Puripāha: Te Pane Kaewa

He whakamāoritanga i te pukapuka o Puripāha nā Witi Ihimaera mō ētahi whānau hoariri e rua ki Te Tairāwhiti.

Ko Puripāha te tapanga ka tukuna ki Te Pane Kaewa, ā, ki Te Tairāwhiti o Aotearoa e pakanga ana ētahi kokoro tokorua kia whakawahia hai pane.

Ko Tamihana te upoko o te whānau toa o Mahana, he whānau kuti hipi, he whānau hākinakina hoki. Ko Rupeni Poata tōna ito. He rite tonu te tūtakitaki a ngā whānau nei i ngā mahi hākinakina, i ngā whakataetae ā-ahurea me te whakataetae Piriho Kōura e kitea ai te māpu kuti hipi toa katoa o Aotearoa. I waenganui pū, ko te taitama, ko Himiona, ko te mokopuna a te kokoro rāua tahi ko tōna kuia, ko Ramona, e pakanga ana i ōna ake kare ā-roto, i ōna ake whakapono anō hoki i te riri e tutū ana i ngā wāhi katoa.

Ko te toa o te 1995 Montana New Zealand Book Award, kua whakatinanatia hirahiratia ki te kiriata o Mahana, ā, e aroha nuitia ana e ngā whakareanga kaipānui maha. Mā tēnei whakamāoritanga e tūtaki ai tētahi minenga hou ki a Puripāha, ki tētahi o ngā tino pukapuka o roto i tōna momo.

A te reo Māori translation of Witi Ihimaera’s award-winning novel about two rival Māori families on the East Coast, Bulibasha.

Bulibasha is the title given to the King of the Gypsies, and on the East Coast of New Zealand two patriarchs fight to be proclaimed the king.

Tamihana is the leader of the great Mahana family of shearers and sportsmen and women. Rupeni Poata is his arch enemy. The two families clash constantly, in sport, in cultural contests and, finally, in the Golden Fleece competition to find the greatest shearing gang in New Zealand. Caught in the middle of this struggle is the teenager Simeon, grandson of the patriarch and of his grandmother Ramona, struggling with his own feelings and loyalties as the battles rage on many levels.

Winner of the 1995 Montana New Zealand Book Award, brilliantly realised in the film Mahana and loved by generations of readers, this powerful te reo Māori translation of a New Zealand classic will introduce Bulibasha to a whole new audience.

He wāhinga kōrero

Ko Tōpio tērā i tapa i te ingoa Puripāha ki a Koroua. Tekau mā rua taku pakeke i taua wā, ka mutu, he whakarongo tonu. I te kuti hipi taku matua, a Hōhua, i te teihana e pātata ana ki a Matawai. I te hoki a ia ki te kāenga ka kite a ia i a Tōpio e kōpiko ana ki tēnei taha, ki tērā taha o te rori, ā, ka tū tōna waka ki te āwhina i tēnei Māori haurangi i mua i te tukia ōna. Heoi anō, nōna ka whakatata ake, ka aro i a Pāpā, kāre hoki a Tōpio i haurangi. I te kanikani a Tōpio, he kani rerekē nei, e patu ana i te uma, e takahi ana te wae, e raka ana ngā ringa, pākēkē mai ana te matimati. Ā, ehara hoki a Tōpio i te Māori.

– Komm Zigany, Komm Zigany, spiel mir was vor –

‘Kai te pai koe?’ te pātai a Pāpā.

Ka tū a Tōpio i waenganui pākēkē, takahi anō hoki. Ka mene a ia ki a Pāpā, e whakaatu atu ana he niho mā i roto i tētahi waha whero kitakita. Ka piua ōna makawe mingimingi. He kākāriki ngā whatu, ā, e mau ana ki tana taringa matau, he mōwhiti kōura. I te ruangahurutanga a ia o ana tau.

‘Ka kanikani ahau e harikoa ai,’ tana kōrero. Ka tauawhitia a Pāpā ki ōna ringa, ka pakaru mai te roimata.

Ka mauria mai a Tōpio e Pāpā ki te kāenga, ki Waituhi. I te mānukanuka a Koroua i tana noho mai me te tokotoru tamāhine takakau. Ka nui kē atu tana māharahara i te mōhio nō hea a Tōpio – Rōmani.

‘He kaewa,’ te kī a Koroua.

‘Āe!’ te whakahoki a Tōpio. He wairua aungarea, he wairua whakahī i ngā konohi. ‘Rōmani āe, kaewa āe.’

Ā, ka tīmata a ia ki te kōrero mai ki a mātau, e hīrere mai ana te roimata, te kōrero aroha o te taunga mai ōna ki Aotearoa nei.

‘I whānau ahau i Rōmānia,’ tana huataki mai, ‘Hārōta, kāre matara te tawhā o Hanekari. Katoa taku whānau e ora nei te oranga kaewa, nē? Ka karore haere te tau katoa Hārōta, Orātea, Mākita, Kārei, ā hoki atu. Takurua, raumati, kōanga, ngahuru, ka ōrite. Tōku matua he whakarata hōiho, tōku whaea he hoko pueru pai ki ngā wāhine whai rawa. Nōhea mātau e tāhae, nōhea hoki e kāhaki pēpi ātaahua –’ Ka titiro māminga atu ki taku tuahine pōtiki, ki a Korōria. ‘Hāunga i ōna anō wā!’

Ka hāparangi, ka nanao atu ki a Korōria ka tīmata ki te kihikihi i a ia. Kātahi ka pakaru mai anō te roimata i a ia.

‘Kia aroha,’ tana kī. ‘Me kore ake taku tuahine, mōhio? Heoi anō, kāre tino pai oranga ki Rōmani me te communisti whakahaeretanga o Hanekari, ā, taku Pāpā kī, “Haere koe ki Ōkarana Karepōnia. He matua reira. Haere koe, noho, mahi mā matua, kātahi karangahia mātau.” Nō reira, taku kī taurangi tērā. Ka tangi –’ Ka whakaatu mai a ia ki a mātau. ‘Kāre pīrangi wehe Hārōta, ōku kāhui maunga kaingākau, Apuhēni. Nui ngā rā hāereere ai au, au kotahi ki Timihoara, kātahi Karaiowha, Pūkurēti. Tangi i ngā wā katoa –’ Ka whakaaturia mai anō mātau. ‘He nui aku tūāoma kino. Kātahi i Pūkurēti tūtaki tētahi tangata ka kī ahau haere Kōtānata, te wāpu. Nō reira ka haere. Ā, reira, kāre au whakapono tāku titiro atu, he poti haere Ōkarana! Nō reira pukumahi taku haere nui ngā marama ka tae –’ ka titiro aroaroā mai a Tōpio ki tēnā, ki tēnā o mātau. ‘Ka tae au tēnei whenua, kaua Ōkarana, Amerika, engari, Ākarana, Aotearoa. Mōhio? Ā-karana.’

‘E hika,’ te kī a Māma.

Kotahi tau a Tōpio i noho ai ki a mātau, e mahi ana mā Koroua, ahakoa tōna mānukanuka i mua, ka aro i a ia i a Tōpio te pūmanawa o tōna matua kaewa ki te whakarata hōiho. I taua raumati ka noho atu a Tōpio ki te māpu o Mahana Whā, e whakahaerehia ana e Matua Hone, e hāereere ana i tētahi whare kuti hipi ki tētahi atu.

Ko ngā kaiwhakahaere Pākehā o ngā teihana i māhirahira ki te piringa mai o Tōpio ki waenganui i a mātau. He rite tonu tā rātau pōhiri i a ia kia noho atu ki a rātau, tēnā i te noho ki te rōpū i ngā whare kaikuti hipi. I te tīmatanga i rongo a Tōpio i te wairua patipati, nō muri mai ka pākiki, kātahi ka mārama. Ka tīmata tana whakanau i ngā tono.

‘Tō rātau whakaaro he rite au ki a rātau,’ tana kī. ‘Pai ake ki konei. Māori me te Rōmani, he tangata ōrite. Toto ōrite.’

He āhua rorirori a Tōpio. He whanokē, he pokerenoa, he wairua remurere i waenga i a mātau. I ētahi wā, i hua mai he whawhai, nāna, i waenganui i ōna hoa tākunekune, ā, he nui ngā wā i kitea a ia i waenganui i a rātau, e kata ana i te harikoa. He nui tōna hiahia kia arohatia iho, ā, he nui tonu ngā wā i tahutahu a ia i te tarahae i waenganui i ērā e hiahia ana ki te whakaipoipo i a ia.

Ka nui tōna tau ki te oranga Māori me te whānau, ā, i kauanuanutia nuitia hoki a Koroua Tamihana.

‘He ōrite ki tōku ake whānau, mōhio?’ tana kōrero ki a Koroua. ‘He ōrite koe ki taku matua. He ōrite ki a mātau, paoe ana i te whenua. Kai te kāenga ahau, engari, kāre i te kāenga. Kāre anō kia tae ki Ōkarana.’

Ka tae ki te otinga o te tau, ka nui tō mātau aroha ki a Tōpio. I pōhēhē mātau i te harikoa a ia i waenga i a mātau. Heoi anō, ka tau mai ana ngā waewae o Hinetakurua, ka tīmata anō tana kanikani, otirā ka nui ake, he ātārangi kanikani kotahi i tō mātau whenua.

– Komm Zigany, Zeig heut was du kannst –

I te mokemoke a ia ki tōna momo. I mōhio mātau ki te kore e kitea e ia inā tata nei, ka tīmata tana whakamomori.

Ka riro i a Tōpio te moni e tika ana e tae atu ai a ia ki Hawai‘i, ā, i whakaritea hoki he kōkota ki Amerika. Ka tukuna he moni anō e Koroua e tae atu ai a ia ki Karepōnia, ka pakaru mai te roimata.

I haere katoa mātau ki te teihana pahi ki te kite i a Tōpio e wehe ana ki Ākarana. I te hīkaka, i te wairua tamariki, harakore katoa ana, e tīweka ana ki tēnā, ki tēnā o mātau, e ruia ana mātau ki ana kihi. Ka tae te wā kia eke a ia i te pahi, ka ngū, ka amaru te āhua. Ka tuohu a ia i mua o Koroua.

‘I tōku whenua,’ tana kī, ‘haere katoa ngā tāngata kaewa ki te whare karakia i Pihitirīta. Manomano ngā Rōmani ka haere. Ētahi nō Hanekari hoki, nō Ūkareina, nō Purukāria, ka haere. Tōku matua –’ ka tū a Tōpio, ka horomi, ‘kotahi wā ka haria ahau ki reira.’ Ka tū tika a ia. ‘Ki reira, katoa ngā kaewa ka whakatau ko wai tō rātau rangatira. Ka karaunatia hai Pane Kaewa. Puripāha.’

Ka tīkina mai te ringa o Koroua ka kihia. Kātahi ka ngaro atu a ia. Nō muri tata mai i tana wehenga, tīmata ai taku pakanga ki a Koroua.

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