Three Old Stories translated by Margaret Orbell These stories were taken from a manuscript in the Alexander Turnbull Library which was written about the year 1876 by Mohi Ruatapu and Henare Potae of the East Coast. A note on the history of the manuscript appears on page 22. He kōrero nō1 te riringa a Tuere, a Tangihaere, ki a Te Awariki. Nāua no [a] ia te take o te riri, nā Te Awariki ki a Tangihaere rāua ko Tuere. Te ingoa o taua riringa nei, ko Te Manu, ko Te Manu Tukutuku. Ka kangā e Te Awariki ngā tamariki a Tuere rāua [ko] Tangihaere, he kakenga nō ngā aho o ā rātou manu i runga i tā Te Awariki. Nā reira i kangā ai e Te Awariki. Ka karanga atu a Tuere ki anā tamariki. ‘Karanga atu, “Tō waewae nā!” ‘2 Ka riri rātou; na, ka mate rātou i a Te Awariki te patu. Na, ka whakatika mai anō a Te Awariki ki te riri ki a rātou, hopukia atu e rātou, ka mate. Te ingoa o te parekura, ko Te Uirarapa. Ka mate te iwi o Te Awariki i kōnei. Ko Tuere i mate ki Waitōtara; kei roto i te puraku3 e tanu ana. Ko te ingoa o te puraku, ko Kania[w]hea. Ka noho rātou i tō rātoa kāinga. Ka huakina tō rātou pāpā e rātou, a Tuere, ka tāia ngā iwi hei matau.4 Ka oti, ka kawea ki te maona, ka mate te kai nei a te ika i a rātou, ka hoe rātou ki uta. Kāore i mauria ngā ika ki uta, ngā [a]ho, ngā matau, ngā hoe, ngā pātai me ngā ika. Ka haere ko rātou kiri kai tahanga anake ki te kāinga. Kāore koa, nā tō rātou pāpā te kupu ki a rātou, kia mate anō ngā ika i runga waka; te kaha hoki tā rātou. Pērātia ana, toro ana kia haere te waka rā i te moana haere ai, kia ū atu he kāinga kē atu; mā rātou e kai ngā ika o runga o taua waka. Mā ngā iwi katoa e kai, kia mate ai ngā iwi katoa, kei ngā iwi o Tuere te mana, te atua. Ka hinga te parekura a Tuere rātou ko āna tamariki. Ka haere ngā tamariki a Tuere, ka heke haere, tau rawa atu Meketū, Tauranga; This is the story of the quarrel between Tuere and Tangihaere, and Te Awariki. It was Te Awariki alone who was the cause of this strife with Tuere and Tangihaere; the quarrel was known as the Kite, the Flying Kite. Te Awariki cursed the children of Tuere and Tangihaere because the lines of their kites mounted up over the line of his kite; it was for this reason that he cursed them. So Tuere called to his children, ‘Say to him, “That is your leg!” ‘2 Then they fought, and were defeated by Te Awariki. But when Te Awariki again went forth to attack them, they took him prisoner and killed him. The name of the battle was the Flash of Lightning. Te Awariki's followers were defeated there. Tuere died at Waitotara, and was buried in a small wood.3 The name of that wood was Kaniawhea. They continued to live there at their home, and when they disinterred the bones of their father Tuere, they shaped the bones into fishhooks.4 When they had done this they took the fishhoods out to sea, and with them they caught a great quantity of fish. Then they paddled back to the shore. They did not take the fish on shore, or the lines, the fishhooks the paddles or the bailers, but returned quite naked to the village. But indeed, it was their father who had told them to catch the fish in the canoe in this way: they were only carrying out his instructions. After this they pushed the canoe out to sea so that it would travel to some other place and land at another village; the fish in the canoe were intended for the people of this other village. They would all eat the fish, and all of them would die, slain by the supernatural power of the bones of Tuere. Thus were slain those who fell in the battle of Tuere and his children. Afterwards the descendants of Tuere left that place and migrated to Meketu (Maketu) at Tauranga;