Te Aohuruhuru

Te Ao Hou, March 1961, Page 40

Te Aohuruhuru by RARAWA KEREHOMA This song is based on the story of Te Aohuruhuru, from Sir George Grey's “Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna.” Rarawa Kerehoma, an authority on the history of his own Northern people, has only this year turned his hand to song-writing. Te Aohuruhuru, tamahine ataahua, he koroheke tona hoa Moe iho ite po i te taha ote ahi Kowata wata ana nga uru, mawhatu ite hana ote ahi Ko taua pakikau kua pahuhu ki raro Whakaara hia nga kaumatua Ka mataki taki, i tona tinana Ngangana ana, ko tona kiri karengo kau ana. Oho ake ia, e matakitaki ana te tini koroheke Rere ana ia kite kokonga Tangi ai ao noa te ra. Awatea ake, ka hoe ki waho hi ai I waho atu ite toka mutunga Ka tahuri, kite tatau, ka heru, kia tia Kite raukura, he huia, he kotuku, Ka whakatika, pike atu, kite toka i waho rawa Ka tatari, ia ratou I hakurara iara U mai ka rongo ite waiata Ahu mai ite toka i waho rawa Naku ra i moe tuwherawhera Ka tahuna ki te ahi Kia tino turama A ka kataina a au ra. Mataaho mai ano ki nga taringa Tenei au te haere atu nei Kaiangi mai, ka rere i te pari Tau atu! tau atu! tau atu! Tahuri ke ratou, pawere noa te ngakau. Te Aohuruhuru, a young woman, married an old man Slept one night by the firelight Tossed and turned from the heat And her cloak slipped aside. Her husband woke the other old men And they all sat and watched her body Moving by the light of the fire But she woke and when she saw the many eyes Gleaming in all the corners She fled and hid from them all. Next day the old men went fishing Out beyond the last rock She came back and dressed herself As if for a wedding And she went out to the last rock And waited for the old men Whose eyes had feasted in the night. When they came they heard her singing From the rock high over their heads If I cast my clothes aside It was the heat of the fire Not your love that woke me. Shame burns like a fire in me Only the ashes of our love remain. Take me, I am yours. Arms outflung, she fell Her fine clothes fluttered Caught the light and there Her body lay, open to their eyes But they would not look.