- Maui in the Underworld:
- Opening Chorus (6-7/1/12)
- Final Chorus (7-9/1/12)
- Kupe and the Fountain of Youth:
- Opening Chorus (6-9/1/12)
- Final Chorus (6-9/1/12)
- Hatupatu and the Nile-monster:
- Opening Chorus (6-9/1/12)
- Final Chorus (7-9/1/12)
[A. W. Reed: Wonder Tales of Maoriland. Illustrated by A. S. Paterson (1964)][sung by the sea-nymphs]
Tell me Muses
of that man
of many ruses
Maui
driven far astray
after he
fished up
islands
from the deep
many men he talked
to sorrows
suffered
seeking to return
to his own
country
even so he
could not rescue
any who
set out
with him
those fools who cut
the flesh
of the great fish
leaving him in exile
on the island
of Calypso
nymph
or nymphet?
from Homer. Odyssey. 1: 1-21. [Trans. A. T. Murray. 1919. Rev. George E. Dimock. 1995. Loeb Classical Library. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1998. p. 13.]
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[Wonder Tales of Maoriland][sung by Maui’s brothers]
You can’t strike
bargains
with Death
audacious Maui
better to live
on earth
an indentured man
scratching a bare living
from the soil
than to reign
over all the dead
in worthless pomp
take pride in tales
of your
distant descendants’
deeds
Your fame will last
as long
as a kinsman
bleeds
from Homer. Odyssey. 11: 487-503. [Trans. A. T. Murray. 1919. Rev. George E. Dimock. 1995. Loeb Classical Library. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1998. pp. 435-37.]
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[A. W. Reed: Wonder Tales of Maoriland. Illustrated by A. S. Paterson (1964)][sung by Utnapishtim]
He who sailed the deep
plumbed the foundations
of the earth
found islands
Kupe sailed the deep
plumbed the foundations
of the earth
found islands
He went on a long journey
grew weary
made his peace
wrote his exploits down
built the ancient ramparts
through the forest
plotted its lines
lanky as supplejack
raised the staircase
leading to the chamber
of the Queen of love
great Ishtar
See the tablet-box
its hinges lift the lid
pick up the tablet
read his journeys
Kupe
all that he went through
from “Tablet I: the Coming of Enkidu”. [The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Trans. Andrew George. 1999. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. pp. 1-2.]
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[Wonder Tales of Maoriland][sung by Kupe]
My friend I held so dear
through many dangers
Enkidu I held so dear
through many dangers
has succumbed to the curse of mortals
Six days I wept for him
and seven nights
I would not give up his body
to be embalmed
till a maggot dropped from his nostrils
Then I began to fear
I too would die
so I wandered the wild
What became of Enkidu,
my friend, was too much to bear
With the help of Utnapishtim
I braved the serpent
I dived deep in the pool
of the Taniwha
till I found it there
The herb of eternal life
I alone found it
found it growing
in the depths of the pool
and brought it back to him to share
But he was already dead
and could not eat it
and I too feared to taste it
for fear of the serpent,
my enemy, who crept along behind
So now I am left alone
before the walls
the mighty walls I built
to keep death out
But death cannot be stayed
by locks and walls
the armature of an unquiet mind
from “Tablet X: At the Edge of the World”. [The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Trans. Andrew George. 1999. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003. p. 81.]
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[A. W. Reed: Wonder Tales of Maoriland. Illustrated by A. S. Paterson (1964)][sung by the Chorus of Birds]
Hatupatu
son of the sky
heir to the kingdom
comes to be crowned
in joy
before the secret gods
the Nine
to be held
in awe
by gods and men
great in
Djedu
feared in
Rostau
Lord of
Tenent
glorious in
Abydos
For whom the mighty of the earth
rise from their mats
who takes the choice cuts
in Houses-on-High
who is mourned by the multitudes
who cannot die
from “A Hymn to Osiris and a Hymn to Min.” [Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. 3 vols. Ed. Miriam Lichtheim. 1973. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1975. I: 202-04.]
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[Wonder Tales of Maoriland][sung by the Chorus of Birds]
May he cross
the firmament
traverse the sky
ascend to the great gods
alight in peace
in the West of Wests
May the Desert
embrace him
the Sun
salute him
May the Council of the gods
welcome him in
May he take his place
in the Nile-bark
traverse the ways
of Ruapehu
may he march in peace
from the world of light
Te Ao Marama
to the place where his father dwells
Now he is Osiris
Hatupatu
raised in honour
his offerings before him
his Ka beside him
till They-who-have-abundance
take his hands
open up before him
the graveyard gates
and his son assumes
at last
the triple crown
from “Stela of the Treasurer Tjeti.” [Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. 3 vols. Ed. Miriam Lichtheim. 1973. Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1975. I: 93.]
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