Page 12 - Tamainupō E

Ka tū reia!
I tētehi rangi, ka puta te kōrero e whakatika ana a Kōkako i tana tira ki te patu i a Māhanga. Ko te pā o Kōkako kei Kiriparera, kei te tahatika whakateuru o te awa o Waipā, pātata atu ki Kāniwhaniwha. Nā ka whakatika a Māhanga i tana ope tauā. Kia whakatūria tētehi toa arataki i tana ope i whakaritea e Māhanga tētehi whakataetae. Ka huihuia e Māhanga ngā toa tokowhitu me te tohutohu kia hūpeke atu i tana pane. Ka tū a Māhanga me tana tuarā ki te ope ka karanga, “Ka tū reia!” He tangata tāroaroa a Māhanga, nō reira, ehara tēnei i te mahi ngāwari noa. Ka ngana ia toa kia tū rei i a Māhanga, engari tē taea e rātou. Ētehi i rei atu i ōna pokowhiwhi, engari hei te mutunga iho, kāore tētehi i rei ake i tōna pane.
Ka karanga anō a Māhanga, “Ka tū reia!”. Kātahi ka tū ake a Tamainupō. Ka rongo a Māhanga i te hau āwhio i tana pane i a Tamainupō e rei ana i tana pane. Ka hurō ngā toa, ka koa a Māhanga. Ka whakapono a Māhanga ka toa rātou i ngā mahi arataki a Tamainupō. Heoi, kāore a Māhanga i mōhio ko Tamainupō te tama a Kōkako, waihoki, kāore a Tamainupō i pīrangi patu i te matua i te rapu nei ia.
Nō muri tata nei, i haere te ope a Māhanga ki te kāinga o Kōkako. I a rātou e whakatata ana ki te pā, i kite a Tamainupō i ngā tohu kuratōpuni a ngā toa a Kōkako i waho i te waharoa. “Kōkiri!” te karanga a Tamainupō, heoi, i a ngā ope e rua e pakanga ana, i wehe atu a Tamainupō ki te rapu i tana matua. Ka piki ake ki te taiapa, ki tētehi pae o runga ake. I taua tirohanga i kite atu i raro kē te ope a Kōkako e putu ana. I kite hoki ia i tētehi rangatira i raro e mau ana i tētehi kahu whero. Ka mōhio a Tamainupō ko Kōkako tēnā.
I toro atu ia, me te kāwhaki i te kahu i ngā pokowhiwhi o Kōkako, ka karanga atu, “Homai tō patu! Māku koe e āwhina!”. Ka tiro atu a Kōkako ka pātai, “Ko wai tō ingoa?”. Kīhai a Tamainupō i whakautu, ka ngaro atu a Kōkako, kāore ia i mōhio ko wai te tangata, he aha hoki ia i āwhina i a ia?
Ka whawhai tonu a Tamainupō, ā, ka patua tētehi toa urukehu rite nei ki a Kōkako. Ka mutu ana te whawhai, ka tū whakahīhī ērā atu toa me te kī nā rātou a Kōkako i patu. I haere ia toa ki te tuku i ngā angaanga ki a Māhanga. Kāore tētehi anga urukehu i kitea, ka rūrū te pane ō Māhanga me te kī,
“Kāore e kitea ana te patunga o Kōkako!” Kātahi, ka puta a Tamainupō me te anga o tērā urukehu i patua e ia. Ka āta tirohia e Māhanga, engari, kāore ia i tino whakapono i patua a Kōkako, heoi, nō te tangohanga o te kahu kākā o Kōkako me tana patu, i whakapono atu a Māhanga, ka kī, “Kua hinga taku hoariri a Kōkako!”