Topenga Ataata
Kupu Tūpato
I stepped into an avalanche
– I haere ahau ki roto i te ngaru
It covered up my soul
– I hipokina e ia toku wairua
When I am not this hunchback that you see
– I te mea ehara ahau i te tangata pukuriri e kite ana koe
I sleep beneath the golden hill
– E moe ana ahau i raro i te maunga koura
You who wish to conquer pain
– Ko koe e hiahia ana ki te wikitoria i te mamae
You must learn, learn to serve me well
– Me ako koe, ako ki te mahi pai ki ahau
You strike my side by accident
– Ka patua e koe taku taha i te tupono
As you go down for your goal
– I a koe e haere ana ki raro mo to whaainga
The cripple here that you clothe and feed
– Ko te kopa i konei e kakahu ana koe, e kai ana
Is neither starved nor cold
– Ehara i te matekai i te makariri rānei
He does not ask for your company
– Kaore ia e tono mo to kamupene
Not at the center, the center of the world
– Ehara i te pokapū, te pokapū o te ao
And I am on a pedestal
– A kei runga ahau i te turanga
You did not raise me there
– Kāore koe i whakaara i ahau ki reira
Your laws do not compel me now
– E kore au ture e akiaki i ahau inaianei
To kneel grotesque and bare
– Ki te turi he mea whakarihariha he mea tahanga
I myself am the pedestal
– Ko ahau anō te tūāpapa
For this ugly hump at which you stare
– Hoki tenei hump kino i nei titiro koe
You who wish to conquer pain
– Ko koe e hiahia ana ki te wikitoria i te mamae
You must learn what makes me kind
– Me ako koe he aha te mea e pai ai ahau
The crumbs of love that you offer me
– Ko nga maramara o te aroha e whakaekea ana e koe ki ahau
Are the crumbs I’ve left behind
– Ko ngā maramara I mahue I ahau
Your pain is no credential here
– Ko to mamae kaore he tohu i konei
It’s just a shadow, shadow of my wound
– He atarangi noa iho, he atarangi o taku whara
I have begun to long for you
– Kua timata ahau ki te hiahia ki a koe
I who have no greed
– Ko ahau kahore nei he apo
I have begun to ask for you
– Kua timata ahau ki te ui mo koutou
I who have no need
– Ko ahau e kore e hiahia
You say you’ve gone away from me
– Ka mea koe kua haere atu koe i ahau
But I can feel you, feel you when you breathe
– Engari ka taea e au teel i a koe, teel i a koe ina manawa koe
Do not dress in those rags for me
– Kaua e whakakakahu ki aua kakahu moku
I know you are not poor
– E mohio ana ahau ehara koe i te rawakore
And don’t love me, quite so fiercely now
– A kaua e aroha ki ahau, tino pera kaha inaianei
When you know that you are not sure
– Ki te mohio koe kaore koe i te tino mohio
It is your turn, my beloved one
– Ko tōu wā, ko tōku hoa aroha
It is your flesh that I wear
– Ko tōu kikokiko e mau ana ahau
