Lesson 2 Open a Book, Open the World
Gathering of the Whakapapa by Witi Ihimaera
The phone ____, and it was my dad calling from my hometown, Waituhi.
“Can you take a week off?” he ____.
“Your Nani Tama wants you ____.” “But Dad!” I answered.
“My boss ____ let me take any more time off.”
The phone went silent, and then I heard my grandfather say ____, “I need your help, Grandson.
I must go to Murupara to f inish the whakapapa. Drive me there. Hurry, I may not ____ much time.”
I just knew I had no choice. “All right, ____,” I replied with a sigh. “I’ll come.”
For some time
For some time, my ____ had been busy writing down the village genealogy, known as the whakapapa.
The whakapapa had been in his ____ house.
But then came the night of the fire, which ran through the house and destroyed our ____.
In only one night, everything we knew was ____. Nani Tama, in despair, went to stay with his daughter, my Auntie Hiraina.
Trying to f ind a way out of the ashes of the past, Nani began to write the whakapapa again with his ____ hands.
He chanted the names of the ____, joining the past to the present once more.
The village went quiet and ____ to his chanting.
His voice traveled ____ the lines of our genealogy, searching back across the centuries.
Sometimes, there were lines that were ____ icult to remember. Then his voice suddenly stopped in the middle of the chant.
The village waited in ____ silence until the next name burst out of his mouth.
It took Nani Tama almost two years to gather most of the whakapapa, but there were still missing names he needed to ____ in.
Now, he ____ me to drive him to Murupara to finish his work.
When I arrived at Auntie’s place
When I arrived at ____ place, I was shocked to see how thin Nani Tama was.
“Look, Nani,” I said. “I’m not taking you anywhere. You ____ die on me!”
Nani looked at me in ____. “You want me to die here in this room?
Looking at ____ four walls? When the whakapapa is not yet f inished?”
The old man held on tightly to the side of the ____ and cried out as he stood up.
Every ____, painful step hurt him, but he tried to walk.
I could not help but carry ____ to the car, and we set off with Auntie.
We traveled all night, mostly in ____, listening to Nani chanting in the darkness.
It was strange but wonderful to hear ____. Sometimes, he burst into a song that he had taught Auntie.
They sang together, lifting up their voices to send the song flying like a ____ through the sky.
Just before noon
Just before noon, we arrived at a small town called ____.
“Where do we go now?” I ____ Nani.
He did not reply, but he was searching inside himself, staring at the small ____.
Then, at a ____ corner, he told us to turn. After turning the corner, we saw an old man standing in front of a house.
He welcomed ____ Tama with a gentle smile, but in his eyes, I saw the message, “We must hurry.”
Now that day seems like a ____ to me.
I remember the two old men sitting at the table and the soft sounds of the Maori words as they ____.
All through the quiet afternoon and into the evening, they recalled missing ____.
I had a strange ____ that there were other people in the room.
I felt as if people from the past were looking ____ the shoulders of the two old men to see if the work was correct.
Finally, they stopped. It was ____. After a moment of silence, the old man whispered to Nani, “Goodbye, friend.”
Crying, they pressed their noses ____ to say goodbye.
It was early morning
It was ____ morning and still dark when we returned to Auntie’s place.
All the lights were on, and the ____ people were waiting for us.
____, Nani Tama lifted up the whakapapa and offered it to the village.
Our hearts were full because our grandfather ____ saved our past for us.
Our Nani Tama smiled ____. His smile grew tired.
He sighed. “At last, I may go now.” Then, he ____ his eyes.
“No, Dad!” Auntie Hiraina ____. The sun burst across the hills.