangaro kia tāroroa ꞌakaꞌou mātou nō te mea |
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| We didn’t want to be late again because |
| ꞌe pākau putuputu nā Mama i te tākiri i tō mātou ngā vāvia ē te kōꞌure ki tētaꞌi rārā kāpāiē tāna i ꞌaꞌati mai nō runga i te pū kāpāiē i te pae aranui. |
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| Grandma had a habit of whipping our legs and backsides with a branch from a hedge plant, that she would break off right there on the road. |
| Mē tāroroa mātou i te ꞌoki ki te kāinga ka pāpāiaꞌia mātou kia kitea mai e te au tamariki katoatoa o te ꞌoire. |
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| If we were late home she would beat us in front of all the other kids in the village. |
| ꞌE ākā tāꞌakamā tēia i a mātou. |
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| It was very embarrassing for us. |
| "ꞌE tika ai", nā Mikaera ei. "Tei kō rāi tēia manu mei te pōpongi mai". |
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| "It’s true", he said. "The creature has been there since this morning". |
| "Tērā, karo ia ra, te ꞌakarongo ara kōtou e āvaāva maira?" |
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| "There, see, can’t you lot hear it barking?" |
| Kua ꞌakarongo mātou i te āvaāva mei tētaꞌi ngāꞌi mamao mai. |
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| We could indeed hear some barking in the distance. |
| Kāre a Mikaera e āvare mai na i a mātou. |
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| Michel wasn’t lying to us after all. |
| Kua ngaropoina i a mātou nō tētaꞌi mānga taime te tū veravera o te au rārā kapāiē a Mama. |
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| For a moment we forgot about Grandma and the hot effects of her hedge branches. |
| Kua tāꞌoki atu mātou nā runga i te aranui tā mātou i ꞌano mai, ē kua ꞌaere atu mātou ki raro i te ava i Taunganui, ko te ūapu katoa tēia. |
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| We turned back the way we had just come, and went down to Taunganui Landing, which is the wharf. |
| Kia tae atu mātou, kua kite atu i tētaꞌi ākā pupu tamariki e tū ꞌaere ꞌua ra, e takapini ara i tētaꞌi pākau i runga i te papa punga i te pae tai. |
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| When we got there we could see a large crowd of children standing around something on the coral floor at the water’s edge. |
| I te reira tuātau kāre te ūapu i āuāroꞌia ake ki te tīmēni. |
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| In those days the wharf was not covered in concrete. |
| Kua ꞌeke atu mātou ki raro i te ava ki te ngāi pōꞌaki pateka i te pae tai. |
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| We made our way down to the slippery part where the rocky shore met the sea. |
| Tērā! |
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| There it is! |
| ꞌE manu kutekute, ē te mania tōna pākiri, tē karo ꞌua mai ra i a mātou ki tōna ngā mata kānapanapa. |
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| A brown, slick-skinned animal was looking up at us with shiny eyes. |
| ꞌE ꞌuruꞌuru tō runga i tōna putaꞌu mei tō te kurī rāi, ꞌe pēꞌau kaukau tōna, pērā ꞌe ꞌiku mei tō te ika rāi tōna. |
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| It had whiskers on its nose like a dog, and flippers and a tail like a fish. |
| ꞌE ꞌakaꞌieꞌie tōna karoꞌanga, |
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| It looked rather cute, |
| inārā, mē tāmata tētaꞌi tangata i tē āmiri atu i aia kua teketekeꞌaere aia ē kua neke vaitata atu ki te tai. |
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| but every time anyone tried to touch it, it would duck and weave and move closer to the water’s edge. |
| "ꞌEi aꞌa e ꞌāmiri!" i āva ei tētaꞌi tamaiti māpū. "Karo i a koe, ka kainga mai koe"! |
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| "Don’t touch it"!, an older boy shouted. "Watch yourself, it might eat you"! |
| Kore ake rāi ē ko te taime mua tēia i te kiteꞌanga tēia au tamariki i tēia manu, |
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| The creature seemed to be something totally new to the children |
| inārā, ki a Peter, Poko ē au, kua mārama takere mātou ē ꞌe aꞌa tēia pākau i tō mātou kite mataꞌanga. |
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| but to Poko, Peter and I, we knew exactly what it was the minute we laid eyes on it. |
| Kua kite ana mātou i tētaꞌi au manu mei tēia tikāi te tū i kō i te ngāꞌi ꞌākonoꞌanga manu i Akarana, Nutireni. |
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| We had seen some creatures exactly like it at the Auckland zoo in New Zealand. |
| "ꞌE seal tēnā mea" nāku ei. |
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| "That is a seal" I said. |
| ʻMē ꞌe aꞌa tāna ꞌangaꞌanga i konei i tō tātou pae moana." |
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| "I wonder what it is doing in our ocean". |
| "E noꞌo ꞌua ana tēnā manu ki te pae moana anuanu, pērā katoa ꞌe pākau reka nāna te reva anuanu." |
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| "That creature lives in cold seas and it also likes cold climates". |
| "Kua ngaro paꞌa aia", nā Poko ei. |
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| "Maybe it’s lost", Poko said. |
| "Kua roꞌiroꞌi ē te ꞌakangaroꞌi ꞌua nei paꞌa aia", nā Peter ei. |
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| "Maybe it’s tired and it’s just resting", Peter said. |
| "Mē ka rauka kia kaingaꞌia?", nā tētaꞌi tamaiti ei kāre au i kite i tōna ingoa. "ꞌE karoꞌanga ka tano i te kai" nāna ei. |
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| "Can it be eaten?" asked one boy whose name I did not know. "It looks like it can be eaten", he said. |
| "Aee-aeee", kua auē mai tētaꞌi o te au tamariki rikiriki e tū ara i reira. |
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| "Noo-nooo", moaned some of the smaller children standing there. |
| " ꞌĀita, kāre e kaingaꞌia ana", kua āvare atu au. Tē ꞌinangaro ara au kia ora mai tēia manu. |
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| "No, it can’t be eaten", I lied. I wanted the animal to live. |
| "Ka kava, ē ka ꞌinuꞌinu, ē ka rekakore tikāi tōna kaiꞌanga". |
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| "It will be salty and fatty and taste absolutely horrible". |
| "Ka ꞌinangaro au i te kite i a koe i te tāmataꞌanga", nā Peter ei. |
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| "I’d like to see you try", Peter said. |
| Ka kātia koe e tēnā seal ki tōnā niꞌo koi". |
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| "That seal will bite you with its sharp teeth". |
| "Inā, kia ꞌakaruke ana tātou i tēnā manu kia ꞌakangaroꞌi", nāku ei, ē kua ꞌakamata au i te ꞌaere atu ki te kāinga. |
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| "Why don’t we just leave the creature alone so it can get some rest", I said, and with that I started to walk back home. |
| Kua ꞌuri mai a Poko rāua ko Peter e kua āru mai i āku. |
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| Poko and Peter both turned to follow me. |
| I te otiꞌanga mātou i te kaimānga i tērā aꞌiaꞌi, kua ꞌoki atu mātou i te mātakitaki ꞌakaꞌou i te seal. |
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| After dinner that evening, we went back to have a look at the seal again. |
| Tē takoto ꞌuara aia, ē te ngororo ara i tētaꞌi mānga i aia e moe ara. |
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| It was still there, lying down and making little snoring noises as it slept. |
| Pōpongi ake, i a mātou e ꞌaere ra ki te ꞌāpiꞌi, kua tāpae atu mātou i te mātakitaki ꞌakaꞌou i te seal. |
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| Next morning, on our way to school, we turned down to the wharf to have another look at the seal. |
| Tērā rāi aia, te pāteretere ꞌaere ara aia nā runga i te papa punga māꞌūꞌū ē te pateka, i aia e āvaāva ꞌaere ra. |
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| There it was sliding about the wet, slippery and smooth rocks, barking as he moved. |
| ꞌE iti ꞌua te tamariki toe i reira e matakitaki ara i te seal. |
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| There were only a few kids left there watching the seal. |
| I te ora kaimānga i te avatea, i tērā rā rāi, kua pati atu mātou ki tō mātou pūꞌāpiꞌi |
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| At lunchtime, that same day, we asked our teacher if we could |
| mē ka ꞌakatikaꞌia rāi mātou i te ꞌoki atu ki te ūapu ꞌei mātakitaki ꞌakaꞌou i tēia manu, |
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| if we could go down to the wharf to look at the creature again and he said yes. |
| ē kua ꞌakatika mai aia. |
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| and he said yes. |
| Inārā, kia tae atu mātou kua ꞌakakite mai tētaꞌi tangata pakari e ꞌangaꞌanga ana ki taꞌi i te ūapu ē kua kau atu tēia manu ki tua i tērā pōpongi rāi. |
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| But when we got there an old man who worked at the wharf told us the creature had swum out to sea that same morning. |
| "Nā’ea aia i te kauꞌanga", tāku i ui atu ki aia. |
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| "Which way did it swim", I asked him. |
| "Nā te pae tonga", tāna i paꞌu mai. |
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| "To the south", he replied. |
| "Kua mako, tē ꞌoki ra aia ki Nutireni", nāku ei. |
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| "That’s good, it is going back to New Zealand", I said. |
All Cook Islands Māori Stories
Animal Party
Jena Tekura Mason interprets this storyboard http://www.totemfieldstoryboards.org/stories/animal_party/v1_0b/. This is an imaginative story. It was recorded at Kato's store in Oiretumu, Maꞌuke in December 2017
Te Tāʻae o te Moana | The Sea-monster
'Te Tāʻae o te Moana | The Sea-monster' is a beautiful story written and narrated by Jean Tekura Mason. The story is based on true events which took place in 1975 when Jean and her siblings encountered a sea monster in Mauke on the way home from school. Author: Jean Tekura Mason Perfromer: Jean Tekura Mason Language: Cook Islands Māori, Maꞌuke variety.
Two Stories about Vai Tango
Putai Kairae is telling two traditional stories about Vai Tango, a famous cave on Maꞌuke. It was recorded at her house in Kimiangatau (Maꞌuke) in November 2013.
What I got from my first trip to New Caledonia.
Jean Tekura Mason reads her story about her experience at the 2000 Pacific Arts Festival in Noumea. This is creative non fiction and was recorded at the Cook Islands Library and Museum in November 2012.