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Legends and Traditions of Easter Island

translated from Sebastian Englert's Leyendas
 
The Caves
Told by Mateo Veriveri
Te gagata o te nohoga tuai era á, iroto i te hare te moega-haga, iroto i te ana tako'a.     The people of ancient times, it's inside their houses they slept, and inside caves as well.
E-ké-ro-á te tahi ana mo piko i te taû'a, ana kiogo te igoa.     Different altogether were [those] other caves for hiding during the wars, which were called ana kiongo.
E-ké-ro-á te ana itiiti, he pahu te igoa, ana piko o te tagata hoa ana.     Different still were the small caves called pahu, hiding caves of the cave owners.
Te tagata piko iroto i te ana kiogo, he kio.     People hiding inside the ana kiogo were [called] kio.
Te marama, te marama ana-noho iroto i te ana.     For months and months they would stay{113o=  Here ana is not the word for "cave" but a verbal prefix (see dictionary).} inside caves.
Ki-ea te ahirega, ai ka-hoki ki te hare ana-noho. As soon as the government changed 114 they returned to their homes to stay114a.
Note 114   Ahi-rega was the change in the political situation when the year ended during which the power was in the hands of a tribal chief who had been proclaimed tangata manu. During that time, called ao his partisans hounded the people of other tribes.

Note 114a Here again ana is a verbal prefix, not the word "cave".

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