Page:Maori Religion and Mythology.djvu/68

54 "But how shall I know him?"

Then the father said, "He will not be unknown to you."

"Ho! some one will kill me on the way."

"Not so. You will go in safety along the sea-shore."

"But I shall never find him."

"You cannot mistake him. Look at his right ear for a part hanging down. He is a big, short man, with a sleepy eye. When you approach your uncle, in order that he may know you, go at once and seat yourself on his pillow. When you are both freed from sacredness, search for the ear-drop of your uncle under the window-post."

"But how shall I find it?"

"You will find it. Dig for it. It is buried there wrapt in a piece of cloth with manuka bark outside it."

So, when the father died, his naked body was brought out of the house, and laid on the ground. The younger son bit with his teeth the forehead, and then bit with his teeth the tahito of his father, saying at the same time, "Teach me when I sleep."

The reason why he bit the forehead and the tahito was that the mana, or sacred power of his father, might inspire him, so that he might become his tauira, i.e., the living representative of his mana and karakia. Then the young man thus addressed the corpse: "If an enemy attack us hereafter, show me whether death or safety will be ours. If this land be abandoned, you and your father will be abandoned, and your offspring will perish."

Then the corpse moved, and inclined towards the