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