Written by Heidy Herrera. Māori translations and narration by Hēmi Kelly. English translations written by Mariana Suarez and edited by Ana Bonifacino. English narration by Lizzie Dunn. Illustrations by Camilo Conde.
This story was brought to you by our amazing partners at Education New Zealand. Find the full 'Legendary Links; project and other language combos for this story here.
Māori | English |
Ka taka i tētahi rā, e hīkoi ana tētahi kōtiro, ko Faua tōna ingoa, rāua ko tōna koroheke i ō rāua whenua ngahere e ahu atu ana ki ngā maunga tapu. I a ia e haere ana, ka kite ia i ngā rākau maha kua tuaina, e hātea haere ana ngā maunga, e ngoikore haere ana hoki ngā mahinga kai. | One day, a little girl called Faua was walking with her grandfather towards the sacred mountains, when she saw with bewilderment many trees chopped down, the mountain's colours fading, and the crops losing strength. |
Ka pōuri te ngākau o te kōtiro i tana kitenga atu. Mai anō i tōna itinga, kua kī mai tōna koroheke he tapu te whenua, ā, me kaha tātou ki te tiaki i te ngahere, i te mea mā te ngahere anō tātou e tiaki, e whakamarumaru. | As soon as she saw this, her heart was saddened. Since she could remember, her grandfather had told her that the earth was sacred and that they should always work towards conserving the native forests who look after them and offer them a home. |
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Ka kite te koroheke i te pōuri o te ngākau o te kōtiro, ka ui atu, 'He aha nā?' | The grandfather saw her heart’s sadness and asked her, 'What happened?' |
Ko tana whakahoki, 'E pōuri ana au i taku kitenga i ō tātou whenua e pēnei ana.'
She replied, 'It makes me sad to see our land like this.'
Ka ui te kōtiro, 'Me pēhea rā e pai ake ai?' | She asked him, 'Is there anything we can do to make it better?' |
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Ka mahara te koroheke ki te kōrero i tētahi pakiwaitara ki tana mokopuna. He pakiwaitara nō tōna itinga i kōrerotia ai i te takuahi e inu chicha ana (he inu nā ngā tūpuna) i ngā tūāhu. | The wise grandfather decided to tell his grandchild a story he had heard in his own childhood during nights of campfires and chicha (an ancestral drink) at the temple. |
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Ko te kōrero tēnei mō Sie, he atua wahine ātaahua rirerire i mōhio ki te tūmatarau mō te ora me te matahua, ā, nāna ērā i tuku ki te whenua i te pūaotanga o te ao mārama. | This is the story of Sie, a woman many considered a goddess because of her exuberant beauty and her magic powers to bring life and fertility to the land at dawn, when the light was born. |
I arohaina a Sie e tana iwi mō ana pūkenga, nā ōna pūkenga i ora ai te whenua, i riro mai ai hoki he kai. | Sie was loved in her community for her gifts because they conserved the land and provided food. |
Engari, i tētahi o ngā ana o rohe o te iwi, tērā tētahi wahine whakaaro kino, ko Zina tōna ingoa, i tarahae i te aroha nui o te iwi ki a Sie. | But in one of the community’s caves lived Zina, a woman with bad intentions, who envied how the whole community was so fond of Sie. |
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Ka taka i tētahi rā, ka pukuriri a Zina. I te wā o te minga (he hui ā-iwi) ka atawhai, ka whakanui te iwi i a Sie, ā, ka hoatu ki a ia he koha, engari kāore kau he aha e hoatu ana ki a Zina. Ka roa e huritao ana, kātahi ka toko ake he whakaaro i a Zina. | One day, Zina became enraged when during a minga (a community gathering), the people cherished and celebrated Sie and made offerings to her but offered nothing to Zina. After some time of thinking, an idea came to her. |
I mua i te whitinga o te rā, ka wehe ia i tōna ana ki te haukoti i a Sie me tana whakamahi i ōna pūkenga.
Before sunrise, she would leave her cave to stop Sie from using her powers.
Ka oti tēnei i a ia mā tana whakamahi i ōna anō pūkenga kino kia tau ai te pōuriuri ki runga i te whenua, mā konei e kore ai a Sie e oho mai. | So, in the early morning, Zina used her dark powers to bring darkness to the land, causing Sie not to wake up. |
I te wehi te iwi i runga i te whakaaro e kore te rā e ara, ā, e kore hoki a Sie e puta mai i tōna tuohunga. I pā te māharahara ka mate pea a Sie, ā rātou mahinga kai, te taiao, te whenua me te iwi hoki. | The people were terrified when they saw that day had come but Sie had not emerged. They were very worried because, without Sie, their crops, nature, the land, and their community would perish. |
Nō reira, ka mahara rātou ki te whakakotahi me te whakatikatika i a rātou anō me kore noa e puta mai a Sie ki te patu i a Zina. I tahuna e rātou he ahi hei whakaoho i Te Pēperekou o Te Ahi, mā tana ahi e kā mai ai te whenua, me te aha, ka oho mai a Sie. | So, they decided to gather and organise themselves. To get Sie to emerge and defeat Zina, they lit a fire and invoked the Grandfather of Fire. His flames would illuminate the land and awaken Sie. |
Ka haere ko ngā waiata me ngā karakia, kātahi ka ngiha te ahi o Te Pēperekou o Te Ahi, ā, mahana ana tērā te noho a te iwi, mea ake, ka oho mai a Sie. | Through chants and incense-burning rituals, the grandfather of fire burned with great light, warming the heart of the community and the heart of Sie, getting her to awaken. |
I te kitenga atu o Zina i te mura o te ahi, ka whakamīharo atu ia, ā, ka pā te rangirua. Ka pā hoki te mārama o te ahi ki tōna ngākau, kātahi tonu ia ka rongo i te patupatu o tana manawa. I konei, ka mārama a Zina ki te take i hiahia ai te iwi ki a Sie. Nō reira, i mua i tōna hokinga ki tōna ana, ka ui ia ki te iwi kia aroha mai rātou ki a ia me āna mahi katoa. | Zina, upon seeing its brightness was overwhelmed and perplexed. The light of the fire reached her heart and she felt the heat for the first time. She understood why the community needed Sie to exist, so before returning to her cave she asked the community for forgiveness for all that she had done. |
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I te koroua e whakakapi ana i te kōrero ki a Faua ka mea ia, e tiakina ai te whenua, me kaha te iwi, me kotahi hoki mā te minga, ā, me whakaaro nui hoki ki te tukutuku i ngā mātauranga, pēnei i a ia e tuku iho ana i te kōrero nei ki a Sie. | When the grandfather finished telling Faua the story he said that to save the land, the community needed to be strong and unite through minga and be open to knowledge sharing, like the story of Sie that he now passed on to her. |
I kōrero ia mō te hiranga o te whakaoho i ngā pēperekou, o te maumahara ki ā rātou waiata, o te whakaū i ō rātou hīkoitanga ki roto i te ngākau, kia mau ai ngā mātauranga tuku iho, kia ora ai te whenua, kia haumaru ai hoki te iwi. | He spoke about the importance of invoking the elders, remembering their songs, and maintaining their journeys alive in our hearts, harnessing ancestral knowledge to ensure the land is conserved and the community is kept safe. |
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