Understanding

🌿He kōrero

I rapu tētahi tama i te māramatanga. Ka pātai ia ki ngā tāngata o tōna kāinga, kei hea e kitea ai taua mea. Ka kī mai rātou mō tētahi koroua e noho ana i runga i tētahi maunga i Te Waipounamu, i te wāhi e puta ake ai te pounamu tino pai ki te mata o te whenua.

Ka haere te tama i tētahi haerenga uaua rawa atu ki taua wāhi, ka piki ake ia i te maunga, ā, ka kitea e ia te koroua. Ka mea atu ia, “Kua tae mai au ki te rapu māramatanga.”

Ka tango te koroua i tētahi rākau whawhai i hangaia ki te iwi tohorā, ā, ka patu kaha rawa atu ia i te māhunga o te tama. Ka pakaru te kiri o tōna māhunga, ka rere nui te toto, ka pōkaikaha tōna hinengaro, ka rangirua.

Ka hoki whakamuri te tama, ka rere iho i te maunga. Ka ora tōna patunga, engari kāore i tino ora. Ka hoki anō ia ki te piki i te maunga. Ka tae anō ia ki mua i te koroua, ā, kāore te koroua i kī kupu—ka tango anō i tana rākau, ā, ka patu anō i te māhunga o te tama.

Nā te mea kāore anō kia tino ora te patunga tuatahi, ka hōhonu ake te mamae, ka tuwhera anō. Ka hoki whakamuri anō te tama, ka heke iho i te maunga, ā, ka pōkaikaha, ka rangirua.

Ka pērā tonu. Ka ora anō ia i raro i te maunga, ā, ka hoki anō ki te piki. Ka patua anō ia. Kāore anō kia ora, ka hōhonu ake te patunga. Ka heke anō ia.

Ka tīmata te pirau o te patunga, ka pangia e te mate, ā, ka noho mai ngā noke ki roto, ka kai i te kiko pirau.

Kua tata mate te tama, ēngari e rapu tonu ana ia i tēnei māramatanga motuhake. Ka piki anō ia i te maunga, ahakoa i mōhio ia tērā pea ka mate ia ki reira.

Ka tae anō ia ki mua i te koroua. Ka tango anō te koroua i tana rākau, ka hiki ki runga, ka patu iho ki te māhunga o te tama.

Engari i tēnei wā, kāore ia i whakaaro—nā te kaha o te wairua anake—ka hiki ake ōna ringa, ka mau i te rākau i mua i te tukinga.

Ka kata te koroua, ā, ka mea:

“Kua ako koe i tō akoranga tuatahi; i ētahi wā, ko te whakamutu noa i te mamae, kua ranea. Hoki mai āpōpō, e taku ākonga hou.”

🌿 Translation into English

A boy sought understanding. He asked the people of his home where it might be found. They told him of an old man who lived upon a mountain in the South Island, in the place where the finest greenstone emerges at the surface of the land.

The boy undertook a very difficult journey to that place. He climbed the mountain and found the old man. He said, “I have come to seek understanding.”

The old man took a weapon, a fighting stick made from whalebone, and struck the boy very hard on the head. The skin of his head split open, blood flowed heavily, and his mind became dazed and confused.

The boy recoiled and ran down the mountain. His wound healed, but not fully. He again climbed the mountain. He again stood before the old man, and without a word, the old man again took up his weapon and struck the boy on the head.

Because the first wound had not yet healed, the injury became deeper and opened again. The boy recoiled once more and descended the mountain, dizzy and confused.

So it continued. He would heal below the mountain and climb again. He was struck again. The wound, not yet healed, grew deeper. He descended again.

The wound began to rot. It became diseased, and worms came to dwell within it, feeding on the decaying flesh.

The boy was close to death, yet he still sought this special understanding. Once more he climbed the mountain, even though he knew he might die there.

He again came before the old man. The old man again lifted his weapon high and struck downward toward the boy’s head.

But this time, without thought—by instinct alone—the boy raised his hands and caught the weapon before it struck.

The old man smiled and said:

“You have learned your first lesson; sometimes, simply just ending the pain is enough. Now, return tomorrow, my student.”