My Finnish Taniwha by Taru Kumara-Moisio

Author:Taru Kumara-Moisio [Kumara-Moisio, Taru]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: ISBN:9789527382110
Publisher: Osuuskumma-kustannus
Published: 2020-01-14T22:00:00+00:00

Tekau mā rima

Mum invites Ihaka over, just because, on a completely normal July weekend. She wants to show off her paintings and serve him some Karelian rice pies. Ella and Mum spent all last night baking. Mum is proud of her pie-making skills and her neatly crimped rye dough, and she lays the most perfect of her pies on the table for everyone to see. Beautiful, Mum mumbles contentedly in her thoughts. Actually, it’s Leila who taught Mum to cook and bake. In Leila’s mind, there’s no better way to spend your time than by baking together. Mum thinks she surpassed Leila as a baker and a cook long ago, but Ella knows it isn’t true.

Ihaka eats two pies and compliments their flavour. New Zealanders eat a lot of pies too, but they’re different. They have a crust on top and usually some kind of mushy meat filling inside. Mum thinks, I made them just for you. Go on – take another! Aren’t you going to notice the new lace top I’m wearing too?

Ihaka asks Ella how school is going. Ella finds it difficult to answer questions like that. Sometimes school can be interesting, but on the other hand, the days are so long. Now that it’s winter, she needs an umbrella to walk to school because it rains almost every day.

Mum says that Ella can speak Finnish if she likes.

‘Does Ihaka know Finnish?’ Ella asks, surprised.

‘I’ve taught him a few words,’ Mum says and laughs. Then she says she’s happy to translate what Ella says for Ihaka. ‘Go on, let the words flow,’ Mum says, trying to lure Ella into a comfortable, chatty mood. Ella crumples her nose. Greit. Here we go again.

‘You’re a very observant girl,’ Ihaka tells Ella. Then he suddenly goes on and on and on, letting Mum translate one sentence after another: Always in your own thoughts. You see all kinds of things. I’m a watcher too, and a maker of stories. The art of looking can be very powerful when you know how to use it. The boundaries around you will disappear. I think you and I have a lot in common.

Ella is puzzled by Ihaka’s words. They burn in her mind. She doesn’t feel sure Mum is translating everything correctly. What exactly does Ihaka mean? They certainly don’t look alike.

Dad asks about Ihaka’s studies. Ihaka tells them he’s doing some kind of final project on Māori participation in society. Mum struggles to find the words as she tries to translate what Ihaka is saying about his project.

‘The chasm between those who are extremely active and those who are passive is huge,’ Ihaka explains. Dad nods, but Ella can’t follow. What chasm? At school they’ve done drills on how to protect yourself during an earthquake, though earthquakes are rare in Auckland. In the south they happen more often. In one of the pictures the teacher showed them, the earth had been torn clean in half. It would be horrible to fall into a chasm like that.

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