The Story of Hihi-o-tote

Te Ao Hou, December 1965, Page 22

The Story of Hihi-o-tote This Ngapuhi folk tale is recorded in one of John White's papers in the Alexander Turnbull Library; the reference is MS 75, ‘Ancient History of the Maori’ vol. X (Maori) pp. 26–29. These pages are not in White's own handwriting, and may have been taken from one of the manuscript books in which White's Maori friends and informants recorded much material for him, or they may perhaps have been taken from Land Court records. John White was unfortunately a careless editor, and left little information as to the origin of his material. (In fact, as a rule he did not keep the original material on which his records were based; nearly all of his surviving papers are in his own handwriting.) The story's expressiveness and rapidity of style is largely lost in translation. Ko te kōrero tēnei o Hihi-o-tote. Ko tōna kāinga kei Otaua, ko tana mahi he patu tangata; e kore te tangata e haere noa i a Hihi-o-tote i namata. Ko tāna mea whakamate tangata he maire, he mea whakakoi nāna, me te koinga oka nā te Pākeha. Ka noho ia i tana kāinga; ka rongo ia i te reo tangata, ka mau ia ki tāna oka, ka haerea e ia ki mua o te ara noho ai. Ka puta atu aua tāngata haere, kua karanga atu a Hihi-o-tote, ‘Haere mai, haere mai’, āno e karanga atu ana i runga i te ngākau rangimārire, me tērā hunga hoki e haere mai rā, hua noa e karanga mai ana i runga i te aroha. Kua hongi, ū kau anō te ihu, kātahi ka werohia ake ki te korokoro. Ko tāna oka he mea titi ake i roto i te whiri o tāna komeke. Ka mate, ka mauria e ia ki tana kāinga. Ka mahia e ia, ka huahuaina hei kai māna. Pēnā tonu tāna mahi, tae noa ki te ngaronga o te tamahine a Mahia. Ka mātau anō a Mahia kua mate tāna kōtiro i a Hihi-o-tote, ka hanga a Mahia i tāna pūtara, he kauri. Ka oti, kātahi ka haere rāua ko tāna tamaiti, ko Orokewa; i haere atu rāua i tō rāua kāinga, i Awarua. Ka ahu tā rāua haere ki Matarāua, puta noa ki Otaua, ka eke raua ki Puke Kaka. Ka noho rāua ki reira, kātahi ka whakatangi a Mahia i tāna pūtara. Ko tāna tamaiti, ko Orokewa, peka ana ki tahaki noho ai. Rongo kau anō a Hihi-o-tote i te tangi o te pūtātara a Mahia, tēnā rawa tō tangata te rere ake nā; mau atu ki tana kahu kōwhiri, kōtuia mai te koikoi. Ka tika ake pāpā i This is the story of Hihi-o-tote. He lived at Otaua, and was a murderer; in ancient times men were not able to travel freely abroad for fear of Hihi-o-tote. He killed his victims with a dagger made from the wood of the maire tree, which he had sharpened until it was as sharp as the knives of the Pakeha. He would wait at his home until he heard men's voices, then take his dagger and go and sit beside the path. When the travellers appeared, Hihi-o-tote would call out, ‘Welcome, welcome!’—as if he were greeting them with peaceful intentions. And the company of travellers would approach him readily, believing that he was welcoming them in all kindness. Then Hihi-o-tote would greet one of them with a hongi, and while their noses were together, he would stab him in the throat. His dagger had been concealed in the plaited hem of the heavy cloak that he wore. And so the man died; his body was taken by Hihi-o-tote to his home, cut up and cooked, and preserved as food. Hihi-o-tote continued to act in this way until the time of the disappearance of the daughter of Mahia. When Mahia knew that it was Hihi-o-tote who had killed his daughter, he made himself a trumpet of kauri wood. When it was finished he set out with his son, Orokewa; they left their home, Awarua, and travelled to Mataraua, then on towards Otaua, climbing

tāna whakatika, ka hari hoki ki tāna kai e whakatangi mai rā i te pūtātara, haere tonu ake. Kua puta ake, kua kite iho a Mahia, kātahi ka karanga iho a Mahia, ‘Haere mai!’ Ka tara ake hoki ngā waewae o Hihi-o-tote ki te haere māna; kua tata mai, kua tuku mai i tana ihu ki te hongi. Ka kitea atu e Mahia i te koinga o te oka a Hihi-o-tote ka puta ake i te whiri o tana komeke, kātahi ka patua e Mahia ki tāna pūtātara. Tukua mai anō e Hihi-o-tote, ka hemo, kātahi rāua ka mamau. Ka pekea mai e Orokewa, ka hinga a Hihi-o-tote ki raro. Ka puta tāna pepeha, he mea kī ake i raro: ‘I tokoruatia Hihi-o-tote i mate ai.’ to the top of Kaka Hill. They sat down there, and Mahia blew a blast on his trumpet. His son Orokewa waited some distance away. When Hihi-o-tote heard the sound of Mahia's trumpet he made for him at once, seizing his cloak with the dagger fastened in it. He set out straight away, rejoicing very much to hear his food [that is, Mahia] sounding the trumpet. As he drew near to them, Mahia saw him and called out ‘Welcome!’ Hihi-o-tote approached at a smart pace; he came up to him, and offered his nose in a hongi. Mahia saw the sharpness of Hihi-o-tote's dagger as it was drawn from the cloak, and he struck him with his trumpet. Hihi-o-tote dodged the blow, it

Tukitukia ana ka mate Hihi-o-tote i a Mahia rāua ko Orokewa; ka ora te tangata i aua rā, nō te matenga o Hihi-o-tote. Ko te mutunga tēnei o ngā kōrero o Hihi-o-tote. missed its mark, and the two men struggled together. Orokewa leapt on to him, and Hihi-o-tote was thrown to the ground. As he lay there he uttered this saying: ‘It took two men to kill Hihi-o-tote.’ And so Hihi-o-tote died, battered to death by Mahia and Orokewa; after his death, the men of those days once more lived in peace and happiness. This is the end of the story of Hihi-o-tote.