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Legends and Traditions of Easter Island

translated from Sebastian Englert's Leyendas

An Ancient Cataclysm
Told by Mateo Veriveri
O te kope A'Ure Aoviri Ko Porotu i-vânaga-mai:      A man 89b called Ure Aoviri Porotu 90 told me:
Te kaiga o Rapanui kaiga nuinui i te nohoga tûai-era-á; pehe kaíga-ana o Hiva te nuinui tako'a.      The country of Rapanui was a large country in ancient times; its size was like that of Hiva91.
O te tagata Ko Uoke i-ketu, i-hakaemu i te kaiga; te ua i-itiiti-ai te kaiga o Rapanui.      A man [called] Uoke lifted the land [out of the sea] and dropped it back; that is the reason why the land of Rapanui became small.
Hai oka i-ketu-ai i te kaiga e Uoke.      It is with a lever that Uoke lifted the land.
He-ketu, he-oho-mai mai Hiva-á.      He lifted while coming all the way from Hiva.
He-tu'u-mai ki Puko puhipuhi, he-ketu ira, he-hati te oka a Uoke. He arrived at Pukopuhipuhi 92, he lifted, Uoke's lever broke.

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Note 89b O te kope. Two problems here:
  1. one would expect to see ko te kope, not o te kope
  2. kope is not found in the dictionary.

Note 90 Ure Aoviri, commonly called Porotu (from his baptismal name Protus) knew many ancient traditions. He died in 1920. His full name was Ko Hogi Atua Kava A'Ure Aoviri Ko Porotu.

Note 91 "Hiva" is the name of a country which, according to the tradition, sank in the west, more exactly in the northwest, of Easter Island. Nowadays the inhabitants use it for "the Continent" (i.e. Chile) or any other foreign country.

Note 92 A place between Hanga Honu (a.k.a. La Pérouse Bay) and Poike.

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